Meso–Cenozoic cooling and exhumation history of the Orlica‐Śnieżnik Dome (Sudetes, NE Bohemian Massif, Central Europe): Insights from apatite fission‐track thermochronometry

Abstract

This study presents the first suite of apatite fission‐track (AFT) ages from the SE part of the Western Sudetes. AFT cooling ages from the Orlica‐Śnieżnik Dome and the Upper Nysa Kłodzka Graben range from Late Cretaceous (84 Ma) to Early Palaeocene–Middle Eocene (64–45 Ma). The first stage of basin evolution (~100–90 Ma) was marked by the formation of a local extensional depocentre and disruption of the Mesozoic planation surface. Subsequent far‐field convergence of European microplates resulted in Coniacian–Santonian (~89–83 Ma) thrust faulting. AFT data from both metamorphic basement and Mesozoic sedimentary cover indicate homogenous Late Cretaceous burial of the entire Western Sudetes. Thermal history modeling suggests that the onset of cooling could be constrained between 89 and 63 Ma with a climax during the Palaeocene–Middle Eocene basin inversion phase.

Late Cretaceous to Paleogene exhumation in Central Europe – localized inversion vs. large-scale domal uplift

“…In the SE Sudetes, crystalline rocks of the Rychlebské hory Mountain region reveal Late Cretaceous to Paleocene exhumation history evidenced by ZHe (79 and 89 Ma) and AHe (90-69 Ma) data along with slightly younger AFT ages (81-39 Ma), the youngest of them were most likely influenced by Cenozoic volcanism (Danišík et al, 2012). However, nearby samples from small crystalline massifs reveal similar Late Cretaceous to Eocene AFT ages (84-45 Ma), which are interpreted to reflect Late Cretaceous onset of cooling with a climax in the Paleocene to Middle Eocene (Sobczyk et al, 2020). The cumulative distribution of all AFT ages from the NE margin of the Bohemian Massif shows significant age groups in the Late Cretaceous, around the K-T boundary and in the Paleocene to Eocene (Fig.…”

Burial and thermal history of the Intra-Sudetic Basin (SW Poland) constrained by 1-D maturity modelling - implications for coalification and natural gas generation

“…Thermochronological data, however, shows that in the Upper Cretaceous, the ISB and adjacent areas were additionally buried under 3-4 km sedimentary cover (Danišík et al 2012;Sobczyk et al 2015Sobczyk et al , 2020Botor et al 2019), and therefore such new scenarios of burial were assumed in the final stage of modelling. The initial models Figs 4A, 5A).…”

“…This paper is based solely on the kinetic maturity modelling of vitrinite reflectance data which is adopted from previous papers (Chruściel et al 1985;Bossowski 1997Bossowski , 2001Nowak 2000;Ihnatowicz 2001;Botor et al 2020). The maturity modelling takes into account recent lowtemperature thermochronology results (Sobczyk et al 2015(Sobczyk et al , 2020Botor et al 2019) and Raman spectroscopy data (Botor et al 2020). Combining several lines of evidence in a more comprehensive interpretation enabled an improved maturity modelling.…”

“…In the ISB and adjacent areas, the present-day thickness of Cretaceous sediments ranges from 350 m in Batorów Syncline to 1200 m in Nysa Graben (Wojewoda 1997, McCann 2008. In the latest Cretaceous to Palaeocene, the Bohemian Massif was affected by transpressional deformation (Kley & Voigt 2008), that caused a reactivation of Variscan faults (Scheck et al 2002), exhumation of elevated blocks and inversion of the Cretaceous basins (Skoček & Valečka 1983;Aramowicz et al 2006;Kley & Voigt, 2008;Ventura et al 2009;Danišík et al 2010Danišík et al , 2012Sobczyk et al 2015Sobczyk et al , 2020Botor et al 2019). Later, the Sudetes were intensively eroded, and a pene plain was developed (Migoń & Lidmar-Bergström 2001).…”

“…Abbreviations: Bund. zoic re-heating caused by burial and/or increased heat flow, Late Cretaceous inversion-related exhumation and some Cenozoic rifting (Thomson & Zeh 2000;Glasmacher et al 2002;Ventura & Lisker 2003;Filip & Suchý 2004;Aramowicz et al 2006;Ventura et al 2009;Danišík et al 2012;Vamvaka et al 2014;Wolff et al 2015;Sobczyk et al 2015Sobczyk et al , 2020Botor et al 2017Botor et al , 2019. Significant sedimentary burial may have caused a resetting of zircon helium ages in the central part of the Sudetes during the Late Cretaceous (Danišík et al 2012, Sobczyk et al 2015.…”