We studied the petrographical characteristics and bulk chemical composition along with the age of detrital zircon grains from quartzites exposed in the western part of the Orlica-Śnieżnik dome in the Saxothuringian zone. Age spectra of detrital zircons were obtained by U–Pb laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry dating. The zircon ages define a few clusters of which the most numerous are Cambro-Ordovician and Neoproterozoic, and less frequent are Paleoproterozoic and Archean. A distinctive feature of the investigated samples is the lack of Mesoproterozoic zircon grains. The youngest age cluster documented in the investigated quartzites points to a Late Cambrian maximum depositional age and detritus derivation from erosion of Cambro-Ordovician metagranitoids. Bulk chemical composition of the quartzites indicates that they originated owing to erosion of granite within sedimentary basins developed on a passive continental margin. Presented data prove the similarity of the examined rocks to quartzites known from the eastern part of the Orlica-Śnieżnik dome and quartz metasandstones documented in other parts of the Variscan Belt of Europe known as the Armorican quartzites or their equivalents exposed in the Saxothuringian zone. Our results support the suggestion that the Orlica-Śnieżnik dome has an affinity to the West African Craton of the Gondwana margin and represents a fragment of the Saxothuringian zone.

我们研究了萨克斯图林根地区Orlica-Śnieżnik穹顶西部露出的石英岩的碎屑锆石颗粒的岩石学特征和整体化学组成以及年龄。碎屑锆石的年龄谱是通过U-Pb激光烧蚀电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定的。锆石年龄定义了几个星团，其中最多的是坎布罗-奥陶纪和新元古代，而较少见的是古元古代和太古代。被调查样品的一个显着特征是缺乏中元古代锆石晶粒。在研究的石英岩中记录的最年轻的年龄群指出了寒武纪晚期的最大沉积年龄和由坎布罗—奥陶纪的偏斜纹岩的侵蚀引起的碎屑。石英岩的大块化学成分表明，它们是由于被动大陆边缘发育的沉积盆地内的花岗岩侵蚀而产生的。所提供的数据证明了所检查的岩石与从Orlica-Śnieżnik圆顶东部已知的石英岩和在欧洲瓦里斯卡纳带其他地区称为Armorican石英岩或在萨克斯图林根地区暴露的等价物记录的石英亚砂岩相似。我们的结果支持以下建议：Orlica-Śnieżnik圆顶与冈瓦纳边缘的西非克拉通有亲缘关系，并且代表了萨克斯图林根地区的一部分。所提供的数据证明了所检查的岩石与从Orlica-Śnieżnik圆顶东部已知的石英岩和在欧洲瓦里斯卡纳带其他地区称为Armorican石英岩或在萨克斯图林根地区暴露的等价物记录的石英亚砂岩相似。我们的结果支持以下建议：Orlica-Śnieżnik圆顶与冈瓦纳边缘的西非克拉通有亲缘关系，并且代表了萨克斯图林根地区的一部分。所提供的数据证明了所检查的岩石与从Orlica-Śnieżnik圆顶东部已知的石英岩和在欧洲瓦里斯卡纳带其他地区称为Armorican石英岩或在萨克斯图林根地区暴露的等价物记录的石英亚砂岩相似。我们的结果支持以下建议：Orlica-Śnieżnik圆顶与冈瓦纳边缘的西非克拉通有亲缘关系，并且代表了萨克斯图林根地区的一部分。