Person:
Fernández Suárez, Javier

First Name

Javier

Last Name

Fernández Suárez

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/75249

Affiliation

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Faculty / Institute

Ciencias Geológicas

Department

Mineralogía y Petrología

Area

Petrología y Geoquímica

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 73

Supporting info item, In: "Using SHRIMP zircon dating to unravel tectonothermal events in arc environments. The early Palaeozoic arc of NW Iberia revisited"
(Terra nova, 2007) Abati Gómez, Jacobo; Castiñeiras García, Pedro; Arenas Martín, Ricardo; Fernández Suárez, Javier; Gómez Barreiro, Juan; Wooden, Joseph L.
Two-stage collision: Exploring the birth of Pangea in the Variscan terranes.
(Gondwana research, 2014) Arenas Martín, Ricardo; Díez Fernández, Rubén; Sánchez Martínez, Sonia; Gerdes, Axel; Fernández Suárez, Javier; Albert Roper, Richard
The Variscan suture exposed in NW Iberia contains a stack of terranes including two allochthonous units with continental affinity and Gondwanan provenance (Upper and Basal Units), separated by an ophiolite belt where the most common units show protolith ages at c. 395 Ma. Recent Lu–Hf zircon data obtained from these ophiolites indicate interaction between the gabbroic magmas and old continental crust. Hence, the ophiolites could not have originated in a deep ocean basin associated with a mature mid-ocean-ridge or intraoceanic subduction. The tectonothermal evolution of the continental terranes bounding the suture zone records two consecutive events of deep subduction. The Upper Units record an initial high-P/ultra-high-P metamorphic event that occurred before 400–390 Ma, while the Basal Units were affected by a second high-P/low-to-intermediate-T metamorphic event dated at c. 370 Ma. Continental subduction affected the most external margin of Gondwana and developed in a setting of dextral convergencewith Laurussia. Development of the two high-P events alternated with the opening of an ephemeral oceanic basin, probably of pull-apart type, in Early Devonian times. This ephemeral oceanic domain is suggested as the setting for the protoliths of the most common ophiolites involved in the Variscan suture. Current ideas for the assembly of Pangea advocate a single collisional event between Gondwana and Laurussia in the Carboniferous. However, the new evidence from the allochthonous terranes of the Variscan belt suggests a more complex scenario for the assembly of the supercontinent, with an interaction between the colliding continental margins that started earlier and lasted longer than previously considered. Based onmodern analogs of continental interaction, the development of complex collisions, as here suggested for Gondwana and Laurussia during the assembly of Pangea, could have been the norm rather than the exception throughout Earth history.
From Rodinia to Pangaea: Ophiolites from NW Iberia as witness for a long-lived continental margin
(Special publication - Geological Society of London, 2009) Sánchez Martínez, Sonia; Arenas Martín, Ricardo; Fernández Suárez, Javier; Jeffries, Teresa E.
The ophiolites preserved in the Variscan suture of NW Iberia (Galicia) show a broad variability in lithology, geochemistry and chronology. This wide variety rules out the simplest plate tectonic scenario in which these ophiolites would have been exclusively related to the oceanic domain closed during the final Pangaea assembly, that is the Rheic Ocean. The ophiolitic units from Galicia also provide important data about the palaeogeography immediately preceding the opening of this ocean, and some information about pre-Gondwanan supercontinent cycles. Six different ophiolites can be distinguished in the allochthonous complexes of Galicia: the Purrido, Somozas, Bazar, Vila de Cruces, Moeche and Careón units. The Purrido Ophiolite is constituted by metagabbroic amphibolites with igneous protoliths dated at 1159 ± 39 Ma (Mesoproterozoic), and geochemical affinities typical of island-arc tholeiites. These mafic rocks can be interpreted as one of the scarce members of the pre-Rodinian ophiolites, and they were probably generated in a back-arc setting in the periphery of the West African Craton. The Somozas Ophiolitic Mélange consists of a mixing of submarine volcanic rocks (pillow-lavas, submarine breccias, pillow-breccias, hyaloclastites), diabases, gabbros, microgabbros, diorites and granitoids, surrounded by a matrix of serpentinites or, less frequently, phyllites. Two granitic samples from this mélange yield U-Pb ages ranging between c. 527 and 503 Ma (Cambrian), which together with the characteristic arc signatures obtained in all the studied igneous rocks suggest that this ophiolite was generated in a peri-Gondwanan volcanic arc. The Bazar Ophiolite is formed by different tectonic slices with high temperature amphibolites, granulites, metagabbros and ultramafic rocks. The amphibolites are the most abundant rock type and show typical N-MORB compositions with igneous protoliths dated at 498 ± 2 Ma (Cambrian). The high-temperature metamorphism affecting some parts of the unit has been dated at c. 480 Ma (lower Ordovician), and it is considered to be related to the development of an oceanic accretionary complex under the volcanic arc represented by the upper units of the allochthonous complexes of Galicia. Considering the most common palaeogeographic reconstructions for the Cambrian period, it is suggested that the oceanic lithosphere represented by the Bazar Ophiolite was formed into the peri-Gondwanan oceanic domain prior to the rifting of the Avalonian microcontinent, that is the Iapetus-Tornquist Ocean. According to current data about the Vila de Cruces Unit, it can be interpreted as a composite terrane, whose lithologies have U-Pb ages ranging from 1176-497 Ma, but constituted by metaigneous rocks with arc signatures. This dataset has been interpreted in relation to the development of a back-arc basin around the Cambrian-Ordovician limit, involving a Mesoproterozoic basement and the reactivation of a former suture. The opening of this back-arc basin can also be identified as the birth of the Rheic Ocean, and probably it would also include the lithological succession belonging to the Moeche Unit, although its basic rocks exhibit compositions with more oceanic character. Finally, the Careón Ophiolite includes remnants of an oceanic lithosphere generated in a supra-subduction zone setting at 395 ± 2 Ma (middle Devonian). This ophiolite was formed in a contractive Rheic Ocean, shortly preceding the closure of this ocean. This is the only ophiolite in Galicia that can be related to mature stages of the Rheic Ocean, although as it is commonly observed in other regions the N-MORB crust is not preserved. This common oceanic crust has disappeared during subduction, probably in an intra-oceanic setting and during the generation of the igneous section preserved in the Careón Ophiolite.
U–Pb detrital zircon ages in synorogenic deposits of the NW Iberian Massif (Variscan belt): interplay of Devonian–Carboniferous sedimentation and thrust tectonics
(Journal of the Geological Society, 2008) Martínez Catalán, José Ramón; Fernández Suárez, Javier; Meireles, Carlos; González Clavijo, Emilio; Belousova, Elena; Saeed, Ayesha
Detrital zircons from Devonian and Carboniferous synorogenic flysch deposits occurring in an imbricate stack have been dated by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) to: (1) obtain a maximum depositional age to constrain the maximum age limit for thrusting of exotic terranes in the NW Iberian Massif; (2) correlate the zircon age populations with published ages in nearby units to establish their possible source areas. The maximum depositional ages are Late Devonian for rocks high in the structural nappe pile (Gimonde Formation), in accordance with palynomorph dating, and around the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary for structurally lower samples (San Vitero Formation). Used in conjunction with previously published ages, the new ages are interpreted in terms of the advance of the thrust system responsible for the emplacement of exotic terranes upon the Iberian autochthon during the Variscan collision. Early Variscan zircon population ages indicate the exotic terranes as the source of synorogenic sediments, whereas their scarcity suggests derivation from the Iberian autochthon. One of the samples analysed lacks Variscan detrital zircons; this feature, together with the absence of an Early Palaeozoic zircon age population, puts into question its synorogenic character and suggests that the sample may be representative of the preorogenic parautochthon.
A two-stage collision at the origin of Pangea: the allochthonous Variscan terranes
(Geotemas, 2016) Arenas Martín, Ricardo; Díez Fernández, Rubén; Sánchez Martínez, Sonia; Gerdes, Axel; Fernández Suárez, Javier; Albert, R.; Fuenlabrada Pérez, José Manuel
The Variscan suture exposed in NW Iberia contains two allochthonous terranes with Gondwanan provenance (upper and basal units), separated by ophiolites with protolith ages at c. 395 Ma. The tectonothermal evolution of the continental terranes records two consecutive events of deep subduction. The upper units record an initial high-P/ultrahigh-P metamorphic event that occurred before 400-390 Ma, while the basal units were affected by a second high-P/low-to-intermediate-T metamorphic event at c. 370 Ma. Repeated continental subduction affecting the most external margin of Gondwana occurred in a setting of dextral convergence with Laurussia. The two high-P events alternated with the opening of an ephemeral oceanic basin, probably of pull-apart type, in Early Devonian times. This ephemeral oceanic domain is suggested as the setting for the protoliths of the most common ophiolites involved in the Variscan Orogen. Current ideas for the assembly of Pangea advocate a single collisional event in Carboniferous times. However, the new evidence from the allochthonous terranes of the Variscan Orogen suggest a more complex scenario for the assembly of the supercontinent, with an interaction between the colliding continental margins that started earlier and lasted longer than previously considered.
A U-Pb Study of Zircons from a Lower Crustal Granulite Xenolith of the Spanish Central System: A Record of Iberian Lithospheric Evolution from the Neoproterozoic to the Triassic
(The Journal of geology, 2006) Fernández Suárez, Javier; Arenas Martín, Ricardo; Jeffries, Teresa E.; Whitehouse, Martín J.; Villaseca González, Carlos
A U-Pb laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and secondary ion mass spectrometry geochronological study has been performed on zircons from a felsic granulite xenolith from the lower crust under the Variscan belt of Iberia. The ages obtained reveal zircon-forming events that span from the late Neoproterozoic (Cadomian-Avalonian orogeny) to the early stages of the opening of the Atlantic Ocean in the Mesozoic, through Cambro-Ordovician rifting, Devono-Carboniferous Variscan-Alleghenian collision, and Permian-Triassic extension and uplift. The U-Pb age groups found in zircons from this single lower crustal xenolith (ca. 220, 250, 280–310, 460–490, 525, and 550–490 Ma) record at least one complete cycle of closing and opening of oceanic basins and collision of continental masses. Zircons from the felsic granulite xenolith contain a synthesis of the geochronological information found on the surface geology and record most but not all major lithospheric events in the region in a ca. 400-m.yr. period.
Magmatism and early-Variscan continental subduction in the northern Gondwana margin recorded in zircons from the basal units of Galicia, NW Spain
(Geological Society of America Bulletin, 2010) Abati Gómez, Jacobo; Gerdes, Axel; Fernández Suárez, Javier; Arenas Martín, Ricardo; Whitehouse, Martín J.; Díez Fernández, Rubén
In situ uranium-lead dating (LA-SF-ICPMS and SIMS) and Lu-Hf isotope analyses (LA-MC-ICP-MS) of zircon from eclogite facies rocks from the basal units of the Variscan Belt in Galicia constrain their magmatic and metamorphic evolution and give some clues about the nature and origin of the involved basement. The samples studied are two felsic gneisses, two eclogites, and one eclogitic gneiss of intermediate composition (metatonalite). Oscillatory-zoned zircon cores from the felsic samples gave a main clustering of U-Pb ages at 493 ± 2 and 494 ± 2 Ma, and some older ages that represent inherited cores. Zircon grains from the intermediate and one of the mafic rocks show no inherited cores and yielded ages of 494 ± 3 and 498 ± 6 Ma, respectively, interpreted as time of protolith crystallization. Variably developed homogeneous zircon rims in one felsic gneiss yielded an age of 372 ± 3 Ma, and very tiny zircons of one eclogite gave 350 ± 2 Ma, both of which we interpret as metamorphic ages. The new age data demonstrate that the calc-alkaline magmatic suite described in the basal unit is ca. 20 Ma older than the alkaline to peralkaline plutonic suite of the same unit (dated at 472 ± 2 Ma; Rodríguez et al., 2007), and thus probably represents a distinct geologic event. Overgrowth rims are interpreted as metamorphic on the basis of their Lu/Hf and Th/U ratios. The 372 ± 3 age is considered as dating the high-pressure (high-P) metamorphism, and is essentially in agreement with previous Ar-Ar and Rb-Sr data. This high-P metamorphism marks the initial early-Variscan subduction of the Gondwana margin. The inherited zircon ages and Hf isotopic composition of zircons point to a considerable input of crustal material with West African Craton provenance to the felsic magma.
Buckling an orogen: The Cantabrian Orocline
(GSA Today, 2012) Gutiérrez Alonso, Gabriel; Johnston, Stephen T.; Weil, Arlo B.; Pastor Galán, Daniel; Fernández Suárez, Javier
The Paleozoic Variscan orogeny was a large-scale collisional event that involved amalgamation of multiple continents and micro-continents. Available structural, geological, geochemical, and geophysical data from Iberia are consistent with a model of oroclinal bending at the lithospheric scale of an originally near-linear convergent margin during the last stages of Variscan deformation in the late Paleozoic. Closure of the Rheic Ocean resulted in E-W shortening (in present-day coordinates) in the Carboniferous, producing a near linear N-S–trending, east-verging orogenic belt. Subsequent N-S shortening near the Carboniferous-Permian boundary resulted in oroclinal bending, highlighted by the formation of the Cantabrian Orocline. Together, these data constrain oroclinal bending in Iberia to have occurred during the latest Carboniferous over about a 10-million-year time window, which agrees well with recent geodynamical models and structural data that relate oroclinal bending with lithospheric delamination in the Variscan. This late-stage orogenic event remains an enigmatic part of final Pangaea amalgamation.
Orocimales y delaminación: relaciones y efectos
(Geotemas, 2004) Gutiérrez Alonso, Gabriel; Fernández Suárez, Javier; Weil, Arlo B.
Late- to post-orogenic oroclinal bending in conjunction with thinning of the lithospheric mantle is potentially an important component of the waning stages of plate convergence in collisional orogenies. This paper addresses possible and hitherto unexplored cause-effect relationships between oroclinal bending of an originally linear orogenic belt and lithospheric thinning and delamination based on an example from the Western European Variscan Belt (WEVB). We suggest that late- to post-orogenic bending of the lithosphere around a vertical axis may cause thickening and eventual detachment of the lithospheric root of orogenic belts such as the WEVB. The proposed hypothesis is consistent with the chronology of tectonic, metamorphic, magmatic and hydrothermal events recorded in the WEVB.
Contiguous rather than discrete Paleozoic histories for the Avalon and Meguma terranes based on detrital zircon data
(Geology, 2004) Brendan Murphy, J.; Fernández Suárez, Javier; Duncan Keppie, James; Jeffries, Teresa E.
Upper Ordovician–Lower Devonian strata of the Meguma terrane in the Canadian Appalachians contain zircon populations, including an important Mesoproterozoic zircon population (1.0–1.4 Ga), similar to those in coeval strata of Avalonia, and strongly suggest contiguous rather than discrete histories for these terranes throughout the Paleozoic. That these terranes were juxtaposed throughout the early Paleozoic is indicated by the absence of a Cambrian–Ordovician accretionary event, the lack of intervening suture-zone ophiolitic units, and the similarity of Avalonian and Meguma basement Nd isotope signatures in early Paleozoic igneous suites. As Avalonia had accreted to Laurentia-Baltica by the Early Silurian, these data suggest that the Meguma terrane, like Avalonia, resided along the same (northern) margin of the Rheic Ocean at that time. These conclusions have implications for reconstructions of the northern Gondwanan margin in the early Paleozoic and imply that the Silurian–Devonian Acadian orogeny in Maritime Canada occurred in an Andean-type setting and was not related to collision of the Meguma terrane with the Laurentian margin.