Abstract In contrast to oceanic lithosphere, the continents are manifestly composed of the products of tectonic processes whose cumulative duration spans much of the Earths history. Most continents contain Archaean nuclei that are enclosed by Proterozoic and Phanerozoic tectonic domains. The evolution of post-Archaean continental volumes has included additions of new continental material, but it has also involved repeated modification of parts of the existing continental lithosphere during periods of tectonic rejuvenation. This generally involves processes such as the formation of new structural fabrics, the overprinting of metamorphic assemblages and the generation and emplacement of magmas. Such behaviour can occur repeatedly throughout the geological record because the quartzofeldspathic continental crust cannot be subducted due to its relative buoyancy and weakness compared with its oceanic counterpart and the underlying lithospheric mantle. Thus, the character of the continents is significantly influenced by the way in which the existing lithosphere responds to new tectonothermal events that follow geologically significant cessations of activity for millions to hundreds of millions of years ( Sutton & Watson 1986 ). Existing continental lithosphere may be modified during its incorporation into new collisional systems, for example the involvement of the Hercynian ‘basement’ in the Alpine collision. However, the most dramatic manifestations of continental tectonic rejuvenation occur during intraplate orogeny, where a coherent pre-existing lithospheric volume undergoes large-scale failure. Notable modern examples of intraplate orogeny are the Cenozoic Tien Shan and the Mongolian Alti in north Asia, which are forming in response to the Himalayan collision (e.g. Hendrix et al. 1992

Abstract Gravitational instability of the continental lithospheric mantle is often associated with orogenic activity. Recent theoretical and experimental developments in the understanding of the convective instability of a dense layer, with non-Newtonian viscosity (representing lithosphere) above a less dense fluid layer (representing asthenosphere) are reviewed. These developments offer an explanation for why the continental lithospheric mantle might be generally mechanically stable in spite of a thermally induced density stratification, which one might expect to be unstable. Gravitational stability of this system depends on the initial amplitude of a disturbance to the stratified system, a disturbance that is most likely to be provided by localized lithospheric thickening associated with plate convergence. If the constitutive law that describes the deformation of dry olivine is applicable to the subcontinental mantle, the perturbation required to produce instability could be created by localized horizontal shortening of the order of 10%. If the wet olivine flow law is applicable, the required amount of shortening may be on the order of only 1%, in each case provided that it occurs in a time short compared with the thermal diffusion timescale of the lithosphere. The long-term stabilization of continental lithosphere may thus be associated with dehydration. Under circumstances of localized lithospheric convergence, the buoyancy of the continental crust plays an important role in determining the form of downwelling. If the crust is strong compared to mantle lithosphere, instability generally takes the form of localized downwelling beneath the centre of the convergent zone. If the crust is weak compared to mantle lithosphere, downwelling commences on the margins of the convergent zone as the buoyant crustal layer resists thickening. The initial instability may then trigger rapid extension of the lithospheric mantle beneath the convergent orogen. The extension is driven by asymmetric cold downwellings that move away from the centre of the convergent zone in a way that bears some resemblance to a delaminating slab or a retreating subduction zone. With these results in mind, some of the geological and geophysical evidence for lithospheric instability in modern orogens of Southern California, the South Island of New Zealand, the Mediterranean, and Central Asia are reviewed. Seismological evidence from Southern California and New Zealand suggest that these young orogens provide examples of lithospheric instability, in which downwelling occurs beneath the centre of the convergent zone where the crustal thickening is maximum. In contrast, the Alboran Sea and Tyrrhenian Sea basins show that extension has followed convergence as downwelling has retreated away from the convergent zone, and lithospheric mantle beneath the centre of convergence apparently has been replaced by asthenosphere. The Tien Shan and Tibetan Plateau provide large modernday examples of continental convergence. In each case there is strong evidence that the mantle lithosphere has undergone some form of instability that has led to at least part of it being replaced by hot asthenosphere. Images provided by teleseismic tomography of variations of seismic wave speeds beneath these orogens suggest that mantle lithosphere has been locally renewed following gravitational instability triggered by orogenic convergence.

Abstract Structural, geophysical and metamorphic studies show that collisional orogeny thickens the crust by a factor of two or more. A large volume of continental material at the base of the orogen is, therefore, subject to eclogite facies conditions. Phase equilibration results in a loss of buoyancy and thermodynamic heating of this crustal root. This dense crustal material may be partially subducted, as in the Alps or the Himalayas, and lost to the system. Alternatively, it may rest isostatically below the Moho until it is partially exhumed during orogenic collapse, as in the Scandinavian Caledonides or the Tonbai-Dabie Mountains. Remnant orogenic roots may exist as seismically reflective mantle and provide a locus for subsequent Wilson Cycle rifting. The rate at which these phase transformations take place may have a profound buffering effect on the amount and duration of orogenic contraction. Isostatically compensated transient 2-dimensional finite element thermal models are presented, which seek to place some limits on these processes. It is interesting to speculate whether more is learnt about the process of orogeny from a single exhumed eclogitic boudin or from mapping nappe complexes.

Abstract Although poly-cyclicity is common, many orogens show a remarkable lack of reworking. In this paper, a review of some factors that may either enhance or inhibit reworking of orogens is presented. As a general rule, orogens are unlikely to rift and rework if their lithospheric strength is higher than adjacent lithosphere. The strength of the lithosphere is strongly dependent on the geothermal gradient and the rheology of the rocks; both these factors can depend on the preceding orogenic evolution, even several hundred Ma after orogenesis. Strong orogenic lithosphere is expected if the crust is composed of material with a low radiogenic heat production capacity, such as island arcs, or if the underlying sub-continental lithosphere is still thickened, as in the Urals. Extensive dehydration metamorphism, a concentration of radiogenic heat production in the upper crust and erosional thinning of the orogenic crust can also strengthen the lithosphere and inhibit reworking. However, proximity of Archean cratons and anomalously high mantle heat flow appear to strongly enhance susceptibility to reworking.

Abstract The Aegean Sea, the Alboran Sea, and the Basin and Range Province suggest that continental lithosphere following gravitational collapse may end up being thinner than it was before convergence and thickening. In order to assess the condition leading to the development of finite lithosphere thinning following convergence and convective thinning, the strength of the continental lithosphere, the gravitational force, and the rate of gravity-driven flow (spreading rate) are calculated during and after continental collision. One-dimensional numerical experiments, presented here, assume that the deformation is homogeneous, that erosion is a function of strain rate and elevation, and that thermal relaxation involves no lateral conduction of heat. Results show that if 43% of the lower lithospheric mantle is dragged into the convective mantle (convective thinning), gravitational collapse may lead to a lithosphere thinner than the initial lithosphere (pre-thickening lithosphere), provided that gravitational collapse is accommodated by the passive displacement of the surrounding lithosphere (free boundary collapse). When a slightly larger volume of lithospheric mantle is removed, a phase of extension leading to a necking instability and the formation of an active rift follows collapse. The presence of fixed boundaries and/or horizontal compressive stresses strongly reduces the spreading rate and opposes finite lithosphere thinning and therefore active rifting. It is suggested that back-arc extension occurring in continental settings could exemplify post-collapse active rifting.

Abstract Deformation events and episodes of metamorphic mineral growth are usually regarded as relatively local phenomena. It is not expected that specific events and episodes within an orogenic sequence should exactly correlate over large distances. There is no obvious reason, for example, to assume that deformational and/or metamorphic events in the Western European Alps would directly correlate with events taking place in the Aegean continental crust, c . 1000 km distant. Yet linked episodes of deformation and metamorphism appear to take place at the same time over large distances, even in these apparently unrelated segments of the same orogenic belt. This large-scale episodic behaviour appears to be associated with switches in tectonic mode, from compressional orogenesis to extensional tectonism, and may be the result of orogenic surges and/or periods of lithospheric extension following accretion events. The effect of these switches is greatest in back-arc environments, in the over-riding plate above major subduction zones. In these environments, roll-back of the subducting lithospheric slab after individual accretion events ensures that the amount of lithospheric extension after each accretion event is large. As a result this is where coherent high-pressure metamorphic terranes formed in the preceding accretion event are exhumed, and where remnants of newly emplaced ophiolite sheets are stranded by newly formed detachment faults.

Abstract Repeated reactivation of structures and reworking of crustal volumes are characteristic, though not ubiquitous, features of continental deformation. Reactivated faults and shear zones exposed in the deeply exhumed parts of ancient orogenic belts present opportunities to study processes that influence the mechanical properties of long-lived fault zones at different palaeo-depths. Ancient basement fault systems typically comprise heterogeneous, superimposed assemblages of fault rocks formed at different times and depths for which down-temperature thermal histories are most common. Several lithological and environmental factors influence the evolution of fault rock fabrics and rheology, but most fault/shear zone arrays appear to develop as self-organized deformation systems. Once mature, the kinematic and mechanical evolution of the system is strongly influenced by the rheological behaviour of the interconnected fault/shear zone network. A case study from the crustal-scale Great Glen Fault Zone (GGFZ), Scotland, reveals a complex evolution of mid- to upper-crustal deformation textures formed adjacent to the frictional-viscous transition. Fluid influx in the mid-crust has led to reaction softening of the rock aggregate as strong pre-existing phases such as feldspar are replaced by fine-grained, strongly aligned aggregates of weak phyllosilicates. In addition, a grainsize-controlled switch to fluid-assisted diffusional creep occurs in the highest strain regions of the fault zone. It is proposed that this led to a shallowing and narrowing of the frictional-viscous transition and to long-term overall weakening of the fault zone relative to the surrounding wall-rocks. Cataclasis is particularly important in the deeper part of the frictional regime as it helps to promote retrograde metamorphism and changes in deformation regime, by both reducing grainsize and promoting pervasive fluid influx along fault strands due to grain-scale dilatancy. Equivalent processes are likely to occur along many other long-lived, crustal-scale fault zones.

Abstract This study investigates possible mechanisms that can account for the intraplate deformation in central Australia and the Canning Basin during the Devo-Carboniferous Alice Springs Orogeny. The intraplate orogeny in central Australia seems to have occurred without the association of a significant collisional orogenic event at the plate boundary. In contrast, the present-day Tian Shan may be viewed as a consequence of the plate boundary collision which has produced the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. The experiments presented in this paper examine a mechanism that produces intraplate thickening and thinning of the crust but leaves the boundary relatively undeformed. A thin viscous sheet approximation of continental lithosphere is used to demonstrate that a clockwise rotational northern boundary acting on a lithospheric sheet with an internal weak zone may produce crustal thickening in the region representing central Australia, and thinning in the region representing the Canning Basin. In this model a clockwise rotation of the northern boundary may be induced either by an eastward shear traction or by a clockwise bending moment. The relation between rotation of the boundary and maximum crustal thickening factor is, to first order, independent of the way in which deformation is driven. It depends primarily on the relative dimensions of the intracratonic weak zone. For plausible estimates of thin viscous sheet geometry and variation of lithospheric strength within the sheet, it is inferred that clockwise rotation of the northern Australian block of order 20–25 ° is required to produce a maximum crustal thickening factor in central Australia of order 1.67. These calculations indicate that the depth-averaged strength of the lithosphere in central Australia prior to the Alice Springs Orogeny was of order B 0 = 0.8 × 10 13 Pa s 1/3 , assuming plausible estimates of plate boundary force of 5 × 10 12 Nm −1 and orogenic time span of 100 Ma. Based on a simplified approximate model for lithospheric strength this strength coefficient corresponds to a Moho temperature in central Australia of order 520°C. The concentration of deformation in this relatively narrow zone that stretches E–W across the continent, implies that the blocks to the N and S are much stronger, a difference which might be explained by a decrease in Moho temperature of order 60°C. If Moho temperatures prior to the Alice Springs orogeny were higher than those estimated above, the required deformation may have been compressed into a shorter period than 100 Ma, or may have been episodic rather than continuous.

Abstract Presented here are the results of a thin-plate model of the continental lithosphere in which deformation is driven by velocities specified along the plate boundaries. The geometry of the model, the strength of each lithospheric block, and the boundary conditions have been chosen to reproduce the major tectonic episodes experienced by the Australian continent during a 200 Ma time period starting in the Ordovician (i.e. 470 Ma). The model’s focus is on the reactivation and/or reworking of zones of weakness within the continent that have either been set a priori or developed in response to previous tectonic regimes. Using the tectonic history of the Australian continent as a natural laboratory in which hypotheses on the nature and style of intracratonic deformation can be tested, the following conclusions can be made: (i) intracratonic deformation results from the concentration of strain into regions of decreased lithospheric strength; these weak zones are often caused by previous intracratonic deformation and/or develop at the interface between regions of contrasting strength; (ii) repeated deformation episodes lead to strain localization; (iii) localized deformation may also take place as the result of the constructive interaction between two tectonic regimes originating on separate margins; and (iv) there are mechanisms that operate within the lithosphere by which deformation leads to local strengthening.

Abstract The geological record of intraplate deformation in central Australia implies that past tectonic activity (basin formation, deformation and erosion) has modulated the response of the lithosphere during subsequent tectonic activity. In particular, there is a correspondence between the localization of deformation during intraplate orogeny and the presence of thick sedimentary successions in the preserved remnants of a formerly widespread intracratonic basin. This behaviour can be understood as a kind of ‘tectonic feedback’, effected by the long-term thermal and mechanical consequences of changes in the distribution of heat producing elements induced by earlier tectonism. From a geochemical point of view, one of the most dramatic effects of intraplate orogeny in central Australia has been the exposure, in the cores of the orogens, of deep crustal rocks largely depleted in the heat producing elements. The geochemical structuring of the crust associated with the erosion of the heat-producing upper crust resulted in long-term cooling of the deep crust and upper mantle with associated lithospheric strengthening. This is illustrated here by mapping the consequences of deformation and associated tectonic responses onto the h−q c plane, where h is the characteristic length-scale for heat production distribution, and q c is the total crustal heat production. Because rates of intraplate deformation in central Australia appear to be much slower than that typical of plate margin orogens, it is possible that the ongoing geochemical structuring of the crust has played an important role in terminating intraplate orogeny in central Australia by providing a ‘thermal lock’. The diagnostic geophysical signature of this lock may be the extraordinary gravity anomalies of the central Australian intraplate orogens.

Abstract Mount Isa is a Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic terrane in Northern Australia characterized by >300 Ma of episodic tectonic activity prior to effective cratonization. This tectonic activity has resulted in dramatic changes in the heat production distribution in the crust and must have been accompanied by long-term changes in thermal regimes. Primary differentiation of crust initially enriched in heat producing elements has been achieved by felsic magmatism over much of the 300 Ma history, often associated with extensional deformation. The flux of heat producing elements from lower to mid-upper crustal levels associated with this magmatism was sufficient to cause long-term lower crustal cooling of at least 200°C. The accumulation of the radiogenic intrusives (which comprise c . 23 % of surface outcrop and have heat production rates averaging 5.2 μ Wm −3 ) in the mid-upper crust resulted in a highly stratified heat production distribution. One consequence of this distribution is that small changes in the depth to this heat production, through processes such as deformation, erosion and the deposition of sediments, lead to significant changes in deep crustal temperatures (up to 100°C) and consequently lithospheric strength. These considerations suggest that the long-term evolution of the Mount Isa region partly reflects the progressive concentration of heat-producing elements in the upper crust leading to a long-term increase in lithospheric strength, and eventually to effective cratonization. The long-term cooling and strengthening trend was locally countered by the role of subsidence during basin formation which, through burial of heat producing elements in the existing crust and the accumulation of more heat production in insulating sediments, helped to localize subsequent contractional deformation.

Abstract The Reynolds–Anmatjira Range region forms part of the Arunta Inlier in central Australia and has undergone four tectonothermal cycles that span an interval of c . 1450 Ma. The first two cycles were the Stafford Tectonic Event c . 1820 Ma, and the Strangways Orogeny c . 1770–1780 Ma, both of which were associated with regional low-pressure high-temperature metamorphism up to granulite grade that was coeval with the emplacement of voluminous sheet-like granites. The subsequent Chewings Orogeny occurred at around 1590–1570 Ma and was a long-lived event that produced regional low-pressure greenschist to granulite facies metamorphism without obvious associated magmatism. During the mid-Palaeozoic Alice Springs Orogeny (400–300 Ma), the terrain was dissected by a system of sub-greenschist to mid-amphibolite facies shear zones. In the Reynolds Range, the Proterozoic events produced a single regional foliation that is axial planar to simple large-scale folds. The composite regional Proterozoic foliation increases in grade smoothly from northwest to southeast, producing a pattern of isograds that is remarkably similar to those that formed during the mid-Palaeozoic Alice Springs Orogeny. Despite this simple pattern, the isograds reflect the superimposed metamorphic effects of four unrelated tectonothermal cycles. Without geochronological and stratigraphic information, the degree of terrain reworking in the Reynolds–Anmatjira Range region could have been largely obscured by the apparent simplicity of many of the structural and metamorphic relationships.

Abstract In the Huckitta region of the eastern Arunta Inlier, central Australia, two terrains with distinct metamorphic histories are separated by a zone of sinistral strike-slip mylonitic deformation and reworking, the Entire Point Shear Zone (EPSZ). To the south of the EPSZ, in the Harts Range Group, Ordovician ( c . 470 Ma) intraplate granulite facies metamorphism ( c . 800°C, 8–10 kbar) was followed by decompression to c . 7 kbar. In contrast, the Kanandra Granulite, to the north of the EPSZ, is characterized by Palaeoproterozoic high-grade metamorphism at 770–850°C and 5–7 kbar, followed by inferred near-isobaric cooling. Juxtaposition of these terrains along the EPSZ occurred at upper amphibolite facies conditions (700°C, 7 kbar), and resulted in extensive reworking of the Kanandra Granulite. Monazite growth within EPSZ mylonites is dated at 445 ± 5 Ma, whilst a garnet amphibolite gives a Sm–Nd isochron age of 434 ± 6. The timing of this deformation is broadly coincident with the inferred onset of south-vergent compressional deformation in the Harts Range region to the south. This suggests that juxtaposition of the Ordovician granulite terrain with the surrounding Proterozoic terrains occurred during intraplate sinistral transpression in the late Ordovician. Further reworking of the Kanandra Granulite occurred at mid-amphibolite to greenschist facies conditions, during north-vergent mylonitic deformation that exhumed the Ordovician high-grade terrain during the 400–300 Ma Alice Springs Orogeny. Although this zone of Palaeozoic reworking is < 5 km wide, it forms the northern margin of Palaeozoic high-grade intraplate deformation and represents a major tectonic boundary in central Australia.

Abstract Mineral chronometers, especially accessory minerals using the U–Pb decay system, can reveal important information regarding the environmental conditions and duration of metamorphic–deformation events during the re-working of older rocks. Minerals such as zircon can newly grow during amphibolite facies or granulite facies events, providing direct ages of metamorphism. Pre-existing minerals like monazite, allanite, and titanite can preserve a component of their original age in spite of upper amphibolite facies re-working and very thorough recrystallization of the rock fabric during mylonite development. The degree of Pb loss can be used to deduce, at least semi-quantitatively, the temperature and duration of the subsequent event. In well-studied examples, the relative retentivity of Pb is highly predictable, and this helps place strong constraints on relative closure temperatures, even when laboratory experimental data are lacking or inconclusive. A number of examples are presented from a wide variety of geological environments to illustrate the response of U–Pb isotope systematics within accessory minerals to superimposed deformation, metamorphism and/or mineral growth.

Abstract The rocks of the Kalahari Craton in central western Mozambique have crystallization ages of between c . 2300 and 3400 Ma and comprise dominantly granite–greenstones, peraluminous two-mica granites, subordinate younger mafic and granitic intrusions of uncertain age and cover sedimentary rocks. The rocks of the Mozambique Belt comprise c . 1100 Ma intrusive granitoids as well as mafic intrusives and supracrustal migmatite gneisses of uncertain age. The boundary zone between and including these two crustal provinces is characterized by a strong N–S penetrative planar and migmatitic fabric. Sparse kinematic indicators suggest a sinistral sense of displacement along this shear zone. The metamorphic gradient increases from west to east from low grade on the Kalahari Craton to high-grade in the east, characterized by two generations of anatectic migmatization. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar thermochronology on mica suggests that the Kalahari Craton lithologies have experienced heating above at least c . 300°C during the c . 1100 Ma Grenville age orogeny and again at c . 530 Ma during the Pan-African Orogeny, possibly related to the collisional amalgamation of East and West Gondwana. The Mozambique Belt lithologies record a c. 550 Ma thermal overprint with the lithologies in the vicinity of the N–S shear zone recording thermal reactivation at c . 470 Ma. Comparisons of the new data with that from western Dronning Maud Land, which was adjacent to the study area prior to Gondwana fragmentation, yield many similarities.

Abstract The basement of the North China Craton can be divided into the Archaean Eastern and Western Blocks, separated by major Palaeoproterozoic terrane boundaries that roughly correspond with the limits of a 100–300 km wide zone, named the Trans-North China Orogen. Some mafic granulites from the orogen and adjoining areas in the Eastern and Western Blocks preserve textural evidence for two granulite facies events involving contrasting P–T paths. The first event is characterized by three distinct mineral assemblages, M 1a to M 1c . M 1a is represented by fine-grained orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + plagioclase ± quartz, which is surrounded by the M 1b garnet + quartz symplectite, which itself is mantled by the M 1c plagioclase + biotite symplectite. These assemblages and their P–T estimates define an anticlockwise P–T path, with peak metamorphism of 7.0–8.0kbar and 800–850°C (M 1a ) followed by isobaric cooling to 700–750°C (M 1b ) and pressure-decreasing cooling to 630–700°C (M 1c ). The second event also includes three mineral assemblages, M 2a to M 2c . M 2a represents growths of garnet porphyroblasts and matrix orthopyroxene + plagioclase + clinopyroxene + quartz; M 2b consists of orthopyroxene + plagioclase + clinopyroxene symplectites or coronas; and M 2c is represented by plagioclase + hornblende symplectites. These assemblages and their P–T estimates define a clockwise P–T path, with peak metamorphism of 9.2–9.8 kbar and 820–850°C (M 2a ), followed by near-isothermal decompression (M 2b ) of 7.0–7.6kbar and 760–810°C and cooling (M 2c ) to 690–760°C. The isobaric cooling, anticlockwise, P–T path of the first granulite facies event is similar to the P–T paths inferred for the c . 2.5 Ga metamorphosed marie granulites from the Eastern and Western Blocks, whereas the near-isothermal decompression, clockwise, P–T path of the second granulite facies event is similar to the P–T paths inferred for the c . 1.8 Ga metamorphosed khondalite series in the Western Block and some marie granulites in the Trans-North China Orogen. These relations suggest that the polymetamorphic granulites were derived from the reworking of the 2.5 Ga metamorphosed granulites during the 1.8 Ga collision between the Eastern and Western Blocks that resulted in the final amalgamation of the North China Craton.

Abstract The geological history of central Dronning Maud Land (cDML) is described on the basis of age data, recent observations, and published data. The ages of both the protoliths of the metamorphic rocks of cDML and their primary metamorphism are Grenvillian (1200 to 1000 Ma). Following a long hiatus for which geochronological data are lacking, the Grenvillian crust of cDML was intruded by abundant Pan-African partly charnockitic granitoids and anorthosites of the Dronning Maud Land igneous province. These intrusions occurred predominantly in two Pan-African igneous episodes. The early igneous episode (about 600 Ma), in which the Grubergebirge anorthosite intruded, was followed by Pan-African highgrade metamorphism, intense ductile deformation and then medium-grade retrogression during later Pan-African events (570 to 520 Ma). The Grenvillian structures and metamorphic signature were pervasively overprinted or completely eradicated. The Pan-African metamorphism and tectonism were completed prior to the late Pan-African igneous episode (500 Ma), in which predominantly post-kinematic granitoids, as well as a small anorthosite, intruded. Thus, the present tectonic structure of the crust in cDML was formed during Pan-African events by overprinting of Grenvillian basement and intrusion of granitoids/syenites and anorthosites.