Structural evolution and U–Pb SHRIMP zircon ages of the Neoproterozoic Maria da Fé shear zone, central Ribeira Belt – SE Brazil

The Maria da Fé Shear Zone (MFSZ) is a sinistral strike-slip kilometric-scale structure developed in the late Neoproterozoic during the assembly of Gondwana. The MFSZ development is related to the NW–SE collision between the São Francisco Paleocontinent and the Rio Negro Magmatic Arc, which formed the Ribeira Belt. This paper describes the shear zone in detail, concluding that the orientation and age are consistent with NW–SE shortening during the afore mentioned collision. A U–Pb SHRIMP Concordia age of 586.9 ± 8.7 Ma is reported from zircon grains of a granitic dyke that crystallised synkinematically to the main tectonic activity of the shear zone. Another group of zircon grains from the same sample generated an upper intercept age of 2083 ± 43 Ma anchored in the younger Concordia age. These zircon grains are interpreted as relict grains of the basement from which the granite dyke was generated by partial melting. The temperature during mylonitization in the MFSZ was estimated in the range from 450 to 600 °C, based on microstructures in quartz and feldspar. An earlier collision in the same region, between 640 and 610 Ma, led to an extensive nappe-stack with tectonic transport to ENE, integrating the southern Brasilia Belt. One of the thrust zones between these nappes in the studied area is the Cristina Shear Zone with mylonites that were generated under upper amphibolite to granulite facies conditions. Brittle-ductile E–W metric-scale shear zones are superimposed on the MFSZ, which were active in similar, but probably slightly cooler, metamorphic conditions (≈500 °C).

► Evolution of the Maria da Fé Shear Zone and its tectonic context.
► Activity of the Maria da Fé Shear Zone at lower amphibolite facies at 586.9 ± 8.7 Ma (U–Pb SHRIMP age). This age corresponds to the collisional phase of the Ribeira Belt.
► Activity of younger small scale shear zones crosscutting the MFSZ at a large angle at similar, but probably slightly cooler, metamorphic conditions (500 °C).
► Detailed geological mapping, structural analysis and petrographical/microstructural characterisation of the Maria da Fé Shear Zone.