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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Adelaide, 1989. / Typescript (Photocopy). Copies of 4 published papers co-authored by author, and 7 maps, in back cover pocket. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 203-218).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geology, 2001? / Bibliography: p.127-141.

The continental crust is the archive of Earth history. Much of what we know about the development of Earth is learned from the continental crust, and it is within the crust that many natural resources are found. Hence, understanding its formation and evolution is a key aspect to a deeper knowledge of the Earth system. This thesis is a study of the processes that have formed and shaped the distribution of continental crust, with specific focus on crustal development associated with the Rodinian supercontinent and the Grenville Orogeny spanning ca. 1200 to 900 Ma. Specifically it addresses an aspect of the incompleteness of the record of continental crust formation. The preserved continental crust is punctuated with periods of lesser and greater frequency of geologic features, e.g., the temporal distribution of the ages of mineral deposits, juvenile granitoids, eclogites, granulites, and the U-Pb crystallization ages of zircons now preserved in modern and ancient sediments (see Gastil, 1960; Barley and Groves, 1992; Condie, 1998; Campbell and Allen, 2008; Brown, 2007; Bradley, 2011). In addition, interpretive features in the geologic record also have an apparent episodic distribution such as passive margins (Bradley, 2011) and supercontinents (Condie, 1998). The episodic nature of these geologic phenomena implies either an episodic formation or preferential preservation of continental crust. These two end member models have been explained through a number of geologic processes such as eruption of superplumes, global disruption of thermal structure of the mantle, assembly of supercontinents, collisional orogenesis. Through the chapters outlined below, this thesis explores the connection of these episodic geologic events with key isotopic signals, principally U-Pb, Hf, and O isotopes in zircon supplemented by sedimentology, structural geology, and igneous geochemistry. It comprises a series of chapters developed around manuscripts prepared for publication.

This is an integrated study of the stratigraphy, deformation, magmatism, and metamorphism in the vicinity of the Ida and Palmenhorst Domes, an area in the southwestern Central Zone of the Damara Orogen, Namibia. The principal aim is to understand the timing of tectonic events through high-precision U-Pb dating of structurally constrained intrusions and anatectic rocks, and link these tectonic events across the Damara Orogen and Pan-African Orogeny. A secondary aim is to compare the Central Zone and Damara Orogen to other collisional orogens. The stratigraphy of the study area is similar to that noted elsewhere in the Central Zone, but the mapped distribution of lithologies differs slightly from previous work. Specifically, Damara Supergroup rocks have been found infolded with the Abbabis Complex, and the stratigraphic positions of certain units in have been locally reclassified. The mapped distribution of lithologies suggests a Type-2 fold interference pattern across the study area. This Type-2 fold interference is confirmed by structural analysis. A D2 deformation event formed strongly S- to SE-verging km-scale recumbent to shallow NW-dipping folds with smaller-scale parasitic folds. The long limbs of these folds are extended, and a number of shear zones are found on these extending limbs, as well as near the contact between the Abbabis Complex and the Damara Supergroup. NE-SW extension is associated with the late stages of D2, and forms a conjugate set of shear bands and a shallow NE-plunging mineral stretching lineation. This D2 event was overprinted by upright to steeply WNW-dipping km-scale D3 folds to form the domes in the study area. Mesoscale fold interference structures are rare, but D2 structures are shown to be consistently reoriented by D3 structures. D3 deformation does not have a strong vergence, and mesoscale D3 folds are rare. D2 and D3 were preceded by a D1 fabric forming event locally observed as rootless isoclinal intrafolial folds, and followed by brittle deformation. The Ida Dome is a fairly simple domal structure formed by the km-scale interference between a shallow NNW-dipping D2 anticline and an upright to steeply WNW-dipping D3 anticline. East of the Ida Dome, NE-trending D3 structures predominate, but are seen to overprint earlier D2 structures. The Palmenhorst Dome is a larger area where Damara Supergroup rocks have been infolded into the Abbabis Complex during D2 deformation. These isoclinal, N- to NW-dipping D2 folds have been refolded by upright D3 folds to form a Type-2 fold interference pattern. D2 structures along the southern margin of the Palmenhorst Dome dip steeply towards the south, in contrast to D2 structures elsewhere. This is interpreted to be the result of a lower-intensity km-scale D2 fold. The orogen-parallel extension and orogen-perpendicular recumbent folding that took place during D2 cannot be explained by previous structural models for the Central Zone and a new model is suggested where these structures form as the result of coeval irrotational NE-SW extension and S- to SE-verging simple shear during extensional collapse of the orogen. A number of intrusive rock types are found in the study area and have been dated using SHRIMP U-Pb. Amphibolite dykes have a chemical affinity to mafic rocks of the Goas Suite, and are suggested to be either pre-Damaran or early Damaran intrusives as they cut the gneisses of the Abbabis Complex, and are affected by D2. They have been dated at 2026.9 ± 2.3 Ma (zircon) or 557.2 ± 7.4 Ma (zircon) with metamorphic overgrowths in this sample giving 520 ± 6.9 Ma. Red, potassic granites emplaced near the contact with the Abbabis Complex and Damara Supergroup contain a D2 gneissic fabric and give ages of 536 ± 7.2 Ma (monazite), and zircons have lower intercept ages of 539 ± 17 Ma and upper intercept ages of 1013 ± 21 Ma. Grey granites are abundant in the study area, and form a continuum from dark grey granites (which are tonalitic to dioritic in composition and contain hornblende and abundant biotite) to light grey granites (which are leucogranitic and contain abundant K-feldspar and minor biotite). These grey granites show a fractionation trend from dark to light varieties, and cross-cutting relationships indicate that the lighter variety is younger than the darker variety. The grey granites show syn-D2 structural relationships and contain a fabric subparallel to the S2 fabric, and which is more pronounced in the darker varieties. They show similarities with granites described by earlier workers, and two samples have been dated at 519.1 ± 4.2 Ma and 520.4 ± 4.2 Ma (zircon). A variety of sheeted granites are found – quartz-feldspar-magnetite pegmatitic granites are associated with grey granites, occur axial-planar to F2 folds, and have metamict zircons which are dated at 530-525 Ma. Garnet (± cordierite) granites are leucocratic, have garnet poikiloblasts, are emplaced axial planar to F2 folds and are also folded and boudinaged by D2. They are associated with pelitic units in the Damara Supergroup and are dated at 520.3 ± 4.6 Ma (zircon) and 514.1 ± 3.1 Ma (monazite). Uraniferous leucogranites found are similar to those widely described in the Central Zone, but metamict zircons give imprecise ages of between 515 and 506 Ma. Pink pegmatitic leucogranites comprise pink perthitic feldspar and milky quartz, are emplaced into more brittle structures and gives an age of 434.4 ± 2 Ma (zircon). Almost all granites analysed appear to be crustal-melt granitoids, with the exception of the darker grey granites, which show a calc-alkaline affinity. No Salem-type granites are found in the study area. In addition, SHRIMP U-Pb analyses of zircons from three Abbabis Complex gneisses give ages of 2056 +11/-10 Ma, 2044 +32/-27 Ma and 2044 +17/-14 Ma, and titanites from an amphibolite sample give ages of 493.4 ± 6.4 Ma. Two anatectic leucosomes from D2 shear zones and shear bands give zircon ages of 511 ± 18 Ma and 508.4 ± 8.7 Ma in spite of high-U zircons. Lu-Hf data on zircons from an Abbabis Complex gneiss gives model ages of ca. 3 Ga, whilst similar data for a grey granite gives a model age of ca. 2 Ga. Zircons from the Abbabis Complex gneiss have variable O-isotopic values, whilst the grey granite gives O-isotopic values of ca. 7‰. These geochonological and isotopic data show that the Abbabis Complex is part of the Congo Craton, and that some amphibolites are pre-Damaran, whilst others may be related to the Goas Intrusive Suite, and represent a phase of early Damaran magmatism. In contrast to the chronology previously presented for the Central Zone, M1 in the study area appears to have occurred at 535-540 Ma, with M2 coeval with D2 deformation at 510-520 Ma. Elsewhere in the Central Zone, NW-verging D2 deformation is dated at 540-560 Ma, and the Central Zone appears to have a diachronous tectonometamorphic evolution along strike. It is suggested here that this represents the preservation of two separate tectonic events in the Central Zone at different crustal levels, one at 540-560 Ma and the other at 520-510 Ma. D3 deformation is suggested to have taken place at 508 Ma, immediately after D2 extension. The Central Zone began to cool following D2, and the 495 Ma titanite age reflects this cooling. Isotopic evidence from this and other studies shows that Damaran granitoids (with 1.5-2.2 Ga model ages) cannot be derived from the Abbabis Complex (with 3 Ga model ages) but must come from an alternative source, suggested here to be Kalahari Craton material subducted below the Congo Craton. Textural studies of a number of pelitic samples indicate syn-D2 low-pressure, high-temperature metamorphism. Differences in observed assemblages between various sample types are due to compositional differences, and samples appear to have reached similar conditions across the study area. Mineral compositional profiles show no prograde zoning, indicating mineral re-equilibration. Orthopyroxene is locally observed, suggesting lower-granulite conditions. This is confirmed by pseudosection modelling of a number of samples, which gives peak conditions of 750-850 °C and 4.5-5 kbar. This modelling shows lower-granulite facies conditions with higher temperatures than previous estimates based on mineral compositional geothermometers, which are affected by re-equilibration. These conditions are sufficiently high for fluid-absent biotite breakdown to form the voluminous anatectic leucosomes and granitoids in the southwestern Central Zone. Pseudosection modelling and phase relationships indicates a low-pressure (ca. 4 kbar) clockwise heating path, with slight decompression at the thermal peak. All metamorphism noted is 520-510 Ma M2 metamorphism, and no petrographic evidence exists for earlier 540-535 M1 metamorphism. This cryptic M1 is suggested to be related to the emplacement of the Goas Intrusive Suite and Salem-type granites early in the orogenic history, whilst M2 may be related to thermal relaxation following crustal thickening early in the orogenic history, but requires an additional heat source. The difference in ages for deformation and metamorphism between the study area and elsewhere in the lower grade portions of the Central Zone is suggested to be related to the preservation of different portions of the orogenic history in different areas. The results of this study together with previous work details a multi-stage evolution for the Central Zone involving subduction, continent-continent collision, crustal thickening, slab breakoff, magmatism, granulite-facies metamorphism and exhumation of the mid-crust. This multistage evolution explains the multiple ages for deformation and metamorphism in the Central Zone. NW-folding and thrusting documented in the Karibib area at 560-540 Ma is related to an early phase of crustal thickening owing to continent-continent collision following a brief period of subduction. Slab breakoff led to asthenospheric upwelling and heating of the lower crust, and produced the Goas Intrusive Suite and Salem-type granites, as well as providing heat for 540-535 Ma M1 metamorphism and the melting of the crust to produce anatectic red granites. SE-verging deformation, extension and granulite facies metamorphism recorded in this study is related to orogenic collapse following crustal thickening, and the heat source for low-P, high-T metamorphism may be highly radiogenic crust that was thickened , which is suggested to be either burial of crust enriched in heat-producing elements, or asthenospheric upwelling owing to delamination of the Congo Craton lithospheric mantle or asthenospheric upwelling owing to the position of the southwestern Central Zone on a major orocline. The events recorded for the Central Zone have been correlated across the entire Damara Orogen, and the timing of events can be correlated along strike into the Zambezi Belt. Events in the Kaoko Belt appear to predate those in the Damara Belt, which appears to also show a similar collisional timing to the Gariep Belt. It is therefore proposed that the Gariep and Damara Belts formed part of a younger orogenic episode to that which formed the Kaoko and Dom Feliciano orogenic belts. The Damara Belt shows similarities to both Alpine-style and Himalayan-style orogens. An evaluation is provided of a channel flow model for the Central Zone, but there are currently insufficient data for the Damara Belt to confirm or repudiate this model. Nonetheless, this study has identified a more complex tectonic history for the Central Zone than previously, with chronological and lithogeochemical evidence for two episodes of deformation and metamorphism that have been linked to the collisional history of the entire Damara Belt and have been correlated with events in other Pan-African belts.

The 9 km thick Lower Old Red Sandstone succession of the northern part of the Midland Valley Basin, Scotland, ranges from Wenlock to Emsian in age and largely comprises conglomerates in the east passing westwards into sandstones and siltstones. Previously, the depositional and tectonic setting of the basin has been poorly constrained, as has the relationship between sediments of the northern Midland Valley and the Grampian outliers at Aberdeen, Rhynie, Cabrach, Tomintoul and New Aberdour. This study focuses on establishing the stratigraphic framework of the areas and outlining the key controls and source of sedimentation during deposition of the Lower Old Red Sandstone, placing the geological history within the larger Caledonian framework. Sedimentological investigation alongside petrographical point count, heavy mineral and detrital zircon analysis allows the reconstruction of a large distributive fluvial system sourced from the NE within the Caledonian foreland, within which the Lower Old Red Sandstone of the northern Midland Valley Basin was deposited. Sedimentation was continuous across the line of the Highland Boundary Fault. Sedimentation within the Grampian outliers was locally influenced, however facies association development is comparable with the base of the laterally time-equivalent northern Midland Valley Basin stratigraphy. Sedimentary provenance analysis indicates a similar source terrane for the sediments of both areas, with detrital zircon age spectra comparable to those of the Dalradian Supergroup and localised contemporaneous volcanism, with conglomerate clast-size indicating a proximal source. Sedimentation of the Lower Old Red Sandstone of the northern Midland Valley Basin and Grampian outliers is thus attributed to Siluro-Devonian basement uplift in the Caledonian foreland driven by thick-skinned tectonics.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-134). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Dr. Neil Lundberg, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Geological Sciences. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Mar. 2, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

This study is a detailed investigation concerning the construction of granite plutons by the incremental emplacement of granitic sheets. The modem consensus is that sheeted plutons are often controlled by tectonic structures such shear zones. The Main Donegal Granite (MDG), NW Ireland forms the basis to this study. This pluton is the largest presently exposed member of the Caledonian Donegal Batholith (~405 Ma). Field evidence from this highly deformed pluton, attest to emplacement along the long-axis of a sinistral transcurrent shear zone. The presence of long and persistent xenolith "trains" within the pluton has been taken as evidence of an overall sheeted structure; however detailed maps have not been available to test this hypothesis. Two earlier members of the Donegal Batholith, the Ardara and Thorr plutons, whilst having their main outcrops outside the MDG, also occur as xenoliths within the main body. It can be demonstrated in a number of critical situations that these xenoliths are commonly more deformed than the host MDG facies. Furthermore the presence of original country rock contacts implies these xenoliths were originally in situ. These features imply that the shear zone was active prior to the emplacement of the MDG, with it controlling the emplacement of substantial parts of these earlier plutons. Further evidence from the study of parts of the petrographically similar and younger Trawenagh Bay Granite implies the sinistral shear zone was still operational after the majority of the MDG had crystallised. New, detailed (scale 1:250) and reconnaissance mapping of the MDG, reveals its hitherto unrecognised heterogeneity. At least seven major plutonic zones or packages have been identified. All these units have an NE -SW elongate form parallel to the long axis of the pluton and are often, but not always, separated by extensive "raft-trains" of country rock and older plutons. The major packages in the central regions of the pluton are often complex and are composed of three main granitoid phases, ranging in composition form early granodiorites and tonalites to latest porphyritic and to lesser extent equigranular, monzogranites. The early granodiorite and tonalite sheets are now only preserved as xenolithic rafts within the later monzogranites. The broad range in composition/chemistry together allied with field observations implies a complex intrusion history, with these granitoid packages representing sites of long-standing intrusion within the pluton. In contrast, towards the more marginal areas of the pluton there are large units of monzogranite which are characterised by general homogeneity, but in reality are believed to consist of relatively small compostionally similar sheets. On all scales, either meta-sediments, older plutonic material, or early MDG facies are found to lie along the boundaries of younger intrusive units. This implies the pluton is primarily sheeted in character and that the "raft-trains" are partially disrupted, in situ roof material which has been wedged apart during the intrusion of the sheets. The appearance of sheets within the field is dependent on the rheology of the material into which the granitic material was intruded into, i.e. to what extent has the host was crystallised. The degree of crystallisation in the host is related to how fast later sheets were being intruded, i.e. the rate of emplacement. The field relationships, in the central regions of the pluton, between the granodiorites tonalites and the later monzogranites, are interpreted as representing zones of episodic-to slow emplacement, where earlier phases had become essentially competent by the time later units were intruded (i.e. capable of fracture). These earlier phases may be preserved as angular rafts within later sheets. At moderate emplacement rates earlier sheets may still be crystallising but sufficiently viscous to prevent mixing, except at their immediate boundaries with transitional contacts developing. The more homogeneous zones are believed to be related to rapid emplacement with original contacts between pulses being destroyed at the level of emplacement due to homogenisation of pulses which had similar viscosities and hence allowed mixing. The emplacement of granitic melts within active shear zones can lead to the development of a self- perpetuating situation, where melts in a shear zone will enhance deformation rates and cause greater displacements subsequently allowing more melt to enter the shear zone promoting even greater displacement rates. This process is only halted when melts within the source regions are drained; hence the rate of pluton construction and appearance of sheets within plutons is ultimately related to how fast granitic melts are being generated within the source regions.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, August, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.