An Overview of the Amazonian Craton Evolution: Insights for Paleocontinental Reconstruction

The Amazonian craton major accretionary and collisional processes may be correlated to supercontinent assemblies developed at several times in the Earth history. Based on geologic, structural and paleomagnetic evidence paleocontinent reconstructions have been proposed for Archean to younger times. The oldest continent (Ur) was formed probably by five Achaean cratonic areas (Kaapvaal, Western Dhawar, Bhandara, Singhhum and Pilbara cratons). Geologic evidences suggest the participation of the Archaean rocks of the Carajás region in the Ur landmass. Supercontinental 2.45 Ga Kenorland amalgamation is indicated by paleomagnetic data including Laurentia, Baltica, Australia, and Kalahari and Kaapvaal cratons. There is no evidence indicating that Amazonian craton was part of the Kenorland supercontinent. From 1.83 Ga to 1.25 Ga Columbia and Hudsonland supercontinents including Amazonian craton were proposed based on NE portion of the Amazonian craton (Maroni/Itacaiunas province) connection with West Africa and Kalahari cratons. Rodinia supercontinent reconstructions show Amazonia joined to Laurentia-Baltica as result of 1.1 Ga to 1.0 Ga fusion based on the Sunsas-Aguapei belts and Greenville and Sveconorwegian belts, respectivelly. The large Late Mesoproterozoic landmass included also Siberia, East Antartica, West Nile, Kalahari, Congo/Sao Francisco and Greenland. The 750 - 520 Ma Gondwana assembly includes most of the continental fragments rifted apart during the break-up of Rodinia followed by diachronic collisions (Araguaia, Paraguay and Tucavaca belts). The supercontinent Pangea is comprised of Gondwana and Laurentia formed at about 300 - 180 Ma ago. The Amazonian craton margins probably were not envolved in the collisional processes during Pangea because it was embebed in Neoproterozoic materials. As consequence, Amazonian craton borders have no record of the orogenic processes responsible for the Pangea amalgamation.

Paleoproterozoic juvenile magmatism within the northeastern sector of the Sao Francisco paleocontinent:Insights from the shoshonitic high Ba-Sr Montezuma granitoids

New,integrated petrographic,mineral chemistry,whole rock geochemical,zircon and titanite UPb geochronology,and zircon Hf isotopic data from the Montezuma granitoids,as well as new geochemical results for its host rocks represented by the Corrego Tingui Complex,provides new insights into the late-to post-collisional evolution of the northeastern Sao Francisco paleocontinent.U-Pb zircon dates from the Montezuma granitoids spread along the Concordia between ca.2.2 Ga to 1.8 Ga and comprise distinct groups.Group I have crystallization ages between ca.2.15 Ga and 2.05 Ga and are interpreted as inherited grains.Group II zircon dates vary from 2.04 Ga to1.9 Ga and corresponds to the crystallization of the Montezuma granitoids,which were constrained at ca.2.03 Ga by the titanite U-Pb age.Inverse age zoning is common within the ca.1.8 Ga Group III zircon ages,being related to fluid isotopic re-setting during the Espinhaco rifiting event.ZirconεHf(t)analysis show dominantly positive values for both Group I(-4 to+9)andⅡ(-3 to+8)zircons and TDM2 model ages of 2.7-2.1 Ga and 2.5-1.95 Ga,respectively.Geochemically,the Montezuma granitoids are weakly peraluminous to metaluminous magnesian granitoids,enriched in LILES and LREE,with high to moderate Mg#and depleted in some of the HFSE.Their lithochemical signature,added to the juvenile signature of both inherited and crystallized zircons,allowed its classification as a shoshonitic high Ba-Sr granitoid related to a late-to post-collisional lithosphere delamination followed by asthenospheric upwelling.In this scenario,the partial melting of the lithospheric mantle interacted with the roots of an accreted juvenile intra-oceanic arc,being these hybrid magma interpreted as the source of the Montezuma granitoids.The Corrego Tingui Complex host rocks are akin to a syn-to late-collisional volcanic arc granitoids originated from the partial melting of ancient crustal rocks.The results presented in this study have revealed the occurrence of juvenile rocks,probably related to an island arc environment,that are exotic in relation to the Paleo-to Neoarchean crust from the Sao Francisco paleocontinent’s core.

Late Permian Sequence Stratigraphic Framework and Controlling Factors in Southern Yangtze Platform and Its Margin

Late Permian stratigraphic, sedimentary and paleotectonic studies along a corridor profile across the Yangtze paleocontinent and its southern margin reveal the sedimentary evolution, subdivide the depositional sequences, and reconstruct the stratigraphic framework based on lateral correlation and tracing of the bounding surfaces and depositional systems. This corridor profile transects the Yangtze craton and a molasse sag zone in its southern margin. It is demonstrated that the Late Permian sedimentary evolution along the investigated profile evidently resulted from the interplay of sea level change, differential subsidence and sediment supply within the given tectonic units. In the cratonic interior, high frequency sea level fluctuation exerts an important control on the formation of the third order and fourth order sequences, and is the basis for transfacies correlation. The evolution of sequence succession in the taphrogenic zone is so much affected by the intense tectonic subsidence that it is hardly correlatable to that in the cratonic interior.

A perspective on potassic and ultrapotassic rocks:Constraints on the Paleoproterozoic late to post-collisional event in the São Francisco paleocontinent

The late-to post-collisional stage in orogenic systems is characterized by the coeval existence of bimodal potassic to ultrapotassic magmatic activity related to partial melting of an enriched lithospheric mantle together with crustal derived melts.In this paper,we present new whole rock geochemical analyses combined with zircon and titanite U–Pb and zircon Hf isotopic data from potassic to ultrapotassic rocks from six plutons that occur within the Archean Itacambira-Monte Azul block(BIMA),to discuss their petrogenesis and the tectonic implications for the São Francisco paleocontinent.The new U–Pb ages range from ca.2.06 Ga to 1.98 Ga and reveal long-lasting potassic magmatism within the BIMA,which is within the late-to-post-collisional stage of the São Francisco paleocontinent evolution.The ultrapotassic rocks are compatible with a fluid-related metasomatized mantle source enriched by previous subduction events,whereas the potassic rocks are bimodal and have a transitional shoshonitic to A-type affinity.These rocks have a hybrid nature,possible related to the mixing between the mafic potassic/ultrapotassic rocks and high temperature crustal melts of the Archean continental crust.Our results also show an increase of within-plate signature towards the younger potassic magmas.The participation of an important Archean crustal component in the genesis of these rocks is highlighted by the common and occasionally abundant occurrence of Archean inherited zircons.The Hf isotopic record shows that most of the zircon inheritance has dominantly subchondriticεHf(t)values,which fits a crustal reworking derivation from a similar Eo-to Paleoarchean precursor crust.However,the presence of juvenile 2.36 Ga zircon inheritance in an ultrapotassic sample reveal the existence of a hidden reservoir that is somewhat similar to the described for the Mineiro Belt in southern São Francisco paleocontinent.

Record of Early Tonian mafic magmatism in the central Espinhaco(Brazil):New insights for break-up of the Neoproterozoic landmass ancestor of Sao Francisco-Congo paleocontinent

Petrological characterization,U-Pb geochronology,Lu-Hf analyses and major and trace element data from mafic intrusions in the Central Espinhaco(central portion of the Brazilian shield)are used here to investigate the geological significance of the Early Neoproterozoic magmatism in the context of the Sao Francisco-Congo paleocontinent.These mafic bodies are represented by medium to coarse-grained metagabbros with plagioclase,amphibole and clinopyroxene.Zircon U-Pb isotopic data from two samples yielded weighted mean 206pb/238U ages of 895±3.4 Ma(MSWD=1.7)and 896±2.4 Ma(MSWD=0.64),regarded as the best estimates for the crystallization age of these mafic rocks.Major and trace element data(including REEs)show that the gabbros originated from a subalkaline tholeiitic magma,typical of intraplate magmatism.Such rocks are slightly enriched in LREEs and LILEs and depleted in HFSEs.Our new isotope and geochemical data,along with regional knowledge,indicate that these metagabbros mark the beginning of an important Tonian-age extensional tectonic event of the landmass of which the Sao Francisco-Congo paleocontinent was part(Rodinia supercontinent or Central African block?).We furthermore suggest that these rocks belong to a prominent suite of Tonian-age mafic rocks that mark a diachronic breakup attempt of this landmass which may have occurred from south to north along the Espinhaco mountain range.

Rhyacian-Orosirian tectonic history of the Juiz de Fora Complex:Evidence for an Archean crustal reservoir within an island-arc system

The southern São Francisco Paleocontinent(SFP)comprises Archean nuclei and Paleoproterozoic complexes encompassing magmatic arcs juxtaposed during a Rhyacian to Orosirian orogenic event.The Juiz de Fora Complex(JFC)represents an imbricated thrust system that comprises orthogranulites with a wide compositional range formed in an intra-oceanic setting during the Siderian to the Orosirian and later accreted to the southeastern margin of the SFP.Here we report new petrological,geochemical,whole-rock Nd and Sr data,as well as zircon U–Pb ages from felsic and mafic orthogranulites from the JFC.The new data is combined with a regional compilation that enables an evaluation of the interaction between magmatism and orogenetic episodes in the context of the consolidation of São Francisco Paleocontinent during the Rhyacian–Orosirian.Pre collisional Island Arc tholeiites(IAT),Tonalites-Tron dhjemites-Granodiorites(TTGs)and sanukitoid magmatism occurred from 2200 Ma to 2085 Ma.This was followed by post-collisional magmatism,which is represented by hybrid granitoids coeval with the emplacement of E-MORB basic rocks.Crustal signatures for the Rhyacian to Orosirian evolution are highlighted by the dominance of negativeεNd(t)associated with Meso-to Neoarchean Nd TDMmodel ages as well as inherited zircon grains from the hybrid granitoids.The JFC is extensively highlighted in the literature as a primitive intra-oceanic arc,but here we propose the reworking or recycling of ancient crustal segments within the mature arc stage of the JFC,suggesting a Mesoarchean crustal source involved in the JFC evolution.

A Lower Ordovician Carbonate Contourite Drift on the Margin of the South China Paleocontinent at Jiuxi,Northern Hunan

Carbonate contourite drift at Jiuxi. Taoyuan, northern Hunan, was developed in a deepwater area ofnorthern Hunan on the margin of the Early Ordovician South China palcocontinent. The Lower Ordoviciansequence in the area is more than 350 m thick and contains well-developed contourites that can be groupedinto the following five types: the calcilutitic, the arenitic, the siltitic. the fine ruditic and the bioclastic. Thefirst three often constitute a complete or incomplete contourite succession. The arenitic contourite is nearlyuniformly distributed as interlayers throughout the succession, creating a monotonously rhythmic texture inthe contourite drift. The pattern of spatial distribution of the succession shows that the contourite drift is ahuge ridge-like sedimentary body extending along the trend of paleoslope. Numerous marks of flow direc-tion have pointed to an eastward paleoflow direction along the slope.