Detrital zircons from three Neoproterozoic sandstone units from the Cadomia terrane of northern France and the Channel Islands yield ages in three broad groups: late Neoproterozoic (650–600 Ma), early Palaeoproterozoic (2.4–2.0 Ga) and Archaean (>2.5 Ga). The lack of Mesoproterozoic zircon crystals, combined with the high abundance of grains between 2.20 and 2.00 Ga, corresponds closely to the ages of exposed rocks in the West Africa Craton, and thus it is suggested that Cadomia was in close proximity to West Africa by c . 580 Ma. In contrast, the main age groups of detrital zircon from the Neoproterozoic Avalon terrane are Mesoproterozoic and there is a distinct gap of ages between 2.40 and 2.05 Ga. These significant differences suggest that the two terranes were in different locations relative to major Gondwanan cratons in latest Neoproterozoic time.

The youngest deformation structures on the Tibet Plateau are about NNE-trending grabens. We first combine remote-sensing structural and geomorphological studies with structural field observations and literature seismological data to study the Muga Purou rift that stretches at c. 86°E across central Tibet and highlight a complex deformation field. ENE-striking faults are dominated by sinistral strike–slip motion; NNE-striking faults have normal kinematics and outline a right-stepping en-echelon array of grabens, also suggesting sinistral strike–slip; along NW-striking fault sets, the arrangement of grabens may indicate a dextral strike–slip component. Thus, in central Tibet, rifts comprise mostly grabens connected to strike–slip fault zones or are arranged en-echelon to accommodate sinistral wrenching; overall strain geometry is constrictional, in which NNE–SSW and subvertical shortening is balanced by WNW–ESE extension. The overwhelmingly shallow earthquakes only locally outline active faults; clusters seem to trace linkage or propagation zones of know structures. The earthquake pattern, the neotectonic mapping, and the local fault–slip analyses emphasize a distributed, heterogeneous pattern of deformation within a developing regional structure and indicate that strain concentration is weak in the uppermost crust of central Tibet. Thus, the geometry of neotectonic deformation is different from that in southern Tibet. Next, we use structural and palaeomagnetic data along the Zagaya section of southern central Tibet to outline significant block rotation and sinistral strike–slip SE of the Muga Purou rift. Our analysis supports earlier interpretations of reactivation of the Bangong–Nujiang suture as a neotectonic strike–slip belt. Then, we review the existing and provide new geochronology on the onset of neotectonic deformation in Tibet and suggest that the currently active neotectonic deformation started c. 5 Ma ago. It was preceded by c. north–south shortening and c. east–west lengthening within a regime that comprises strike–slip and low-angle normal faults; these were active at c. 18–7 Ma. The c. east-striking, sinistral Damxung shear zone and the c. NE-trending Nyainqentanghla sinistral-normal detachment allow speculations about the nature of this deformation: the ductile, low-angle detachments may be part of or connect to a mid-crustal décollement layer in which the strike–slip zones root; they may be unrelated to crustal extension. Finally, we propose a kinematic model that traces neotectonic particle flow across Tibet and speculate on the origin of structural differences in southern and central Tibet. Particles accelerate and move eastwards from western Tibet. Flow lines first diverge as the plateau is widening. At c. 92°E, the flow lines start to converge and particles accelerate; this area is characterized by the appearance of the major though-going strike–slip faults of eastern-central Tibet. The flow lines turn southeastward and converge most between the Assam–Namche Barwa and Gongha syntaxes; here the particles reach their highest velocity. The flow lines diverge south of the cord between the syntaxes. This neotectonic kinematic pattern correlates well with the decade-long velocity field derived from GPS-geodesy. The difference between the structural geometries of the rifts in central and southern Tibet may be an effect of the basal shear associated with the subduction of the Indian plate. The boundary between the nearly pure extensional province of the southern Tibet and the strike–slip and normal faulting one of central Tibet runs obliquely across the Lhasa block. Published P-wave tomographic imaging showed that the distance over which Indian lithosphere has thrust under Tibet decreases from west to east; this suggests that the distinct spatial variation in the mantle structure along the collision zone is responsible for the surface distribution of rift structures in Tibet.Supplementary material:Containing supporting data is available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18446.

Late Proterozoic to Early Cambrian igneous rocks are major components of the fault-bounded Caledonia, Brookville, and New River terranes of southern New Brunswick. As previously demonstrated, ca. 620 Ma and ca. 560-550 Ma volcanic and plutonic rocks of the Caledonia terrane are petrologically similar to coeval units elsewhere in the Avalon terrane sensu stricto of the northern Appalachian orogen. In contrast, the Golden Grove Plutonic Suite and volcanic rocks of the Dipper Harbour Formation in the Brookville terrane are mainly younger, ranging in age from ca. 555 Ma to 525 Ma. A new U-Pb (zircon) age reported here confi rms that rhyolite in the Dipper Harbour Formation crystallized at 553 ± 3 Ma, like the older units of the Golden Grove Plutonic Suite to which they are chemically similar. However, they differ chemically from felsic units of similar age in the Caledonia terrane, with higher K 2 O and Rb, lower Na 2 O, and negative epsilon Nd values, although they also appear to have formed in an extensional setting. The Early Cambrian history of the two terranes is also very different, with clastic sediment deposition dominating in the Caledonia terrane while an active continental margin subduction zone developed on the Brookville terrane. A U-Pb (zircon) age of 539 ± 4 Ma shows that volcanic rocks in the Simpsons Island Formation in the New River terrane are early Cambrian, similar to the ages of some plutons of the Golden Grove Plutonic Suite. More petrological studies of the Simpsons Island Formation are needed to assess it tectonic setting and relationship to the older (ca. 555 Ma) Leavitts Head Formation and Ragged Falls Plutonic Suite. These units are chemically similar to one another, consistent with their inferred comagmatic relationship, and are interpreted to have formed in an extensional setting. They are more similar to ca. 555-545 Ma volcanic and plutonic rocks of the Brookville terrane than to 560-550 Ma volcanic and plutonic rocks of the Caledonia terrane, although all of these units apparently formed in extensional settings. Too few data are available from volcanic units in the northeastern part of the New River terrane (Lobster Brook Formation) to compare them to the Leavitts Head Formation or to assess their tectonic setting. A U-Pb age of 622 ± 2 Ma from the Blacks Harbour Granite in the southern part of the New River terrane is similar to previously reported ages from the Lingley Suite in the northeastern part of the terrane. More mapping and sampling are needed to defi ne the extent of these ca. 625 Ma units in the New River terrane and assess their tectonic setting, although a subduction environment is suggested by the available data. RÉSUMÉ Les roches ignées du Protérozoïque tardif au Cambrien précoce constituent des éléments importants des terranes limités par des failles de Caledonia, de Brookville et de New River dans le Sud du Nouveau-Brunswick. Il a déjà été démontré que les roches volcaniques et plutoniques d'environ 620 Ma et de 560 à 550 Ma du terrane de Caledonia sont pétrologiqueme...