| 1. |
- Bauer, F. U., et al.
(författare)
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Long-term cooling history of the Albertine Rift : new evidence from the western rift shoulder, DR Congo
- 2016
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Ingår i: International journal of earth sciences. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1437-3254 .- 1437-3262. ; 105:6, s. 1707-1728
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To determine the long-term landscape evolution of the Albertine Rift in East Africa, low-temperature thermochronology was applied and the cooling history constrained using thermal history modelling. Acquired results reveal (1) old cooling ages, with predominantly Devonian to Carboniferous apatite fission-track ages, Ordovician to Silurian zircon (U-Th)/He ages and Jurassic to Cretaceous apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He ages; (2) protracted cooling histories of the western rift shoulder with major phases of exhumation in mid-Palaeozoic and Palaeogene to Neogene times; (3) low Palaeozoic and Neogene erosion rates. This indicates a long residence time of the analysed samples in the uppermost crust, with the current landscape surface at a near-surface position for hundreds of million years. Apatite He cooling ages and thermal history models indicate moderate reheating in Jurassic to Cretaceous times. Together with the cooling age distribution, a possible Albertine high with a distinct relief can be inferred that might have been a source area for the Congo Basin.
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| 2. |
- Bauer, Friederike U., et al.
(författare)
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Tracing the exhumation history of the Rwenzori Mountains, Albertine Rift, Uganda, using low-temperature thermochronology
- 2013
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Ingår i: Tectonophysics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0040-1951 .- 1879-3266. ; 599, s. 8-28
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Rwenzori Mtns form a striking feature within the Albertine Rift of the East African Rift System. They are made up of a dissected Precambrian metamorphic basement block reaching heights of more than 5 km. Applying low-temperature therrnochronology a complex exhumation history becomes evident, where rock and surface uplift can be traced from Palaeozoic to Neogene times. Fission-track and (U-Th-Sm)/He cooling ages and derived cooling histories allow distinguishing different blocks in the Rwenzori Mtns. In the central part a northern and a southern block are separated by a putative NW-SE trending fault; with the northern block showing distinctly younger apatite fission-track ages (similar to 130 Ma) than the southern block (similar to 300 Ma). Cooling ages in both blocks do not vary significantly with elevation, despite considerable differences in elevation. Thermal history modelling reflects protracted cooling histories. Modelled t-T paths show decoupled blocks that were relocated separately along distinct fault planes, which reactivated pre-existing structures, inherited from Palaeozoic folding and thrusting. Initial cooling affected the Rwenzori area in Silurian to Devonian times, followed by Mesozoic and Cainozoic cooling events. Pre-Neogene evolution seems to be triggered by tectonic processes like the opening of the Indian Ocean and the south Atlantic. From thermochronological data the formation of a Mesozoic Albertine high is conceivable. In Cainozoic times the area was affected by rifting, resulting in differentiated surface uplift. Along the western flank of the Rwenzori Mtns, surface uplift was more pronounced. This is also reflected in their recent topography, formed by accelerated rock uplift in the near past (Pliocene to Pleistocene). Erosion could not compensate for this most recent uplift, resulting in apatite He ages of Oligocene to Miocene age or even older.
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| 3. |
- Brown, D., et al.
(författare)
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Mountain building processes during continent-continent collision in the Uralides
- 2008
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Ingår i: Earth-Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0012-8252 .- 1872-6828. ; 89:3-4, s. 177-195
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Since the early 1990's the Paleozoic Uralide Orogen of Russia has been the target of a significant research initiative as part of EUROPROBE and GEODE, both European Science Foundation programmes. One of the main objectives of these research programmes was the determination of the tectonic processes that went into the formation of the orogen. In this review paper we focus on the Late Paleozoic continent-continent collision that took place between Laurussia and Kazakhstania. Research in the Uralides was concentrated around two deep seismic profiles crossing the orogen. These were accompanied by geological, geophysical, geochronological, geochemical, and low-temperature thermochronological studies. The seismic profiles demonstrate that the Uralides has an overall bivergent structural architecture, but with significantly different reflectivity characteristics from one tectonic zone to another. The integration of other types of data sets with the seismic data allows us to interpret what tectonic processes where responsible for the formation of the structural architecture, and when they were active. On the basis of these data, we suggest that the changes in the crustal-scale structural architecture indicate that there was significant partitioning of tectonothermal conditions and deformation from zone to zone across major fault systems, and between the lower and upper crust. Also, a number of the structural features revealed in the bivergent architecture of the orogen formed either in the Neoproterozoic or in the Paleozoic, prior to continent-continent collision. From the end of continent-continent collision to the present, low-temperature thermochronology suggests that the evolution of the Uralides has been dominated by erosion and slow exhumation. Despite some evidence for more recent topographic uplift, it has so far proven difficult to quantify it.
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