Domingo Aerden

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Full) at University of Granada

Integration of microstructural, petrological and geochronological techniques has allowed detailed characterization of the timing and metamorphic features of deformation events in the Betic Cordillera. Phase equilibrium modelling, thermobarometric estimations, in situ U–Pb monazite geochronology and Ar–Ar geochronology (amphibole and micas) have bee...

Multiple studies have applied zoned garnet geochronology to place temporal constraints on the rates of metamorphism and deformation during orogenesis. We report new high-resolution isotope dilution−thermal ionization mass spectrometry Sm-Nd isochron ages on concentric growth zones from microstructurally and thermodynamically characterized garnets f...

3D microstructural analysis of porphyroblast inclusion trails using X-ray Computed Tomography is integrated with analysis of field structures to unravel the Alpine deformation history of the Alpuj´arride Complex, which constitutes the partially submerged metamorphic core of the Gibraltar Arc. Prograde metamorphism in the complex has been traditiona...

High‐resolution microstructural analysis of porphyroblast inclusion trails integrated with Sm‐Nd garnet geochronology has provided new insight into the tectonic history of the Betic‐Rif orogen. Three principal age groups of porphyroblasts are demonstrated with distinctly oriented inclusion‐trails. Inclusion‐trail curvature axes or “FIA” (Foliation...

The small island of Groix in southern Brittany, France, is well known for exceptionally well-preserved outcrops of Variscan blueschists, eclogites, and garnetiferous mica schists that mark a Late Devonian suture between Gondwana and Armorica. The kinematics of polyphase deformation in these rocks is reconstructed based on 3D microstructural analysi...

Spiral garnet porphyroblasts are known to record lengthy periods of deformation and metamorphism by preserving single or multiple FIAs (Foliation Intersection Axis) formed normal to tectonic shortening directions. Thanks to technological advances in X-ray computed micro-tomography (XCMT), FIAs can now be readily determined in relatively large sampl...

The relative and absolute timing of orogenic gold deposits in complex structural settings are active and challenging topics of research, especially in Precambrian greenstone belts. The Suurikuusikko gold deposit in Central Lapland Greenstone Belt is currently the largest primary gold producing deposit in Europe, located on a slight bend of the stri...

The small island of Groix in southern Brittany, France, is well known for its excellent outcrops of Variscan blueschists, eclogites and garnetiferous micaschists that define a Late-Devonian suture between Gondwana and Armorica. The kinematics of polyphase deformation in these rocks is reconstructed based on 3D microstructural analysis of inclusion...

Garnet porphyroblasts with spiral shaped inclusion trails of two micaschist samples have been investigated with X-ray computed tomography. For each garnet crystal, the orientation of its internal Foliation Intersection/Inflexion Axes (FIA) was measured, its volume and shape orientation, the latter via calculation of best-fit ellipsoids. Additionall...

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are rapidly growing remote sensing platforms for capturing high-resolution images of exposed rock surfaces. We used a DJI Phantom 3 Professional (P3P) quadcopter to capture aerial images that were used to generate a high-resolution three-dimensional (3-D) model of the Jokisivu open-pit gold deposit that is located in...

Detailed structural analysis in a ca. 80 km² area of the western Nevado-Filabride complex (Betic Cordillera) reveals a heterogeneous internal structure characterized by multiple cross-cutting foliations and lineations that locally transpose earlier ones. The large-scale geometry of these fabrics conflicts with continuous westward to south-westward...

We investigate the kinematics of classic sigmoidal strain fringes from Lourdes (France) and review previous genetic models, strain methods and strain rates for these microstructures. Displacement controlled quartz and calcite fibers within the fringes yield an average strain of 195% with the technique of Ramsay and Huber (1983). This agrees well wi...

We applied X-ray computed microtomography (μ-CT) in combination with anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) analysis to study metamorphic rock fabrics in an oriented drill core sample of pyrite-pyrrhotite-quartz-mica schist. The sample is extracted from the Paleoproterozoic Martimo metasedimentary belt of northern Finland. The μ-CT resolves th...

Our recent Foliation Intersection Axes (FIA) data from porphyroblasts in a metapelitic sequence, exposed south of the Indus suture of the NW Himalaya, revealed a fascinating relationship between the trends of three FIA sets versus the plate motion of India since its collision with the Kohistan-Ladakh Arc. The established FIA trend sequence, ESE-WNW...

The existence of an orogenic arc in the Variscan belt of Central Iberia is traced from its first recognition by the Swiss geologist, Rudolf Staub, at the XIV International Geological Congress (Madrid 1926), to the present. A review of the literature exposes the main facts related to Staub’s original interpretation, and its subsequent discussion, re...

Formation of the Rosebery Ore Deposit

An intrinsic limitation of studying microstructures in thin section is that their spatial (three-dimensional, 3-D) distribution, shape, and orientation have to be inferred by combining 2-D data from different sections. This procedure always involves some degree of interpretation that in some cases can be ambiguous. Recent advances in high-resolutio...

The tectonic evolution of the Betic Cordillera has been investigated through integrated microstructural and petrological analysis of 93 samples of garnetiferous Grt ± Cld ± Plg ± Ky ± St phengite schists from its lowermost allochthon, the Nevado-Filabride Domain. Porphyroblast inclusion trails in these samples exhibit well-developed preferred verti...

This article focuses on the origin and tectonic significance of millipede inclusion trail microstructures preserved within garnet porphyroblasts of typical Barrovian-type schist from the Swat region of the Himalayas in Pakistan. Two possible kinematic models are assessed envisaging bulk coaxial shortening and progressive simple shear. 3D microstruc...

We have investigated the geometry and tectonic significance of porphyroblast inclusion trails in 61 oriented samples from the Swat region of north Pakistan (NW Himalaya). The studied samples represent the Indian-plate cover sequence, deformed and metamorphosed to medium- and high-grade during the Himalayan orogeny. Two complementary techniques were...

Microstructural mapping of whole thin sections cut from two samples of micaschist containing cm-scale folds plus garnet porphyroblasts has provided new insight in the relationships between folding, shearing and foliation development. The garnets exhibit coherent inclusion-trail patterns that place important constraints on the kinematic development...

Detailed microstructural mapping of thin section-scale folds in a garnet bearing micaschist sample from the RIF Mountains (Morocco), including analysis of inclusion trails in 62 small garnets, reveals interesting details about the folding mechanism. A number of classic fold mechanisms capable of producing axial-plane cleavage are reviewed and shown...

A systematic study was undertaken of the geometry and orientation of inclusion trails in 36 samples of garnet schist from the Nevado-Filabrides (Betic Cordillera). A coherent structural pattern emerges from this data that is compared with previously collected data for successive fold generations and related fabrics in the same tectonic unit. A two-...

In order to unravel the kinematic evolution of the Betic–Rif orogen, we investigated the geometry of porphyroblast inclusion trails in the Nevado-Filabride Complex, a high-pressure unit situated at the base of the Betic nappe stack. A large number of quantitative orientation data for these microstructures, and their mutual overprinting relationship...

Microstructural timing relationships indicate that the Rosebery massive sulphide ore, western Tasmania, Australia, formed by metasomatic replacement of ‘sericite’ schist during a Devonian deformation event (D3). This interpretation is contrary to earlier volcanogenic-based interpretations, but accords with the discordant position and inferred struc...

3-D microstructural analysis of 30 porphyroblastic samples from the Variscan orogen in NW-Iberia has revealed four sets of inclusion trails with distinctive geographic trends and relative timing. The chronological and orientational consistency of these microstructures provides a reference frame for the correlation of macroscopic structural successi...

The ‘FitPitch’ computer program allows characterisation of preferred orientation of planar microstructures in a rock from the orientations of their intersection-lines on different sections. Measured pitch or strike angles of such intersection-lines are fitted to the theoretical intersection-lines of a single model-plane, or a combination of two or...

Individual dating of detrital apatite and zircon crystals in arenitic sediments by the fission track method is a useful, promising technique for provenance analysis. The ages form clusters which are characteristic for the main source areas of siliciclastic ...

Antitaxial non-deforming strain fringes from Lourdes, France, show complex quartz, calcite and chlorite fibre patterns that grew around pyrite in a slate during non-coaxial progressive deformation. Development of these fringes was modelled using a computer program ‘Fringe Growth 2.0’ which can simulate incremental growth of crystal fibres around co...

The time scales over which deformation in the Earth's crust remains localized in shear zones are poorly known, as are the associated strain rates. We have determined the longevity and rates of deformation using rubidium-strontium (Rb-Sr) microsampling dating of increments of fibrous strain fringes from a Pyrenean shear zone. The fibers grew quasi-c...

Detailed structural analysis of a large recumbent fold in low-grade Palaeozoic sediments of the Montagne Noire, and the previously established tectonometamorphic history of its crystalline substratum, indicate a two-stage development history. First, relatively homogeneous crustal thickening produced folds with steep axial planes associated with a r...

Structural analysis in the Montagne Noire, including a study of inclusion trail patterns in andalusite, garnet, and staurolite porphyroblasts, reveals a succession of five foliations in alternately steep and flat-lying orientations. This is inferred to reflect multiple gravitational collapse phases that intervened during continuous plate convergenc...

A new method is developed to reconstruct polyphase deformation histories from pyrite grains with displacement-controlled fibrous strain fringes. It decomposes the relative displacement between a pyrite grain and a fringe into incremental rotations and pull-apart directions. Application to a classic specimen from Lourdes (France) shows that the rota...

The dominant foliation (S2) in the Variscan Lys-Caillaouas massif (Central Pyrenees, France/Spain) formed in a subvertical orientation during crustal thickening (D2)-Subsequent non-coaxial crustal extension produced a subhorizontal crenulation cleavage (S3), whereby S2 was folded and rotated. Andalusite, staurolite, cordierite and biotite porphyrob...

In the Pyrenees, a phase of bulk vertical shortening (D3) is indicated by a horizontal crenulation cleavage (S3), which is developed in a pre-existing schistosity (S2). Porphyroblasts of the Lys-Caillaouas massif regionally preserve: 1.(1) the initial pre-D3 orientation of S2 in the form of a vertical and E-W-trending preferred orientation of their...

The Hercules Pb-Zn deposit consists of a number of isolated, ellipsoidal massive sulfide pods hosted in a tuffaceous slate unit of Middle Cambrian age. These pods are aligned roughly parallel to the main cleavage and have completely discordant to moderately folded bedding. Mineralization is localized in the short limb zones of parasitic F 2 folds f...

The Rosebery PbZnAgAu massive-sulphide deposit occurs within the Middle-Cambrian Mount Read Volcanics of western Tasmania. It is hosted by a tuffaceous slate lens that is surrounded by felsic volcanics. The volcanic belt and its Ordovician cover were deformed and metamorphosed during an Early to Middle Devonian orogeny (Tabberabberan orogeny). D...

Four deformation phases have been distinguished in the Cambro-Ordovician metasediments of the eastern Lys-Caillaouas massif. D1 only affected rocks of a stratigraphic unit below and Ordovician metaconglomerate horizon and is of pre-Variscan age. During D2 tight folds with steep E-W trending axial plane foliations S2 have formed, indicating N-S shor...