Relationship between a syntectonic granitic intrusion and a shear zone in the Southern Carpathian-Balkan area (Almăj Mountains, Romania): Implications for late Variscan kinematics and Cherbelezu granitoid emplacement

The Carboniferous Cherbelezu batholith (Almăj Mountains, Romania) is a well-preserved but poorly studied intrusion belonging to the Upper Danubian Alpine Nappe. This pluton crops out along a pre-existing major verticalized formation, the Corbu Mylonitic Zone (CMZ). Our study investigates the role of the CMZ on the deformation recorded during the mush emplacement and cooling. A detailed microstructural study of this granitic body, coupled with investigations on both Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility (AMS) and Shape Preferred Orientation (SPO) of biotite subfabric, has been performed. The surrounding rocks preserve evidence that the CMZ has been reactivated as a sinistral strike-slip fault before the pluton emplacement. Microstructural investigations of the granitic facies indicate that the pluton has undergone superimposed deformations during its cooling, from submagmatic to LT conditions. Foliation and lineation patterns obtained by AMS and SPO – both methods giving similar results – reflect either magmatic/submagmatic or solid-state flows. Magmatic flow, preserved in the western and southern parts of the pluton, is characterized by concentric foliation pattern with both divergent and parallel lineations, the latter pointing to an early transcurrent regime. Subsequently, a solid-state deformation, recorded during the pluton cooling and restricted to its eastern and northern parts, argues for the concomitant CMZ activity under a sinistral transpressive regime. This is supported by the P′ and T parameter distributions, especially for SPO results, this technique showing clear advantages for the interpretation of the fabric scalar parameters.