ALBERT

Description: The Ossa Morena and South Portuguese Zones of the Variscan Belt of Iberia are interpreted to represent continental fragments that collided during the Variscan orogeny. Oblique northward subduction of an oceanic realm beneath the Ossa Morena Zone and subsequent collision induced thrusting and left-lateral transcurrent motion of crustal blocks and formation of a variety of ore deposits in both terranes. Most of the mineralization is related to dilational openings within thrusts and shear zones, extensional faults and pull-apart basins. A discontinuous diachronous vertical section from exhalative to deep mesozonal hydrothermal systems of Variscan age can be inferred. Volcanic-hosted massive sulphides are formed in third order pull-apart basins, but deeper related extensional structures are the loci for epithermal Hg, fluorite and Pb-Zn vein systems, Cu-Ni magmatic mineralization and iron-rich calcic skarns. Dilational regions along major shear zones also host mesozonal gold-bearing quartz veins. The overall Variscan mineralization pattern is inferred to be representative of an oblique collisional, (transpressional) geodynamic regime.