Evidence from Rb–Sr mineral ages for multiple orogenic events in the Caledonides of Shetland, Scotland

Walker, S.; Thirlwall, M. F.; Strachan, R. A.; Bird, A. F.

Abstract

Shetland occupies a unique central location within the North Atlantic Caledonides. Thirty-three new high-precision Rb–Sr mineral ages indicate a polyorogenic history. Ages of 723–702 Ma obtained from the vicinity of the Wester Keolka Shear Zone indicate a Neoproterozoic (Knoydartian) age and preclude its correlation with the Silurian Moine Thrust. Ordovician ages of c. 480–443 Ma obtained from the Yell Sound Group and the East Mainland Succession constrain deformation fabrics and metamorphic assemblages to have formed during Grampian accretionary orogenic events, broadly contemporaneously with orogenesis of the Dalradian Supergroup in Ireland and mainland Scotland. The relative paucity of Silurian ages is attributed to a likely location at a high structural level in the Scandian nappe pile relative to mainland Scotland. Ages of c. 416 and c. 411 Ma for the Uyea Shear Zone suggest a late orogenic evolution that has more in common with East Greenland and Norway than with northern mainland Scotland.

Citation

Walker, S., Thirlwall, M. F., Strachan, R. A., & Bird, A. F. (2016). Evidence from Rb–Sr mineral ages for multiple orogenic events in the Caledonides of Shetland, Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, 173(3), 489-503. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2015-034

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 9, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Dec 23, 2015
• Publication Date: 2016-05
• Deposit Date: Mar 23, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 23, 2016
• Journal: Journal of the Geological Society
• Print ISSN: 0016-7649
• Publisher: Geological Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 173
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 489-503
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2015-034
• Keywords: Geology
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/434028
• Publisher URL: http://jgs.lyellcollection.org/content/early/2015/12/09/jgs2015-034.abstract?sid=f0dc4e70-6b21-4751-ad12-fbffa895d05b
• Additional Information: Copy of article first published in: Journal of the Geological Society, 2016, v.173.
• Contract Date: Mar 23, 2016