Pseudotachylitic breccia (PTB) in the form of cm-wide melt breccia veinlets locally occurs on the exposed central uplift of the 380Ma Siljan impact structure. The host rock to the PTBs is the so-called Jarna granite of quartz monzonitic to syenodioritic composition. The nearly 603m long BH-5 drill core from Hattberg, near the centre of the Siljan central uplift, contains numerous veins and pods of PTB. In particular, two major zones of 60m combined width contain extensive PTB network breccias (30% actual melt breccia component), with individual melt breccia occurrences up to >1m in length. Core logging and petrographic and geochemical analysis of the core have been performed, and the data are interpreted to suggest the following. (1) The impact event caused low to moderate (at essentially <20GPa) shock deformation in the host rock and in clasts of this lithology within the PTB. (2) Macroscopic deformation of the basement mainly comprises fracturing, with only localised cataclasis. (3) No evidence for shock melting (i.e. compression/decompression melting early in the cratering process) could be observed. (4) Optical and scanning electron microscopy showed that dark PTB contains a definite melt component. (5) Shearing has significantly affected this part of the central uplift, but its effects are limited to very short displacements and likely did not result in extensive melting. (6) A frictional heating component upon melt generation can, however, not be excluded, as many PTB samples contain clasts of a mafic (gabbroic) component, although only in one place along the entire core, a 1.2cm-wide section through such material in direct contact to host rock was observed. Consequently, we suggest that, upon uplift in the central part of the impact structure, considerable melt volumes were generated locally, especially in areas that had been affected by extensive cataclasis and where grain size comminution favoured melt formation. Rapid decompression related to central uplift formation is the preferred process for the generation of the PTB melt breccias.

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in NW Colombia is an isolated massif at the northernmost end of the Andes chain near the boundary with the Caribbean plate. Previous geologic mapping and K-Ar dating have shown that Jurassic plutonic and volcanic units make up a large part of the Santa Marta Massif (SMM). These rocks have been considered to be part of a Jurassic magmatic arc extending from NW Colombia to northern Chile, but without any geochemical basis for comparison. This paper reports on a geochemical and Sr-Nd-Pb isotope study of the Jurassic rocks in the SMM and provides 12 new U-Pb zircon ages from in-situ laser ICP-MS dating. The plutonic and volcanic units span a range from 45 to 78 wt.% SiO2, with a dominance of intermediate to felsic compositions with SiO2 > 57 wt.%. They classify as calc-alkaline, medium to high-K, metaluminous rocks with trace-element features typical for arc-derived magma series. In terms of their major and trace-element compositions, the SMM Jurassic units overlap with contemporary plutonic and volcanic rocks from other regions of the Central and Eastern Cordilleras of Colombia, and confirm an arc affinity. The new U-Pb ages range from 176 +/- 1 Ma to 192 +/- 2 Ma (n = 12), with most between 180 and 188 Ma (n = 7). The initial Sr isotope ratios (at 180 Ma) are between 0.7012 and 0.7071 (n = 29), with 3 outliers attributed to mobilization of Rb and/or Sr, Nearly all samples have negative( )epsilon Nd-(180) values between - 10.3 and 0.0 (n = 30), the two exceptions being only slightly positive (1.1 and 1.9). Measured Pb isotope ratios fall in a narrow range, with Pb-206/Pb-204 from 18.02 to 19.95, (207) Pb/(204) Pb from 15.56 to 15.67 and Pb-208/Pb-204 from 37.76 to 39.04 (n = 28). In the regional context of previous studies, these results confirm early Jurassic ages and an arc affinity for the widespread magmatism exposed in the eastern and northeastern Colombian Andes. We also note patterns in the distribution and composition of magmas. The magmatic activity in the Central Cordillera tends to be younger than in the Eastern Cordillera and is spatially more restricted to the vicinity of regional fault systems. In terms of composition, Jurassic igneous rocks in the Eastern Cordillera have systematically lower epsilon Nd-(180) values than those from the Central Cordillera, whereas the Pb isotope ratios overlap. We ascribe the Nd isotope variations to heterogeneity in the mantle source and/or degree of crustal contamination, whereas the Pb isotope ratios are crust-dominated and similar throughout the region. The spatio-temporal and compositional evolution of Jurassic magmatic rocks in the Northern Andes reflect the major plate kinematic readjustment between the Triassic and the Early Jurassic in the proto-Andean margin.

The Andean Plateau of NW Argentina is a prominent example of a high-elevation orogenic plateau characterized by internal drainage, arid to hyper-arid climatic conditions and a compressional basin-and-range morphology comprising thick sedimentary basins. However, the development of the plateau as a geomorphic entity is not well understood. Enhanced orographic rainout along the eastern, windward plateau flank causes reduced fluvial run-off and thus subdued surface-process rates in the arid hinterland. Despite this, many Puna basins document a complex history of fluvial processes that have transformed the landscape from aggrading basins with coalescing alluvial fans to the formation of multiple fluvial terraces that are now abandoned. Here, we present data from the San Antonio de los Cobres (SAC) area, a sub-catchment of the Salinas Grandes Basin located on the eastern Puna Plateau bordering the externally drained Eastern Cordillera. Our data include: (a) new radiometric U-Pb zircon data from intercalated volcanic ash layers and detrital zircons from sedimentary key horizons; (b) sedimentary and geochemical provenance indicators; (c) river profile analysis; and (d) palaeo-landscape reconstruction to assess aggradation, incision and basin connectivity. Our results suggest that the eastern Puna margin evolved from a structurally controlled intermontane basin during the Middle Miocene, similar to intermontane basins in the Mio-Pliocene Eastern Cordillera and the broken Andean foreland. Our refined basin stratigraphy implies that sedimentation continued during the Late Mio-Pliocene and the Quaternary, after which the SAC area was subjected to basin incision and excavation of the sedimentary fill. Because this incision is unrelated to baselevel changes and tectonic processes, and is similar in timing to the onset of basin fill and excavation cycles of intermontane basins in the adjacent Eastern Cordillera, we suspect a regional climatic driver, triggered by the Mid-Pleistocene Climate Transition, caused the present-day morphology. Our observations suggest that lateral orogenic growth, aridification of orogenic interiors, and protracted plateau sedimentation are all part of a complex process chain necessary to establish and maintain geomorphic characteristics of orogenic plateaus in tectonically active mountain belts.

The Eastern Sierras Pampeanas are mainly composed of Neoproterozoic-early Palaeozoic metamorphic complexes whose protoliths were sedimentary sequences deposited along the western margin of Gondwana. South of the Sierra de Aconquija, Eastern Sierras Pampeanas, a voluminous metamorphic complex crops out. It is mainly composed of schists, gneisses, marbles, calk-silicate schists, thin layers of amphibolites intercalated with the marbles and granitic veins. The new data correlate the Sierra de Aconquija with others metamorphic units that crop out to the south, at the middle portion of the Sierra de Ancasti. Bulk rock composition reflects originally shales, iron rich shales, wackes, minor litharenites and impure limestones as its protoliths. Moreover, comparisons with the northern Sierra de Aconquija and from La Majada (Sierra de Ancasti) show similar composition. Amphibolites have a basaltic precursor, like those from the La Majada (Sierra de Ancasti) ones. The analyzed metamorphic sequence reflects low to moderate weathering conditions in the sediments source environment and their chemical composition would be mainly controlled by the tectonic setting of the sedimentary basin rather than by the secondary sorting and reworking of older deposits. The sediments composition reveal relatively low maturity, nevertheless the Fe - shale and the litharenite show a tendency of minor maturity among them. The source is related to an acid one for the litharenite protolith and a more basic to intermediate for the other rocks, suggesting a main derivation from intermediate to felsic orogen. The source of the Fe shales may be related to and admixture of the sediments with basic components. Overall the composition point to an upper continental crust as the dominant sediment source for most of the metasedimentary rocks. The protolith of the amphibolites have basic precursors, related to an evolving back-arc basin. The chemical data in combination with the specific sediment association (wackes, shales, Fe-shales and minor litharenites) are characteristic for turbidity currents deposits along tectonically active region. They are also commonly associated with calcareous clays (marbles), commonly observed in the evolution of basins with slope and shelf derived carbonate turbidites. The amphibolites members are probably derived from lava-flows synchronous with the sedimentation during the basin evolution. The basin was controlled by a continental island arc possible evolving to a back-arc setting, as indicated for the mixed nature of the inferred source. The metasedimentary sequence from the Cuesta de La Chilca have petrographic, structural and strong chemical similarities, building a north-south striking belt from the north of the Sierra de Aconquija and to the south along the Sierra de Ancasti (La Majada area). The observed similarities allow to present this portion of the Eastern Sierras Pampeanas as a crustal block that records the sedimentary sequences developed along the geodynamic context of the southwestern margin of Gondwana during the Neoproterozoic and Early Palaeozoic. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Metabasites were sampled from rock series of the subducted margin of the Indian Plate, the so-called Higher Himalayan Crystalline, in the Upper Kaghan Valley, Pakistan. These vary from corona dolerites, cropping out around Saif- ul-Muluk in the south, to coesite-eclogite close to the suture zone against rocks of the Kohistan arc in the north. Bulk rock major- and trace-element chemistry reveals essentially a single protolith as the source for five different eclogite types, which differ in fabric, modal mineralogy as well as in mineral chemistry. The study of newly-collected samples reveals coesite (confirmed by in situ Raman spectroscopy) in both garnet and omphacite. All eclogites show growth of amphiboles during exhumation. Within some coesite-bearing eclogites the presence of glaucophane cores to barroisite is noted whereas in most samples porphyroblastic sodic-calcic amphiboles are rimmed by more aluminous calcic amphibole (pargasite, tschermakite, and edenite). Eclogite facies rutile is replaced by ilmenite which itself is commonly surrounded by titanite. In addition, some eclogite bodies show leucocratic segregations containing phengite, quartz, zoisite and/or kyanite. The important implication is that the complex exhumation path shows stages of initial cooling during decompression (formation of glaucophane) followed by reheating: a very similar situation to that reported for the coesite-bearing eclogite series of the Tso Morari massif, India, 450 km to the south-east.