Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The eastern continuation of the Cadomian orogen: U–Pb zircon evidence from Saxo-Thuringian granitoids in south-western Poland and the northern Czech Republic

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We report U–Pb single zircon ages from three pre-Variscan granitoids in the NE part of the Bohemian Massif. The Platerówka granodiorite from the Lausitz-Izera Unit, the Polish Sudetes, has been dated at 533±9 Ma. The Bitouchov granite form the SW part of the South Krkonoše Unit, the Czech Sudetes, gave an age of 540+11/–10 Ma, and the Wądroże granodiorite in the Fore-Sudetic Block yielded 548±9 Ma. All these latest Vendian/Early Cambrian granitoids represent the post-tectonic expression of a late Proterozoic Cadomian orogenic cycle and demonstrate the eastward extent of the Cadomian basement into the Variscan orogen. Granodiorites of similar age have so far been reported from Brittany and especially from the Saxo-Thuringian Terrane to the NE and SW of the Elbe Fault Zone. We conclude that the Saxo-Thuringian Terrane extends across the Elbe and Sudetic Marginal Fault Zones into the Fore-Sudetic Block.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4 A, B
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Berezowska B, Berezowski Z (1962) Szczegółowa mapa geologiczna Polski 1:25,000, sheet Zalipie. Wydawnictwa Geologiczne, Warszawa

  • Berezowska B, Berezowski Z (1978) Szczegółowa mapa geologiczna Polski 1:25,000, sheet Wądroże Wielkie. Wydawnictwa Geologiczne, Warszawa

  • Borkowska M, Hameurt J, Vidal P (1980) Origin and age of Izera gneisses and Rumburk granites in the Western Sudetes. Acta Geol Polonica 30:121–145

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chaloupský J. and team of authors (1989) Geologie Krkonoš a Jizerských hor. Ústředni ústav geologický, Prague

  • Chlupáč I (1993) Stratigraphic evaluation of some metamorphic units in the N part of the Bohemian Massif. Neues Jahrbuch Geol Paläontol Monatheft 188:363–388

    Google Scholar 

  • Chlupáč I (1997) Palaeozoic ichnofossils in phyllites near Železný Brod, northern Bohemia. J Czech Geol Soc 42:75–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Chlupáč I (1998) New paleontological finds in the western part of the Krknoše–Jizerské hory Mts metamorphics and their impact on stratigraphical and tectonical concepts. GeoLines 6:29–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Cogné J, Wright AE (1980) L’Orogèn cadomien. In: Cogné J, Slansky M (eds) Géologie de l’Europe du Précambrien aux bassins sédimantaires post-hercyniens. Villeneuve d’Ascq, pp 29–55

  • Cymerman Z, Piasecki MAJ (1994) The terrane concept in the Sudetes, Bohemian Massif. Geol Q 38:191–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Dabard MP, Loi A, Peucat JJ (1996) Zircon topology combined with Sm–Nd whole-rock isotope analysis to study Brioverian sediments from the Armorican Massif. Sediment Geol 101:243–260

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dörr W, Zulauf G, Fiala J, Franke W, Vejnar Z (2002) Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian history of an active plate margin in the Tepla-Barrandian unit: a correlation of U–Pb isotopic-dilution-TIMS ages (Bohemia, Czech Republic). Tectonophysics 352:65–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eglington BM, Harmer RE (1991) Geodate 2.2: a program for processing and regression of isotope data. Division of Earth, Marine and Atmospheric Science and Technology, Pretoria

  • Fabian H J (1938) Das Nordsudetische Schiefergebirge in seinem Vorlandsteil. Jahrbuch Preussische Geol Landesamt 59:6–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Finger F, Hanžl P, Pin C, v Quadt A, Steyrer HP (2000) The Brunovistulian: Avalonian Precambrian at the eastern end of the Central European Variscides? Geol Soc Spec Publ 179:103–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Floyd PA, Winchester J, Seston R, Kryza R, Crowley QG (2000) Review of geochemical variation in Lower Palaeozoic metabasites from the NE Bohemian Massif: intracratonic rifting and plume–ridge interaction. Geol Soc Spec Publ 179:155–174

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Franke W (1989) Variscan plate tectonics in Central Europe: current ideas and open questions. Tectonophysics 169:221–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franke W, Żelaźniewicz A (2000) The eastern termination of the Variscides: terrane correlation and kinematic evolution. Geol Soc Lond Spec Publ 179:63–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Franke W, Żelaźniewicz A (2002) Structure and evolution of the Bohemian arc. In: Winchester JA, Pharaoh TC, Verniers J (eds) Palaeozoic amalgamation of Central Europe. Geol Soc Lond Spec Publ 201:279–293

    Google Scholar 

  • Franke W, Żelaźniewicz A, Porębski SJ, Wajsprych B (1993) The Saxothuringian zone in Germany and Poland: differences and common features. Geol Rundsch 82:583–599

    Google Scholar 

  • Guerrot C, Peucat JJ (1990) U–Pb geochronology of the Late Proterozoic Cadomian orogeny in the northern Armorican Massif. In: D’Lemos RS, Strachan RA, Topley CG (eds) The Cadomian orogeny. Geol Soc Lond Spec Publ 51:13–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Graviou P, Peucat JJ, Auvray B, Vidal P (1988) The Cadomian orogeny in the northern Armorican Massif, petrological and geochronological constraints on a geodynamic model. Hercynia IV/1:1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegner E, Kröner A (2000) Review of Nd isotopic data and xenocrystic and detrital zircon ages from the pre-variscan basement in the eastern Bohemian Massif: speculations on palinspastic reconstructions. Geol Soc Lond Spec Publ 179:113–129

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jaffey AH, Flynn KF, Glendenin LE, Bentley WC, Essling AM (1971) Precision measurements of half-lives and specific activities of 235U and 238U. Phys Rev Ser C4:1889–1906

    Google Scholar 

  • Korytowski A, Dörr W, Żelaźniewicz A (1993) U–Pb dating of (meta)granitoids in the NW Sudetes (Poland) and their bearing on tectono-stratigraphic correlation. Terra Nova 5(Abstr suppl 1):331

    Google Scholar 

  • Kossmat F (1927) Gliederung des varistischen Gebirgsbaues. Abhandlungen Sächsischen Geol Landesamtes 1:1–39

  • Kozłowska-Koch M (1959) Granitognejsy Wądroża Wielkiego. On the granite–gneiss of Wądroże Wielkie. Archiwum Mineralogiczne 21:383–408

    Google Scholar 

  • Krogh TE (1973) A low-contamination method for hydrothermal decomposition of zircon and extraction of U and Pb for isotopic age determinations. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 37:485–494

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Krogh TE (1982) Improved accuracy of U–Pb zircon ages by the creation of more concordant systems using an air abrasion technique. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 46:637–649

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kröner A, Hegner E, Hammer J, Haase G, Bielicki K-H, Krauss M, Eidam J (1994) Geochronology and Nd–Sr systematics of Lusatian granitoids: significance for the evolution of the Variscan orogen in east-central Europe. Geol Rundsch 83:357–376

    Google Scholar 

  • Kröner A, Hegner E (1998) Geochemistry, single zircon ages and Sm–Nd systematics of granitoid rocks from the Góry Sowie (Owl Mts. Polish West Sudetes: evidence for early Palaeozoic arc-related plutonism. J Geol Soc Lond 155:711–724

    Google Scholar 

  • Kröner A, Jaeckel P, Hegner E, Opletal M (2001) Single zircon ages and whole-rock Nd isotopic systematics of early Palaeozoic granitoid gneisses from the Czech and Polish Sudetes (Jizerské hory, Krkonoše Mountains and Orlice-Sněžnik Complex). Int J Earth Sci 90:304–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linnemann U, Gehmlich M, Tichomirowa M, Buschmann B, Nasdala L, Jonas P, Lützner H, Bombach K (2000) From Cadomian subduction to Early Palaeozoic rifting: the evolution of Saxo-Thuringia at the margin of Gondwana in the light of single zircon geochronology and basin development (central European Variscides, Germany). Geol Soc Lond Spec Publ 179:131–153

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ludwig KR (1980) Calculation of uncertainties of U–Pb isotope data. Earth Planet Sci Lett 46:212–230

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ludwig KR (1991) PbDat version 1.23

  • Mazur S, Aleksandrowski P (2001) The Tepla(?)/Saxothuringian suture in the Karkonosze-Izera massif, western Sudetes, central European Variscides. Int J Earth Sci 90:341–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milewicz J, Szałamacha J, Szałamacha M (1979) Mapa Geologiczna Polski, 1:200,000, sheet Jelenia Góra. Wydawnictwa Geologiczne, Warszawa

  • Oliver GJH, Corfu F, Krogh TE (1993) U–Pb ages from SW Poland: evidence for a Caledonian suture zone between Baltica and Gondwana. J Geol Soc Lond 150:355–369

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pasteels P, Dore F (1982) Age of the Vires-Carolles granite. In: Odin GS (ed) Numerical dating in stratigraphy. Wiley, New York, pp 784–790

  • Philippe S, Haack U, Żelaźniewicz A, Dörr W, Franke W (1995) Preliminary geochemical and geochronological results on shear zones in the Izera-Krkonoše Block (Sudetes, Poland). Terra Nostra 95/8:122

    Google Scholar 

  • Pin Ch, Marini F (1993) Early Ordovician break-up in Variscan Europe: Nd–Sr isotope and trace element evidence from bimodal igneous associations of the southern Massif Central, France. Lithos 29:177–196

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Seston R, Winchester JA, Piasecki MAJ, Crowley Q, Floyd P (2000) A structural model for the western-central Sudetes: a deformed stack of Variscan thrust sheets. J Geol Soc Lond 157:1155–1167

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stacey JS, Kramers JD (1975) Approximation of terrestrial lead isotope evolution by a two-stage model. Earth Planet Sci Lett 26:207–222

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tait J, Bachtadse V, Franke W, Soffel HC (1997) Geodynamic evolution of the European Variscan fold belt: palaeomagnetic and geological constraints. Geol Rundsch 86:585–598

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tichomirowa M (2002) Zircon inheritance in diatexite granodiorites and its consequence on geochronology: a case study in Lusatia and the Erzgebirge (Saxo-Thuringia, eastern Germany). Chem Geol 191:209–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Żelaźniewicz A, Cwojdziński S, England RW, Zientara P (1997) Variscides in the Sudetes and the reworked Cadomian orogen: evidence from the GB-2A seismic reflection profiling in southwestern Poland. Geol Q 41:289–308

    Google Scholar 

  • Żelaźniewicz A, Buła Z, Jachowicz M (2002) Neoproterozic granites in the Upper Silesia massif of Bruno-Vistulicum, S Poland: U–Pb SHRIMP evidence. Schriftenreich Deutsch Geol Gesellschaft 21:361–362

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge travel funding by the International Bureau of the German Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF) and the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), which enabled scientific exchange and cooperation between the Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Giessen, and Instytut Nauk Geologicznych PAN, Wrocław. G. Friedl, and M. Bröcker are thanked for helpful comments and constructive reviews.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instytut Nauk Geologicznych PAN, Podwale 75, 50-449 Wrocław, Poland

    Andrzej Żelaźniewicz

  2. Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Giessen, Senckenbergstrasse 3, Giessen, Germany

    Wolfgang Dörr, Wolfgang Franke, Udo Haack, Janina Schastok & Klaus Grandmontagne

  3. Instytut Nauk Geologicznych PAN, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland

    Paweł Bylina

  4. Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften und Geiseltalmuseum, Domstr. 5, 06 108 Halle, Germany

    Helmut Heinisch

  5. Instytut Paleobiologii PAN, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland

    Cyprian Kulicki

Authors
  1. Andrzej Żelaźniewicz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Wolfgang Dörr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Paweł Bylina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Wolfgang Franke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Udo Haack
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Helmut Heinisch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Janina Schastok
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Klaus Grandmontagne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Cyprian Kulicki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrzej Żelaźniewicz.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Żelaźniewicz, A., Dörr, W., Bylina, P. et al. The eastern continuation of the Cadomian orogen: U–Pb zircon evidence from Saxo-Thuringian granitoids in south-western Poland and the northern Czech Republic. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 93, 773–781 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-004-0418-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-004-0418-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation