Metamorphic zircon and rutile growth in the basement of the Thracian lithotectonic unit, SE Bulgaria

The mica-bearing schist of the Thracian lithotectonic unit basement represents a granite protolith overprinted by high-grade metamorphism. The zircon population displays Silurian protolith age with inherited older Neo- to Paleoprotezoic cores affected by a Carboniferous metamorphism. The Late Cretaceous–Paleogene metamorphic rutile could have resulted from extensive volcanic activity within the Maritsa dextral strike-slip shear zone. The apatite geochemistry has a composition corresponding to low- and medium metamorphic and metasomatic apatite.