Evolution of fragment-fragment correlations in reactions of sup 197 Au and sup 107,109 Ag with sup 40 Ar from 7 A to 34 A MeV

In-plane and out-of-plane angular correlations have been measured between fragments of {ital Z}{gt}3, Li fragments, {sup 3,4}He, and {sup 1,2,3}H. The changing patterns for {sup 40}Ar induced reactions of 7{ital A}, 17{ital A}, 27{ital A}, and 34{ital A} MeV give an overview of the decreasing importance of mass-symmetric fissionlike reactions at the expense of a broad range of more mass-asymmetric breakups. Evidence is given that these fragments come from a central collision group of reactions that have similar violence and from which many combinations of fragments and particles are ejected. Very similar azimuthal angular correlations are observed for particles with a Li fragment and for particles with a pair of heavier fragments ({ital Z}{gt}3). This similarity suggests comparable strengths of association with the reaction plane for single Li fragments and for fragment pairs of {ital Z}{gt}3. Azimuthal angular correlations for Li-Li pairs exhibit distinct asymmetries; their interpretation via trajectory-model calculations indicates mean delay times of {approx}5{times}10{sup {minus}22} s.