Arenig to Wenlock regional metamorphism in the Paratectonic Caledonides of the British Isles: a review

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Summary: Between Arenig and Wenlock times the various terranes of the Paratectonic Caledonides in the British Isles were metamorphosed by a variety of processes such as sedimentary burial in volcanic arcs, inter-arc basins and fore-arc and back-arc basins (e.g. Wales, SE and W Ireland, the Lake District and the Midland Valley of Scotland), tectonic burial in an accretionary prism (e.g. Ballantrae, the Southern Uplands and the Longford-Down Massif), hydrothermal alteration associated with the generation of oceanic crust (e.g. Ballantrae and the Highland Border Complex, the Southern Uplands and the Tyrone spilites), dynamothermal metamorphism accompanying obduction of oceanic mantle and crust (e.g. Ballantrae and the Highland Border complexes) and tectonic burial by nappes (e.g. the NW Foreland beneath the Moine Thrust). The region has suffered low-grade regional metamorphism ranging from zeolite facies through prehnite-pumpellyite and pumpellyite and pumpellyite-actinolite facies into greenschist facies, with the localized development of amphibolite and granulite facies.