spe423-12 page 267
267
Geological Society of America
Special Paper 423
2007
Cadomian and Variscan metamorphic events in the Léon domain
(Armorican Massif, France): P-T data and EMP monazite dating
Bernhard Schulz*
Institut für Mineralogie, Brennhausgasse 14, D-09596 Freiberg, Germany
Erwin Krenn
Fritz Finger
Abteilung für Mineralogie der Universität, Hellbrunner Strasse 34, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria
Helene Brätz
Reiner Klemd
Institut für Mineralogie und Kristallstrukturlehre, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany
ABSTRACT
The Léon domain adjacent to the Cadomian realm in the North Armorican
domain appears to be a displaced crustal block, as its metamorphism and rock types
bear a resemblance to the South Armorican domain of the internal Variscan belt. The
amphibolite-facies Conquet-Penze Micaschist unit overlies the high-grade Lesneven
Gneiss unit in the central part of the Léon. Timing and conditions of the metamorphic
evolution have been evaluated. At the base of the Lesneven Gneiss unit, a high-pres-
sure eclogite-facies stage (700 °C at >13 kbar) was followed by a high-temperature
event (800 °C at 8 kbar), which is characterized by the crystallization of garnet-cor-
dierite assemblages in aluminous paragneisses. Maximal temperatures in the upper
parts of the Lesneven Gneiss unit were 630 °C at 6 kbar. Zoned garnet in assem-
blages with staurolite recorded prograde P-T paths from 490–610 °C at 5–8 kbar in
the upper and at 6–9 kbar in the lower parts of the Conquet-Penze Micaschist unit.
Garnet Y, heavy rare earth elements, and Li are low in high-grade gneisses and dis-
play strong zonations in the micaschists. A younger population of monazite with a
broad range of Y contents displays Th-U-Pb ages between 340 and 300 Ma. It crys-
tallized subsequent to formation of foliations S
1
-S
2
and Variscan peak metamorphic
assemblages. In contrast, an older population of Cadomian monazite at 552–517 Ma
is uniformly rich in Y, suggesting an earlier crystallization than garnet, however, at
elevated temperatures. The findings do not support a South Armorican provenance of
the Léon domain. The Léon units appear as part of a Cadomian crust at the northern
margin of the former Armorican microplate. During a Variscan collision, this crust
was strongly overprinted by underthrusting toward the southeast or east beneath
*E-mail: bschulz@mineral.tu-freiberg.de.
Schulz, B., Krenn, E., Finger, F., Brätz, H., and Klemd, R., 2007, Cadomian and Variscan metamorphic events in the Léon domain (Armorican Massif, France):
P-T data and EMP monazite dating, in Linnemann, U., Nance, R.D., Kraft, P., and Zulauf, G., eds., The evolution of the Rheic Ocean: From Avalonian-Cadomian
active margin to Alleghenian-Variscan collision: Geological Society of America Special Paper 423, p. 267–285, doi: 10.1130/2007.2423(12). For permission to
copy, contact editing@geosociety.org. ©2007 Geological Society of America. All rights reserved.