Neoproterozoic A-type magmatism in the Western Sierras Pampeanas (Argentina): evidence for Rodinia break-up along a proto-Iapetus rift?

Abstract

A-type orthogneisses of mid Neoproterozoic age (774 ± 6 Ma, U-Pb SHRIMP zircon age), are reported for the first time from the Grenvillian basement of the Western Sierras Pampeanas in Argentina. These anorogenic meta-igneous rocks represent the latest event of Rodinia break-up so far recognized in Grenvillian basement exposures across Andean South America. Moreover, they compare well with A-type granitoids and volcanic rocks along the Appalachian margin of Laurentia (Blue Ridge), thus adding to former evidence that the Western Sierras Pampeanas Grenvillian basement was left on the conjugate rifted margin of eastern Laurentia during Rodinia break-up and the consequent opening of the Iapetus ocean.