A major Late Devonian‐Early Carboniferous (Hercynian) Thermotectonic event at the NW Margin of the Arabian‐Nubian Shield: Evidence from zircon fission track dating

B. P. Kohn, M. Eyal, S. Feinstein

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

58 Scopus citations

Abstract

Zircon fission track (ZFT) ages of 17 Precambrian samples from deep boreholes and outcrops in southern Israel and Sinai fall within the range 328–373 Ma (Late Devonian‐Early Carboniferous). Single zircon grain age distributions are unimodal with a high chi‐square probability. The age data indicate total resetting of the ZFT clocks but only partial resetting of coexisting sphenes, constraining the temperatures attained to about 225° ± 50°C, followed by relatively rapid regional cooling at the times indicated. In the study area, the lower Paleozoic section presently overlying Precambrian rocks is limited to Cambrian strata, up to 300 m thick. Further, stratigraphic evidence for sub‐Carboniferous erosion is preserved only in SW Sinai. To the east, in southern Jordan, a 2–2.5 km thick lower Paleozoic succession is reported. Despite the lack of stratigraphic evidence in the study area, the ZFT data (1) strongly suggest that an equivalent or thicker section also existed, (2) constrain the timing of the erosion to Late Devonian‐Early Carboniferous (Hercynian), and (3) indicate that thermal gradients may have reached ≥50°C/km prior to the uplift/erosion event. Regional stratigraphic evidence indicates that the Late Devonian‐Early Carboniferous event was confined to a relatively narrow belt extending from the Gulf of Suez area to the vicinity of NE Syria and SE Turkey.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1018-1027
Number of pages10
JournalTectonics
Volume11
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 1992

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geophysics
  • Geochemistry and Petrology

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