The Bergslagen region is one of the most ore prospective districts in Sweden. Presented here are results from two nearly 25 km long reflection seismic profiles crossing this region in the Dannemora mining area. The interpretations are constrained by seismic wave velocity measurements on a series of rock samples, cross‐dip analysis, prestack time migration, and swath 3‐D imaging, as well as by other available geophysical and geological observations. A series of major fault zones is imaged by the seismic data, as is a large mafic intrusion. However, the most prominent feature is a package of east‐dipping reflectors found east of the Dannemora area that extend down to at least 3 km depth. This package is associated with a polyphase, ductile‐brittle deformation zone with the latest ductile movement showing east‐side‐up or reverse kinematics. Its total vertical displacement is estimated to be in the order of 2.5 km. Also clearly imaged in the seismic data is a steeply dipping reflector near the Dannemora mine that extends down to a depth of at least 2.2 km. The geological nature of this reflector is not known, but it could represent either a fluid‐bearing fault zone or a deep‐seated iron deposit, making it an important target for further detailed geophysical and geological investigations.
The Svecofennian Domain of the Fennoscandian Shield constitutes a considerable volume of Palaeoproterozoic crustal growth, 2.1–1.86 Ga ago, in between the Archaean craton in the NE and the 1.85–1.65 Ga Transscandinavian Igneous Belt (TIB) in the south and west. The Bergslagen area is a classical ore province located in the southwestern part of the Svecofennian Domain of south-central Sweden. Its northern part is dominated by volcanic and plutonic rocks of a magmatic arc with continental affinity, while the SE part is made up by a sedimentary basin. The Bergslagen area shows a metamorphic zonation from lower to middle amphibolite facies in the north to upper amphibolite facies and locally granulite facies in the south; a small greenschist area exists in the west. Identifying the age spectra of inherited components, magmatic crystallization, as well as metamorphic episodes, provide important constraints on the geodynamic evolution of this centrally located piece of the Shield.U–Pb zircon SIMS data presented in this paper complement the previous, regionally scattered TIMS data from this area. Magmatic zircons from two felsic metavolcanic rocks and two amphibolites (metagabbros) yield 1888±12, 1892±7 and 1887±5, 1895±5 Ma, respectively; i.e. within the 1.91–1.86 Ga range previously obtained for Early Svecofennian magmatism in Bergslagen. An augen gneiss from southern Bergslagen, assigned to the earliest TIB generation, yield an intrusive age of 1855±6 Ma. Metamorphic monazites from the same rock indicate that deformation and elevated thermal activity prevailed 1.83–1.82 Ga ago (TIMS). Metamorphic zircons in high-grade metasedimentary rocks from the south and west yield ages of 1793±5 and 1804±10 Ma, in accordance with ages for regional peak metamorphism and migmatite formation found elsewhere in the southern Svecofennian province of Sweden. More importantly, a few zircon crystals and overgrowths in rocks from the north indicate an early metamorphic episode at c. 1.87 Ga, indicating that Bergslagen has experienced two major metamorphic events. Detrital and inherited zircons span the range 2.78–1.90 Ga, with an apparent gap at 2.45–2.1 Ga, which further emphasize previous observations of a major juvenile (<2.1 Ga) and a minor Archaean provenance. This, and in particular the 1.94–1.91 Ga crystals present in the c. 1.89 Ga amphibolites, support the suggestion of a former Palaeoproterozoic pre-1.91 Ga crust in the Bergslagen area.
The Paleoproterozoic part of the Fennoscandian Shield is composed of crustal components formed in different tectonic settings and generally separated by well‐defined shear zone systems. An anomalous transitional boundary has been investigated by integrating structural analysis and geochronology with published geophysical data. The nature of this boundary is interpreted to be a consequence of an apparent stacking in the lower and middle crust initiating 1.87–1.86 Ga dextral shear along the Gävle‐Rättvik Zone (GRZ) and adjacent shear zones, resulting in an arcuate northern boundary of the Bergslagen province. This boundary coincides with geophysical anomalies and temporal and metamorphic breaks. Owing to continuous convergence the pure‐shear overprint component increased on the GRZ and caused a shift of dextral shear to the Hagsta Gneiss Zone with recorded shear at 1809 ± 2 Ma. Most likely, both these structures are related to coeval shear zones farther to the east as a part of an ∼1500 km long crustal, or possibly terrane, boundary.
The polyphase, 15–30 km wide and >200 km long Storsjön‐Edsbyn Deformation Zone (SEDZ) apparently separates two major Paleoproterozoic provinces in central Sweden. Four main phases of deformation have been recognized along the zone; associated high‐strain rocks are characterized by their mineralogy, microstructures, kinematic patterns, magnetic signatures, and relative ages. The mineral and stretching lineations are consistently steeply to moderately plunging. Analysis of mesoscopic shear zone populations of different generations suggests that most displacements are compatible with north‐south to northeast‐southwest bulk regional shortening. The structural analysis suggests that the main ductile deformation along the SEDZ was due to dextral transpression with a steep coaxial component. Field evidence combined with published age data constrain the main deformation to the time interval circa 1.7–1.3 Ga. Synkinematic titanite from a ductile protomylonite in the SEDZ yields an U‐Pb age of 1674 ± 6 Ma. The combined results imply transpressive deformation broadly synchronous with, and spatially related to, volcanism and plutonism in a continental margin magmatic arc setting.
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