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Avalonian, Ganderian and East Cadomian terranes in South Carpathians, Romania, and Pan-African events recorded in their basement

  • Special Issue Gondwana Collision
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Abstract

New U-Pb geochronology is used to refine the provenance and evolution of northwest Gondwana Pan-African terranes preserved in the South Carpathians of Romania. The Drăgşan terrane of Avalonian affinity, from the Danubian domain of the South Carpathians originated in the Panthalassa Ocean and accreted to the Amazonian part of Rodinia not much before 800 Ma, when the Făgeţel orthogneiss was intruded, at around 807–810 Ma. After this event no other Neoproterozoic magmatic pulse is known in the basement of the Drăgşan terrane. The Ganderian type Lainici-Păiuş terrane from the same domain of the South Carpathians, recorded magmatic pulses at 782 Ma, 739 Ma, 708 Ma, 639 Ma, 600–587 Ma and 574–568 Ma. The East Cadomian Sebeş-Lotru terrane from the Getic domain of the South Carpathians recorded magmatic pulses at 817 Ma, 768 Ma, 685 Ma, 620 Ma, 584 Ma and 550 Ma. Post 630 Ma the northwestern Gondwana margin evolved as an active continental margin at least until 550 Ma, but the pre-630 Ma magmatism could be associated to some island arcs docked with different pre-Gondwanan continental fragments. Independent of the tectonic setting, the post 750 Ma orogens dated in the basement of the peri-Gondwanan terranes are discussed in the frame of the Cadomian orogens, as constituents of the Pan-African orogens in a broader sense. The detrital zircon may also record magmatic pulses from Pan-African orogens other than the Cadomian ones.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS—UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0100. Anonymous reviewer and especially J.-P. Liégeois are gratefully thanked for their comments and suggestions that substantially improved the paper. Otis Crandell is also thanked for language correction

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  1. Department of Geology, Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babes-Bolyai University, M. Kogalniceanu Str.1, RO-400084, Cluj Napoca, Romania

    Ioan Balintoni & Constantin Balica

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  1. Ioan Balintoni
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  2. Constantin Balica
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Correspondence to Ioan Balintoni.

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Balintoni, I., Balica, C. Avalonian, Ganderian and East Cadomian terranes in South Carpathians, Romania, and Pan-African events recorded in their basement. Miner Petrol 107, 709–725 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-012-0206-x

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