Tectonothermal analysis of a major unit of the Cantabrian Zone: the Ponga unit (Variscan belt, NW Spain)

The paleothermometric evolution of the Ponga unit at the core of the Cantabrian Zone, the arcuate foreland fold and thrust belt of the Variscan orogen in NW Spain, is analyzed using the conodont Color Alteration Index and the Kübler Index of illite. The results indicate that the distribution of the thermal maturity patterns is independent of the stratigraphy and the structure of the unit. These include the occurrence of dominant diagenetic values and very low-to-low-grade metamorphism in the southern area. The main thermal event is interpreted to be related to hydrothermal fluids ascending through late-Variscan extensional faults. The anomalous high heat flow in the southern sector of the Ponga unit is part of a previously identified large band in the Cantabrian Zone, where the common occurrence of low-grade metamorphic rocks, hydrothermal dolostones, and ore mineralizations is related to an extensional orogenic episode that started near the Carboniferous–Permian boundary, soon after the closure of the Asturian arc.