Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Major southward thrusting of the Dalradian rocks of Connemara, western Ireland

Abstract

The Connemara schists are of Dalradian (late Precambrian–Cambrian) age and since the work of Kilburn et al.1 it has been apparentthat they occupy an anomalous geographical position south-southeast of the strike continuation of the Dalradian rocks of Scotland and Ireland, and south of the inferred position of the Highland Boundary Fault (Fig. 1). Also, the Connemara schists are unusual in having reached a higher metamorphic grade and having had a different metamorphic history from most other parts of the Dalradian. The model which we propose here for the Connemara Dalradian, that of an allochthonous thrust sheet, offers an explanation for these anomalies and highlights hitherto unsuspected similarities between the tectonic histories of the south-east margins of the metamorphic Caledonides in the British Isles and Scandinavia.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Kilburn, C., Pitcher, W. S. & Shackleton, R. M. Geol. J. 4, 343–360 (1965).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Ryan, P. D., Floyd, P. A. & Archer, J. B. J. geol. Soc. Lond. 137, 433–458 (1980).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. McKie, D. & Burke, K. Geol. Mag. 92, 487–498 (1955).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Max, M. D. et al. Geol. Surv. Ireland Rep. RS 75/3 (1975).

  5. Leake, B. E. Geol. Mag. 100, 420–423 (1963).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Max, M. D. & Ryan, P. D. Geol. Mag. 112, 610–612 (1975).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Tanner, P. W. G. & Shackleton, R. M. Geol. Soc. Lond. Spec. Publ. 8, 243–256 (1979).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Leake, B. E. Geol. J. Spec. Iss. 2, 103–122 (1970).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Pidgeon, R. T. Scott. J. Geol. 5, 375–392 (1969).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Leggo, P. J., Compston, W. & Leake, B. E. J. geol. Soc. Lond. 122, 91–118 (1966).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. York, D. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 5, 320–324 (1969).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Wyborn, D. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 59, 90–100 (1982).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Leake, B. E. Geol. J. Spec. Iss. 10, 221–248 (1978).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Moorbath, S. et al. in Radiometrie Dating for Geologists 259–298 (Interscience, New York, 1968).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Yardley, B. W. D., Vine, F. J. & Baldwin, G. T. J. geol. Sci. Lond. 139, 451–463 (1982).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Yardley, B. W. D., Farrow, C. M. & Leake, B. E. J. Petrol. 21, 365–399 (1980).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Treloar, P. J. Miner. Mag. 44, 183–189 (1981).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Fox, F. G. Geol. Soc. Lond. Spec. Publ. 3, 23–41 (1969).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Harris, L. D. & Bayer, K. C. Geology 7, 568–572 (1979).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Shackleton, R. M., Ries, A. C. & Coward, M. P. J. geol. Soc. Lond. 139, 533–541 (1982).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Gee, D. G. Am. J. Sci. 275A, 468–515 (1975).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Parsons, I. & McKirdy, A. P. Scott. J. Geol. 19, 59–66 (1983).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Brown, R. L. Geol. Soc. Lond. Spec. Publ. 9, 463–473 (1981).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Hutton, D. W. Abstr. Tectonic Studies Group Meet. (Geological Society, London, 1982).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Ryan, P. D., Sawal, V. K. & Rowlands, A. S. Nature 302, 50–52 (1983).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Cobbing, J., Manning, P. I. & Griffith, A. E. Nature 206, 1132–1135 (1965).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. Sturt, B. A. & Roberts, B. Geol Surv. Can. Pap. 78-13, 17–24 (1978).

    Google Scholar 

  28. Stanton, W. I. Q. Jl. geol. Soc. Lond. 116, 269–296 (1960).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Leake, B., Geoff Tanner, P., Singh, D. et al. Major southward thrusting of the Dalradian rocks of Connemara, western Ireland. Nature 305, 210–213 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/305210a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/305210a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing