Abstract The Cambrian Atlas – Ossa–Morena – North Armorican Rift extended along West Gondwana from the end of the Pan-African and Cadomian orogenies until the diachronous beginning of drift conditions related to the opening of the Rheic Ocean. The along-axis rift cross-cut the western parts of the Anti-Atlas, High Atlas and Coastal Meseta, which were linked to the Ossa–Morena Zone and the North Armorican Domain, whereas several joint tectonic branches connected with off-axis rift transects of the Central Iberian, West Asturian–Leonese and Cantabrian zones (Iberian Massif), the Central and South Armorican domains, the Occitan Domain, the Pyrenees, and southern Sardinia. The pre-rift unconformity, post-dating the orogenic collapse, is characterized by initial (half-)graben development and subsequent infill, with slope-related breccias and conglomerates controlled by the denudation of surrounding uplands. Synrift pulses show regional extension and are distinctly identifiable on the top of rift shoulders, recording episodes of carbonate production due to their association with karst and hydrothermal processes. The break-up unconformity ranges from volcanic-free angular discordances and paraconformities to generalized uplift and denudation of subaerially exposed areas, associated with the onset of granite-dominant large igneous provinces (LIPs). The Furongian–Tremadocian (Toledanian) and Ordovician (Sardic) phases have been interpreted as due to: (i) Andean-type subduction magmatism reaching the crust in an arc–back-arc setting; (ii) post-collisional decompression melting without significant mantle involvement; and (iii) partial melting of the lower continental crust affected by the underplating of hot mafic magmas linked to superplumes.

Abstract The recent discovery of Ediacaran ophiolites in the SW Iberian Massif has made it possible to pinpoint the evolution of the Cadomian basement of Europe. The Calzadilla and Mérida ophiolites (gabbroic protoliths dated at c. 600 and 594 Ma, respectively) have geochemical characteristics typical of supra-subduction zone ophiolites. They are interpreted as originating during the initial opening of a forearc basin with boninitic magmatism (Calzadilla), followed by the formation of a back-arc basin with arc-tholeiites (Mérida). Widening of the back-arc led to the rifting and drifting of a section of the active continental margin (Cadomia). Closure of these oceanic domains initiated rapid contraction, culminating in the collision of Cadomia with Gondwana (c. 590–540 Ma). The application of a PANALESIS model to this palaeogeographic setting confirms the plausibility of Cadomian rifting and the likely opening of broad oceanic domains. It also confirms the final collision of Cadomia with Gondwana, although the synthetic and regional data disagree in the precise chronology of the convergence and collision of Cadomia with the West Africa Craton. This work shows that the evolution of the Cadomian basement is much more complex than traditionally considered.

Abstract Exhumation of high-pressure (P) rocks may require a long path and multiple deformation phases. During this journey, late faults and folds can introduce changes to the primary tectonic stacking and lead to misleading conclusions regarding subduction polarity and plate reconstructions. This hypothesis has been tested positively via mapping and structural analysis in the eastern section of the Central Unit (Eastern Ossa–Morena Complex, Iberian Massif), which comprises Devonian high-P rocks subducted during the Variscan Orogeny. Following subduction beneath Gondwana, exhumation was assisted by in-sequence underthrusting of the continental crust, along with thinning of the overlying and formerly accreted crust. Convergence persisted and was accommodated by Gondwana-directed, out-of-sequence thrusts. Subsequent extension favoured erosion and basin inception during the Early Carboniferous, whereas further convergence produced late folding and faulting during Late Carboniferous sinistral transpression. Late faults duplicated the Devonian suture zone several times, producing a series of closely-spaced exposures of a single suture. The manner in which late faults affected the Devonian suture produced an outcome that could be mistaken for a collection of individual suture zones. Late faults may distort the primary relationships between upper and lower plates; however, they provide a geometry-based approach for restoring the primary geometry of suture zones.

Abstract We present a new structural study of a D 2 –M 2 tectono-thermal structure in SW Iberia (Ponte de Sor–Seda gneiss dome) characterized by a spatial distribution of telescoping isograds providing a record of Buchan-type metamorphic conditions. The gneiss dome comprises an infrastructure made up of a lower gneiss unit (LGU) and an intermediate schist unit (ISU), separated by early D 2 ductile extensional shear zones. The LGU and the ISU are composed of Ediacaran–Cambrian rocks that experienced the highest-grade M 2 metamorphic conditions (amphibolite facies). Late Ediacaran–Early Terreneuvian and Late Miaolingian–Early Furongian protolith ages for LGU (496 ± 3 Ma) and ISU (539 ± 2 Ma) orthogneisses are reported. A superstructure made of Cambrian–Devonian rocks (Upper Slate Unit, USU) deformed under M 2 greenschist facies conditions, tectonically overlies the ISU across a D 2 extensional shear zone. Kinematic criteria associated with D 2 –M 2 fabrics indicate top-to-ESE–SE sense of shear. A late-D 2 brittle-ductile high-angle extensional shear zone (Seda shear zone) crosscuts the gneiss dome. D 3 upright folds, thrusts and transpressive shear zones caused the steepening of D 2 structures and the local crenulation of S 2 foliation. The Mississippian D 2 –M 2 event recorded in the Ossa–Morena Zone may be regarded as a regional-scale phenomenon that markedly influenced the crustal architecture of North Gondwana during the assembly of Pangaea.

Abstract Aspects of the evolution of the Pan-African–Cadomian arc have been recognized in several European massifs. The Ossa–Morena Complex (SW Iberian Massif) is one of the best-preserved sections of this palaeo-Gondwana margin. In this domain, recent studies suggest that arc magmatism followed a cyclical pattern during the Upper Ediacaran and Lower Cambrian. However, its initial and more mature stages remain unclear. Upper Ediacaran magmatism (c. 602 Ma) appears to be uninterrupted and driven by slab–mantle wedge–upper plate interactions. The early Paleozoic was a period of significant change along the Gondwana margin. In the Ossa–Morena Complex, the beginning of the Cambrian (c. 541 Ma) is marked by a strong unconformity over the Ediacaran basement, which is linked to destabilization of the arc. However, subduction-related magmatism continued with increasing mantle input, driving the geochemistry to more alkaline compositions. This paper summarizes the geochemical and isotopic evolution of the peri-Gondwana arc preserved in SW Iberia during this period. These results highlight shifts in geochemistry related to a higher slab angle during each magmatic episode, suggesting a tectonic switch toward an extensional regime in this section of the Gondwana margin.

Abstract Field relationships and new U–Pb geochronology data indicate a temporal link between the diverse high-K mafic–intermediate magmas of the Ossa–Morena Zone (OMZ). Ages of c. 338–335 Ma for the Vale de Maceiras gabbro and the Campo Maior microdiorite and quartz-diorite indicate that plutonism took place during a Variscan extensional D 2 deformation event in the OMZ. The syntectonic nature of the Vale de Maceiras pluton is attested to by the orientation of intrusive contacts, magmatic foliation and the growth of contact metamorphic minerals in relation to the Variscan extensional D 2 foliation. The Campo Maior microdiorite, quartz-diorite and orthomigmatites are temporally linked to high-temperature mylonitic gneisses formed simultaneously with the Variscan extensional D 2 deformation event. The geochemical features of the Vale de Maceiras and Campo Maior mafic–intermediate rocks show an affinity with the sanukitoid series. This finding suggests that the observed geochemical variability, from tholeiitic to calc-alkaline and sanukitoid, in the Visean OMZ plutonic rocks ( c. 349–335 Ma) may have been inherited from partially melted mantle domains that were previously contaminated by crustal melts during subduction.