Extensional flow produces recumbent folds in syn-orogenic granitoids (Padrón migmatitic dome, NW Iberian Massif)

Abstract

This contribution provides a case example on the generation of large-scale recumbent folds in syn-orogenic granitoids. We analyze the progressive reworking of extension-related structures into later ones after a period of crustal thickening. The Padrón migmatitic dome formed after the climax of the Gondwana-Laurussia collision in the late Paleozoic. Petrostructural analysis carried out in the eastern flank of this dome reveals that extensional flow resulted in progressive exhumation of mainland Gondwana, which rested under peri-gondwanan allochthonous terranes and a suture zone during maximum crustal thickening. Exhumation proceeded up to upper crust levels (andalusite stability field) along with partial melting of the middle-lower crust and with the generation of granitoid laccoliths during an early extensional stage. Newly-formed lithological and mechanical anisotropies, such as the presence of variably-sized sheet-shaped bodies of syn-orogenic granitoids, provided a favorable rheological setting for fold nucleation during the intermediate stages of extension. In extending orogenic crust, whether recumbent folds occur after significant melt production depends on the lateral/vertical flow ratio, and on the orientation of deforming bodies with regard to kinematic/strain axes. We suggest that subhorizontal extensional flow dominated over vertical flow during the early and intermediate stages of the evolution of the Padrón dome. A component of vertical (diapiric) flow caused progressive tilting of the sheet-like bodies and obliquity respect to strain axes. This resulted in the development of regional-scale folds at the expense of syn-orogenic granitoids, such as in the case of the Portomouro recumbent synform. Extensional ductile flow was oblique to the trend of the orogen during the whole process, and directed to the NNW during the formation of recumbent folds. Non-coaxial shearing favored an (NNW-SSE) elongate shape for the syn-kinematic granitic massifs as well as the subsequent nucleation of recumbent folds. Deformation concentrated along discrete detachments during the late stages of extension.