Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Uplift and Exhumation of Middle and Lower Crustal Rocks in an Extensional Tectonic Setting, Fiordland, New Zealand

  • Chapter
Exposed Cross-Sections of the Continental Crust

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIC,volume 317))

Abstract

Late Mesozoic continental extension combined with more recent transpression along the mid-Tertiary Alpine Fault have combined in Fiordland to uplift and expose unusually deep structural levels of a mid-Cretaceous metamorphic core complex. High pressure Early Cretaceous granulite facies orthogneisses occupy the axial region of this complex and were emplaced from deeper levels beneath a thinned and ductilely deformed cover sequence comprising mid- Palaeozoic granites, metasediments and metavolcanic rocks. Emplacement of the core complex was associated with widespread resetting of mineral isotopic systems in the (amphibolite facies) cover sequence whilst at higher crustal levels in the once- contiguous regions of Westland and Nelson crustal extension was accompanied by high-level silicic magmatism, normal faulting and nonmarine sedimentation in rapidly-subsiding fault-bounded asynmetric basins. Although the original boundary between the orthogneisses and cover sequence may have been intrusive, the present contact is a ductile shear zone in which the granulites have been rnylonitized and retrogressed to the amphibolite facies. Strongly lineated rnylonites in this zone developed before 93 Ma consistent with emplacement of the core complex during continental rifting and breakup of the Pacific margin of Gondwana, and prior to the onset of seafloor spreading in the Tasman Sea.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Adams, C.J.D. and Nathan, S. 1978. Cretaceous chronology of the Lower Buller Valley, South Island, New Zealand. N.Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 21: 455–462.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allis, R.G. 1986. Mode of crustal shortening adjacent to the Alpine Fault, New Zealand. Tectonics, 5: 15–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aronson, J.L. 1965. Reconnaissance rubidium-strontium geochronology of New Zealand plutonic and metamorphic rocks. N.Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 1: 401–423.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aronson, J.L. 1968. Regional geochronology of New Zealand. Geoch. et Cosmoch. Acta, 32: 669–697.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, D.G. 1967. The geology of the powerhouse access tunnell, West Arm, Manapouri. N.Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 10: 831–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, D.G., Bradshaw, J.D. and Landis, C.A. 1985. Provisional terrane map of South Island, New Zealand: in Howell, D.G. (ed.): Tectonostratigraphic Terranes of the Circum-Pacific Region: 515–521. Circum-Pacific Council for Minerals and Energy, Houston, Texas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blattner, P. 1976. Replacement of hornblende by garnet in granulite facies assemblages near Milford Sound, New Zealand. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 55: 181–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blattner, P. 1978. Geology of crystalline basement between Milford Sound and the Holly ford Valley, New Zealand. N.Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 21: 33–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blattner, P. and Black, M.B. 1980. Apatite and scapolite as petrogenetic indicators in granulites of Milford Sound, New Zealand. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 74: 339–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw, J.D., Andrews, P.B. and Adams, J.G. 1981. Carboniferous to Cretaceous on the Pacific margin of Gondwana: The Rangitata phase of New Zealand: in Cresswell, M.M. and Vella, P. (eds.): Gondwana Five: 217–221. Balkema, Rotterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw, J.Y. 1989. Origin and metamorphic history of an Early Cretaceous polybaric granulite terrain, Fiordland, southwest New Zealand. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 103: 346–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw, J.Y. and Kimbrough, D.L. 1989. Comment on age constraints on metamorphism and the development of a met amorphic core complex in Fiordland, southern New Zealand. Geology, 17: 381–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brodie, K.H. and Rutter, E.H. 1987. Deep crustal extensional faulting in the Ivrea Zone of Northern Italy. Tectonophys., 140: 193–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carter, R.M. and Lindquist, J.K. 1977. Balleny Group, Chalky Island, southern New Zealand: an inferred Oligocene submarine Canyon and fan complex. Pacific Geology, 12: 1–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter, R.M. and Norris, R.J. 1976. Cainozoic history of southern New Zealand: an accord between geological observations and plate- tectonic predictions. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 31: 85–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coombs, D.S., Landis, C.A., Norris, R.J., Sinton, J.M., Borns, D.J. and Craw, D. 1976. The Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt, New Zealand, its tectonic setting constitution and origin, with special reference to the southern section: Am. J. Sci., 276: 561–603.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, R.A. 1979. Lower Palaeozoic rocks of New Zealand. J. R. Soc. N.Z., 9: 29–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crittenden, M.D. Jr., Coney, P.J. and Davis, G.H. (eds.). 1980. Cordilleran met amorphic core complexes. Geol. Soc. Amer. Mem., 115: 490 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davey, F.J. and Sfriith, E.G.C. 1983. The tectonic setting of the Fiordland region, southwest New Zealand. Geophys. J. Roy. Astro. Soc., 72: 23–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, G.A. and Lister, G.S. 1988. Detachment faulting in continental extension; perspectives from the southwestern U.S. Cordillera. Geol. Soc. Am. Special Paper, 218: 133–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Etheridge, M.A., Wall, V.J. and Vernon, R.H. 1983. The role of the fluid phase during regional metamorphism and deformation. J. Metamorphic Geol., 1: 205–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fountain, D.M. and Salisbury, M.H. 1981. Exposed cross-sections through the continental crust: implications for crustal structure, petrology and evolution. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 56: 263–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson,. G.M. 1979. Metamorphites at Wilmot Pass, Fiordland, New Zealand. Unpubl. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Otago, 315 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, G.M. 1982a. Stratigraphy and petrography of some metasediments and associated intrusive rocks from central Fiordland, New Zealand. N.Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 25: 21–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, G.M. 1982b. Polyphase deformation and its relationship to metamorphic crystallization in rocks at Wilmot Pass, Fiordland, New Zealand. N.Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 25: 45–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, G.M. 1988. Exposed cross-section of continental crust: Doubtful Sound, Fiordland, New Zealand: Part 2 - interpretation as a deeply eroded Mesozoic metamorphic core complex. (Abstract). NATO Advanced Studies Programme on Exposed Crustal Sections of the Continental Crust: p. 10. Killarney, Ontario, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, G.M., McDougall, I. and Ireland, T.R. 1988. Age constraints on metamorphism and the development of a metamorphic core complex in Fiordland, southern New Zealand. Geology, 16: 405–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, G.M., McDougall, I. and Ireland, T.R. 1989. Reply to comnent on age constraints on metamorphism and the development of a metamorphic core complex in Fiordland, southern New Zealand. Geology, 17: 381–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grindley, G.W. 1978. West Nelson: in Suggate, R.P., Stevens, G.R. and Te Punga, M.T. (eds.): The Geology of New Zealand. Government Printer, 2 volumes, 820 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grindley, G.W. 1980. Sheet S13 Cobb (1st ed.). Geological Map of New Zealand. 1:63 360. Map (1 sheet) and notes (48 p.). N.Z. Dept. Sci. Industrial Research, Wellington.

    Google Scholar 

  • Handy, M.R. 1987. The structure, age and kinematics of the Pogallo Fault Zone; southern Alps, northwestern Italy. Eclog. Geolog. Helv., 80: 593–632.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, T.M. and McDougall, I. 1980. Investigations of an intrusive contact, northwest Nelson, New Zealand - I. Thermal, chronological and isotopic constraints. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 44: 1985–2003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodges, K.V. and Fountain, D.M. 1984. Pogallo Line, South Alps, northern Italy: An intermediate crustal level, long-angle normal fault? Geology, 12: 151–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howell, D.G. 1980. Mesozoic accretion of exotic terranes along the New Zealand segment of Gondwanaland. Geology, 8: 487–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamp, P.J.J, and Hegarty, K.A. 1989. Multigenic gravity couple across a modern convergent margin: inheritance from Cretaceous asyirmetric extension. Geophys. Jl., 96: 33–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karip, P.J.J. 1986. The mid-Cenozoic Challenger Rift System of Western New Zealand and its implications for the age of Alpine Fault inception: Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 97: 255–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laird, M.G. 1980. The late Mesozoic fragmentation of the New Zealand segment of Gondwana. Fifth International Gondwana Symposium, Wellington, New Zealand: 311–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Landis, C.A. and Coombs, D.S. 1967. Metamorphic belts and orogenesis in southern New Zealand. Tectonophys., 4: 501–518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lister, G.S. and Davis, G.A. 1989. The origin of metamorphic core complexes and detachment faults formed during Tertiary continental extension in the northern Colorado River region, U.S.A. J. Struct. Geol., 11: 65–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lister, G.S., Etheridge, M.A. and Symonds, P.A. 1986. Detachnent faulting and the evolution of passive continental margins. Geology, 14: 246–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lister, G.S. and Snoke, A.W. 1984. S-C mylonites. J. Struct. Geol., 6: 617–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCulloch, M.T., Bradshaw, J.Y. and Taylor, S.R. 1987. Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotopic and geochemical systematics in Phanerozoic granulites from Fiordland, southwest New Zealand. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 97: 183–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mackinnon, T.C. 1983. Origin of the Torlesse terrane and coeval rocks, South Island, New Zealand, Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull., 94: 967–985.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mattinson, J.M., Kimbrough, D.L. and Bradshaw, J.Y. 1986. Western Fiordland orthogneiss: Early Cretaceous arc magmatism and granulite facies metamorphism, New Zealand. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 92: 383–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moecher, D.P., Essene, E.J. and Anovitz, L.M. 1988. Calculation and application of clinopyroxene-garnet-plagioclase-quartz geobarometers. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 100: 92–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nathan, S., Anderson, H.J., Cook, R.A., Herzer, R.H., Hoskins, R.H., Raine, J.I. and Snale, D. 1986. Cretaceous and Cenozoic sedimentary basins of the West Coast region. South Island, New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand Geological Survey Basin Studies 1, 90 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newton, R.C. and Perkins, D. 1982. Thermodynamic calibration of geobarometers based on the assemblages garnet-plagioclase- orthopyroxene (clinopyroxene)-quartz. Am. Mineral., 67: 203–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norris, R.J. and Carter, R.M. 1980. Offshore sedimentary basins at the southern end of the Alpine Fault, New Zealand. Spec. Publ. Int. Ass. Sediment., 4: 237–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norris, R.J., Carter, R.M. and Turnbull, I.M. 1978. Cainozoic sedimentation in basins adjacent to a major continental transform boundary in southern New Zealand. Jl. Geol. Soc. Lond., 135: 191–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, G.J.H. 1977. Feldspathic hornblende and garnet granulites and associated anorthosite pegmatites from Doubtful Sound, Fiordland, New Zealand. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 65: 111–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, G.J.H. 1980. Geology of the granulite and amphibolite gneisses of Doubtful Sound, Fiordland, New Zealand. N.Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 23: 27–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, G.J.H. and Coggon, J.H. 1979. Crustal structure of Fiordland. Tectonophys., 54: 253–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Percival, J.A. and Card, K.D. 1983. Archean crust as revealed in the Kapuskasing uplift, Superior Province, Canada. Geology, 11: 323–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rehrig, W.A. 1986. Processes of regional Tertiary extension in the western Cordillera: insights from the metamorphic core complexesf in Mayer, L. (ed.): Extension tectonics of the southwestern United States: a perspective on processes and kinematics. Geol. Soc. Am. Special Paper 208: 97–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, S.J. and Lister, G.S. 1987. Structural aspects of fluid- rock interactions in detachment zones. Geology, 15: 362–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suggate, R.P., Stevens, G.R. and Te Punga, M.T. 1978. The Geology of New Zealand. Government Printer, Wellington, 2 volumes, 820 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tulloch, A.J. 1983a. Granitoid rocks of New Zealand - A Review: in Roddick, J.A. (ed.), Circum-Pacific plutonic terranes: Geol. Soc. Am. Memoir, 159: 5–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tulloch, A.J. 1983b. Tectonic settings and source rocks for Palaeozoic and Mesozoic granitoid rocks of New Zealand. Geol. Soc. N.Z. Program with Abstracts, Auckland, New Zealand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tulloch, A.J. and Kimbrough, D.L. In press. The Paparoa metamorphic core complex, Westland-Nelson, New Zealand: Cretaceous extension associated with fragmentation of the Pacific margin of Gondwana. Tectonics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, F.J. 1937. The metamorphic and plutonic rocks of Lake Manapouri, Parts I, II, III. Trans. Roy. Soc. N.Z., 67: 83–100, 227–49; 68: 122–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, F.J. 1968. Metamorphic petrology, mineralogical and field aspects. McGraw-Hill Inc., 403 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walcott, R.I. 1979. Plate motions and shear strains in the vicinity of the Southern Alps. Bull. R. Soc. N.Z., 18: 5–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward, C.M. 1984. Geology of the Dusky Sound area, Fiordland, with emphasis on the structural-met amorphic development of some porphyroblastic staurolite pelites. Unpubl. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weissel, J.K., Hayes, D.E. and Herron, E.M. 1977. Plate tectonic synthesis: The displacements between Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica since the late Cretaceous. Marine Geol., 25: 231–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wernicke, B. 1981. Low-angle normal faults in the Basin and Range province; nappe tectonics in an extending orogen. Nature, 291: 645–648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wernicke, B. 1985. Uniform-sense normal simple shear of the continental lithosphere. Can. J. Earth Sci., 22: 108–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, J.G. 1983. The Hollyford Gabbronorite - a calc-alkaline cumulate. N.Z. Jl. Geol. Geophys., 26: 345–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, J.G. and Harper, C.T. 1978. Age and status of the Mackay Intrusives in the Eglinton-Upper Hollyford area. N.Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 21: 733–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, B.L. 1960. Sheet 27, Fiord Geological Map of New Zealand, 1:250,000. D.S. I. R., Wellington, New Zealand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, B.L. 1962. Sheet 22, Wakatipu Geological Map of New Zealand, 1:250,000. D.S. I. R., Wellington, New Zealand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, B.L. 1972. Metamorphosed ultramafites and associated deformation near Milford Sound, New Zealand. N.Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 16: 88–127.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of applied Science, University College of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia, 4350

    G. M. Gibson

Authors
  1. G. M. Gibson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Atlantic Geoscience Centre, Geological Survey of Canada Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Matthew H. Salisbury

  2. Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA

    David M. Fountain

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Gibson, G.M. (1990). Uplift and Exhumation of Middle and Lower Crustal Rocks in an Extensional Tectonic Setting, Fiordland, New Zealand. In: Salisbury, M.H., Fountain, D.M. (eds) Exposed Cross-Sections of the Continental Crust. NATO ASI Series, vol 317. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0675-4_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0675-4_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6788-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-0675-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation