Late Hercynian shearing during crystallization of granitoid magmas (Sila Massif, southern Italy): regional implications

Shearing of regional extent, involving granitoids and underlying mid-crustal rocks of the Sila massif (Calabria, Italy), is analysed in this paper. The deformed granitoids are affected by a wide NNW-SSE oriented deformation zone, stretching for about 60 km, from the neighbourhood of Cecita Lake to Cropani village. Meso- and micro-structures in granitoids, close to the boundary with underlying migmatitic paragneiss, indicate that deformation developed from melt-present to solid-state conditions. Simultaneous tectonics and magmatism activated a plutonic accretionary process at mid-crustal levels. This took place at about 300 Ma and involved hybrid magmas with a dominat contribution from a mantle source. The deformation regime remained steady for a long time during magma crystallization and cooling in subsolidus conditions. The regional top-to-the-W sense of shear in the present geographic coordinates, recorded in the deformed granitoids, seems geometrically consistent with the coeval direction of maximum extension found in another sector of the southern Hercynian belt, suggesting the original position of the Sila basement in this context. Magmatic ativity ended with the intrusion of mafic and felsic magams affected by a very weak deformation, ongoing during the final strain increments of the late-Hercynian stage. (c) 2006 Lavoisier SAS. All rights reserved.