Early Variscan magmatism in the Western Carpathians: U–Pb zircon data from granitoids and orthogneisses of the Tatra Mountains (Slovakia)

Abstract

This study presents the first U–Pb zircon data on granitoid basement rocks of the Tatra Mountains, part of the Western Carpathians (Slovakia). The Western Carpathians belong to the Alpine Carpathian belt and constitute the eastern continuation of the Variscides. The new age data thus provide important time constraints for the regional geology of the Carpathians as well as for their linkage to the Variscides. U–Pb single zircon analyses with vapour digestion and cathodoluminescence controlled dating (CLC-method) were obtained from two distinct granitoid suites of the Western Tatra Mountains. The resulting data indicate a Proterozoic crustal source for both rock suites. The igneous precursors of the orthogneisses (older granites) intruded in Lower Devonian (405 Ma) and were generated by partial melting of reworked crustal material during subduction realated processes. In the Upper Devonian (365 Ma), at the beginning of continent–continent collision, the older granites were affected by high-grade metamorphism including partial melting, which caused recrystallisation and new zircon growth. A continental collision was also responsible for the generation of the younger granites (350–360 Ma). The presented data suggest multi-stage granitoid magmatism in the Western Carpathians, related to a complex subduction and collision scenario during the Devonian and Carboniferous.