Cretaceous metamorphic core complexes in the Otago Schist, New Zealand

The median antiformal axis of the Otago Schist, New Zealand, is marked by a zone of relatively high‐grade (up to garnet‐biotite‐albite) greenschist facies rocks. 40Ar/39Ar geochronology has been carried out in conjunction with structural analysis in regions distant from the effects of the Alpine Fault to determine the origin of this metamorphic welt. We have determined that the metamorphic welt is bounded on its northern and southern sides by multistage ductile shear zone(s) marked by intensely developed fabrics, and/or low‐angle normal faults. These structures extend over a strike length of >∼200 km and on the southern side of the metamorphic welt they mark the boundary between the Caples and the Torlesse terranes. The oldest such shear zone formed between 122 and 118 Ma. The metamorphic welt was exhumed beneath low‐angle normal faults and ductile shear zones that formed from 112 to 109 Ma. The shear zones form the carapace to elongate domal culminations in the central Otago Schist. These geomorphological features are Cretaceous metamorphic core complexes dissected by younger Quaternary faults. Exhumation of the shear zones occurred shortly before volcanogenic sediments began to deposit on a Cretaceous unconformity. We propose that both the Cretaceous unconformity and the underlying ductile shear zones and low‐angle faults are a direct result of extensional tectonism. The ductile shear zones display both ‘cross‐belt’ and ‘belt‐parallel’ stretching lineations. Cross‐belt stretching may have been caused by rollback of the subducting Pacific slab. Belt parallel extension is interpreted to have taken place during extension associated with rifting between Australia and Antarctica, prior to breakup.