TITEL
Magnetic anisotropy and paleomagnetism of precambrian rocks in the Fennoscandian shield
FöRFATTARE
Mattsson, Håkan Johannes
DATUM
2001-09-28
INSTITUTION
Samhällsbyggnadsteknik / Tillämpad geofysik
SAMMANFATTNING
This thesis presents three applications of the anisotropy of magnetic
susceptibility (AMS) technique, dealing with tectonic and magmatic flow
fabrics of Proterozoic igneous rocks in the central and northern parts of
the Fennoscandian Shield. Paleomagnetic measurements were performed in
attempts to put the different rock units into a geological and plate
tectonic context.
The Storsjön-Edsbyn deformation zone (SEDZ) separates the Rätan granite of
the Trans Scandinavian Igneous Belt (TIB) and the southern Svecofennian
subprovince in the southwest, from the central Svecofennian subprovince in
the northeast. The zone strikes NNW-SSE, it is c. 200 km long and 5 – 30 km
wide. The study of the SEDZ was performed in order to define the tectonic
character of the zone and to test a previously presented tectonic model. A
close-up investigation of the Rätan granite was carried out in an attempt to
test if the granite was emplaced in a tectonic regime governed by
compression or extension. Large parts of the Rätan granite, and also the
SEDZ, have been intruded by post-Jotnian dolerite sills belonging to the
Central Scandinavian Dolerite Group (CSDG). The ancient magma flow
directions in different parts of the CSDG sills were defined in attempts to
locate the magma source. Paleomagnetism was used to look for eventual
geographical differences in time of the intrusions and also to identify new
areas in the shield intruded by the CSDG.
On basis of AMS data the width of the Storsjön-Edsbyn deformation zone is
estimated at 10 – 12km in its central-southern part and 20 – 25km in its
northern part. The orientations of the susceptibility axes vary
systematically across the zone, in a way that suggests that the SEDZ is a
pure shear dominated transpression zone caused by a compressive stress from
the present SSW. This supports a previously proposed tectonic model of the
SEDZ. Paleomagnetic data from a post-Jotnian dolerite sill and from a dyke
that cut the SEDZ indicate that no plastic deformation has occurred along
the zone during the past 1.25 Ga, and probably not for the past 1.5 – 1.6
Ga. The compressive stress field from the present SSW indicated in this
study could be related to an initial stage of plate collision between the
southwestern Scandinavian subprovince and older parts of the Fennoscandian
Shield. AMS data from the 1.70 Ga old Rätan granite indicate a primary
magnetic/magmatic fabric. The Rätan granite seems to have been emplaced in a
tectonic environment primarily governed by NW-SE directed extension and the
pluton was most likely fed obliquely with a magma source situated to the
present northwest.
The CSDG dolerites were previously known in four complexes in central
Sweden and Finland (Ulvö, Jämtland, Dalarna and Satakunta) and from the
results of this paleomagnetic study another complex (the Västerbotten
complex) has been identified in northern Sweden. These complexes cover an
area of c. 150 000 km2 and the palaeomagnetic data suggest a small
difference in time between the intrusion of the dolerites. The measurements
of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility reveal a magnetic fabric with
almost horizontal foliation planes and lineations that indicate fairly
uniform c. NW or SE directed magma flows. The dolerites of the CSDG are
geochemically rather uniform and have compositions typical of mantle derived
melts formed in continental tensional settings. In a paleomagnetic
reconstruction of Baltica versus Laurentia at c. 1.27 Ga the two continents
were joined with NE Greenland attached to NW Baltica. AMS and geological
data from a few dolerites and a basalt in NE Greenland indicate magma flow
directions that in the tectonic reconstruction is more or less parallel to
the flow of the dolerites in Sweden. This may suggest a common magma source
located in the reconstructed contact between Baltica and Laurentia. The
tensional regime that is reflected by the huge sill complexes is in this
interpretation related to the break up of Baltica from Laurentia at c. 1.27
Ga ago.
ISSN 1402-1544 / ISRN LTU-DT--01/32--SE / NR 2001:32
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