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New data on the Neoproterozoic – Cambrian geotectonic setting of the Teplá-Barrandian volcano-sedimentary successions: geochemistry, U-Pb zircon ages, and provenance (Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic)

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Abstract

The Teplá-Barrandian unit (TBU) of the Bohemian Massif was a part of the Avalonian-Cadomian belt at the northern margin of Gondwana during Neoproterozoic and Early Cambrian times. New detrital zircon ages and geochemical compositions of Late Neoproterozoic siliciclastic sediments confirm a deposition of the volcano-sedimentary successions of the TBU in a back-arc basin. A change in the geotectonic regime from convergence to transtension was completed by the time of the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary. The accumulation of around 2,500 m Lower Cambrian continental siliciclastics in a Basin-and-Range-type setting was accompanied by magmatism, which shows within-plate features in a few cases, but is predominantly derived from anatectic melts displaying the inherited island arc signature of their Cadomian source rocks. The geochemistry of clastic sediments suggests a deposition in a rift or strike-slip-related basin, respectively. A marine transgression during Middle Cambrian times indicates markedly thinned crust after the Cadomian orogeny. Upper Cambrian magmatism is represented by 1,500 m of subaerial andesites and rhyolites demonstrating several geochemical characteristics of an intra-plate setting. Zircons from a rhyolite give a U-Pb-SHRIMP age of 499±4 Ma. The Cambrian sedimentary and magmatic succession of the TBU records the beginning of an important rifting event at the northern margin of Gondwana.

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Notes

  1. In this study the stratigraphic timescale after Remane et al. (2000) is used.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the “Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft” (grants Li 521/14–1 and Li 521/16–1). Allan Kennedy (Curtin University) and Ian Fletcher (UWA) are thanked very much for their assistance during SHRIMP-work in Perth. Special thanks to the team of the Centre for Global Metallogeny for their help during our stay in Perth. The Perth SHRIMP is operated by a university-government consortium with support from the Australian Research Council. This is a contribution to IGCP 453 and IGCP 497.

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  1. Forschungsmuseum für GeoBioWissenschaften , Staatliche Naturhistorische Sammlungen Dresden, Königsbrücker Landstr. 159, 01109, Dresden, Germany

    Kerstin Drost, Ulf Linnemann, Michael Gehmlich & Christian Tonk

  2. Centre for Global Metallogeny, School of Earth and Geographical Science, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, 6009, Perth, Western Australia

    Neal McNaughton

  3. Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Charles University, Albertov 6, 128 43 , Prague 2, Czech Republic

    Oldřich Fatka, Petr Kraft & Jaroslav Marek

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  1. Kerstin Drost
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Correspondence to Kerstin Drost.

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Drost, K., Linnemann, U., McNaughton, N. et al. New data on the Neoproterozoic – Cambrian geotectonic setting of the Teplá-Barrandian volcano-sedimentary successions: geochemistry, U-Pb zircon ages, and provenance (Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic). Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 93, 742–757 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-004-0416-5

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