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The Northern Highlands Terrane of Scotland hosts several thrust nappes that were deformed and metamorphosed during the Silurian Scandian orogeny. Quantitative petrological analysis of metamorphic assemblages indicates that the hinterland-positioned Naver nappe experienced decompression heating from 8–9 kbar and 600°C to 6–7 kbar and 700°C. Monazite–xenotime thermometry and geochronology delineate a detailed temperature–time history for the Naver nappe. Monazite often exhibits compositional zoning, which is used to establish multiple temperature–time points in several samples. These data indicate that the Naver nappe experienced relatively fast heating (c. 50°C myr−1) and relatively slow cooling (15–20°C myr−1), with peak temperatures occurring at c. 425 Ma. This temperature–time evolution is compatible with the early Emsian (407–403 Ma) deposition of unmetamorphosed conglomerates that rest on high-grade metamorphic rocks in the Naver nappe, but requires an acceleration in the cooling rate to 40–50°C myr−1 at 420–410 Ma. Geochronological constraints from this study and previous work suggest that deformation and metamorphism in the hinterland of the Scandian orogen in northern mainland Scotland are younger than the c. 430 Ma deformation in the foreland-positioned Moine thrust zone. We postulate that heat from pervasive granitic intrusions in the Naver nappe weakened the crust, allowing deformation to retreat to the hinterland of the orogen. Supplementary material: A description of our analytical methods, all U–Pb-trace element data, additional figures explaining our petrological analysis and other relevant data are available at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4458041

New 40Ar/39Ar thermochronological and deformation temperature analyses in the Scandian (c. 435–420 Ma) orogenic retrowedge of northern Scotland demonstrate accelerated cooling during late syn- to post-orogenic exhumation of the high-grade orogenic core. Initial cooling rates of 10–30°C myr−1 immediately following peak orogenesis transitioned to rapid rates of 45–90°C myr−1 during final exhumation of the Naver thrust sheet in the orogenic core. The flanking ductile thrust sheets exhibit a similar, albeit less pronounced, acceleration of cooling, with rates increasing by c. 150–300% following peak orogenesis. Closer to the foreland, the Moine thrust sheet did not experience increased cooling rates. Calculated unroofing rates of 3.75 mm a−1 in the high-grade Naver thrust sheet suggest increasing, rapid exhumation in the orogenic core during a presumed collapse phase of orogenesis. This is contrary to the expectation of decreasing erosional efficiency as topography is diminished and is interpreted to suggest that unroofing of the Scottish Caledonides may have been partially enhanced by upper crustal extensional deformation during ductile flow of the infrastructure of the orogenic core. Similar processes have been interpreted in the East Greenland Caledonides, which form the northern extension of the Scandian retrowedge. Supplementary material:40Ar/39Ar analytical data for muscovite (Supplementary Data Table 1), 40Ar/39Ar analytical data for amphibole (Supplementary Data Table 2), and electron microprobe analytical data for amphibole samples (Supplementary Data Table 3) is available at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5087057

In the Caledonides of northern Scotland temperatures of metamorphism (Tm) and deformation (Td) progressively increase structurally up section in the Moine thrust sheet at the foreland edge of the Scandian (mid Silurian) orogenic wedge. However, the thermal history of the structurally overlying, more hinterland positioned thrust sheets is less well known. This study focuses on determining Td and Tm for both the central/upper part of the Moine thrust sheet and the lower part of the overlying Sgurr Beag thrust sheets in the middle of the Northern Highlands Terrane. Preserved microstructures and quartz c-axis fabric opening angles in the Moine and Sgurr Beag thrust sheets imply Td of 460 °C to 605 °C ± 50 °C. Thermobarometry and pseudosection-based P-T constraints, indicate Tm of ∼550–680 °C at 4.8–7.2 kbar in the Moine thrust sheet and Tm of ∼620 °C at 5.6–7.7 kbar in the Sgurr Beag thrust sheet. Together, Td and Tm in the Moine and Sgurr Beag thrust sheets indicate that deformation continued after peak metamorphic conditions in the Sgurr Beag thrust sheet. Monazite and xenotime petrochronology show that Tm, and possibly Td, record Precambrian metamorphism. Peak metamorphism is associated with the Knoydartian orogenic event (840-720 Ma), with possible reworking during Scandian thrusting (430-425 Ma).

Variations in flow kinematics influence the type of crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) in plastically deformed quartz, yet we currently lack a robust means of quantifying the diagnostic symmetries that develop in the c-axis (0001) pole figure. In this contribution, we demonstrate how the symmetry of common c-axis topologies may be quantified by analysing the intensity distribution across a line transect of the pole figure margin. A symmetry value (S) measures the relative difference in intensities between marginal girdle maxima in the pole figure, and thus the degree to which the pole figure defines orthorhombic or monoclinic end member symmetries. This provides a semi-quantitative depiction of whether the rocks underwent coaxial or non-coaxial flow, respectively, and may subsequently be used to quantify other topological properties, such as the opening angle of girdle maxima. The open source Matlab® toolbox MTEX is used to quantify pole figure symmetries in quartzite samples from the Main Central Thrust (NW Himalaya) and the Moine Thrust (NW Scotland).

This study proposes a refined approach for quantification of the vorticity of kinematic flow in natural shear zones. This approach, here called C′-c method, is based on estimation of the angle between the flow apophyses A1 and A2 by performing two independent measurements. The tilting angle of a quartz crystallographic preferred orientation (β) and the orientation of the C′ shear bands (θ). Using these two angles it is possible to quantify the sectional vorticity number using the following formula: Wn = Cos[2(θ-β)]. Data obtained by applying the C′-c method on known shear zones well match the vorticity numbers estimated with other approaches on the same structures. In this study, we applied the C′-c method to the Abloviak Shear Zone (Torngat Orogen) and the Ben Hope Thrust (Caledonides of NW Scotland) obtaining the first vorticity data on these structures. Our data show that the C′-c method can increase the potential range of rocks in which it is possible to estimate kinematic vorticity. Our results also show that the C′-c method can be negatively affected by microscale kinematic flow partitioning, highlighting the importance of a detailed microstructure characterization of the studied rocks before any estimate of kinematic vorticity is attempted.

Previous measurements of water in deformed quartzites using conventional Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) instruments have shown that water contents of larger grains vary from one grain to another. However, the non-equilibrium variations in water content between neighboring grains and within quartz grains cannot be interrogated further without greater measurement resolution, nor can water contents be measured in finely recrystallized grains without including absorption bands due to fluid inclusions, films, and secondary minerals at grain boundaries.Synchrotron infrared (IR) radiation coupled to a FTIR spectrometer has allowed us to distinguish and measure OH bands due to fluid inclusions, hydrogen point defects, and secondary hydrous mineral inclusions through an aperture of 10 µm for specimens > 40 µm thick. Doubly polished infrared (IR) plates can be prepared with thicknesses down to 4–8 µm, but measurement of small OH bands is currently limited by strong interference fringes for samples x − y stage, spectra have been collected over specimen areas of nearly 4.5 mm2. This technique allowed us to separate and quantify broad OH bands due to fluid inclusions in quartz and OH bands due to micas and map their distributions in quartzites from the Moine Thrust (Scotland) and Main Central Thrust (Himalayas).Mylonitic quartzites deformed under greenschist facies conditions in the footwall to the Moine Thrust (MT) exhibit a large and variable 3400 cm−1 OH absorption band due to molecular water, and maps of water content corresponding to fluid inclusions show that inclusion densities correlate with deformation and recrystallization microstructures. Quartz grains of mylonitic orthogneisses and paragneisses deformed under amphibolite conditions in the hanging wall to the Main Central Thrust (MCT) exhibit smaller broad OH bands, and spectra are dominated by sharp bands at 3595 to 3379 cm−1 due to hydrogen point defects that appear to have uniform, equilibrium concentrations in the driest samples. The broad OH band at 3400 cm−1 in these rocks is much less common. The variable water concentrations of MT quartzites and lack of detectable water in highly sheared MCT mylonites challenge our understanding of quartz rheology. However, where water absorption bands can be detected and compared with deformation microstructures, OH concentration maps provide information on the histories of deformation and recovery, evidence for the introduction and loss of fluid inclusions, and water weakening processes.

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Accessory phase geochronology records several phases of metamorphism that affected Moine metasedimentary rocks in the Northern Highlands Terrane of Scotland. Within the Sgurr Beag nappe, monazite and xenotime record initial metamorphism at c. 750 Ma, with later resetting at c. 600 Ma and c. 425 Ma. Monazite, xenotime, titanite and zircon also cryptically record c. 750 Ma and c. 600 Ma metamorphism in the Naver and Ben Hope nappes prior to the dominant 435-415 Ma Scandian orogeny. Textural, geochemical, and isotopic data indicate that c. 600 Ma and c. 425 Ma isotopic resetting in the Sgurr Beag nappe was caused by fluid-mediated dissolution and reprecipitation of monazite and xenotime. The compositions of fluid-altered monazite fall into two distinct trends, with high and low Y+HREE apparently reflecting the distinct timing and temperature conditions of dissolution and reprecipitation. Monazite-xenotime thermometry is applied to constrain the temperatures of fluid alteration. High Y+HREE, low Th/U monazite is related to high temperature (∼650°C) alteration at c. 600 Ma and low Y+HREE, high Th/U monazite is related to lower temperature (∼400°C) reactivity at c. 425 Ma. These data show that the composition of reprecipitated monazite is sensitive to metamorphic conditions during fluid alteration and is therefore useful in understanding the evolution of polyphase metamorphic terranes. These data suggest that a widespread metamorphic or metasomatic event affected northern Scotland at c. 600 Ma, likely related to higher heat flux and magmatic activity during the break-up of Rodinia. Additionally, the now adjacent Sgurr Beag and Moine nappes appear to have contrasting metamorphic records at least until Caledonian orogenesis, which suggests that final regional scale motion on the Sgurr Beag thrust must be of Caledonian age.

Garnet is a versatile and useful indicator mineral exploited in numerous geological studies. Despite its utility in providing thermobarometry and geochronology constraints, many difficulties remain in making meaningful interpretations of such data. In this paper, we characterize garnet grains from over 140 garnet-bearing metasedimentary rock samples collected from the northern part of the Moine Supergroup (Scottish Caledonides). Large, euhedral garnet grains are interpreted to be indicative of prograde metamorphic growth during the most recent (Scandian, c. 430 Ma) phase of orogenesis. Anhedral garnet is largely restricted to the relatively low-grade (greenschist – lower amphibolite facies) Moine thrust sheet, with an abrupt change in morphology and grain size when traced across the overlying Ben Hope and Sgurr Beag thrusts into the higher grade, more hinterland-positioned thrust sheets. Our results suggest that caution should be exercised in using anhedral garnet in the Moine thrust sheet to estimate peak P–T conditions associated with low temperature (< ~500 °C) Scandian metamorphism, because in at least some cases garnet growth may have occurred during an earlier metamorphic event. However, chemical and isotopic data from this structurally lower anhedral garnet may still be useful for deconvolving a possible polymetamorphic history for this thrust sheet. In the immediately overlying Ben Hope thrust sheet, garnet has prograde euhedral (Scandian?) rims, indicating that the Ben Hope thrust must represent a significant thermal and/or chemical break. Inclusion distribution and mineral assemblages in garnet have been used to gain further insight on garnet growth conditions and to distinguish garnet that likely contains multiple generations of growth. Although our results are specific to the Caledonides of northern Scotland, this work highlights the general necessity of a comprehensive petrographic assessment in advance of interpreting large suites of garnet-derived thermodynamic and geochronological data.

The Himalayan orogen represents a ‘‘Composite Orogenic System’’ in which channel flow, wedge extrusion, and thrust stacking operate in separate ‘‘Orogenic Domains’’ with distinct rheologies and crustal positions. We analyze 104 samples from the metamorphic core (Greater Himalayan Sequence, GHS) and bounding units of the Annapurna-Dhaulagiri Himalaya, central Nepal. Optical microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analyses provide a record of deformation microstructures and an indication of active crystal slip systems, strain geometries, and deformation temperatures. These data, combined with existing thermobarometry and geochronology data are used to construct detailed deformation temperature profiles for the GHS. The profiles define a three-stage thermokinematic evolution from midcrustal channel flow (Stage 1, >7008C to 550–6508C), to rigid wedge extrusion (Stage 2, 400–6008C) and duplexing (Stage 3

The Hermit's Gorge area adjacent to the Rongbuk Glacier on the north side of Mount Everest is a critical location to establish the timing and duration of movement along the ductile strand of the South Tibetan Detachment system (STDS), a low-angle, north-dipping normal fault that bounds the upper part of the Greater Himalayan Sequence. Monazite from four leucogranite samples in the Hermit's Gorge that bracket the timing of ductile fabric development has been dated using both U/Th–Pb ID-TIMS and LA-MC-ICPMS. Results suggest that the earliest, ~ 16.4 Ma, leucogranite sills have been folded and deformed along with the host sillimanite gneisses and calc-silicates whereas structurally higher sills and dykes that post-date fabric development are slightly younger, all within uncertainty of one another at 15.6 to 15.4 Ma. Field relations combined with age data constrain ductile fabric formation associated with movement along this strand of the STDS as being on-going at 16.4 Ma but had ceased prior to 15.6 Ma, while brittle faulting along the STDS is younger than 15.4 Ma. Combined with data from the Everest massif and surrounding region, ages of granite crystallization and ductile shearing propagated up-structural section and northward with time.

Recent thermometric analyses of samples collected in thrust-parallel structural transects across the Scandian (435–415 Ma) orogenic wedge in northwest Scotland provide a comprehensive characterization of the synorogenic retro-wedge thermal architecture. However, the paucity of petrologically-important metamorphic mineral phases (e.g., staurolite, Al-silicates) has limited investigation of pressure–temperature ( P – T ) histories, which hinders our ability to examine the nature of orogen-scale kinematic and thermal coupling. New data collected along a foreland-to-hinterland transect from the Moine to the Naver thrust sheets provides additional constraints for characterizing the prograde metamorphic evolution. In addition, we characterized Ti diffusion profiles in quartz inclusions in garnet to constrain duration of metamorphic heating. These results are used to develop coupled kinematic-thermal models of Scandian orogenic evolution. Early garnet core growth conditions are constrained by isopleth intersections, with peak P – T estimates determined by conventional exchange and net transfer thermobarometry and thermodynamic calculations. Most samples follow normal prograde heating and burial profiles, with peak conditions of 450 °C and 5.0 kbar in the immediate hanging wall to the Moine thrust, increasing in temperature and pressure to 733 °C and 9.5 kbar in the immediate hanging wall to the Naver thrust. These normal prograde pressure trajectories are interpreted to reflect burial of incipient thrust sheets beneath the overriding wedge at the leading edge of the orogen. Prograde heating coeval with burial is interpreted to result from surface-directed isotherm perturbation due to thrust-related advection in the overriding wedge. One exception to this is a sample from the top of the Moine thrust sheet, where prograde heating occurs during decompression (540 °C and 8.1 kbar to 590 °C and 7.0 kbar). In this case, the short lag times between motion on the Moine and Ben Hope thrusts may have limited advectionary heating until after exhumation associated with motion on the underlying Moine thrust was underway. Ti diffusion profiles in quartz inclusions in garnet suggest the near-peak thermal evolution of these rocks occurred over very short time scales ( 9 kbar are probably of detrital origin.

We model the development of shape preferred orientation (SPO) of a large population of two- and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) rigid clasts suspended in a linear viscous matrix deformed by superposed steady and continuously non-steady plane strain flows to investigate the sensitivity of clasts to changing boundary conditions during a single or superposed deformation events. Resultant clast SPOs are compared to one developed by an identical initial population that experienced a steady flow history of constant kinematic vorticity and reached an identical finite strain state, allowing examination of SPO sensitivity to deformation path. Rotation paths of individual triaxial inclusions are complex, even for steady plane strain flow histories. It has been suggested that the 3D nature of the system renders predictions based on 2D models inadequate for applied clast-based kinematic vorticity gauges. We demonstrate that for a large population of clasts, simplification to a 2D model does provide a good approximation to the SPO predicted by full 3D analysis for steady and non-steady plane strain deformation paths. Predictions of shape fabric development from 2D models are not only qualitatively similar to the more complex 3D analysis, but they display the same limitations of techniques based on clast SPO commonly used as a quantitative kinematic vorticity gauge. Our model results from steady, superposed, and non-steady flow histories with a significant pure shearing component at a wide range of finite strain resemble predictions for an identical initial population that experienced a single steady simple shearing deformation. We conclude that individual 2D and 3D clasts respond instantaneously to changes in boundary conditions, however, in aggregate, the SPO of a population of rigid inclusions does not reflect the late-stage kinematics of deformation, nor is it an indicator of the unique ‘mean’ kinematic vorticity experienced by a deformed rock volume.

The metamorphic core of the Himalaya (Greater Himalayan Sequence, GHS), in the Annapurna-Dhaulagiri region, central Nepal recorded orogen-parallel stretching during mid-crustal evolution. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and field-based structural analyses suggest that mid-crustal deformation of the amphibolite facies core of the GHS occurred under an oblate/sub-oblate strain regime with associated formation of low-angle northward-dipping foliation. Magnetic and mineral stretching lineations lying within this foliation from the top of the GHS record right-lateral orogen-parallel stretching. We propose that oblate strain within a mid-crustal flow accommodated oblique convergence between India and the arcuate orogenic front without need for strain partitioning in the upper-crust. Oblate flattening may have also promoted orogen-parallel melt migration and development of melt-depleted regions between km3-scale leucogranite culminations at ~50-100 km intervals along orogen-strike. Following cessation of flow, continued oblique convergence led to upper-crustal strain partitioning between orogen-perpendicular convergence on thrust faults and orogen-parallel extension on normal and strike-slip faults. In the Annapurna-Dhaulagiri Himalaya, orogen-parallel stretching lineations are interpreted as a record of transition from mid-crustal orogen-perpendicular extrusion to upper-crustal orogen-parallel stretching. Our findings suggest that mid-crustal flow and upper-crustal extension could not be maintained simultaneously and support other studies from across the Himalaya, which propose an orogen-wide transition from mid-crustal orogen-perpendicular extrusion to upper-crustal orogen-parallel extension during the mid-Miocene. The 3D nature of oblate strain and orogen-parallel stretching cannot be replicated by 2D numerical simulations of the Himalayan orogen.

The ubiquity of quartz in continental crust, and the involvement of SiO 2 in multiple metamorphic processes such as reactions, fluid flux, and solution-transfer processes, makes quartz an obvious choice for reconstructing prograde metamorphic conditions in various rock types. Recent studies have shown the usefulness of analyzing Ti distribution in quartz to constrain pressure-temperature-(relative) time-deformation ( P-T-t-D ) in metamorphosed tectonites. New high-precision single-crystal X-ray diffraction volume constraints on Ti-doped and chemically pure quartz provide further evidence for substitution of Ti 4+ for Si 4+ in the tetrahedral site in quartz, with resultant lattice strain on the structure. Recent applications of the Ti-in-quartz thermobarometer to dynamically recrystallized quartz have identified recrystallized subgrains that contain lower Ti concentrations ([Ti]) than their host porphyroclasts. In addition, [Ti] are lower than expected for the temperatures of recrystallization. Atomistic simulations that estimate energetic perturbations resulting from Ti incorporation into the quartz lattice indicate that significant increases in strain energy occur only at very high [Ti]; the strain-energy increase is negligible for [Ti] typical of quartz grown under mid-crustal conditions. This suggests that lattice strain rarely provides an appreciable driving force for Ti loss from quartz; instead, it appears that subgrain boundaries and dislocation arrays migrating through recrystallizing quartz crystals can promote localized re-equilibration, thermodynamically regulated by the composition of the intergranular medium (typically undersaturated in Ti). It therefore appears that analyses from dynamically recrystallized quartz cannot be meaningfully interpreted until methods are developed that can account quantitatively for the reduction of Ti resulting from crystal plastic flow.

For quartz-rich tectonites two types of deformation thermometer are currently commonly employed: 1) The quartz c -axis fabric opening-angle thermometer that provides an estimate of deformation temperatures when fabrics were ‘locked in’ during dislocation creep and dynamic recrystallization. 2) The quartz recrystallization thermometer that indicates a range of likely deformation temperatures based on observed microstructures and inferred mechanisms of dynamic recrystallization. A critically important caveat in applying both thermometers is the assumption that deformation temperature is the primary controlling factor in recrystallization mechanisms and fabric development. However, fabric opening-angles and recrystallization mechanisms are also sensitive to other variables such as strain rate and water weakening. In this paper the development of these thermometers is reviewed, and their potential sensitivities to competing factors such as temperature, strain rate, water weakening and (in the case of opening-angles) 3D strain type are discussed. Examples of the application of these potential thermometers to naturally deformed quartz-rich rocks are given, and case studies of correlations between deformation temperatures estimated by these thermometers and temperatures of synkinematic metamorphism determined by petrology-based thermobarometers are highlighted. In the review, attention is focused on problems associated with applying these thermometers to natural deformation, and examples of such problems are discussed.

Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility parameters have been analyzed at 311 locations in the Eureka Valley–Joshua Flat–Beer Creek (EJB) pluton of eastern California. The large amount of data has allowed for the AMS parameters to be contoured using techniques that both reveal map-scale trends and emphasize small-scale differences. The contour maps suggest that magnetic susceptibility is dominantly controlled by composition of the magma but may also be affected by emplacement-related strain as the magma chamber inflated and forced the wall rocks outward. Pluton construction involved two major pulses of different composition magmas that were emplaced sequentially but with overlapping periods of crystallization. The magmas initially intruded as sill-like bodies into a structural basin. The magnetic foliation of the pluton cuts across internal magmatic contacts on the map scale and is parallel to local contacts between the pluton and surrounding metasedimentary wall rocks. The magnetic fabric is similar in orientation and symmetry to intense flattening strains recorded in the aureole rocks. The metasedimentary wall rocks have been shortened between 60 and 70% and this strain magnitude is approximately equal on the west, south, and east margins of the pluton. Strain in the wall rocks is dominantly flattening and concentrated into a narrow (1 km wide) inner aureole. Mapping of bedding/cleavage intersection lineations south of the pluton indicates that the magma made room for itself by translating the wall rocks outward and rotating the already inward dipping wall rocks of the structural basin to sub-vertical. Stretching of the inner aureole around an expanding magma chamber was responsible for the intense shortening. Limited data on the Marble Canyon pluton to the south of the EJB pluton indicates a very similar emplacement process.

We report new deformation temperature and flow vorticity data from the base of the Greater Himalayan Series (GHS) exposed in the Sutlej Valley and Shimla Klippe of NW India. We focus on three groups of transects across the hanging wall of the Main Central Thrust (MCT). In order of relative foreland – hinterland positions, they are the Shimla Klippe, Western and Eastern Sutlej transects. Deformation temperatures indicated by quartz c-axis fabric opening-angles increase both from foreland to hinterland at a given structural distance above the MCT and up structural section from the MCT within individual transects. Deformation temperatures in the immediate hanging wall to the MCT are estimated at ∼510–535, 535–550 and 610 °C on the Shimla, Western Sutlej and Eastern Sutlej transects, respectively. The steepest inferred field gradients in deformation temperatures are recorded adjacent to the MCT and progressively decrease up structural section following a power law relationship. Comparison with temperature estimates based on multi-mineral phase equilibria data suggests that penetrative shearing occurred at close to peak metamorphic conditions. Vorticity analyses indicate that shearing along the base of the GHS occurred under sub-simple shear conditions (Wm values of 0.9–1.0) with a minor component of pure shear.

The Neogene elevation history of the Mount Everest region is key for understanding the tectonic history of the world's highest mountain range, the evolution of the Tibetan Plateau, and climate patterns in East and Central Asia. In the absence of fossil surface deposits such as paleosols, volcanic ashes, or lake sediments, we conducted stable isotope paleoaltimetry based on the hydrogen isotope ratios (dD) of hydrous minerals that were deformed in the South Tibetan detachment shear zone during the late Early Miocene. These minerals exchanged isotopically at high temperature with meteoric water (dDwater = m156p p 5p) that originated as high-elevation precipitation and infiltrated the crustal hydrologic system at the time of detachment activity. When compared to age-equivalent near-sea-level foreland oxygen isotope (d18O) paleosol records (d18Owater = m5.8p p 1.0p), the difference in d18Owater is consistent with mean elevations of g5000 m for the Mount Everest area. Mean elevations similar to modern suggest that an early Himalayan rain shadow may have influenced the late Early Miocene climatic and rainfall history to the north of the Himalayan chain.

The Himalaya-Tibet and Caledonide orogens are comparable in scale and are similar in various aspects. Regional suture zones are recognizable in both, although their identification is more problematic in the deeply eroded Caledonide orogen. Crustal-scale thrust belts, regional Barrovian metamorphism characterized by clockwise P-T paths, and migmatitic cores with crustally-derived leucogranite complexes are the dominant structural feature of both orogens. Both orogens also record calc-alkaline magmatism attributed to subduction activity prior to collision. Syn-orogenic extension accompanied crustal thickening in both orogens, however, the Caledonides also have a protracted record of late- to post-orogenic extension that is attributed to lithospheric delamination in combination with oblique plate divergence. The oblique nature of the Caledonian collision is also reflected in the development of regionally significant sinistral strike-slip faults and shear zones, whereas such structures are apparently not as significant within the Himalayan orogen. The major difference between the two orogens relates to their contrasting gross structure: the Caledonides has bivergent geometry with thrust belts developed in the proand retro-wedges, whereas the Himalaya has a thrust belt located only in the pro-wedge segment. These differing geometries are probably explicable with reference to pre-collision contrasts in rheology and/or inherited structures. As such, there is no reason to suggest that either example should be viewed as being a 'typical' product of collisional orogenesis - they likely represent end-members of a range of possible orogenic profiles. © The Geological Society of London 2010.

The channel-flow model for the Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS) of the Himalayan orogen involves a partially molten, rheologically weak, mid-crustal layer “flowing” southward relative to the upper and lower crust during late Oligocene–Miocene. Flow was driven by topographic overburden, underthrusting, and focused erosion. We present new structural and thermobarometric analyses from the GHS in the Annapurna-Dhaulagiri Hima­laya, central Nepal; these data suggest that during exhumation, the GHS cooled, strengthened, and transformed from a weak “active channel” to a strong “channel plug” at greater depths than elsewhere in the Himalaya. After strengthening, continued convergence resulted in localized top-southwest (top-SW) shortening on the South Tibetan detachment system (STDS). The GHS in the Annapurna-Dhaulagiri Himalaya displays several geological features that distinguish it from other Himalayan regions. These include reduced volumes of leucogranite and migmatite, no evidence for partial melting within the sillimanite stability field, reduced structural thickness, and late-stage top-southwest shortening in the STDS. New and previously published structural and thermobarometric constraints suggest that the channel-flow model can be applied to mid-Eocene–early Miocene mid-crustal evolution of the GHS in the Annapurna-Dhaulagiri Himalaya. However, pressure-temperature-time (PTt) constraints indicate that following peak conditions, the GHS in this region did not undergo rapid isothermal exhumation and widespread sillima­nite-grade decompression melting, as commonly recorded elsewhere in the Hima­laya. Instead, lower-than-typical structural thickness and melt volumes suggest that the upper part of the GHS (Upper Greater Himalayan Sequence [UGHS]—the proposed channel) had a greater viscosity than in other Hima­layan regions. We suggest that viscosity-limited, subdued channel flow prevented exhumation on an isothermal trajectory and forced the UGHS to exhume slowly. These findings are distinct from other regions in the Himalaya. As such, we describe the mid-crustal evolution of the GHS in the Annapurna-­Dhaulagiri Himalaya as an atypical example of channel flow during the Himalayan orogeny.

Clast-based vorticity gauges utilize orientations of grains assumed to have behaved as isolated rigid particles suspended in a flowing viscous matrix. A fundamental assumption behind use of the method is that sufficient strain has accumulated for high aspect ratio grains to rotate into positions approaching their stable sink orientation, and that clasts below a critical aspect ratio may be observed in any orientation relative to the flow plane. We constructed a numerical model to explore the effect of variable finite strain on development of the orientation distribution of a large population of rigid clasts embedded in a viscous medium for end-member pure and simple shear and for several distinct general shear flows. Our model predicts the technique will tend to produce vorticity overestimates for lower vorticity flows for a wide range of finite strain. The model also indicates that clast populations in moderate to high vortical flows tend to develop shape preferred orientations that closely resemble those expected for flows of lower vorticity. We conclude that clast-based methods are not effective for extracting detailed kinematic information from a mylonite deformed in a flow with arbitrary boundary conditions. In fact, it appears that most general shear flows continued long enough to develop moderate–high finite strains will tend to produce a clast orientation distribution that will yield a visual estimate of the critical aspect ratio that suggests approximately equal contributions of pure and simple shear components.

The close relationship between crustal magmatism, an expression of heat dissipation, and tectonics, an expression of stress dissipation, leads to the question of their mutual relationships. Indeed, the low viscosity of magmas and the large viscosity contrast between magmas and surrounding rocks favor strain localization in magmas, and then possible “magmatic” initiation of structures at a wide range of scales. However, new data about 3-d pluton shape and duration of pluton construction perturb this simple geological image, and indicate some independence between magmatism and tectonics. In some cases we observe a direct genetic link and strong arguments for physical interactions between magmas and tectonics. In other cases, we observe an absence of these interactions and it is unclear how magma transfer and emplacement are related to lithospheric-plate dynamics. A simple explanation of this complexity follows directly from the pulsed, incremental assembly of plutons and its spatial and temporal characteristics. The size of each pluton is related to a magmatic pulsation at a particular time scale, and each of these coupled time/space scales is related to a specific process: in small plutons, we can observe the incremental process, the building block of plutons; in larger plutons, the incremental process is lost, and the pulsation, which consists of a cycle of injections at different timescales, must be related to the composition and thermal regime of the source region, itself driving magmatic processes (melting, segregation, and transfer) that interact with tectonic boundary conditions. The dynamics of pulsed magmatism observed in plutonic systems is then a proxy for deep lithospheric and magmatic processes. From our data and a review of published work, we find a positive corelation between volume and duration of pluton construction. The larger a pluton, the longer its construction time. Large/fast or small/slow plutons have not been identified to date. One consequence of this observation is that plutonic magmatic fluxes seem to be comparable from one geodynamic setting to another and also over various geologic time spans. A second consequence of this correlation is that small plutons, which are constructed in a geologically short length of time, commonly record little about tectonic conditions, and result only from the interference between magma dynamics and the local geologic setting. The fast rate of magma transfer in the crust (on the order of cm/s) relative to tectonic rates (on the order of cm/yr) explain why the incremental process of pluton construction is independent of – but not insensitive to – the tectonic setting. However, in large plutonic bodies, which correspond to longer duration magmatic events, regional deformation has time to interact with the growing pluton and can be recorded within the pluton-wall rock structure. Magma transfer operates at a very short timescale (comparable to volcanic timescales), which can be sustained over variable periods, depending on the fertility of the magma source region and its ability to feed the system. The fast operation of magmatic processes relative to crustal tectonic processes ensures that the former control the system from below.

We have applied transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses coupled with viscoplastic self-consistent (VPSC) numerical modelling to identify the active slip systems and to better understand the crystal preferred orientation (CPO) development of the Torridon quartz mylonite (NW Scotland). TEM analyses showed evidence of activation of 1/3kal{p′}, 1/3kal{z} and possible kal(c) slip systems, as well as dislocation climb and dynamic recrystallization. All the CPOs generated by VPSC models share common characteristics with the Torridon quartz mylonite, but only Models 2 and 3 reproduce the [c]-axes maxima at low angle (,208) to the foliation pole along the YZ plane, as observed in the mylonite. In Model 2, this concentration only occurs at g ≥ 2.6, whereas in Model 3 this maxima occurs at lower shear strains. The models that start with a previous preferred orientation acquire very strong CPOs after small-imposed strains, followed by the rapid rotation of the fabric in relation to the new imposed finite strain axes. The combined activation of kal{p′}, kal{z} and possibly kal(c) slip systems, as demonstrated by TEM analyses, suggests that the VPSC model that best predicts CPO development in the Torridon quartz mylonite is Model 2, where the critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) of kal{p/p′} is assumed to be slightly stronger than kal(c). Quartz mylonites are typical rocks of high-strain zones and result from localized deformation in quartzites and quartz veins and by the intense deformation of granitoids in the presence of fluids under upper to middle-crustal conditions (e.g. Dixon & Williams 1983; Law et al. 1986, 1990; Lloyd et al. 1992; Fitz Gerald & Stunitz 1993; Goodwin & Wenk 1995; Hippertt 1998; Wibberley 1999; Lloyd 2004; Jefferies et al. 2006; Pennacchioni et al. 2010). Less common but no less important is the occurrence of quartz mylonites in the lower crust, suggesting high differential stresses for their generation and implying a contrasting geological behaviour for the lower crust under certain conditions (e.g. Fitz Gerald et al. 2006). In all of these cases, quartz mylonites play an important role in controlling lithospheric strength as they may allow deformation localization (e.g. Carter & Tsenn 1987). Independently of the processes in which the quartz mylonites are generated, a common feature observed in these rocks is the development of strong crystal preferred orientation (CPO) of quartz. Quartz CPOs can be used to infer deformation temperatures, magnitude and symmetry of strain and kinematic framework and the mechanisms for deformation (e.g. Schmid & Casey 1986; Law 1990; Stipp et al. 2002; Law et al. 2004). The development of CPO usually implies the activation of dislocation creep. CPO patterns are usually interpreted in terms of the relative activation of different slip systems, essentially controlled by temperature and variation in the strain and kinematic conditions (e.g. Schmid & Casey 1986; Okudaira et al. 1995; Takeshita 1996; Kurz et al. 2002; Heilbronner & Tullis 2006). Nevertheless, quartz CPOs depart from these expected patterns in many cases given the deformation conditions of certain rocks, and their interpretation by purely intracrystalline plasticity mechanisms is not straightforward (e.g. Hippertt 1998). Mechanisms such as dynamic recrystallization, dissolution/precipitation, grainboundary sliding and diffusion creep have also been used to explain the variety of quartz fabrics observed in both nature and experiments (e.g. From: Prior, D. J., Rutter, E. H. & Tatham, D. J. (eds) Deformation Mechanisms, Rheology and Tectonics: Microstructures, Mechanics and Anisotropy. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 360, 151–174. DOI: 10.1144/SP360.9 # The Geological Society of London 2011. Publishing disclaimer: www.geolsoc.org.uk/pub_ethics Wenk & Christie 1991; Gleason et al. 1993; Hippertt & Egydio-Silva 1996; van Daalen et al. 1999; Heilbronner & Tullis 2002, 2006; Stipp et al. 2002; Halfpenny et al. 2006; Vernooij et al. 2006). In addition, CPO patterns are typically a ‘post-mortem’ feature for which we usually do not know the deformation path that produced the preferred orientation. In general, CPO patterns are interpreted assuming initially randomly distributed crystal orientations in a volume of rock prior to deformation. This deformation, and the mechanisms responsible for its accommodation, is responsible for the development of a given CPO. Indeed, in many cases this is what happens (e.g. Pennacchioni et al. 2010). In other cases, for example, the assumption has to be made simply because of the lack of exposure from lowto high-strain conditions along a shear zone. The role of pre-existing CPO on fabric development in high-strain zones is only rarely considered (e.g. Lister & Williams 1979; Ralser et al. 1991; Lloyd et al. 1992; Toy et al. 2008; Pennacchioni et al. 2010). Such ‘initial’ CPOs may have a strong influence on the ‘final’ CPO patterns observed in shear-zone mylonites. The quartz mylonite studied here originated from intense simple-shear deformation of a quartzfeldspar vein infilling a joint in Lewisian gneiss of the Upper Loch Torridon area (NW Scotland). This vein is perhaps one of the most-studied quartzbearing mylonites in terms of microstructures and preferred orientations (Law et al. 1990; Lloyd et al. 1992; Trimby et al. 1998; Lloyd 2004; Lloyd & Kendall 2005). Nevertheless, specific points regarding the nature and evolution of the CPO of the mature mylonite (centre of the vein/shear zone) and its relation to the CPO of the original quartz vein (now only preserved at the margins of the quartz vein/shear-zone walls) remain poorly constrained. Specifically, it is not well understood whether the crystallographic orientation observed in the mature mylonite is the result of a single episode of deformation dominated by single or multiple slip systems (Law et al. 1990) or if the observed preferred orientation reflects an inherited initial fabric from the margin of the sheared quartz vein (Lloyd et al. 1992). The preferred orientation observed in the quartz mylonite from Torridon cannot be solely explained by intra-crystalline plasticity via mutual activation of basal, rhomb and prismatic slip in the kal direction, as commonly observed in quartz-rich tectonites deformed at relatively low temperatures (e.g. samples R-405, P-248 and C-156 of Schmid & Casey 1986); other mechanisms have to be active, such as Dauphine twinning and dynamic recrystallization (Law et al. 1990; Lloyd et al. 1992; Trimby et al. 1998; Lloyd 2004). The Torridon quartz mylonite is therefore a good case study for testing, through systematic modelling of crystallographic fabric development via the viscoplastic self-consistent (VPSC) approach (Lebensohn & Tome 1993; Tome & Lebensohn 2004), whether CPO results from a single deformation episode (starting from a random orientation) or if the observed CPO is inherited from the margin of the sheared vein. To better constrain the CPO predictions by numerical modelling, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images from the mature mylonite are also presented, providing new information regarding the microstructural evolution of this shear zone and complementing previous work carried out by Law et al. (1990), Lloyd et al. (1992), Trimby et al. (1998), Lloyd (2004) and Lloyd & Kendall (2005). Sample description and quartz CPO The quartz feldspar vein from the head of Upper Loch Torridon (Fig. 1a, b) was sheared during relative motion of joint blocks of Lewisian gneiss on either side of the vein. Foliation (XY) associated with shearing increases in intensity traced in to the centre of the vein and simultaneously curves towards parallelism with the vein/shear-zone margins (sensu Ramsay & Graham 1970) but is still inclined at 98 to the shear-zone margins in the ‘mature’ high-strain centre of the vein (Law et al. 1990). Original vein textures are only locally preserved at the low-strain margins of the vein. The high-strain centre of the vein is characterized by a typical Type-2 S–C′ microstructure (Law et al. 1990). The vein microstructure is arranged in two planar domains aligned parallel to the macroscopic foliation. One domain consists of elongate dynamically recrystallized quartz grains (,100 mm) whose long axes are oblique to the main foliation, while the second domain is characterized by an equigranular texture of quartz and feldspar with grain size of less than 5 mm. The microstructure suggests that deformation occurred under constant-volume plane strain flow conditions very close to strict simple shear (Law et al. 1990; Wallis 1995, p. 1082). A band-contrast electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) map (Fig. 1a) and cathodoluminescence (CL) image (Fig. 1b) illustrate development of the shear zone with a spatially rapid development of foliation, grain-size reduction and fracturing of feldspar crystals within the quartz matrix. The mature mylonite (MM) in the centre of the vein consists of dynamically recrystallized grains originating from a few larger grains preserved at the vein margins (Lloyd et al. 1992; Trimby et al. 1998). Close inspection of the boundary of the quartz vein material at the margins of the vein (starting L. F. G. MORALES ET AL. 152

Examination of deformation temperature, 3-D strain and flow vorticity (Wm) in mylonites from the Assynt-Loch More region of the Moine thrust zone (MTZ) allows quantitative kinematic and thermal characterization of shearing at the base of the Scandian (435–425 Ma) orogenic wedge. Quartz microstructures and c-axis fabric opening angles from mylonites in the immediate hangingwall and footwall to the Moine thrust suggest that deformation temperatures are highest in the eastern part of the Assynt region (including mylonites close to alkaline intrusive complexes) and decrease along strike both to the north (Stack of Glencoul – Loch More) and to the south (Knockan). Quartz c- and a-axis fabrics, together with limited 3-D strain data, indicate that deformation in both the footwall and hangingwall mylonites dominantly involved plane strain to general flattening, although domains of more constrictional flow are identified adjacent to thrust transport-parallel lineaments in the overlying Moine nappe. Rigid grain analyses indicate a remarkably constant flow vorticity for tens of kilometers along orogenic strike (40–60% pure shear) in both the hangingwall and footwall mylonites. Integration with previously reported strain and vorticity estimates from the Assynt region indicates a 50–75% sub-vertical shortening perpendicular to gently dipping foliation, that must have been accommodated by either volume loss or extrusion of material toward the synorogenic topographic surface. Extrusion implies a causal link between upper and lower crustal processes, with significant implications for the kinematic and geometric evolution of the Scandian wedge.

The Moine Thrust zone ofNWScotland marks the Caledonian orogenic front and in the Assynt region consists of several west-vergent major thrust sheets (Moine, Ben More, Glencoul and Sole Thrust sheets) that place allochthonous rocks onto the Lewisian basement and Torridon Group cover in the west. Here we present two new balanced and restored sections across the Moine Thrust zone in the region of the Loch Ailsh and Loch Borralan alkali intrusions. Syenites and alkaline pyroxenites intrude up to Durness Group carbonates. Syenites are interpreted as cut by the Moine and Ben More Thrusts and therefore their intrusion age (c. 430 Ma) provides a maximum age constraint on cessation of motion along the Moine Thrust. We review and discuss several controversies, notably: (1) relationships between folding in the Ben More Thrust sheet (Sgonnan Mor folds) and fabric development associated with intrusion of the Loch Ailsh pluton and initiation of the Moine and Ben More Thrusts; (2) structural relationships around the Borralan intrusion, particularly the nature of its basal and lateral margins (intrusive or thrust-ramp); (3) the structural relationships of the Cam Loch and Benn Fhuarain klippen; and (4) the timing of motion of all thrust sheets in the southern Assynt culmination. © The Geological Society of London 2010.