The age of orogenesis in the Nambucca Slate Belt: A K‐Ar study of low‐grade regional metamorphic rocks

Abstract

K‐Ar ages of biotite and hornblende from undeformed granodiorite plutons and of slaty and phyllitic rocks, ranging from prehnite‐pumpellyite metagreywacke to greenschist fades, have been determined in an attempt to define the age of orogenesis in the eastern part of the Nambucca Slate Belt. The plutons have K‐Ar ages of 226–227 m.y. (biotite) and 228–231 m.y. (hornblende) that provide a younger age limit for deformation. The lower grade metamorphic rocks yield a range of ages including some comparable with the depositional age of the rocks as indicated by fossils. Rocks of pumpellyite‐actinolite and greenschist facies give a more coherent group of ages which suggest orogenesis at about 250–255 m.y. Specimens of these latter rocks that have been affected by a later structural episode than that during which slaty cleavage formed, yield slightly older ages, which may result from the inclusion of minor amounts of environmental excess ⁴⁰Ar.

Support for the 250–255 m.y. age comes from previously determined radiometric ages from the western part of the Slate Belt, although the presence of granitic bodies perhaps as old as 289 m.y., some closely associated with high‐grade regional metamorphic rocks, may indicate the presence of additional earlier orogenic movements in this region.