Evolution of the continental crust and significance of the zircon record, a case study from the French Massif Central
| Autor: | Couzinié, Simon |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: | |
| Druh dokumentu: | Text |
| Popis: | La formation de la croute continentale est une des conséquences majeures de la différenciation de la Terre. Les avancées récentes dans la compréhension de ce phénomène résultent de l’amélioration des techniques analytiques permettant la mesure in situ des compositions isotopiques en U-Pb-Hf-O de grains de zircon, minéral abondant dans les roches crustales. Cette étude reconstitue l’histoire du segment de croute affleurant dans l’est du Massif Central français (MCF), portion de la chaine Varisque d’Europe de l’Ouest, dans le but d’évaluer les limites d’utilisation des zircons pour retracer l’évolution crustale. L’origine et la signification géodynamique des principales unités lithologiques du MCF ont été étudiées en combinant les approches classiques de la pétrologie avec des données isotopiques U-Pb-Hf-O acquises sur zircon. Deux incohérences majeures existent entre nos résultats et les conclusions tirées de l’étude des zircons considérés hors de leur contexte pétrologique, approche généralement suivie pour analyser l’évolution crustale. Les âges modèles calculés à partir des données Hf suggèrent une importante croissance crustale au Mésoproterozoique dans le MCF, en contradiction avec le fait que 60% de la croute locale soit d’âge Néoproterozoïque. De plus, 5 à 10% de la croute du MCF a été formée durant l’orogènese Varisque sans que cela ne soit enregistré par le zircon. Dans les deux cas, ces incohérences résultent du caractère hybride des signatures isotopiques portées par les zircons. Celles-ci ne peuvent être correctement détectées et interprétées qu’en disposant de données pétrologiques complémentaires sur les roches contenant les grains analysés The formation of the continental crust is a major consequence of Earth differentiation. Understanding how the crust formed and evolved through time is paramount to locate the vast mineral deposits hosted therein and address its influence on the global climate, ultimately affecting the development of terrestrial life. Recent advances on the topic of continental crust evolution benefited from improvements of analytical techniques enabling in situ measurements of U-Pb- Hf-O isotope compositions in zircon, a widespread accessory mineral of continental igneous rocks. The time constrains derived from the U-Pb chronometer coupled with the petrogenetic information retrieved from Hf-O isotope signatures are currently used to unravel the diversity and succession of magmatic events affecting the continental crust at the regional and global scales. This study reconstructs the evolutionary path followed by the crust segment today exposed in the eastern part of the French Massif Central (FMC), a portion of the Variscan belt of Western Europe, with the aim to investigate the potential flaws of the zircon record of crust evolution. In this scope, the origin and geodynamic significance of the constituent FMC lithological units are tackled by combining conventional petrological observations with zircon U-Pb-Hf-O isotope data. The results obtained following this integrated approach are then confronted to the conclusions that would have been drawn solely from zircon isotopic signatures, taken out of their petrological context, as is commonly performed in studies investigating crust evolution. The oldest rocks of the FMC correspond to Ediacaran (590_550 Ma) meta-sediments deposited in back-arc basins along the northern Gondwana margin. Such basins were fed by a mixed detritus originating from the adjacent Cadomian magmatic arc and a distal Gondwana source, presumably the Sahara Metacraton. Partial melting of these meta-sediments at the Ediacaran/Cambrian boundary led to voluminous S-type granitic magmatism, pinpointing a first major crust reworking event in the FMC. The origin of anatexis likely stems from the transient thickening of the hot, back-arc crust caused by the flattening of the Cadomian subduction. Subordinate melting of the depleted backarc mantle at that time is also documented. During the Lower Paleozoic, rifting of the northern Gondwana provoked coeval crust and (limited) mantle melting. Mantle-derived igneous rocks show markedly diverse trace element and isotopic signatures, consistent with a very heterogeneous mantle source pervasively modi_ed by the Cadomian subduction. Finally, the Variscan collision resulted in crustal melting as evidenced by the emplacement of S-type granites and the formation of migmatite domes, the spatial distribution of which being partly controlled by the crustal architecture inherited from pre-orogenic events. Synchronous intrusion of mafic mantle-derived magmas and their differentiates testify for Variscan post-collisional new continental crust production in the FMC. Two major inconsistencies exist between these results and the zircon record. First, zircon Hf model ages would point to substantial Mesoproterozoic crust formation in the FMC whereas more than 60% of the crust is actually Neoproterozoic in age. Second, new additions to the continental crust volume during the Variscan orogeny are not recorded even though 5 to 10% of the exposed crust formed at that time. The origin of both discrepancies inherently lies in the mixed isotopic signature carried by many zircon grains. Such equivocal information can only be detected when additional petrological constrains on the zircon host rocks are available and provide guidance in interpreting the zircon record of crust evolution |
| Databáze: | Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations |
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