This book focuses on the metallogeny and main tectonic events of the North China Craton from early Precambrian to Phanerozoic. It covers the Archean crustal growth, Paleoproterozoic rifting-subduction-collision processes, Great Oxidation Event, Meso-Neoproterozoic multiple rifting, Phanerozoic reworking of the North China Craton, as well as metallogeny related to above different processes. The North China Craton is one of the oldest cratons in the world. It has experienced a complex geological evolution since the early Precambrian, and carries important records of secular changes in tectonics and metallogeny. It provides a systematic review and new results on the growth and evolution of the North China Craton and metallogeny. It will be of broad interest to the earth scientists working in the fields of economic geology, geochemistry, and tectonics of the North China Craton and eastern Asian.

This richly illustrated book provides an overview of the Neoproterozoic Pan-African Belt of Egypt (PABE), which represents the northwestern continuation of the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS) and the East African Orogen (EAO). The first chapter offers an introduction to the Turin Papyrus Map and the historical background of the PABE, while the second addresses how the PABE is related to the ANS and EAO. Rock succession of the PABE is dealt with in Chapter 3, while Chapter 4 focuses on Sinai Metamorphic Core Complexes and implications on the break-up of Rodinia. Subsequent chapters discuss a broad range of topics, e.g. ophiolite-dominated suprastructural rocks; volcanosedimentary succession, Neoproterozoic volcanism and volcanic rocks in Egypt; enigmatic issues concerning granite, Dokhan and Hammamat sediments; the lithospheric mantle beneath the Northeast African continent and the mantle section of Neoproterozoic ophiolites from the PABE; sutures, megashears and petrogenetic evolution of the Neoproterozoic rocks of Egypt; and metallic and non-metallic mineral deposits in the PABE, which are covered in extensive detail. The book’s closing chapters discuss the application of remote sensing techniques and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) to decipher the tectonic evolution of the PABE, as well as the use of geophysical data to map structural features and hydrothermal alteration zones in the PABE.

Accompanying CD-ROM contains maps using the comercial drawing program Adobe Illustrator 9.0 for Wintel systems.

Within the Sonora segment to the south, break-off magmatism was also prevalent. Both the Canadian and Sonoran segments have abundant porphyry copper mineralization temporally and spatially associated with the break-off magmas, which suggests a genetic link between slab failure and porphyry copper mineralization. By 53 Ma, eastwardly dipping subduction of Pacific Ocean crust was generating arc magmatism on the amalgamated Cordilleran collision zone in both the Canadian and Sonoran segments. Oceanic schists, such as the Orocopia-Pelona-Rand, were formed in the ocean basin west of Rubia and accreted during initiation of the new easterly dipping subduction zone. A major transform fault, called the Phoenix fault, connects the Sevier fold-thrust belt at the California-Nevada border with that in eastern Mexico and separates the Great Basin and Sonoran segments. It juxtaposes the Sierra-Mojave-Sonora block alongside the Transition Zone of the Colorado Plateau. Cordilleran events affected the subsequent development of western North America. For example, the structural Basin and Range Province appears to coincide with the region where exotic allochthons sit atop North American crust in both the Great Basin and Sonoran segments. Also, within the triangular Columbia embayment, large segments of Rubia appear to have escaped laterally during the Cordilleran orogeny to create a lithospheric "hole" that was later filled by basalt of the Columbia River and Modoc plateaux.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the geological evolution of the Northern Andes and contiguous shield areas, with a focus upon Colombia. Updated geological interpretations are supported by modern lithogeochemical, seismic, gravity and magnetic data and radiogenic isotope and radiometric age determinations. The composite data permits a detailed interpretation of the tectono-magmatic history of the Northern Andean Block, including the Andes of Colombia, northern Ecuador, western Venezuela and eastern Panamá. Tectonic reconstructions based upon characterization of more than thirty litho-tectonic and morpho-structural units, terrane assemblages and tectonic realms, and their bounding suture and fault systems, highlight the intimate and complementary Mesozoic-Cenozoic history of the Northern Andean Block and the Pacific and Caribbean Plates. The complex nature of Northern Andean assembly contrasts with ‘‘classical’’ Central Andean ‘‘Cordilleran-type’’ orogenic models. Differences render the application of typical Cordilleran-type models inappropriate for the Colombian Andes. The importance of underlying Proterozoic through mid-Mesozoic elements, in the development of Meso-Cenozoic Northern Andean orogeny-phase tectonic configurations is analyzed in the light of spatial-temporal studies and reconstructions related to basin formation, sedimentation, deformation, uplift mechanisms, structural style and magmatic evolution. The pre-Andean architecture of north western South America has played a pre-determinative role in the development of the Northern Andean orogenic system. 16 contributions analyze key stratigraphic, structural, metamorphic, magmatic and tectonic questions, and provide solutions as far as the most recent published field-based studies permit. The volume provides geological interpretations and tectonic models which contrast with repetitive theoretical proposals frequently found in the available literature.