Search

Zircon U-Pb geochronology was applied to investigate the provenance, depositional ages, and paleogeography of the southwestern Gondwana in detrital and ash fall sediments from Carboniferous to Jurassic succession of the southern Paraná Basin. Four detrital age populations suggest provenance from local and distal sources located to the south, southeast, and southwest: (i) Archean to Paleoproterozoic zircons from the Rio de La Plata Craton, Nico Peres and Taquarembó terranes; (ii) Grenvillian zircons from the basement of the Gondwanides and Namaqua–Natal belts; (iii) Neoproterozoic grains from the Don Feliciano Belt; and (iv) Phanerozoic populations from Paleozoic orogenic belts and related foreland systems in Argentina, as well as eroded units of the Paraná Basin. The paleogeographic reconstruction indicates an evolution in three distinct stages: (1) a gulf open to the Panthalassa Ocean during the Carboniferous; (2) an epicontinental sea with the rise of the Gondwanides Orogeny during the Permian; and (3) continental deposits controlled by an intra-plate graben system during the Triassic. Permian–Triassic volcanogenic zircons provide constrained maximum depositional ages and attested persistent volcanism, related to the Choiyoi magmatism and effects of the climate change episodes. During the Triassic, the extensional graben system recorded the uplift of the basement through regional northwest and northeast fault systems, and the recycling of Permian zircons, modifying source-to-sink relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the provenance, volcanic record, and tectonic setting of the Paleozoic Ventania System, a geologic province which comprises the Cambro-Devonian Ventania Fold Belt and the adjoining Permo-Carboniferous Claromecó Foreland Basin, located inboard the deformation front. The Ventania Fold Belt is formed of the Curamalal and Ventana groups, which are composed mainly of mature quartzites that were unconformably deposited on igneous and metamorphic basement. The Pillahuincó Group is exposed as part of the Claromecó Basin and it has lithological and structural features totally distinct from the lowermost groups. This group is composed of immature arkoses and subarkoses with intercalated tuff horizons, unconformably overlaying the quartzites and associated with glacial-marine deposits of the lower Late Carboniferous to Early Permian section. The petrography, as well as major and trace elements (including rare earth elements) support that the Ventania quartzites were derived from cratonic sources and deposited in a passive margin environment. For the Pillahuincó Group, we suggest a transition between rocks derived from and deposited in a passive margin environment to those with geochemical and petrographical signatures indicative of an active continental margin provenance. LA-MC-ICP-MS analysis performed on euhedral and prismatic zircon grains of the tuffs revealed an age of 284 ± 15 Ma. The geochemical fingerprints and geochronological data of the tuffs found in the Claromecó Basin support the presence of an active and widespread Lower Permian pyroclastic activity in southwestern Gondwana, which is interpreted as part of the Choiyoi Volcanic Province in Argentina and Chile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thick quartzites record significant information on cratonic environments during long geological periods. The capacity to resist weathering and deformation turn the quartzite covers especially useful in the provenance studies of Precambrian basins. Provenance of 194 detrital zircon grains from two samples of thick quartzite cover on the Paleoproterozoic Encantadas Complex displays mostly Paleoproterozoic (95%) and minor Archean (5%) sources. The results indicate that sediments were derived from the La Plata Craton with the maximum depositional age at 2.03 Ga possibly up to 1.7 Ga. In comparison, the adjacent Porongos Group has provenance data of 61 detrital zircon grains indicating mostly Mesoproterozoic (69%), subordinately Paleoproterozoic (26%) and minor Archean ages (5%). Considering previous published data, the Porongos Group is Ediacaran in age and probably chronocorrelated with sedimentary basins from the Tandilia Belt (Argentina). Therefore, the quartzite cover and the Porongos Group require distinct evolution in time and in tectonic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Passo Feio complex (PFC) is a sequence of metapelite, amphibolite, metavolcanic/metavolcanoclastic rocks, marble, calc-silicate rocks, quartzite and magnesium schist. It is part of the São Gabriel Terrane, a Neoproterozoic juvenile arc formed during the early stages of evolution of the Neoproterozoic Dom Feliciano Belt (DFB), in southern Brazil. This belt corresponds to the southernmost portion of the Mantiqueira Province, an important Neoproterozoic orogenic system exposed in the NNE direction along the southeastern coast of Brazil. The geotectonic significance of the original Passo Feio basin in the tectonic evolution of São Gabriel Terrene is not well understood. It has been considered as part of a passive margin sequence or as a back-arc sequence. Geochronological and isotopic data are very scarse for the Passo Feio rocks and this has hampered the better understanding of its significance in the Neoproterozoic tectonic evolution of southern Brazil. In the present study the age and significance of metasedimentary rocks of the PFC were investigated. The provenance study was carried out in four metapelite samples from the southern and northern Passo Feio complex, using U-Pb dating of detrital zircon. The results showed varied provenance patterns and zircon ages range from 3637 to 803 Ma. Paleo- and Mesoproterozoic detrital zircon grains are present in all samples, but an important Neoproterozoic population has been identified in one of them. 3.5 Ga old zircon grains form the oldest population of detrital zircon ever reported in southern Brazil. Paleoproterozoic/Archean terranes within the Rio de la Plata Craton may represent the main source of detrital sediments and this suggests that part of the Passo Feio complex might have been a passive margin sequence, developed along the northeastern margin of that paleocontinent. However, the presence of a Neoproterozoic zircon population is not consistent with derivation solely from the craton and indicates contribution from younger sources, such as the Neoproterozoic São Gabriel Arc itself. This Neoproterozoic zircon population with ages ranging from 948 to 803 Ma, suggests that the onset of the magmatic/tectonic evolution of the São Gabriel Arc might have started as early ca. 0.95 Ma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We combined U-Pb and Lu-Hf analyses of detrital zircon grains. [•] We analysed paleocurrent data for information about the sedimentary provenance. [•] The U–Pb zircon data present predominantly Paleoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic ages. [•] Lu–Hf model ages exhibit a predominantly Archean and Paleoproterozoic inheritance. [•] The zircon grains display a predominantly negative ɛHf values. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]