PROJECTS
   

Project
Acronym:  
Name: Correlation of Variscan crust in Austria and Croatia: Variscan evolution of the southern part of the Tisia unit (Croatia) with special reference to the time relation of igneous and metamorphic rocks 
Project status: From: 2004-01-01 To: 2006-01-01 (Completed)
Type (Programme): BILAT 
Project funding: -
International partner
Organisation Name: Abteilung Mineralogie und Materialwissenschaften Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Salzburg 
Organisation adress:  
Organisation country: Austrija 
Contact person name:  
Contact person email:  
Croatian partner
Organisation name: Prirodoslovno-matematički fakultet 
Organisation address:  
Contact person name: Balen, Dražen
Contact person tel:
  Contact person fax:  
Contact person e-mail: Email 
Short description of project
The correlation of the various Variscan massifs in Central Europe and the reconstruction of their original positions within the Variscan orogen is essential for understanding the geological evolution of our continent. Good progress with regard to this goal has been made recently in the Variscides, i.e. the Variscan units outside of the Alpine fold belt, in the frame of the international research project "Orogenic Processes" (see book of Franke et al. 2000 and articles therein). Less is presently known about how the intra-Alpine Variscan units could be fitted into this tectonic framework. Tentative large scale concepts have been published by Von Raumer et al. (2002) and Stampfli et al. (1998). However, all these pioneering attempts towards a complete reconstruction of Variscan Europe are facing the problem that the database needed for reliable geological correlations is, with a few exceptions, particularly “thin” in the intra-alpine Variscan massifs and particularly difficult to derive because of the Alpine overprint. This holds true for geochronological data (see review of Thöni 1999), for data concerning the Variscan and pre-Variscan metamorphic (p,T,t) evolution (see review of Neubauer et al. 1999), as well as data about Palaeozoic magmatic rocks and their tectonic significance (e.g. Von Raumer 2002). The study of Variscan rocks inside and outside of the Alps is traditionally a major research topic of the Earth Science departments at Salzburg University (e.g. Finger & Steyrer 1990, Schermaier et al. 1996, Friedl et al. 2001). In the frame of the present project proposal, cooperation shall be established between the Institute for Mineralogy of Salzburg University and earth scientists from Croatia (Faculty of Science of Zagreb University and Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts), a country where considerable amounts of Variscan crust are exposed. The planned project aim at the better understanding of the Variscan magmatic and metamorphic history of Tisia Unit based on information gathered from southernmost Tisia outcrops and to bring together Austrian and Croatian geologists with an expertise in Variscan rocks, to create the prerequisites for a detailed correlation of the Variscan crust in both countries. Of particular interest will be the South Tisia terrain, an important Variscan crustal segment well exposed in the Slavonian Mts. and the Mt. Moslavačka Gora in Croatia. The Tisia terrain, most of which is hidden beneath the Tertiary Pannonian Basin (Szederkenyi et al. 1991), is regarded as a displaced fragment of Variscan crust derived from the southern flank of the Variscan fold belt. The southern Tisia terrane has been intensively studied by Croatian workers during the past years (e.g. Pamić 1990, Pamić et al. 2002) mainly with reference to lithological and petrographical aspects, but also involving isotope methods (Rb-Sr, K-Ar, Ar-Ar). Igneous, mainly granitic, rocks together with associated metamorphic rocks represent an important Variscan lithology in South Tisia of Croatia. This project will focus on the geological information provided by these crystalline rocks, through their geochemical and isotopic signatures, mineralogical composition, and petrological parameters with focus to the accessory minerals (monazite, zircon …). Newly derived data set will provide insight into various processes involved in crystalline rock formation and modification, their source and p–T–t–X evolution of the crystalline basement. Deciphering and understanding this data set in combination with geochronological data and theoretical modeling will enable the unraveling of history of orogen comparing it with the metamorphic evolution of the similar separated domains in Europe. Furthermore, rocks from the Tisia terrane shall be studied using methods available at Salzburg University. This includes mainly the chemical dating of monazite by means of the electron microprobe, but also the investigation of igneous rocks by means of chemical and isotope methods. Research stays of Croatian scientists in Salzburg should be part of the project as well. Established research contacts between the Institute of Mineralogy in Salzburg and geochronological working groups in Gießen (Germany) and Perth (Australia) shall be used to apply conventional and SHRIMP (Super High Resolution Ion Micro Probe) U-Pb zircon dating to samples from the South Tisia terrane. In the frame of the suggested project, joint excursions of the Austrian / Croatian research team to the South Tisia terrane and to Variscan massifs in Austria are planned to examine possible geological similarities. Carefully directed research on each side involving the routine methods of crystalline geology will be carried out in order to critically test and, eventually, strengthen such correlation models. At the end of the project should stand a common publication in an international earth science journal, where parallels and differences in the evolution of the Variscan crust in Croatia and Austria shall be pointed out. It goes without saying that the limited means provided by the cooperation program will surely not allow to solve all raised questions. However, we think that the project could be a quite useful initiative to intensive the research on Variscan basement in the Alpine realm. Collected data would considerably contribute to the reconstruction of later geodynamic evolution of the Dinaridic-Alpine-Pannonian-Carpathian realm as a whole. In this way, as revealed by complex, multidisciplinary insight, the results would be of general interest for those dealing with the geodynamic evolution of the Variscan Europe and present Dinaridic-Alpine-Pannonian-Carpathian region. 
Short description of the task performed by Croatian partner
  


   

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