Sarn Complex
The Sarn Complex is a group of closely related igneous rocks that intrude and cut through other rock lithologies in the Cymru terrane in Wales.[1] The complex outcrops on the Llŷn Peninsula in a variety of places including Mynydd Cefnamlwch and the flanks of Pen y Gopa.[2]
Geological information
[edit]The largest plutonic body in the terrane has limited outcrop and is sheared by the Llyn Shear Zone in the west and covered by later (Arenig) sediments to the east.[1] Altered to greenschist facies the pluton contains a bimodal suite of gabbro-diorite, monzogranite (Sarn granite) and granodiorite.
The Sarn granite is leucocratic and covers an expanse of about 6 km2 in contrast to the gabbro and diorite that exist as small and scattered exposures. The dioritic component of the complex has been confirmed as having a Neoproterozoic age of 614 ±2 Ma using U-Pb zircon dating.[3] Therefore, the shearing of the Llyn is also temporally constrained by the date.
References
[edit]- 1 2 P. J. Brenchley, P. F. Rawson The Geology of England and Wales, 2006, 2nd Ed
- ↑ BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units
- ↑ P. J. Patchett & J. Jocelyn U-Pb zircon ages for late Precambrian igneous rocks in South Wales., 1979, Journal of the Geological Society of London. 136 13–19
External links
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