Phase equilibria modelling and LASS monazite petrochronology: P–T–t constraints on the evolution of the Priest River core complex,northern Idaho

Phase equilibria modelling, laser‐ablation split‐stream (LASS)‐ICP‐MS petrochronology and garnet trace‐element geochemistry are integrated to constrain the P–T–t history of the footwall of the Priest River metamorphic core complex, northern Idaho. Metapelitic, migmatitic gneisses of the Hauser Lake Gneiss contain the peak assemblage garnet + sillimanite + biotite ± muscovite + plagioclase + K‐feldspar ± rutile ± ilmenite + quartz. Interpreted P–T paths predict maximum pressures and peak metamorphic temperatures of ~9.6–10.3 kbar and ~785–790 °C. Monazite and xenotime ²⁰⁸Pb/²³²Th dates from porphyroblast inclusions indicate that metamorphism occurred at c. 74–54 Ma. Dates from HREE‐depleted monazite formed during prograde growth constrain peak metamorphism at c. 64 Ma near the centre of the complex, while dates from HREE‐enriched monazite constrain the timing of garnet breakdown during near‐isothermal decompression at c. 60–57 Ma. Near‐isothermal decompression to ~5.0–4.4 kbar was followed by cooling and further decompression. The youngest, HREE‐enriched monazite records leucosome crystallization at mid‐crustal levels c. 54–44 Ma. The northernmost sample records regional metamorphism during the emplacement of the Selkirk igneous complex (c. 94–81 Ma), Cretaceous–Tertiary metamorphism and limited Eocene exhumation. Similarities between the Priest River complex and other complexes of the northern North American Cordillera suggest shared regional metamorphic and exhumation histories; however, in contrast to complexes to the north, the Priest River contains less partial melt and no evidence for diapiric exhumation. Improved constraints on metamorphism, deformation, anatexis and exhumation provide greater insight into the initiation and evolution of metamorphic core complexes in the northern Cordillera, and in similar tectonic settings elsewhere.     

A window into the Early to mid‐Cretaceous infrastructure of the Yukon‐Tanana terrane recorded in multi‐stage garnet of west‐central Yukon,Canada

Amphibolite facies metasedimentary schists within the Yukon‐Tanana terrane in the northern Canadian Cordillera reveal a two‐stage, polymetamorphic garnet growth history. In situ U‐Th‐Pb Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe dating of monazite provide timing constraints for the late stages of garnet growth, deformation and subsequent decompression. Distinct textural and chemical growth zoning domains, separated by a large chemical discontinuity, reveal two stages of garnet growth characterized in part by: (i) a syn‐kinematic, inclusion‐rich stage‐1 garnet core; and (ii) an inclusion‐poor, stage‐2 garnet rim that crystallized with syn‐ to post‐kinematic staurolite and kyanite. Phase equilibria modelling of garnet molar and compositional isopleths suggest stage‐1 garnet growth initiated at ~600 °C, 8 kbar along a clockwise P–T path. Growth of the compositionally distinct, grossular‐rich, pyrope‐poor inner portion of the stage‐2 overgrowth is interpreted to have initiated at higher pressure and/or lower temperature than the stage‐1 core along a separate P–T loop, culminating at peak P–T conditions of ~650–680 °C and 9 kbar. Stage‐2 metamorphism and the waning development of a composite transposition foliation (S_T) are dated at c. 118 Ma from monazite aligned parallel to S_T, and inclusions in syn‐ to post‐S_T staurolite and kyanite. Slightly younger ages (c. 112 Ma) are obtained from Y‐rich monazite that occurs within resorbed areas of both stage‐1 and stage‐2 garnet, together with retrograde staurolite and plagioclase. The younger ages obtained from these texturally and chemically distinct grains are interpreted, with the aid of phase equilibria calculations, to date the growth of monazite from the breakdown of garnet during decompression at c. 112 Ma. Evidence for continued near‐isothermal decompression is provided by the presence of retrograde sillimanite, and cordierite after staurolite, which indicates decompression below ~4–5 kbar prior to cooling below ~550 °C. As most other parts of the Yukon‐Tanana terrane were exhumed to upper crustal levels in the Early Jurassic, these data suggest this domain represents a tectonic window revealing a much younger, high‐grade tectono‐metamorphic core (infrastructure) within the northern Cordilleran orogen. This window may be akin to extensional core complexes identified in east‐central Alaska and in the southeastern Canadian Cordillera.     

Timing of high-pressure metamorphism and exhumation of the eclogite type-locality (Kupplerbrunn–Prickler Halt, Saualpe, south-eastern Austria): constraints from correlations of the Sm–Nd, Lu–Hf, U–Pb and Rb–Sr isotopic systems

Sm–Nd, Lu–Hf, Rb–Sr and SIMS U–Pb data are presented for meta‐gabbroic eclogites from the eclogite type‐locality ( Haüy, 1822 ) Kupplerbrunn–Prickler Halt and other areas of the Saualpe (SE Austria) and Pohorje Mountains (Slovenia). Mg‐rich eclogites derived from early gabbroic cumulates are kyanite‐ and zoisite rich, whereas eclogites with lower Mg contents contain clinozoisite ± kyanite. Calculated P–T conditions at the final stages of high‐pressure metamorphism are 2.2 ± 0.2 GPa at 630–740 °C. Kyanite‐rich eclogites did not yield geologically meaningful Sm–Nd ages due to incomplete Nd isotope equilibration, whereas Sm–Nd multifraction garnet–omphacite regression for a low‐Mg eclogite from Kupplerbrunn yields an age of 91.1 ± 1.3 Ma. The Sm–Nd age of 94.1 ± 0.8 Ma obtained from the Fe‐rich core fraction of this garnet dates the initial stages of garnet growth. Zircon that also crystallized at eclogite facies conditions gives a weighted mean U–Pb SIMS age of 88.4 ± 8.1 Ma. Lu–Hf isotope analysis of a kyanite–eclogite from Kupplerbrunn yields 88.4 ± 4.7 Ma for the garnet–omphacite pair. Two low‐Mg eclogites from the Gertrusk locality of the Saualpe yield a multimineral Sm–Nd age of 90.6 ± 1.0 Ma. A low‐Mg eclogite from the Pohorje Mountains (70 km to the SE) gives a garnet–whole‐rock Lu–Hf age of 93.3 ± 2.8 Ma. These new age data and published Sm–Nd ages of metasedimentary host rocks constrain the final stages of the eo‐Alpine high‐pressure event in the Saualpe–Pohorje part of the south‐easternmost Austroalpine nappe system suggesting that garnet growth in the high‐pressure assemblages started at c. 95–94 Ma and ceased at c. 90–88 Ma, probably at the final pressure peak. Zircon and amphibole crystallization was still possible during incipient isothermal decompression. Rapid exhumation of the high‐pressure rocks was induced by collision of the northern Apulian plate with parts of the Austroalpine microplate, following Jurassic closure of the Permo‐Triassic Meliata back‐arc basin.     

An anticlockwise P–T–t path at high‐pressure,high‐temperature conditions for a migmatitic gneiss from the island of Fjørtoft,Western Gneiss Region,Norway, indicates two burial events during the Caledonian orogeny

The Blåhø Nappe on the island of Fjørtoft, which represents an isolated portion of the Seve Nappe Complex in the Western Gneiss Region, Norway, has been suggested to have experienced two deep burial cycles during the Caledonian orogeny. However, evidence on this multiple burial process by the derivation of a pressure–temperature–time (P–T–t) path has never been given in the literature. In this study, the ‘diamondiferous’ kyanite–garnet gneiss from the Blåhø Nappe on Fjørtoft was revisited to determine if such a process was correct. Two types of garnet, porphyroblastic garnet‐1 and fine‐grained garnet‐2, were recognized in the gneiss. The core of garnet‐1 is poor in Ca and documents P–T conditions of 1.2–1.3 GPa at c. 880°C based on pseudosection modelling. The inner rims of garnet‐1 and the core of garnet‐2 are both richer in Ca, recording P–T conditions of 1.35–1.45 GPa and 770–820°C. Application of conventional geothermobarometry on the outer rim of garnet‐1 and the rim of garnet‐2 yielded retrograde P–T conditions of 0.75–0.90 GPa and 610–685°C. These estimates define an anticlockwise P–T path at pressures below 1.5 GPa. Accessory monazite was dated with the electron microscope. Relicts of detrital monazite in the gneiss point to Sveconorwegian and possibly also Cryogenian provenance for the detritus of the sedimentary protolith. Metamorphic monazite in the gneiss records a wide age range from 460 to 380 Ma, with a peak c. 435 Ma and a shoulder at 395 Ma. These data suggest that the original (Ediacaran?) Baltica margin sediment (gneiss protolith) was transported to the base of an overlying plate during the early Caledonian (pre‐Scandian) orogeny. A long residence time of the metasedimentary rock at this base caused its heating to 880°C and homogenization of the early garnet chemistry. The late Caledonian (Scandian) collision between Baltica and Laurentia led to further burial, during which the studied gneiss was close to the former surface of the downgoing continental plate and, thus, cooled. The reconstructed P–T–t path confirms the multiple burial history of the Blåhø Nappe but contradicts previous ideas of deep burial of the Fjørtoft gneiss to more than 100 km.     

Constraints from monazite and xenotime growth modelling in the MnCKFMASH‐PYCe system on the P–T path of a metapelite from Shillong‐Meghalaya Plateau: implications for the Indian shield assembly

The Palaeo‐Mesoproterozoic metapelite granulites from northern Garo Hills, western Shillong‐Meghalaya Gneissic Complex (SMGC), northeast India, consist of resorbed garnet, cordierite and K‐feldspar porphyroblasts in a matrix comprising shape‐preferred aggregates of biotite±sillimanite+quartz that define the penetrative gneissic fabric. An earlier assemblage including biotite and sillimanite occurs as inclusions within the garnet and cordierite porphyroblasts. Staurolite within cordierite in samples without matrix sillimanite is interpreted to have formed by a reaction between the sillimanite inclusion and the host cordierite during retrogression. Accessory monazite occurs as inclusions within garnet as well as in the matrix, whereas accessory xenotime occurs only in the matrix. The monazite inclusions in garnet contain higher Ca, and lower Y and Th/U than the matrix monazite outside resorbed garnet rims. On the other hand, matrix monazite away from garnet contains low Ca and Y, and shows very high Th/U ratios. The low Th/U ratios (<10) of the Y‐poor garnet‐hosted monazite indicate subsolidus formation during an early stage of prograde metamorphism. A calculated P–T pseudosection in the MnCKFMASH‐PYCe system indicates that the garnet‐hosted monazite formed at <3 kbar/600 °C (Stage A). These P–T estimates extend backward the previously inferred prograde P–T path from peak anatectic conditions of 7–8 kbar/850 °C based on major mineral equilibria. Furthermore, the calculated P–T pseudosections indicate that cordierite–staurolite equilibrated at ~5.5 kbar/630 °C during retrograde metamorphism. Thus, the P–T path was counterclockwise. The Y‐rich matrix monazite outside garnet rims formed between ~3.2 kbar/650 °C and ~5 kbar/775 °C (Stage B) during prograde metamorphism. If the effect of bulk composition change due to open system behaviour during anatexis is considered, the P–T conditions may be lower for Stage A (<2 kbar/525 °C) and Stage B (~3 kbar/600 °C to ~3.5 kbar/660 °C). Prograde garnet growth occurred over the entire temperature range (550–850 °C), and Stage‐B monazite was perhaps initially entrapped in garnet. During post‐peak cooling, the Stage‐B monazite grains were released in the matrix by garnet dissolution. Furthermore, new matrix monazite (low Y and very high Th/U ≤80, ~8 kbar/850–800 °C, Stage C), some monazite outside garnet rims (high Y and intermediate Th/U ≤30, ~8 kbar/800–785 °C, Stage D), and matrix xenotime (<785 °C) formed through post‐peak crystallization of melt. Regardless of textural setting, all monazite populations show identical chemical ages (1630–1578 Ma, ±43 Ma). The lithological association (metapelite and mafic granulites), and metamorphic age and P–T path of the northern Garo Hills metapelites and those from the southern domain of the Central Indian Tectonic Zone (CITZ) are similar. The SMGC was initially aligned with the southern parts of CITZ and Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex of central/eastern India in an ENE direction, but was displaced ~350 km northward by sinistral movement along the north‐trending Eastern Indian Tectonic Zone in Neoproterozoic. The southern CITZ metapelites supposedly originated in a back‐arc associated with subducting oceanic lithosphere below the Southern Indian Block at c. 1.6 Ga during the initial stage of Indian shield assembly. It is inferred that the SMGC metapelites may also have originated contemporaneously with the southern CITZ metapelites in a similar back‐arc setting.     

Coupled garnet Lu–Hf and monazite U–Pb geochronology constrain early convergent margin dynamics in the Ross orogen,Antarctica

The Ross orogen of Antarctica is an extensive (>3000 km‐long) belt of deformed and metamorphosed sedimentary rocks and granitoid batholiths, which formed during convergence and subduction of palaeo‐Pacific lithosphere beneath East Gondwana in the Neoproterozoic–early Palaeozoic. Despite its prominent role in Gondwanan convergent tectonics, and a well‐established magmatic record, relatively little is known about the metamorphic rocks in the Ross orogen. A combination of garnet Lu–Hf and monazite U–Pb (measured by laser‐ablation split‐stream ICP‐MS) geochronology reveals a protracted metamorphic history of metapelites and garnet amphibolites from a major segment of the orogen. Additionally, direct dating of a common rock‐forming mineral (garnet) and accessory mineral (monazite) allows us to test assumptions that are commonly used when linking accessory mineral geochronology to rock‐forming mineral reactions. Petrography, mineral zoning, thermobarometry and pseudosection modelling reveal a Barrovian‐style prograde path, reaching temperatures of ~610–680 °C. Despite near‐complete diffusional resetting of garnet major element zoning, the garnet retains strong rare earth element zoning and preserves Lu–Hf dates that range from c. 616–572 Ma. Conversely, monazite in the rocks was extensively recrystallized, with concordant dates that span from c. 610–500 Ma, and retain only vestigial cores. Monazite cores yield dates that overlap with the garnet Lu–Hf dates and typically have low‐Y and heavy rare earth element (HREE) concentrations, corroborating interpretations of low‐Y and low‐HREE monazite domains as records of synchronous garnet growth. However, ratios of REE concentrations in garnet and monazite do not consistently match previously reported partition coefficients for the REE between these two minerals. High‐Y monazite inclusions within pristine, crack‐free garnet yield U–Pb dates significantly younger than the Lu–Hf dates for the same samples, indicating recrystallization of monazite within garnet. The recrystallization of high‐Y and high‐HREE monazite domains over >50 Ma likely records either punctuated thermal pulses or prolonged residence at relatively high temperatures (up to ~610–680 °C) driving monazite recrystallization. One c. 616 Ma garnet Lu–Hf date and several c. 610–600 Ma monazite U–Pb dates are tentatively interpreted as records of the onset of tectonism metamorphism in the Ross orogeny, with a more robust constraint from the other Lu–Hf dates (c. 588–572 Ma) and numerous c. 590–570 Ma monazite U–Pb dates. The data are consistent with a tectonic model that involves shortening and thickening prior to widespread magmatism in the vicinity of the study area. The early tectonic history of the Ross orogen, recorded in metamorphic rocks, was broadly synchronous with Gondwana‐wide collisional Pan‐African orogenies.     

Anticlockwise pressure–temperature paths record Variscan upper‐plate exhumation: Example from micaschists of the Porto Vecchio region,Corsica

To better understand the evolution of deep‐seated crust of the Variscan orogen in the Sardinia‐Corsica region, we studied garnet‐bearing micaschists which were sampled 3 km east and 15 km northeast of Porto Vecchio, south‐eastern Corsica. After a careful investigation of the textural relations and compositions of minerals, especially of zoned garnet, a P–T path was reconstructed using contoured P–T pseudosections. U–Th–Pb dating of monazite in the micaschists was undertaken with the electron microprobe. The micaschists from both localities were formed along similar anticlockwise P–T paths. The prograde branch of these paths starts at 3 kbar close to 600°C in the P–T field of sillimanite and reaches peak conditions at 7 kbar and 600 (15 km NE of Porto Vecchio) to 630°C (3 km E of Porto Vecchio). The metamorphism at peak P–T conditions happened c. 340 Ma based on low‐Y (<0.65 wt% Y₂O₃) monazite. Ages of monazite with high‐Y contents (>2 wt% Y₂O₃), which probably have formed before garnet, scatter around 362 Ma. The retrograde branch of the P–T paths passes through 4 kbar at ~550°C. We conclude that the micaschists belong to a common metasedimentary sequence, which extends over the Porto Vecchio region and is separated from other metamorphic rock sequences in the north and the south by major tectonic boundaries. This sequence had experienced peak pressures which are lower than those determined for metamorphic rocks, such as micaschist and gneiss, from north‐eastern Sardinia. At present, we favour a continent–continent collisional scenario with the studied metasedimentary sequence buried during the collisional event as part of the upper plate. The contemporaneous high‐P metamorphic rocks from NE Sardinia were part of the upper portion of the lower plate. The addressed rocks from both plates were exhumed in an exhumation channel.     

Using monazite and zircon petrochronology to constrain the P–T–t evolution of the middle crust in the Bhutan Himalaya

The growth and dissolution behaviour of accessory phases (and especially those of geochronological interest) in metamorphosed pelites depends on, among others, the bulk composition, the prograde metamorphic evolution and the cooling path. Monazite and zircon are arguably the most commonly used geochronometers for dating felsic metamorphic rocks, yet crystal growth mechanisms as a function of rock composition, pressure and temperature are still incompletely understood. Ages of different growth zones in zircon and monazite in a garnet‐bearing anatectic metapelite from the Greater Himalayan Sequence in NW Bhutan were investigated via a combination of thermodynamic modelling, microtextural data and interpretation of trace‐element chemical ‘fingerprint’ indicators in order to link them to the metamorphic stage at which they crystallized. Differences in the trace‐element composition (HREE, Y, Eu_N/Eu*_N) of different phases were used to track the growth/dissolution of major (e.g. plagioclase, garnet) and accessory phases (e.g. monazite, zircon, xenotime, allanite). Taken together, these data constrain multiple pressure–temperature–time (P–T–t) points from low temperature (<550 °C) to upper amphibolite facies (partial melting, >700 °C) conditions. The results suggest that the metapelite experienced a cryptic early metamorphic stage at c. 38 Ma at <550 °C, ≥0.85 GPa during which plagioclase was probably absent. This was followed by a prolonged high‐T, medium‐pressure (~600 °C, 0.55 GPa) evolution at 35–29 Ma during which the garnet grew, and subsequent partial melting at >690 °C and >18 Ma. Our data confirm that both geochronometers can crystallize independently at different times along the same P–T path and that neither monazite nor zircon necessarily provides timing constraints on ‘peak’ metamorphism. Therefore, collecting monazite and zircon ages as well as major and trace‐element data from major and accessory phases in the same sample is essential for reconstructing the most coherent metamorphic P–T–t evolution and thus for robustly constraining the rates and timescales of metamorphic cycles.     

Separating metamorphic events in the Fosdick migmatite–granite complex,West Antarctica

The Fosdick migmatite–granite complex in West Antarctica records evidence for two high‐temperature metamorphic events, the first during the Devonian–Carboniferous and the second during the Cretaceous. The conditions of each high‐temperature metamorphic event, both of which involved melting and multiple melt‐loss events, are investigated using phase equilibria modelling during successive melt‐loss events, microstructural observations and mineral chemistry. In situ SHRIMP monazite and TIMS Sm–Nd garnet ages are integrated with these results to constrain the timing of the two events. In areas that preferentially preserve the Devonian–Carboniferous (M₁) event, monazite grains in leucosomes and core domains of monazite inclusions in Cretaceous cordierite yield an age of c. 346 Ma, which is interpreted to record the timing of monazite growth during peak M₁ metamorphism (～820–870 °C, 7.5–11.5 kbar) and the formation of garnet–sillimanite–biotite–melt‐bearing assemblages. Slightly younger monazite spot ages between c. 331 and 314 Ma are identified from grains located in fractured garnet porphyroblasts, and from inclusions in plagioclase that surround relict garnet and in matrix biotite. These ages record the growth of monazite during garnet breakdown associated with cooling from peak M₁ conditions. The Cretaceous (M₂) overprint is recorded in compositionally homogeneous monazite grains and rim domains in zoned monazite grains. This monazite yields a protracted range of spot ages with a dominant population between c. 111 and 96 Ma. Rim domains of monazite inclusions in cordierite surrounding garnet and in coarse‐grained poikiloblasts of cordierite yield a weighted mean age of c. 102 Ma, interpreted to constrain the age of cordierite growth. TIMS Sm–Nd ages for garnet are similar at 102–99 Ma. Mineral equilibria modelling of the residual protolith composition after Carboniferous melt loss and removal of inert M₁ garnet constrains M₂ conditions to ～830–870 °C and ～6–7.5 kbar. The modelling results suggest that there was growth and resorption of garnet during the M₂ event, which would facilitate overprinting of M₁ compositions during the M₂ prograde metamorphism. Measured garnet compositions and Sm–Nd diffusion modelling of garnet in the migmatitic gneisses suggest resetting of major elements and the Sm–Nd system during the Cretaceous M₁ overprint. The c. 102–99 Ma garnet Sm–Nd ‘closure’ ages correspond to cooling below 700 °C during the rapid exhumation of the Fosdick migmatite–granite complex.     

Coexistence of garnet blueschist and eclogite in South Tianshan,NW China: dependence of P–T evolution and bulk‐rock composition

Coexisting garnet blueschist and eclogite from the Chinese South Tianshan high‐pressure (HP)–ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) belt consist of similar mineral assemblages involving garnet, omphacite, glaucophane, epidote, phengite, rutile/sphene, quartz and hornblendic amphibole with or without paragonite. Eclogite assemblages generally contain omphacite >50 vol.% and a small amount of glaucophane (<5 vol.%), whereas blueschist assemblages have glaucophane over 30 vol.% with a small amount of omphacite which is even absent in the matrix. The coexisting blueschist and eclogite show dramatic differences in the bulk‐rock compositions with higher X(CaO) [=CaO/(CaO + MgO + FeO_total + MnO + Na₂O)] (0.33–0.48) and lower A/CNK [=Al₂O₃/(CaO + Na₂O + K₂O)] (0.35–0.56) in eclogite, but with lower X(CaO) (0.09–0.30) and higher A/CNK (0.65–1.28) in garnet blueschist. Garnet in both types of rocks has similar compositions and exhibits core–rim zoning with increasing grossular and pyrope contents. Petrographic observations and phase equilibria modelling with pseudosections calculated using thermocalc in the NCKMnFMASHO system for the coexisting garnet blueschist and eclogite samples suggest that the two rock types share similar P–T evolutional histories involving a decompression with heating from the P_max to the T_max stage and a post‐T_max decompression with slightly cooling stage, and similar P–T conditions at the T_max stage. The post‐T_max decompression is responsible for lawsonite decomposition, which results in epidote growth, glaucophane increase and omphacite decrease in the blueschist, or in an overprinting of the eclogitic assemblage by a blueschist assemblage. Calculated P–X(CaO), P–A/CNK and P–X(CO₂) pseudosections indicate that blueschist assemblages are favoured in rocks with lower X(CaO) (<0.28) and higher A/CNK (>0.75) or fluid composition with higher X(CO₂) (>0.15), but eclogite assemblages preferentially occur in rocks with higher X(CaO) and lower A/CNK or fluid composition with lower X(CO₂). Moreover, phase modelling suggests that the coexistence of blueschist and eclogite depends substantially on P–T conditions, which would commonly occur in medium temperatures of 500–590 °C under pressures of ~17–22 kbar. The modelling results are in good accordance with the measured bulk‐rock compositions and modelled temperature results of the coexisting garnet blueschist and eclogite from the South Tianshan HP–UHP belt.     

Three metamorphic events recorded in a single garnet: Integrated phase modelling,in situ LA‐ICPMS and SIMS geochronology from the Moine Supergroup,NW Scotland

In situ LA‐ICP‐MS monazite geochronology from a garnet‐bearing diatexite within the Moine Supergroup (Glenfinnan Group) NW Scotland records three temporally distinct metamorphic events within a single garnet porphyroblast. The initial growth of garnet occurred in the interval c. 825–780 Ma, as recorded by monazite inclusions located in the garnet core. Modelled P–T conditions based on the preserved garnet core composition indicate an initially comparatively high geothermal gradient regime and peak conditions of ～650 °C and 7 kbar. Monazite within a compositionally distinct second shell of garnet has an age of 724 ± 6 Ma. This is indistinguishable from a SIMS age of 725 ± 4 Ma obtained from metamorphic zircon in the sample, which is interpreted to record the timing of migmatization. This second stage of garnet growth occurred on a P–T path from ～6 kbar and 650 °C rising to ～9 kbar and 700 °C, with the peak conditions associated with partial melting. A third garnet zone which forms the rim contains monazite with an age of 464 ± 3 Ma. Monazite in the surrounding matrix has an age of 462 ± 2 Ma. This corresponds well with a U–Pb SIMS zircon age of 463 ± 4 Ma obtained from a deformed pegmatite that was emplaced during widespread folding and reworking of the migmatite fabric. The P–T conditions associated with the final phase of garnet growth were ～7 kbar and 650 °C. The monazite ages coupled with the phase relations modelled from this multistage garnet indicate that it records two Neoproterozoic tectonothermal events as well as the widespread Ordovician Grampian event associated with Caledonian orogenesis. Thus, this single garnet records much of the Neoproterozoic to Ordovician thermal history in NW Scotland, and highlights the long history of porphyroblast growth that can be revealed by in situ isotopic dating and associated P–T modelling. This approach has the potential to reveal much of the thermal architecture of Neoproterozoic events within the Moine Supergroup, despite intense Caledonian reworking, if suitable textural and mineralogical relationships can be indentified elsewhere.     

The timing of migmatization in the northern Arabian–Nubian Shield: Evidence for a juvenile sedimentary component in collision‐related batholiths

Collision‐related granitoid batholiths, like those of the Hercynian and Himalayan orogens, are mostly fed by magma derived from metasedimentary sources. However, in the late Neoproterozoic calcalkaline (CA) batholiths of the Arabian–Nubian Shield (ANS), which constitutes the northern half of the East African orogen, any sedimentary contribution is obscured by the juvenile character of the crust and the scarcity of migmatites. Here, we use paired in situ LASS‐ICP‐MS measurements of U–Th–Pb isotope ratios and REE contents of monazite and xenotime and SHRIMP‐RG analyses of separated zircon to demonstrate direct linkage between migmatites and granites in the northernmost ANS. Our results indicate a single prolonged period of monazite growth at 640–600 Ma, in metapelites, migmatites and peraluminous granites of three metamorphic suites: Abu‐Barqa (SW Jordan), Roded (S Israel) and Taba–Nuweiba (Sinai, Egypt). The distribution of monazite dates and age zoning in single monazite grains in migmatites suggest that peak thermal conditions, involving partial melting, prevailed for c. 10 Ma, from 620 to 610 Ma. REE abundances in monazite are well correlated with age, recording garnet growth and garnet breakdown in association with the prograde and retrograde stages of the melting reactions, respectively. Xenotime dates cluster at 600–580 Ma, recording retrogression to greenschist facies conditions as garnet continued to destabilize. Phase equilibrium modelling and mineral thermobarometry yield P–T conditions of ~650–680°C and 5–7 kbar, consistent with either water‐fluxed or muscovite‐breakdown melting. The expected melt production is 8–10 vol.%, allowing a melt connectivity network to form leading to melt segregation and extraction. U–Pb ages of zircon rims from leucosomes indicate crystallization of melt at 610 ± 10 Ma, coinciding with the emplacement of a vast volume of CA granites throughout the northern ANS, which were previously considered post‐collisional. Similar monazite ages (c. 620 Ma) retrieved from the amphibolite facies Elat schist indicate that migmatites are the result of widespread regional rather than local contact metamorphism, representing the climax of the East African orogenesis.     

Constraints on the timing and conditions of high‐grade metamorphism,charnockite formation and fluid–rock interaction in the Trivandrum Block,southern India

Incipient charnockites have been widely used as evidence for the infiltration of CO₂‐rich fluids driving dehydration of the lower crust. Rocks exposed at Kakkod quarry in the Trivandrum Block of southern India allow for a thorough investigation of the metamorphic evolution by preserving not only orthopyroxene‐bearing charnockite patches in a host garnet–biotite felsic gneiss, but also layers of garnet–sillimanite metapelite gneiss. Thermodynamic phase equilibria modelling of all three bulk compositions indicates consistent peak‐metamorphic conditions of 830–925 °C and 6–9 kbar with retrograde evolution involving suprasolidus decompression at high temperature. These models suggest that orthopyroxene was most likely stabilized close to the metamorphic peak as a result of small compositional heterogeneities in the host garnet–biotite gneiss. There is insufficient evidence to determine whether the heterogeneities were inherited from the protolith or introduced during syn‐metamorphic fluid flow. U–Pb geochronology of monazite and zircon from all three rock types constrains the peak of metamorphism and orthopyroxene growth to have occurred between the onset of high‐grade metamorphism at c. 590 Ma and the onset of melt crystallization at c. 540 Ma. The majority of metamorphic zircon growth occurred during protracted melt crystallization between c. 540 and 510 Ma. Melt crystallization was followed by the influx of aqueous, alkali‐rich fluids likely derived from melts crystallizing at depth. This late fluid flow led to retrogression of orthopyroxene, the observed outcrop pattern and to the textural and isotopic modification of monazite grains at c. 525–490 Ma.     

Jadeite–garnet glaucophane schists in the Bizan area,Sambagawa metamorphic belt,eastern Shikoku,Japan: significance and extent of eclogite facies metamorphism

Eclogite facies metamorphic rocks have been discovered from the Bizan area of eastern Shikoku, Sambagawa metamorphic belt. The eclogitic jadeite–garnet glaucophane schists occur as lenticular or sheet‐like bodies in the pelitic schist matrix, with the peak mineral assemblage of garnet + glaucophane + jadeite + phengite + quartz. The jadeitic clinopyroxene (X_Jd 0.46–0.75) is found exclusively as inclusions in porphyroblastic garnet. The eclogite metamorphism is characterized by prograde development from epidote–blueschist to eclogite facies. Metamorphic P–T conditions estimated using pseudosection modelling are 580–600 °C and 18–20 kbar for eclogite facies. Compared with common mafic eclogites, the jadeite–garnet glaucophane schists have low CaO (4.4–4.5 wt%) and MgO (2.1–2.3 wt%) bulk‐rock compositions. The P–T– pseudosections show that low X_Ca bulk‐rock compositions favour the appearance of jadeite instead of omphacite under eclogite facies conditions. This is a unique example of low X_Ca bulk‐rock composition triggered to form jadeite at eclogite facies conditions. Two significant types of eclogitic metamorphism have been distinguished in the Sambagawa metamorphic belt, that is, a low‐T type and subsequent high‐T type eclogitic metamorphic events. The jadeite–garnet glaucophane schists experienced low‐T type eclogite facies metamorphism, and the P–T path is similar to lawsonite‐bearing eclogites recently reported from the Kotsu area in eastern Shikoku. During subduction of the oceanic plate (Izanagi plate), the hangingwall cooled gradually, and the geothermal gradient along the subduction zone progressively decreased and formed low‐T type eclogitic metamorphic rocks. A subsequent warm subduction event associated with an approaching spreading ridge caused the high‐T type eclogitic metamorphism within a single subduction zone.     

Two successive phases of ultrahigh temperature metamorphism in Rogaland,S. Norway: Evidence from Y‐in‐monazite thermometry

In Rogaland, South Norway, a polycyclic granulite facies metamorphic domain surrounds the late‐Sveconorwegian anorthosite–mangerite–charnockite (AMC) plutonic complex. Integrated petrology, phase equilibria modelling, monazite microchemistry, Y‐in‐monazite thermometry, and monazite U–Th–Pb geochronology in eight samples, distributed across the apparent metamorphic field gradient, imply a sequence of two successive phases of ultrahigh temperature (UHT) metamorphism in the time window between 1,050 and 910 Ma. A first long‐lived metamorphic cycle (M1) between 1,045 ± 8 and 992 ± 11 Ma is recorded by monazite in all samples. This cycle is interpreted to represent prograde clockwise P–T path involving melt production in fertile protoliths and culminating in UHT conditions of ~6 kbar and 920°C. Y‐in‐monazite thermometry, in a residual garnet‐absent sapphirine–orthopyroxene granulite, provides critical evidence for average temperature of 931 and 917°C between 1,029 ± 9 and 1,006 ± 8 Ma. Metamorphism peaked after c. 20 Ma of crustal melting and melt extraction, probably supported by a protracted asthenospheric heat source following lithospheric mantle delamination. Between 990 and 940 Ma, slow conductive cooling to 750–800°C is characterized by monazite reactivity as opposed to silicate metastability. A second incursion (M2) to UHT conditions of ~3.5–5 kbar and 900–950°C, is recorded by Y‐rich monazite at 930 ± 6 Ma in an orthopyroxene–cordierite–hercynite gneiss and by an osumilite gneiss. This M2 metamorphism, typified by osumilite paragenesis, is related to the intrusion of the AMC plutonic complex at 931 ± 2 Ma. Thermal preconditioning of the crust during the first UHT metamorphism may explain the width of the aureole of contact metamorphism c. 75 Ma later, and also the rarity of osumilite‐bearing assemblages in general.     

P–T evolution and episodic zircon growth in barroisite eclogites of the Lanterman Range,northern Victoria Land,Antarctica

Prograde P–T–t paths of eclogites are often ambiguous owing to high variance of mineral assemblages, large uncertainty in isotopic age determinations and/or variable degree of retrograde equilibration. We investigated these issues using the barroisite eclogites from the Lanterman Range, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, which are relatively uncommon but free of retrogression. These eclogites revealed three stages of prograde metamorphism, defining two distinctive P–T trajectories, M_1–2 and M₃. Inclusion minerals in garnet porphyroblasts suggest that initial prograde assemblages (M₁) consist of garnet+omphacite+barroisite/Mg‐pargasite+epidote+phengite+paragonite+rutile/titanite+quartz, and subsequent M₂ assemblages of garnet+omphacite+barroisite+phengite+rutile±quartz. The inclusion‐rich inner part of garnet porphyroblasts preserves a bell‐shaped Mn profile of the M₁, whereas the inclusion‐poor outer part (M₂) is typified by the outward decrease in Ca/Mg and X_Fe (=Fe²⁺/(Fe²⁺+Mg)) values. A pseudosection modelling employing fractionated bulk‐rock composition suggests that the eclogites have initially evolved from ~15 to 20 kbar and 520–570°C (M₁) to ~22–25 kbar and 630–650°C (M₂). The latter is in accordance with P–T conditions estimated from two independent geothermobarometers: the garnet–clinopyroxene–phengite (~25 ± 3 kbar and 660 ± 100°C) and Zr‐in‐rutile (~650–700°C at 22–27 kbar). The second segment (M_3A–B) of prograde P–T path is recorded in the grossular‐rich overgrowth rim of garnet. Apart from disequilibrium growth of the M_3A garnet, ubiquitous overgrowth of the M_3B garnet permits us to estimate the P–T conditions at ~26 ± 3 kbar and 720 ± 80°C. The cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging of zircon grains separated from a barroisite eclogite revealed three distinct zones with bright rim, dark mantle and moderately dark core. Eclogitic phases such as garnet, omphacite, epidote and rutile are present as fine‐grained inclusions in the mantle and rim of zircon, in contrast to their absence in the core. The sensitive high‐resolution ion microprobe U–Pb dating on metamorphic mantle domains and neoblasts yielded a weighted mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 515 ± 4 Ma (tσ), representing the time of the M₂ stage. On the other hand, overgrowth rims as well as bright‐CL neoblasts of zircon were dated at 498 ± 11 Ma (tσ), corresponding to the M₃. Average burial rates estimated from the M₂ and M₃ ages are too low (<2 mm/year) for cold subduction regime (~5–10°C/km), suggesting that an exhumation stage intervened between two prograde segments of P–T path. Thus, the P–T–t evolution of barroisite eclogites is typified by two discrete episodes with an c. 15 Ma gap during the middle Cambrian subduction of the Antarctic Ross Orogeny.     

Time‐scale of deformation and intertectonic phases revealed by P–T–D–t relationships in the orogenic middle crust of the Orlica‐Śnieżnik Dome,Polish/Czech Central Sudetes

A section of the orogenic middle crust (Orlica‐?nie?nik Dome, Polish/Czech Central Sudetes) was examined to constrain the duration and significance of deformation (D) and intertectonic (I) phases. In the studied metasedimentary synform, three deformation events produced an initial subhorizontal foliation S1 (D₁), a subsequent subvertical foliation S2 (D₂) and a late subhorizontal axial planar cleavage S3 (D₃). The synform was intruded by pre‐, syn‐ and post‐D₂ granitoid sheets. Crystallization–deformation relationships in mica schist samples document I_1–2 garnet–staurolite growth, syn‐D₂ staurolite breakdown to garnet–biotite–sillimanite/andalusite, I_2–3 cordierite blastesis and late‐D₃ chlorite growth. Garnet porphyroblasts show a linear Mn–Ca decrease from the core to the inner rim, a zone of alternating Ca–Y‐ and P‐rich annuli in the inner rim, and a Ca‐poor outer rim. The Ca–Y‐rich annuli probably reflect the occurrence of the allanite‐to‐monazite transition at conditions of the staurolite isograd, whereas the Ca‐poor outer rim is ascribed to staurolite demise. The reconstructed P–T path, obtained by modelling the stability of parageneses and garnet zoning, documents near‐isobaric heating from ~4 kbar/485 °C to ~4.75 kbar/575 °C during I_1–2. This was followed by a progression to 4–5 kbar/580–625 °C and a subsequent pressure decrease to 3–4 kbar during D₂. Pressure decrease below 3 kbar is ascribed to I_2–3, whereas cooling below ~500 °C occurred during D₃. In the dated mica schist sample, garnet rims show strong Lu enrichment, oscillatory Lu zoning and a slight Ca increase. These features are also related to allanite breakdown coeval with staurolite appearance. As Lu‐rich garnet rims dominate the Lu–Hf budget, the 344 ± 3 Ma isochron age is ascribed to garnet crystallization at staurolite grade, near the end of I_1–2. For the dated sample of amphibole–biotite granitoid sheet, a Pb–Pb single zircon evaporation age of 353 ± 1 Ma is related to the onset of plutonic activity. The results suggest a possible Devonian age for D₁, and a Carboniferous burial‐exhumation cycle in mid‐crustal rocks that is broadly coeval with the exhumation of neighbouring HP rocks during D₂. In the light of published ages, a succession of telescoping stages with time spans decreasing from c. 10 to 2–3 Ma is proposed. The initially long period of tectonic quiescence (I_1–2 phase, c. 10 Ma) inferred in the middle crust contrasts with contemporaneous deformation at deeper levels and points to decoupled P–T–D histories within the orogenic wedge. An elevated gradient of ~30 °C km^?1 and assumed high heating rates of c. 20 °C Ma^?1 are explained by the protracted intrusion of granitoid sheets, with or without deformation, whereas fast vertical movements (2–3 Ma, D₂ phase) in the crust require the activity of deformation phases.     

P–T–t evolution of garnet amphibolites in the Wutai–Hengshan area,North China Craton: insights from phase equilibria and geochronology

Garnet amphibolites can provide valuable insights into geological processes of orogenic belts, but their metamorphic evolution is still poorly constrained. Garnet amphibolites from the Wutai–Hengshan area of the North China Craton mainly consist of garnet, hornblende, plagioclase, quartz, rutile and ilmenite, with or without titanite and epidote. Four samples selected in a south–north profile were studied by the pseudosection approach in order to elucidate the characteristics of their metamorphic evolution, and to better reveal the northwards prograde change in P–T conditions as established previously. For the sample from the lower Wutai Subgroup, garnet exhibits obvious two‐substage growth zoning characteristic of pyrope (X_py) increasing but grossular (X_gr) decreasing outwards in the core, and both X_py and X_gr increasing outwards in the rim. Phase modelling using thermocalc suggests that the garnet cores were formed by chlorite breakdown over 7–9 kbar at 530–600 °C, and rims grew from hornblende and epidote breakdown over 9.5–11.5 kbar at 600–670 °C. The isopleths of the minimum An in plagioclase and maximum X_py in garnet were used to constrain the peak P–T conditions of ~11.5 kbar/670 °C. The modelled peak assemblage garnet + hornblende + epidote+ plagioclase + rutile + quartz matches well the observed one. Plagioclase–hornblende coronae around garnet indicate post‐peak decompression and fluid ingress. For the samples from the south Hengshan Complex, the garnet zoning weaken gradually, reflecting modifications during decompression of the rocks. Using the same approach, the rocks are inferred to have suprasolidus peak conditions, increasing northwards from 11.5 kbar/745 °C, 12.5 kbar/780 °C to 13 kbar/800 °C. Their modelled peak assemblages involve diopside, garnet, hornblende, plagioclase, rutile and quartz, yet diopside is not observed petrographically. The post‐peak decompression is characterized by diopside + garnet + quartz + melt = hornblende + plagioclase, causing the diopside consumption and garnet compositions to be largely modified. Thus, the pesudosection approach is expected to provide better pressure results than conventional thermobarometry, because the later approach cannot be applied with confidence to rocks with multi‐generation assemblages. U–Pb dating of zircon in the Wutai sample records a protolith age of c. 2.50 Ga, and a metamorphic age of c. 1.95 Ga, while zircon in the Hengshan samples records metamorphic ages of c. 1.92 Ga. The c. 1.95 Ga is interpreted to represent the pre‐peak or peak metamorphic stages, and the ages of c. 1.92 Ga are assigned to represent the cooling stages. All rocks in the Wutai–Hengshan area share similar clockwise P–T morphologies. They may represent metamorphic products at different crustal depths in one orogenic event, which included a main thickening stage at c. 1.95 Ga followed by a prolonged uplift and cooling after 1.92 Ga.     

Ultrahigh‐temperature osumilite gneisses in southern Madagascar record combined heat advection and high rates of radiogenic heat production in a long‐lived high‐T orogen

We report the discovery of osumilite in ultrahigh‐temperature (UHT) metapelites of the Anosyen domain, southern Madagascar. The gneisses equilibrated at ~930°C/0.6 GPa. Monazite and zircon U–Pb dates record 80 Ma of metamorphism. Monazite compositional trends reflect the transition from prograde to retrograde metamorphism at 550 Ma. Eu anomalies in monazite reflect changes in fO₂ relative to quartz–fayalite–magnetite related to the growth and breakdown of spinel. The ratio Gd/Yb in monazite records the growth and breakdown of garnet. High rates of radiogenic heat production were the primary control on metamorphic grade at the regional scale. The short duration of prograde metamorphism in the osumilite gneisses (<29 ± 8 Ma) suggests that a thin mantle lithosphere (<80 km) or advective heating may have also been important in the formation of this high‐T, low‐P terrane.     

Decoding polyphase migmatites using geochronology and phase equilibria modelling

In this study, in situ U–Pb monazite ages and Lu–Hf garnet geochronology are used to distinguish mineral parageneses developed during Devonian–Carboniferous and Cretaceous events in migmatitic paragneiss and orthogneiss from the Fosdick migmatite–granite complex in West Antarctica. SHRIMP U–Pb monazite ages define two dominant populations at 365–300 Ma (from cores of polychronic grains, dominantly from deeper structural levels in the central and western sectors of the complex) and 120–96 Ma (from rims of polychronic grains, dominantly from the central and western sectors of the complex, and from monochronic grains, mostly from shallower structural levels in the eastern sector of the complex). For five paragneisses and two orthogneisses, Lu–Hf garnet ages range from 116 to 111 Ma, c. 12–17 Ma older than published Sm–Nd garnet ages of 102–99 Ma from three of the same samples. Garnet grains in the analysed samples generally have Lu‐enriched rims relative to Lu‐depleted cores. By contrast, for three of the same samples, individual garnet grains have flat Sm concentrations consistent with high‐T diffusive resetting. Lutetium enrichment of garnet rims is interpreted to record the breakdown of a Lu‐rich accessory mineral during the final stage of garnet growth immediately prior to the metamorphic peak, and/or the preferential retention of Lu in garnet during breakdown to cordierite in the presence of melt concomitant with the initial stages of exhumation. Therefore, garnet is interpreted to be part of the Cretaceous mineral paragenesis and the Lu–Hf garnet ages are interpreted to record the timing of close‐to‐peak metamorphism for this event. For the Devonian–Carboniferous event, phase equilibria modelling of the metasedimentary protoliths to the paragneiss and a diatexite migmatite restrict the peak P–T conditions to 720–800 °C at 0.45–1.0 GPa. For the Cretaceous event, using both forward and inverse phase equilibria modelling of residual paragneiss and orthogneiss compositions, the P–T conditions after decompression are estimated to have been 850–880 °C at 0.65–0.80 GPa. These P–T conditions occurred between c. 106 and c. 96 Ma, determined from Y‐enriched rims on monazite that record the timing of garnet and biotite breakdown to cordierite in the presence of melt. The effects of this younger metamorphic event are dominant throughout the Fosdick complex.