Early Palaeozoic intracratonic shears and post-tectonic cooling in the Rauer Group, Prydz Bay, East Antarctica constrained by 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology

Abstract

The Rauer Group, in Prydz Bay, contains reworked Archaean-Proterozoic crust in high-strain zones that formed during a pervasive high-temperature ductile deformation event related to intracratonic mechanisms. The effects of this event extend southwards from Prydz Bay into the southern Prince Charles Mountains. The associated structural evolution involved development of ductile and brittle structures that formed during an approximately north-south directed transpressional deformation event that is confined to high-grade (>800°C) shear zones in the Rauer Group. Minerals from the Rauer Group, yield 40Ar/39Ar cooling ages ranging from 560 to 460 Ma. Thermal histories derived from hornblende, biot..