Diachronism in the late Neoproterozoic–Cambrian arc-rift transition of North Gondwana: A comparison of Morocco and the Iberian Ossa-Morena Zone
Diachronism in the late Neoproterozoic–Cambrian arc-rift transition of North Gondwana: A comparison of Morocco and the Iberian Ossa-Morena Zone
In the northwestern border of the West African craton (North Gondwana), a transition from late Neoproterozoic subduction/collision to Cambrian rift processes was recorded in the Anti-Atlas (Morocco) and in the Ossa-Morena Zone (Iberia). Cambrian rifting affected both Pan-African and Cadomian basements in a stepwise and diachronous way. Subsequently, both areas evolved into a syn-rift margin episodically punctuated by uplift and tilting that precluded Furongian sedimentation. A comparison of sedimentary, volcanic and geodynamic evolution is made in the late Neoproterozoic (Pan-African and Cadomian) belts and Cambrian rifts trying to solve the apparent diachronous (SW–NE-trending) propagation of an early Palaeozoic rifting regime that finally led to the opening of the Rheic Ocean.
CITATION: Álvaro, J. Javier. Diachronism in the late Neoproterozoic–Cambrian arc-rift transition of North Gondwana: A comparison of Morocco and the Iberian Ossa-Morena Zone . : Elsevier , 2014. Journal of African Earth Sciences, Vol 98, October 2014, pp. 113-132 - Available at: https://library.au.int/diachronism-late-neoproterozoic–cambrian-arc-rift-transition-north-gondwana-comparison-morocco-an-10