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Tracking the late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic margin of northern Gondwana in the Hellenides: paleotectonic constraints from U–Pb detrital zircon ages

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Abstract

We report new detrital zircon U–Pb ages of nine quartzites sampled along the Phyllite–Quartzite unit sensu stricto (PQ unit s.s.), in the high-pressure belt of the southern Hellenides. The detrital zircon age spectra are dominated by two significant age peaks at ca. 600 and ca. 1000 Ma, which are typical for an east Gondwana provenance. The absence of zircons of Carboniferous–Triassic ages suggests that the depositional environment was isolated from Variscan and early Mesozoic sources. Our data are in support of paleogeographic configurations placing the protolith of the PQ unit s.s. south of the Paleotethys ocean and along the northern Gondwana margin. The zircon age spectra do not show significant variations with respect to the tectonostratigraphic position within the PQ unit s.s. and the position along the high-pressure belt. Combining the new (this study) with published detrital zircon ages, we suggest that the siliciclastic metasediments of the PQ unit s.s. on Crete, Kythera, and the Peloponnesus have a common paleogeographic origin.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Michael Bröcker and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments. This work was financially supported by a common grant of IKY (Greek State Scholarships Foundation) and DAAD (IKYDA2012). V.C. acknowledges financial support from the Greek State Scholarships Foundation for fieldwork and thanks Zach Michels for suggestions on the text.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Vasileios Chatzaras

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, PO Box 80.021, 3508 TA, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Vasileios Chatzaras

  3. Institute of Geosciences, Goethe University, Altenhöferallee 1, 60438, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany

    Wolfgang Dörr, Axel Gerdes & Gernold Zulauf

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa

    Axel Gerdes

  5. Agnesstraße 45, 80798, Munich, Germany

    Jochen Krahl

  6. Department of Geology, University of Patras, 26500, Patras, Greece

    Paraskevas Xypolias

Authors
  1. Vasileios Chatzaras
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  2. Wolfgang Dörr
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  3. Axel Gerdes
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  4. Jochen Krahl
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  5. Paraskevas Xypolias
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  6. Gernold Zulauf
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vasileios Chatzaras.

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Chatzaras, V., Dörr, W., Gerdes, A. et al. Tracking the late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic margin of northern Gondwana in the Hellenides: paleotectonic constraints from U–Pb detrital zircon ages. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 105, 1881–1899 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-016-1298-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-016-1298-z

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