Laboratory
of Terrane Architecture and Evolution of Lithosphere
People
/ Instruments and facilities
The research performed by the
Laboratory of Terrane Architecture and Evolution of Lithosphere focuses on complex
interpretation of processes to improve understanding of how orogens evolve;
terranes separate, move, and are resliced, dissolved and dissected in the final
collisional collage of rock masses.
Even the pre-orogenic conditions are considered to be very significant, from
the view points of dynamically evolving tectonic settings and changing
paleoclimates (paleogeography), and by use of the analyses of
volcano-sedimentary fills of numerous successively opening and disappearing
sedimentary basins which were (after their detachment, translation and
deformation) transported further in the terrane to post-terrane structures,
recording a number of processes.
The further evolution of orogenic units is deciphered mainly using the methods
of petrology (of physical, chemical or mineralogical nature), but also using
various methods of geology, revealing generally both the inhomogeneities and
brittle deformation of upper crustal layers and changing rheology in the middle
to lower parts of the Earth crust. The time-temperature history of rocks is
studied by various methods, but the methods based on uranium-238 fission tracks
in apatites and zircons are the most important concepts in the laboratory. The
studies on orogenic belts are principally orientated toward the problems of the
Bohemian Massif, but these studies expand on the territory of Europe and also
worldwide, as it is necessary for understanding the context of processes.
The laboratory differs from the work of many other teams producing studies on
orogens giving the emphasis on detailed analyses of pre-orogenic
configurations, with a continuation through numerous (and various) interval
settings, and ending with the most pronounced, last (and thus relatively easy
recordable) petrological changes and deformation features. To some extent, the
methods are completed by observing of present processes and making of
experiments to explain the crystallization, dissolution, transformation of
minerals and their mixtures, including the problems of fluids, gaseous components
and interactions with biota.