Lithologies, structure and basement-cover relationships in the schist belt of the Dom Feliciano Belt in Uruguay

Abstract

This work is the result of a multiyear effort to use field geology to describe lithologies, to establish contact relationships and to create a sketch of the tectonic evolution of the Meso- to Neoproterozoic metasedimentary successions within the Schist Belt of the Dom Feliciano Belt. This low-grade metamorphic cover rests on the high-grade metamorphic basement of the La China and Las Tetas complexes. This basement is Archean-Paleoproterozoic in age. The Schist Belt is overlapped unconformably by the Barriga Negra formation. The Lavalleja complex and the Barriga Negra formation both deformed together during the D2 deformation event (∼ 570 -540 Ma), but the Barriga Negra only partially recorded the D2 transpressive event, whereas the Lavalleja complex was affected by both the D1 tangential event and the D2 event. Event D1 would have developed a fold nappe with vergence to the south. This hypothesis is supported by different structures: (i) recumbent and upright folds oriented E-W, (ii) subhorizontal mylonitic foliation in marbles (calc-schists), (iii) stretching lineations plunging towards the SW in metaconglomerates of the Las Tetas Complex, and (iv) a reworking of the subhorizontal foliation parallel to the Sarandí del Yí strike-slip shear zone.