The eastern continuation of the Cadomian orogen:: U-Pb zircon evidence from Saxo-Thuringian granitoids in south-western Poland and the northern Czech Republic

We report U-Pb single zircon ages from three pre-Variscan granitoids in the NE part of the Bohemian Massif. The Platerowka granodiorite from the Lausitz-Izera Unit, the Polish Sudetes, has been dated at 533+/-9 Ma. The Bitouchov granite form the SW part of the South Krkonse Unit, the Czech Sudetes, gave an age of 540+11/-10 Ma, and the Wadroze granodiorite in the Fore-Sudetic Block yielded 548+/-9 Ma. All these latest Vendian/Early Cambrian granitoids represent the post-tectonic expression of a late Proterozoic Cadomian orogenic cycle and demonstrate the eastward extent of the Cadomian basement into the Variscan orogen. Granodiorites of similar age have so far been reported from Brittany and especially from the Saxo-Thuringian Terrane to the NE and SW of the Elbe Fault Zone. We conclude that the Saxo-Thuringian Terrane extends across the Elbe and Sudetic Marginal Fault Zones into the Fore-Sudetic Block.