Constraints on the Palaeoproterozoic tectono-metamorphic evolution of the Lewisian Gneiss Complex, NW Scotland: Implications for Nuna assembly ...

• Main Authors: Volante, Silvia, Dziggel, Annika, Walters, Jesse B., Evans, Noreen J., Herbst, Maximilian, Roper, Richard Albert
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2024
• Subjects: in situ titanite petrochronology; Laxfordian metamorphism; North Atlantic Craton; strain partitioning; supercontinent assembly; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000640054; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/640054

Despite extensive investigation, the tectono-thermal evolution of the Archean crust in the Lewisian Gneiss Complex in NW Scotland (LGC) is debated. Most U–Pb zircon geochronological and metamorphic studies have focused on rocks from the central region of the mainland LGC, where granulite facies assemblages associated with the oldest (Badcallian) tectono-metamorphic event at c. 2.75 Ga are overprinted by younger amphibolite facies assemblages related to the Inverian (c. 2.5 Ga) and subsequent Laxfordian (c. 1.9–1.65 Ga) tectono-thermal events. In the southern and northern regions of the mainland LGC, deformation and metamorphism associated with the Laxfordian event are pervasive, although the timing and conditions are poorly constrained. Here, we present new field, petrographic and structural data, U–Pb zircon and titanite geochronology and phase equilibrium modelling of amphibolite samples from the northern and southern regions. Our field observations show that in both regions, pre-Laxfordian structures are ... : Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 42 (1) ...