Building and collapse of the Cadomian Orogen: A plate-scale model based on structural data from the SW Iberian Massif

Abstract

The Cadomian Orogeny produced a subduction-related orogen along the periphery of Gondwana and configured the pre-Variscan basement of the Iberian Massif. The architecture of the Cadomian Orogen requires detailed structural analysis for reconstruction because of severe tectonic reworking during the Paleozoic (Variscan cycle). Tectonometamorphic analysis and data compilation in SW Iberia (La Serena Massif, Spain) have allowed the identification of three Cadomian deformation phases and further constrained the global architecture and large-scale processes that contributed to the Ediacaran building and early Paleozoic dismantling of the Cadomian Orogen. The first phase (DC1, prior to 573 Ma) favored tabular morphology in plutons that intruded during the building of a continental arc. The second phase (DC2, 573–535 Ma) produced an upright folding and contributed to further crustal thickening. The third phase of deformation (DC3, ranging between ∼535 and ∼480 Ma) resulted in an orogen-parallel dome with oblique extensional flow. DC1 represents the crustal growth and thickening stage. DC2 is synchronous with a period of crustal thickening that affected most of the Gondwanan periphery, from the most external sections (Cadomian fore-arc) to the inner ones (Cadomian back-arc). We explain DC2 as a consequence of flat subduction, which was followed by a period dominated by crustal extension (DC3) upon roll-back of the lower plate. The Ediacaran construction of the Cadomian Orogen (DC1 and DC2) requires ongoing subduction beneath Gondwana s.l., whereas its dismantlement during the Early Paleozoic is compatible with oblique, sinistral convergence.