New detrital zircon age data reveal the location of the Rheic suture in the Mid-German Crystalline Zone (Spessart and Od
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ORIGINAL PAPER
New detrital zircon age data reveal the location of the Rheic suture in the Mid‑German Crystalline Zone (Spessart and Odenwald Crystalline Complexes) Ferdinand Kirchner1,2 · Richard Albert1,2 Received: 30 August 2019 / Accepted: 22 June 2020 © Geologische Vereinigung e.V. (GV) 2020
Abstract New detrital zircon age data of metasedimentary rocks from the Spessart and Odenwald basement (Mid-German Crystalline Zone, Variscides) revealed results, which are not compatible with current tectonic models. The previously proposed existence of a tectonic window, which includes lower plate Rhenohercynian rocks within the upper plate (Saxothuringian Zone) in the Spessart and Odenwald basement, does not agree with the results of this study. This leads to a new course of the Rheic suture and, therefore, a non-coherence of the two major fault zones in these complexes. The southern Spessart Crystalline Complex accommodates the Rheic suture, which is most likely explained by a southward displacement of a whole segment of the Mid-German Crystalline Zone. This displacement might extend over the Ruhla Crystalline Complex. A hitherto unknown age spectrum of a unit in the Böllsteiner Odenwald was found, which might indicate a sliver of unidentified material in the Variscan collision zone. An unknown magmatic age of 350 Ma is reported for igneous intrusions in the Saxothuringian Zone and can be used as an additional indicator to distinguish between Laurussia- and Gondwana-related rocks. Keywords U–Pb ages · Detrital zircon · Spessart Mts. · Böllsteiner Odenwald · Mid-German Crystalline Zone · Variscides · Age spectra
Introduction The reconstruction of lithospheric plate movements is well constrained from the formation of the Pangaea Supercontinent until present. The evidences left of these plate motions are scarcer with increasing age, due to erosional processes and orogenies, which overprint the remnants of previous events.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-020-01899-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Ferdinand Kirchner [email protected] Richard Albert [email protected]‑frankfurt.de 1
Institut für Geowissenschaften, Goethe-Universität, Altenhöfer Allee 1, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Frankfurt Isotope and Element Research Center (FIERCE), Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2
Dating detrital zircon grains with LA-ICP-MS (laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) enables the reconstruction of provenance areas, provides information about the source rock types and the magnitude of sedimentary transport (Zeh and Gerdes 2009; Linnemann et al. 2012; Zulauf et al. 2014; Dörr et al. 2017). Continents and terranes can be distinguished with this method from each other, as they have a traceable age fingerprint in their eroded material. This age fingerprint is linked to the magmatic and metamorphic events, which are responsible for zircon growth and can be visualized in an
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