Proterozoic East Gondwana

This volume focuses on Late Mesoproterozoic to early Cambrian events related to Gondwana assembly and break up. The nineteen papers provide a comprehensive review including advanced knowledge and new data from all critical areas of East Gondwana. The recent knowledge of the evolution of East Gondwana, which was regarded as an integral part of the Mesoproterozoic supercontinent Rodinia, is the major theme of the volume, which is reinforced by highlighting this radical and new understanding of the evolution of this region.

Proterozoic Orogens of India: A Critical Window to Gondwana provides a unique opportunity to understand a cross-section of the well-exposed and best-studied part of Earth’s crust and the processes of continental collision. It covers pulses of reworking processes and their impact on magmatism, metamorphism and deformational history of Proterozoic orogens vis-à-vis the supercontinental formation. The details of structural architecture, crustal blocks, shear zone systems, magmatism, metamorphism, geochemical and isotopic signatures, mineralization and tectonic models of all the Proterozoic orogens of India are discussed along with excellent illustrations reflecting the field-based, multi-scale structural and geological data sets.The spatial distribution, geometry, kinematics and transpressional strain of the shear zone systems (mostly suture zones), which are critical to all conceptual models dealing with tectono-metamorphic history of Proterozoic orogens of India, are also covered. The book summarizes and integrates the state-of -the art understanding of the structural architecture, lithological assemblages, petrological, geochemical, geochronological and geophysical aspects of the Proterozoic orogens of India. Includes a much needed state-of-the-art tectonic summary of the voluminous data that has emerged from the Protrozoic orogens of India in the last 2-3 decades Authored by a well-established expert with more than 30 years of experience in the field based, multi-scale structural geological studies of the ancient orogens of India Covers up-to-date reviews and models of Proterozoic orogens developed in the Indian shield over the past 2.5 billion years of Earth history

Explores the tectonics interaction among the exotic terrians between Laurentia and Southwest Gondwana. The authors reveal data that sheds light on pre-Pangea connections between Laurentia and Southwest Gondwana. These data concern the presence of Ollenelus and associated fauna in the Precordillera of central Western South America; the common early Paleozoic paleomagnetic data, the presence of a large early Paleozoic carbo nate platform distinct from the Southwest Gondwanan clastic platforms associated with glacial deposits, and the exotic nature of the Grenville basement of this platform.

The book deals with the record of important Neoproterozoic to Early Palaeozoic events in southwestern Gondwana, that heralded the Cambrian explosion and the dawn of modern ecosystems. It contains a detailed account of the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian geological record in a poorly-known part of the world, which is at the same time key to understand fundamental processes at the Proterozoic-Cambrian transition. The emphasis is placed on litho-, bio-, chemostratigraphy and magmatism. The palaeoclimatic, tectonic, evolutionary radiation and extinction events and associated mineralizations will be identified and discussed. A synthesis of all data is provided at the end of the book, integrating the data from all cratons and fold belts in southwestern Gondwana. The events will be individualized, their impact discussed and correlations between different successions both within and outside Gondwana proposed.The book is organized in three sections. Section one is an introduction to the neoproterozoic and Cambrian seen as a time of upheavals, extremes and innovations. Section two comprises nineteen chapters dealing with the neoproterozoic-Cambrian events in southwestern Gondwana. Section three will provide a synthesis on every major topic, and a critical assessment of the global implications of the presented data. The book deals with the record of important Neoproterozoic to Early Palaeozoic events in southwestern Gondwana, that heralded the Cambrian explosion and the dawn of modern ecosystems It contains a detailed account of the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian geological record in a poorly-known part of the world, which is at the same time key to understand fundamental processes at the Proterozoic-Cambrian transition The emphasis is placed on litho-, bio-, chemostratigraphy and magmatism

Geological correlations of East Antarctica with adjoining continents have been puzzling geologists ever since the concept of a Gondwana supercontinent surfaced. Despite the paucity of outcrops because of ice cover, difficulty of access and extreme weather, the past 50 years of Japanese Antarctic Research Expeditions (JARE) has successfully revealed vital elements of the geology of East Antarctica. This volume presents reviews and new research from localities across East Antarctica, especially from Dronning Maud Land to Enderby Land, where the geological record preserves a history that spans the Archaean and Proterozoic. The reviews include extensive bibliographies of results obtained by geologists who participated in the JARE. Comprehensive geological, petrological and geochemical studies, form a platform for future research on the formation and dispersion of Rodinia in the Mesoproterozoic and subsequent assembly of Gondwana in the Neoproterozoic to Early Palaeozoic.

Special Publication 503 celebrates the career of R. Damian Nance. It features 27 articles, with more than 110 authors based in 18 different countries. These articles include contributions on the processes responsible for the formation and breakup of supercontinents, the controversies concerning the status of Pannotia as a supercontinent, the generation and destruction of Paleozoic oceans, and the development of the Appalachian-Ouachitan-Caledonide-Variscan orogens. In addition to field work, the approaches to gain that understanding include examining the relationships between stratigraphy and structural geology, precise geochronology, geochemical and isotopic fingerprinting, geodynamic modelling, regional syntheses, palaeogeographic modelling, and good old-fashioned arm-waving! The wide range of topics mirrors the breadth and depth of Damian’s contributions, interests and expertise. Like Damian’s papers, the contributions range from the predominantly conceptual to detailed field work, but all are targeted at understanding important tectonic processes. Their scope not only varies in scale from global to regional to local, but also in the range of approaches required to gain that understanding.