Overprinting is a geological process that superimposes a set of characteristics on rock that partially obscure earlier characteristics. Examples include metamorphic overprinting (superimposed metamorphism[1]), in which new structure,[2] texture, or mineral composition is imposed on existing rock.[3][4] For example, the Tauern window of Alps contains beds that were originally metamorphosed to eclogite but have since been overprinted to the blueschist and then the greenschistfacies.[5] Likewise, deformation associated with the Mazatzal orogeny in Arizona and New Mexico, US, was subsequently overprinted by deformation associated with the Picuris orogeny.[6]
Geochemical signatures can also be overprinted when the geochemistry of a geological body is changed by eliminating or modifying the earlier geochemical signature.[7][8]
^Jackson, Julia A., ed. (1997). "metamorphic overprint". Glossary of geology (Fourth ed.). Alexandria, Virginia: American Geological Institute. ISBN0922152349.
^Zhao, Lei; Zhai, Ming-Guo; Nutman, Allen P.; Oh, Chang-Whan; Bennett, Vickie C.; Zhang, Yanbin (July 2020). "Archean basement components and metamorphic overprints of the Rangnim Massif in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula and tectonic implications for the Sino-Korean Craton". Precambrian Research. 344: 105735. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2020.105735. S2CID218819425.
^Brewer, Timothy S.; Menuge, Julian F. (March 1998). "Metamorphic overprinting of SmNd isotopic systems in volcanic rocks: the Telemark supergroup, southern Norway". Chemical Geology. 145 (1–2): 1–16. doi:10.1016/S0009-2541(97)00114-9.
