Not all supercontinents are created equal: Gondwana-Rodinia case study
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Research Article| July 01, 2013 Not all supercontinents are created equal: Gondwana-Rodinia case study Christopher J. Spencer; Christopher J. Spencer 1Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St. Andrews, North Street, St. Andrews KY16 9AL, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Chris Hawkesworth; Chris Hawkesworth 1Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St. Andrews, North Street, St. Andrews KY16 9AL, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Peter A. Cawood; Peter A. Cawood 1Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St. Andrews, North Street, St. Andrews KY16 9AL, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Bruno Dhuime Bruno Dhuime 1Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St. Andrews, North Street, St. Andrews KY16 9AL, UK2Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Christopher J. Spencer 1Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St. Andrews, North Street, St. Andrews KY16 9AL, UK Chris Hawkesworth 1Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St. Andrews, North Street, St. Andrews KY16 9AL, UK Peter A. Cawood 1Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St. Andrews, North Street, St. Andrews KY16 9AL, UK Bruno Dhuime 1Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St. Andrews, North Street, St. Andrews KY16 9AL, UK2Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 14 Nov 2012 Accepted: 27 Feb 2013 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 © 2013 Geological Society of America Geology (2013) 41 (7): 795–798. https://doi.org/10.1130/G34520.1 Article history Received: 14 Nov 2012 Accepted: 27 Feb 2013 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Christopher J. Spencer, Chris Hawkesworth, Peter A. Cawood, Bruno Dhuime; Not all supercontinents are created equal: Gondwana-Rodinia case study. Geology 2013;; 41 (7): 795–798. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G34520.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract The geologic records associated with the formation of the supercontinents Rodinia and Gondwana have markedly different seawater Sr and zircon Hf isotopic signatures. Rodinia-related (Grenville-Sveconorwegian-Sunsas) orogens display significantly less enriched crustal signatures than Gondwana-related (Pan-African) orogens. Seawater Sr isotope ratios also exhibit a more pronounced crustal signal during the span of the Gondwana supercontinent than at the time of Rodinia. Such isotopic differences are attributed to the age and nature of the continental margins involved in the collisional assembly, and specifically to the depleted mantle model ages, and hence the isotope ratios of the material weathered into the oceans. In our preferred model the isotopic signatures of Rodinia-suturing orogens reflect the closure of ocean basins with dual subduction zones verging in opposite directions, analogous to the modern Pacific basin. This would have resulted in the juxtaposition of juvenile continental and island arc terrains on both margins of the colliding plates, thus further reworking juvenile crust. Conversely, the assembly of Gondwana was accomplished primarily via a number of single-sided subduction zones that involved greater reworking of ancient cratonic lithologies within the collisional sutures. The proposed geodynamic models of the assembly of Rodinia and Gondwana provide a connection between the geodynamic configuration of supercontinent assembly and its resulting isotopic signature. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.Keywords:
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Abstract Constraining the positions of, and interrelationships between, Earth's major continental blocks has played a major role in validating the concept of the supercontinent cycle. Minor continental fragments can provide additional key constraints on modes of supercontinent assembly and dispersal. The Tarim craton has been placed both at the core of Rodinia or on its periphery, and differentiating between the two scenarios has widespread implications for the breakup of Rodinia and subsequent assembly of Gondwana. In the South Tarim terrane, detrital zircon grains from Neoproterozoic–Silurian strata display two dominant populations at 950–750 and 550–450 Ma. Similarly, two main peaks at 1000–800 and 600–490 Ma characterize Neoproterozoic–Ordovician strata in northern India. Moreover, the two dominant peaks of South Tarim and north India lag two global peaks at 1200–1000 and 650–500 Ma, which reflect Rodinia and Gondwana assembly, arguing against a position within the heart of the two supercontinents. Ages and Hf isotopes of Tarim's detrital zircons argue for a position on the margin of both supercontinents adjacent to north India with periodic dispersal through opening and closing of small ocean basins (e.g., the Proto-Tethys). Alternating tectonic transitions between advancing and retreating subduction in North Tarim coincide with periodic drift of South Tarim from north India in Rodinia and Gondwana, emphasizing the importance of retreating subduction in supercontinent dispersal. Moreover, the Rodinia-related orogenic belts spatially overlap the Gondwana-related orogenic belts in the two blocks, indicating no significant relative rotation of India and Tarim during the evolution from Rodinia to Gondwana.
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Geological, geochronological and isotopic data are integrated in order to present a revised model for the Neoproterozoic evolution of Western Gondwana. Although the classical geodynamic scenario assumed for the period 800–700 Ma is related to Rodinia break-up and the consequent opening of major oceanic basins, a significantly different tectonic evolution can be inferred for most Western Gondwana cratons. These cratons occupied a marginal position in the southern hemisphere with respect to Rodinia and recorded subduction with back-arc extension, island arc development and limited formation of oceanic crust in internal oceans. This period was thus characterized by increased crustal growth in Western Gondwana, resulting from addition of juvenile continental crust along convergent margins. In contrast, crustal reworking and metacratonization were dominant during the subsequent assembly of Gondwana. The Río de la Plata, Congo-São Francisco, West African and Amazonian cratons collided at ca. 630–600 Ma along the West Gondwana Orogen. These events overlap in time with the onset of the opening of the Iapetus Ocean at ca. 610–600 Ma, which gave rise to the separation of Baltica, Laurentia and Amazonia and resulted from the final Rodinia break-up. The East African/Antarctic Orogen recorded the subsequent amalgamation of Western and Eastern Gondwana after ca. 580 Ma, contemporaneously with the beginning of subduction in the Terra Australis Orogen along the southern Gondwana margin. However, the Kalahari Craton was lately incorporated during the Late Ediacaran–Early Cambrian. The proposed Gondwana evolution rules out the existence of Pannotia, as the final Gondwana amalgamation postdates latest connections between Laurentia and Amazonia. Additionally, a combination of introversion and extroversion is proposed for the assembly of Gondwana. The contemporaneous record of final Rodinia break-up and Gondwana assembly has major implications for the supercontinent cycle, as supercontinent amalgamation and break-up do not necessarily represent alternating episodic processes but overlap in time.
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After its Ediacaran-Early Cambrian assembly, Gondwana was flanked by a system of peripheral orogens, Terra Australis, Avalonian-Cadomian and newly defined North Indo-Australie, which display broad temporal correlations of their lithotectonic records. Prior to assembly, their initial histories were primarily controlled by the early Neoproterozoic breakup of Rodinia with second order variances reflecting the differing relationships of their basement continental blocks to that supercontinent. The Terra Australis Orogen developed on basement blocks that previously occupied interior locations within Rodinia and initial successions record development of a passive continental margin. The North Indo-Australie orogen records a similar history of passive margin development, but at least its Indian portion was likely separate from Rodinia. The basement blocks of the Avalonian-Cadomian Orogen previously occupied exterior locations around Rodinia with initial successions indicating the development of a convergent plate margin. As Gondwana assembled, Avalonian-Cadomian convergence terminated at about the same time as convergence commenced in the Terra Australis and North Indo-Australie orogens. The absence of a complete long-lived contemporaneous subduction girdle around Gondwana likely prevented its breakup, in contrast to Rodinia and Pangea, in which the presence of subduction girdles corresponds with lithospheric extension across the supercontinents as a precursor to their ultimate breakup.
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Hoffman (1991) elaborated a model proposing the Meso/Neo Proterozoic Rodinia supercontinent (Fig. 1), based on geological and (partly) on paleomagnetic grounds. He suggested that Baltica, Amazonia, Congo and Kalahari were the most probable units to border eastern and southern Laurentia, since they have similar Grenvillian orogenic belts (1.2-1.0 Ga). In his model, Hoffman (1991) suggests that the (present) northeastern Kalahari craton (including the Lurian belt) was flanked by East Antarctica, and that this craton belonged to the East Gondwana during the amalgamation of the Gondwana supercontinent in the Neoproterozoic.
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The Mozambique Belt, which runs the length of eastern Africa, was thought to have formed during the collision of a fully assembled east Gondwana with west Gondwana during the East Africa Orogen (EAO). Subsequent work demonstrated that the elements of the Gondwana super‐continent were distributed along the margins of Laurentia in the antecedent super‐continent of Rodinia. It was quickly recognized that west Gondwana was an amalgam of cratonic elements assembled in the latter part of the Neoproterozoic during the Brasiliano and “Pan‐African” orogenic episodes (ca. 630–500 Ma). East Gondwana was traditionally depicted in Rodinia as a coherent landmass composed of Australia, the East Antarctic eraton, India, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka.
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