The Bemarivo Suture Zone (North Madagascar), a Continental Rift?
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The Bemarivo suture zone (North Madagascar), a continental rift? Master thesis By Paul Janssen 5th of September 2006 University of Utrecht The Bemarivo suture zone (North Madagascar), a continental rift? Paul Janssen 5th of September 2006 Index 1. Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 2 2. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4 3. Gondwana ........................................................................................................................................ 5 4. Geology of Madagascar .................................................................................................................. 8 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 8 4.2 Antananarivo Block ................................................................................................................... 8 4.3 Tsaratanana Sheet .................................................................................................................... 10 4.4 Neoproterozoic Sedimentary Belts .......................................................................................... 11 4.5 Antongil Block ........................................................................................................................ 11 4.6 Bemarivo Belt ......................................................................................................................... 11 4.7 Deformation History ............................................................................................................... 13 5. Fieldwork ...................................................................................................................................... 15 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 15 5.2 Geology and Morphology ....................................................................................................... 16 5.3 Lithology ................................................................................................................................. 17 5.4 Petrology ................................................................................................................................. 18 6. Geothermobarometry .................................................................................................................... 20 6.1 Aluminum-in-hornblende barometer ....................................................................................... 21 6.2 Amphibole – Plagioclase thermometer ................................................................................... 23 6.3 Mineral composition ............................................................................................................... 27 6.4 Thermobarometric results ....................................................................................................... 30 7. Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 33 7.1 Petrology ................................................................................................................................. 35 7.2 Thermobarometry .................................................................................................................... 38 8. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 43 9. Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................... 45 10. References ..................................................................................................................................... 46 11. Appendices .................................................................................................................................... 50 11.1 Sample overviews ................................................................................................................... 50 11.2 Microprobe analysis tracks ...................................................................................................... 54 1 The Bemarivo suture zone (North Madagascar), a continental rift? Paul Janssen 5th of September 2006 1. Abstract The Bemarivo suture zone, separating the Neoproterozoic Bemarivo belt with the Archean rocks of the Antananarivo- and the Antongil block, has thus far been identified as a top-to-the south thrust contact (Collins & Windley, 2002), which according to cooling ages occurred in between 520 and 510 Ma (Buchwaldt et al., 2003). Only scarce research has been done in this suture zone. Only in the extreme east and west field research has been done, but not in the central part of the suture zone, where this research was done. In order to justify this model not only the structural geological field research is needed, but also geothermobarometric evidence is crucial. The orthogneisses found in the Mangindrano area belong to the western part of the Sambirano- Sahantana Group, in contrast to the geological map of Besarie (1971) and the later modified map of Buchwaldt et al. (2003). Moreover, the orthogneisses experienced (partial) recrystallization during peak metamorphism, which post-dated the major deformation events. Geothermobarometry of the orthogneisses indicates a peak metamorphic grade of 4-5.5 kbar and 695-776 ºC, which indicates high amphibolite facies. The geotherms of the Mangindrano region (44 ºC/km), Sambirano region (40.5 ºC/km) and the Lokoho region (31 ºC/km) during peak metamorphism indicate a continental rift setting along the whole Bemarivo suture zone. This does not agree with the current theory of the Bemarivo suture zone as a thrust system. The stretching lineations found in the Mangindrano area (Mulder 2006), which indicate E-W transcurrent movement along the suture zone, also do not fit with the N-S thrust movement assumed by Buchwaldt et al. (2003) and Collins et al. (2001). The peak metamorphism in the Mangindrano area most likely post-dated the intrusion of the granitoid veins and dykes, which post-dated the major deformation events. This agrees with most of the absolute ages of peak metamorphism and leucogranites in the Sambirano and Lokoho region (Buchwaldt et al., 2003)(Buchwaldt and Tucker, 2001).It indicates that the formation of stretching lineations and the peak metamorphic conditions were not coeval. So, they are probably not formed in the same tectonic setting. In this case transcurrent movements along the Bemarivo suture zone would have caused the amalgamation of the Bemarivo belt and the older part of Madagascar, followed by a period of continental rifting. However, some absolute ages of the Sambirano region contradict this geologic history of the Bemarivo suture zone and makes it possible for the transcurrent movement and the continental rift setting (HT-LP) to have occurred coevally. This would make it difficult to explain the emplacement of the Bemarivo belt on to the Malagasy mainland in a continental rift setting. 2 The Bemarivo suture zone (North Madagascar), a continental rift? Paul Janssen 5th of September 2006 Linking this metamorphic event to other metamorphic events in Madagascar and simultaneously to the Kuunga Orogeny is difficult, due to the fact that there is a clear timing difference between peak metamorphism in the Virgation zone, in the older Antananarivo block, and the Bemarivo suture zone. 3 The Bemarivo suture zone (North Madagascar), a continental rift? Paul Janssen 5th of September 2006 2. Introduction Lying off the coast of Mozambique, Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world and has a very rich geological history. During the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian times a supercontinent Gondwana was formed (Collins & Windley, 2002; Kröner & Cordani, 2003; Powell et al. 1993; Shackleton 1996), which was the result of the final collision between Africa, India, Antarctica, and Madagascar (Fig. 1). During this process the Mozambique ocean closed and cratons, arcs and ocean floor material were all amalgamated into one mountain belt, namely the East African Orogeny (EAO)(Stern, 1994), which reached from Arabian-Nubian Shield in the north to Madagascar and even Antarctica in the south (Kusky et al., 2003). Being trapped between India and Africa and in the middle of the EAO (Fig. 1), Madagascar is consequently one of the most important locations to find evidence for the processes playing a part in the formation and the break-up of Gondwana (Collins & Windley, 2002; Collins et al., 2003; de Wit et al., 2001). The western coast line and the minority of the geology of Madagascar consists of sedimentary basins capturing sedimentation from the Carboniferous to present (de Wit et al., 2001). However, a major part of the island is made up of tectonic units consisting of Precambrian rocks which all have experienced the EAO event (de Wit et al., 2001).The major tectonic units are the Antongil block, the Antananarivo block, the Bemarivo belt and Tsaratanana sheet with the south consisting of Neoproterozoic supracrustal belts and several shear zones (de Wit, 2003; Collins et al., 2000; Collins & Windley, 2002). The study area