The fast exhumation pattern of a Neoproterozoic nappe system built during West Gondwana amalgamation: Insights from thermochronology

Abstract In this contribution we investigate the exhumation T-t path of a nappe system located in the southernmost edge of the Brasilia Orogen, southeast Brazil, developed during the West Gondwana assembly. The allochthons represent an inverted metamorphic pile of nappes and were deformed during the collision between the Paranapanema (active margin) and Sao Francisco (passive margin) paleocontinents. The nappe system comprises UHT rocks of a magmatic arc root (upper Socorro-Guaxupe Nappe), the accretionary wedge – foreland units metamorphosed under high-pressure conditions (intermediate Andrelândia Nappe System) and the lower passive margin metasedimentary sequences (the high-pressure Carrancas Nappes System and the Lima Duarte Nappe). New U-Th-PbT in monazite and 40Ar/39Ar in hornblende, biotite and muscovite ages combined with previously published data indicate different patterns of cooling for each allochthon. The upper nappes register a collision to exhumation/cooling path, from 630–625 Ma to 590–580 Ma, which indicates that the geological process active during the West Gondwana amalgamation involved fast exhumation tectonics. Cross-sections along the main transport direction of the nappes indicate a progressive decrease of metamorphic age peaks (630–625 Ma to 590–570 Ma) and 40Ar/39Ar cooling ages (600 Ma to 540 Ma) from the internal regions (SW) to the front (NE) of the nappe system, which indicate that the propagation of the nappe pile advanced progressively from the upper to the lower nappes.