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Apatite fission track and (U-Th)/He thermochronology of the Rochovce granite (Slovakia) — implications for the thermal evolution of the Western Carpathian-Pannonian region

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Orogenic Processes in the Alpine Collision Zone

Part of the book series: Swiss Journal of Geosciences Supplement ((SWISSGEO,volume 3))

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Abstract

The thermal evolution of the only known Alpine (Cretaceous) granite in the Western Carpathians (Rochovce granite) is studied by low-temperature thermochronological methods. Our apatite fission track and apatite (U-Th)/He ages range from 17.5±1.1 to 12.9±0.9 Ma, and 12.9±1.8 to 11.3±0.8 Ma, respectively. The data thus show that the Rochovce granite records a thermal event in the Middle to early Late Miocene, which was likely related to mantle upwelling, volcanic activity, and increased heat flow. During the thermal maximum between ∼17 and 8 Ma, the granite was heated to temperatures ≳60°C. Increase of cooling rates at ∼12 Ma recorded by the apatic fission track and (U-Th)/He data is primarily related to the cessation of the heating event and relaxation of the isotherms associated with the termination of the Neogene volcanic activity. This contradicts the accepted concept, which stipulates that the internal parts of the Western Carpathians were not thermally affected during the Cenozoic period. The Miocene thermal event was not restricted to the investigated part of the Western Carpathians, but had regional character and affected several basement are as in the Western Carpathians, the Pannonian basin and the margin of the Eastern Alps.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Sigwartstrasse 10, D-72076, Tübingen, Germany

    Martin Danišík & Wolfgang Frisch

  2. Dionýz Štúr State Institute of Geology, Mlynská dolina 1, 81704, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Milan Kohút & L’ubomír Hraško

  3. Sedimentology and Environmental Geology, Geoscience Center Göttingen, Goldschmidtstrasse 3, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany

    István Dunkl

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  1. Martin Danišík
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  2. Milan Kohút
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  3. István Dunkl
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  4. L’ubomír Hraško
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Nikolaus Froitzheim Stefan M. Schmid

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Danišík, M., Kohút, M., Dunkl, I., Hraško, L., Frisch, W. (2008). Apatite fission track and (U-Th)/He thermochronology of the Rochovce granite (Slovakia) — implications for the thermal evolution of the Western Carpathian-Pannonian region. In: Froitzheim, N., Schmid, S.M. (eds) Orogenic Processes in the Alpine Collision Zone. Swiss Journal of Geosciences Supplement, vol 3. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-9950-4_13

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