P-T conditions of earliest Late Cretaceous metamorphism in the Western Sonobari Complex,northwestern Mexico: tectonic implications

The Western Sonobari Complex in northwestern Mexico consists of metamorphosed rocks mostly derived from Palaeozoic (?) sedimentary and Mesozoic igneous protoliths. Rocks of this complex display amphibolite facies orogenic metamorphism, pervasive foliation, migmatization, and four folding phases. These features are ascribed to a contractional tectonic event with NNW–SSE shortening direction, which caused thrusting, thickening of the crust, and sinking of the lithological units. U–Pb geochronology of migmatitic leucosome bands indicates that peak metamorphic conditions were reached between ~93 and 89 Ma. Post-tectonic Late Cretaceous peraluminous aplite-pegmatite dikes transect the metamorphic foliation. Traditional thermobarometry in the metamorphic rocks yields average pressures and temperatures of 9.0–7.1 kbar and 745–663°C, typical of intermediate P/T Barrovian metamorphism. On the basis of its age and contractional character, the thickening event originating the metamorphism may be related to collision of the Alisitos island arc against crustal blocks of Mexico. Thermobarometric data of post-tectonic intrusives including Late Cretaceous granodiorite and Eocene gabbro indicate emplacement within an overthickened crust, while P-T conditions of post-tectonic dikes point towards an almost isothermal decompression path along the amphibolite facies field. Rock units of similar age and metamorphic character are discontinuously exposed from the Islas Marias offshore the Nayarit coast to the Peninsular Ranges batholith of Baja California, and even extend north into the Sierra Nevada batholith and the Sevier hinterland. This extensive belt of Barrovian metamorphic rocks thus provides a record of middle Cretaceous shortening and crustal thickening related to arc-continent collision followed by subduction resuming.     

Development of inverted metamorphic isograds in the western metamorphic belt, Juneau, Alaska

An inverted metamorphic gradient is preserved in the western metamorphic belt near Juneau, Alaska. The western metamorphic belt is part of the Coast plutonic–metamorphic complex of western Canada and southeastern Alaska that developed as a result of tectonic overlap and/or compressional thickening of crustal rocks during collision of the Alexander and Stikine terranes. Detailed mapping of pelitic single-mineral isograds, systematic changes in mineral assemblages, and silicate geothermometry indicate that thermal peak metamorphic conditions increase structurally upward over a distance of about 8 km. Peak temperatures of metamorphism increase progressively from about 530 °C for the garnet zone to about 705 °C for the upper kyanite–biotite zone. Silicate geobarometry suggests that the thermal peak metamorphism occurred under pressures of 9–11 kbar. The metamorphic isograds are in general parallel to the tonalite sill that is regionally continuous along the east side of the western metamorphic belt, although truncation of the isograds north of Juneau indicates that the sill intrusion continued after the isograds were established. Our preferred interpretation of the cause of the inverted gradient is that it formed during compression of a thickened wedge of relatively wet and cool rocks in response to heat flow associated with the formation and emplacement of the tonalite sill magma. Garnet rim compositions and widespread growth of chlorite suggest partial re-equilibration of the schists under pressures of 5–6 kbar during uplift in response to final emplacement and crystallization of the tonalite sill. The combined results of this study with previous studies elsewhere in the western metamorphic belt indicate that high-T/high-P metamorphism associated with the collision of the Alexander and Stikine terranes was a long-lived event, extending from about 98 Ma to about 67 Ma.     

Metamorphism of an Early Palaeozoic continental margin, western Baie Verte Peninsula, Newfoundland

Metamorphic mineral assemblages and textures from Early Palaeozoic continental margin rocks in north-western Newfoundland indicate that different structural levels have contrasting metamorphic histories. Rocks of the East Pond Metamorphic Suite, which represent the older, structurally lower level of the margin, experienced an early high-pressure–low-temperature stage of metamorphism (10–12 kbar minimum, 450–500°C) which produced eclogite in mafic dykes and phengite–garnet assemblages in pelites. This was overprinted by higher temperature–lower pressure amphibolite facies metamorphism (700–750°C, 7–9 kbar minimum) which produced complex symplectic textures in rocks of all compositions. Rocks of the Fleur de Lys Supergroup, which were deposited in the stratigraphically higher levels of the rifted margin, reached pressures of 7–8.5 kbar at about 450°C during the early stages of metamorphism, overprinted by assemblages which indicate maximum temperatures of 550–600°C at about 6.5 kbar. The metamorphic history of both units is interpreted to be the result of thermal relaxation following initial burial of a continental margin by overriding thrust sheets. Since there is no evidence that maximum pressures or temperatures within the Fleur de Lys Supergroup were ever as high as those reached in the East Pond Metamorphic Suite, these rocks may have followed parallel, 'nested' P–T–t paths, with the more deeply buried East Pond Metamorphic Suite subjected to greater thermal relaxation effects. Quantitative modelling of P–T–t paths is not possible with the present data, owing to both large uncertainties in P–T estimates, and in the time of metamorphism.     

Metamorphic evolution of the southern part of the Hidaka belt, Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract The Hidaka metamorphic terrane in the Meguro-Shoya area, Hokkaido, Japan is divided into four progressive metamorphic zones: A—biotite zone; B—cordierite zone; C—cordierite–K-feldspar zone; and, D—sillimanite–K-feldspar zone of the andalusite–sillimanite facies series type of metamorphism. The metamorphic grade ranges from the higher temperature part of the greenschist facies (zone A) through the amphibolite facies (zones B and C) to the lower temperature part of the granulite facies (zone D). The zone boundaries intersect the bedding planes at high angles. P–T conditions estimated are 450–550°C and 2 kbar for zone A, 550–600°C and 2–2.5 kbar for zone B, 600–650°C and 2.5–3 kbar for zone C and 650–750°C and 3–4 kbar for zone D. The metapelites of zone D were partially melted.
At the later stage of the regional metamorphism which is early Oligocene to early Miocene in age, cordierite tonalite and biotite tonalite intrusives associated with segments of the highest grade rocks (zone D) were emplaced into the lower temperature part of the regional metamorphic rocks, giving rise to a contact metamorphic aureole. The thermally metamorphosed terrain (zone C') belongs to the amphibolite facies and its P–T conditions are estimated to have been 550–700°C and 2 kbar.
The P–T–t paths of the Hidaka metamorphism show a thickening–heating–uplifting process. The metamorphism is inferred to have taken place beneath an active island arc accompanied by partial melting of the crust.     

Contact aureoles as constraints on regional P-T trajectories: an example from the Northern Alabama Piedmont, USA

Abstract Contact aureoles of plutons emplaced into regionally metamorphosed terranes can provide indicators of physical conditions along a portion of regional metamorphic P-T trajectories, thereby allowing reconstruction of more complete P-T loops than would be otherwise possible. In the Northern Alabama Piedmont of the southern Appalachians, Wedowee Group metapelites preserve evidence for two regional metamorphic phases overprinted by contact metamorphism adjacent to the Blakes Ferry Trondhjemite. Textural evidence indicates that an early bt+st+grt assemblage was replaced by bt+chl+grt during the latter stages of regional metamorphism. Changes in AKFM topology, complex Fe-Mg-Ca garnet zoning, and the latestage appearance of epidote indicate that a sequence of continuous reactions (bt+st = grt+ ms followed by chl+ms+Ca-grt+Ca-pl=bt+ (Fe+Mg)-grt+ep) occurred in response to increasing pressure and resulted in the observed changes in mineral assemblage. Pl-ms-bt-grt thermobarometry indicates conditions of 580° 65°C, 8.5±0.8 kbar for equilibration of grt+ bt+chl. Pluton emplacement, subsequent to penetrative deformation, caused textural annealing and mineral re-equilibration by the continuous reaction bt+(Fe+Mg)-grt+ep = chl+ms+Ca-grt+Ca-pl within 50 m of the pluton. Conditions of 510±65°C, 5-7 kbar are inferred. A reconstructed P-T trajectory for this area is characterized by (1) early moderate- T , moderate- P metamorphism; (2) an increase in P to approximately 8.5 kbar; and (3) decompression and slight cooling prior to pluton emplacement. The compressional phase of this path is interpreted to result from underthrusting of the Wedowee metasediments to mid-crustal levels during Palaeozoic crustal thickening. Late-stage decompression prior to intrusion records uplift of these rocks in response to movement on structurally lower thrusts.     

辽宁清河断裂以北新太古代变质表壳岩的发现及其地质意义

通过详实的地质填图,在辽宁开原地区清河断裂以北新发现一套变质表壳岩组合,主要岩性为斜长角闪岩、黑云角闪斜长变粒岩、黑云角闪斜长片麻岩、浅粒岩及角闪石岩的岩石组合,与红透山岩组基本可以对比。岩石地球化学特征表明,其原岩主要为一套中、中基性的火山岩建造,形成于岛弧环境。该套岩石组合普遍发生强烈的构造变形作用,常见构造样式包括透入性片麻理、石香肠构造、变质分异条带、肠状褶皱等一系列的固态流变构造。对该套变质表壳岩组合中的斜长角闪岩进行LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb测年,结果表明其形成于(2 524±18)Ma,变质年龄为(2 477±21)Ma,从形成到发生变质相隔约为47Ma。该套变质表壳岩组合的发现,表明了清河断裂以北也曾存在太古宙结晶基底,清河断裂与寇河断裂之间的区域在构造环境上与清原地区一样,均属于新太古代绿岩带。     

华北中部造山带五台-恒山地区古元古代变质作用与构造演化

华北克拉通古元古代造山带的时空分布与构造属性尚有很大争论,一种观点认为华北克拉通从新太古代至古元古代受大洋俯冲闭合控制,在1.85~1.95 Ga之间先后发生3次陆-陆碰撞形成3条造山带,即孔兹岩带、胶-辽-吉带和中部造山带;另一种观点强调华北克拉通这3条元古代造山带在1.80~1.98 Ga之间经历了相同的漫长演化过程,指示当时特有的热俯冲和碰撞环境.通过总结中部造山带中的五台-恒山地区变质作用研究进展,阐述该区古元古代造山时代与构造属性.五台-恒山地区的主要变质岩石-构造单元包括恒山杂岩、五台杂岩和滹沱群.恒山杂岩和五台杂岩主体为新太古代TTG片麻岩和表壳岩,它们在古元古代晚期经历了两期变质作用改造.第一期变质作用为中压型,是由于陆-陆碰撞导致弧后伸展盆地闭合、地壳加厚造山所致,从南向北形成一个递增序列:包括五台群下部和南恒山杂岩南部的低角闪岩相、南恒山杂岩北部高角闪岩相和北恒山杂岩的高压麻粒岩相,其压力峰期所对应的地热梯度为~15 ℃/km.变质锆石所记录的年龄峰值随着变质程度增高而降低,依次为~1.95 Ga、~1.92 Ga和~1.85 Ga,这是因为在变质过程中锆石生长受流体和熔体行为控制:在亚固相线下,变质锆石可记录峰期变质年龄,而在超固相线条件下记录伴随熔体结晶的退变质年龄.由此确定该区中压相系变质作用压力峰期时间为~1.95 Ga,对应地壳加厚造山的峰期.加厚地壳由于重力均衡导致变质岩从深部地壳折返至中部地壳,在P-T轨迹上表现为压力峰期之后发生等温减压（ITD）至0.5~0.7 GPa,岩相学上表现为峰期石榴石分解形成斜长石"白眼圈"等,指示缺流体条件.南恒山北部高角闪岩相岩石中的变质锆石记录的折返时间为~1.92 Ga,指示第一次造山结束.第二期变质作用为中-低压型,系为板内变形所致,表现为折返至中地壳的岩石伴随挤压型剪切变形和流体注入形成平衡矿物组合.朱家坊韧性剪切带就是这次板内变形的强构造域,其中也记录了顺时针型P-T轨迹,但所反映的地壳加厚程度有限,第二期变质-变形峰期时间为~1.85 Ga.由于朱家坊韧性剪切带左行走滑,导致北恒山麻粒岩地体抬升.五台-恒山地区在1.80~1.96 Ga之间经历两期变质-变形事件,这一认识或对讨论华北克拉通其他地区的古元古代造山带演化有一定启示意义.      

Evolution of the Pan-African Wadi Haimur metamorphic sole, Eastern Desert, Egypt

By comparison with the general features of metamorphic soles (e.g. vertical and lateral extension, metamorphic grade and diagnostic mineral parageneses, deformation and dominant rock types), it is inferred that the amphibolites, metagabbros and hornblendites of the Wadi Um Ghalaga–Wadi Haimur area in the southern part of the Eastern Desert of Egypt represent the metamorphic sole of the Wadi Haimur ophiolite belt. The overlying ultramafic rocks represent overthrusted mantle peridotite. Mineral compositions and thermobarometric studies indicate that the rocks of the metamorphic sole record metamorphic conditions typical of such an environment. The highest P – T conditions ( c . 700 °C and 6.5–8.5 kbar) are preserved in clinopyroxene amphibolites and garnet amphibolites from the top of the metamorphic sole, which is exposed in the southern part of the study area. The massive amphibolites and metagabbros further north (Wadi Haimur) represent the basal parts of the sole and show the lowest P – T  conditions (450–620 °C and 4.7–7.8 kbar). The sole is the product of dynamothermal metamorphism associated with the tectonic displacement of ultramafic rocks. Heat was derived mainly from the hot overlying mantle peridotites, and an inverted P – T  gradient was caused by dynamic shearing during ophiolite emplacement. Sm/Nd dating of whole-rock–metamorphic mineral pairs yields similar ages of c . 630 Ma for clinopyroxene and hornblende, which is interpreted as a lower age limit for ophiolite formation and an upper age limit for metamorphism. A younger Sm/Nd age for a garnet-bearing rock ( c . 590 Ma) is interpreted as reflecting a meaningful cooling age close to the metamorphic peak. Hornblende K/Ar ages in the range 570–550 Ma may reflect thermal events during late orogenic granite magmatism.     

大陆的起源

太阳系固体星球都有类似的核-幔-壳结构,但唯独人类居住的地球具有长英质组成的大陆壳.太古宙大陆克拉通主要由英云闪长岩(Tonalite)-奥长花岗岩(Trondhjemite)-花岗闪长岩(Granodiorite)为主的TTG深成侵入体变质而成的正片麻岩和由基性-超基性酸性火山岩及少量沉积岩变质的表壳岩(绿岩)组成....     

P–T paths in the Handöl area, central Scandinavia: record of Caledonian accretion of outboard rocks to the Baltoscandian margin

The Seve–Köli Nappe Complex is widespread in the Scandinavian Caledonides and is composed of units representing parts of the Baltoscandian margin (Seve Nappes) now overlain by magmatic–sedimentary rocks (Köli Nappes) derived from west of this margin. The metamorphic evolution of Köli and Seve units has been studied in the Handöl area, central Scandinavian Caledonides, where a fragmented ophiolite with cover sequence in the lower Köli units is thrust over the higher grade Seve units. Thermobarometry constrains metamorphic conditions to 490–570° C/950–600 MPa, with a slight downwards increase in grade, for the lower Köli (Bunnerviken lens), 520–620° C/1000–600 MPa for the upper Seve (Täljstensvalen Complex), 630–740° C/750–650 MPa for the middle Seve (Snasahögarna Nappe) and 480–600° C/1150–1000 MPa for the lower Seve (Blåhammarfjället Nappe).
P–T paths during garnet growth have been constructed for all units, except the highest grade middle Seve. These paths record heating at the base of the Köli and cooling in the underlying Seve units. Pressure increase during garnet growth is indicated for all units leading to anticlockwise P–T paths in the Seve. The results imply thermal convergence with time for all units and spatial convergence in metamorphic grade in the Köli. It is suggested that the contrasting metamorphic histories on either side of the Seve–Köli boundary resulted from the emplacement of relatively colder Köli rocks on top of relatively hotter Seve rocks and that emplacement of structurally higher units contributed to the increase in pressure.     

Paleozoic evolution of continental crust in the Beaujolais-Lyonnais area,northeastern part of the Massif Central,France

In the Beaujolais-Lyonnais area of the northeastern Massif Central accretion of continental and possibly oceanic crustal fragments occurred between Cambrian (?) and early Carboniferous time. Three distinct lithotectonic units (terranes?) have been recognized. The southern (Lyonnais-) Unit consists of medium- to high-grade metamorphics and includes eclogites; it formed in the early Paleozoic. The Brévenne-Unit to the north contains low- to medium-grade metamorphic mafic and felsic volcanics and subordinate sedimentary rocks which possibly originated during the early Paleozoic until Devonian time, in a sialic back-arc environment or along an active continental margin. The Beaujolais-Unit is represented by volcanics on the south and predominantly shallow marine clastics and carbonates on the north. It developed in a late Devonian or early Carboniferous ensialic marginal basin. The peak of metamorphism in the Lyonnais-unit (HP/HT) was reached in Silurian time. Subsequent NW-SE to E-W oriented convergence produced mylonitic foliation, structural imbrication of the Lyonnais basement rocks with the Brévenne-Unit and SE-vergent folds accompanied by low- to medium-grade metamorphism. Late Visean to Namurian N-S to NW-SE directed N-vergent thrusting produced tectonic imbrication of the metamorphic northern Brévenne-Unit with the nonmetamorphic Beaujolais-Unit. In the southern Brévenne-Unit and in the Lyonnais-Unit updoming along right-lateral high-angle normal faults was followed by emplacement of voluminous granitic plutons of crustal origin. Late Carboniferous to early Permian crustal thinning in the Beaujolais-Lyonnais area was associated with N-S trending left-lateral strike-slip faults and E-W to NE-SW trending right-lateral strike-slip faults. Basins that developed along these faults contain continental red beds.     

Petrology of ultrahigh-pressure rocks from the southern Su-Lu region, eastern China

Abstract In the Su-Lu ultrahigh- P terrane, eastern China, many coesite-bearing eclogite pods and layers within biotite gneiss occur together with interlayered metasediments now represented by garnet-quartz-jadeite rock and kyanite quartzite. In addition to garnet + omphacite + rutile + coesite, other peak-stage minerals in some eclogites include kyanite, phengite, epidote, zoisite, talc, nyböite and high-Al titanite. The garnet-quartz-jadeite rock and kyanite quartzite contain jadeite + quartz + garnet + rutile ± zoisite ± apatite and quartz + kyanite + garnet + epidote + phengite + rutile ± omphacite assemblages, respectively. Coesite and quartz pseudomorphs after coesite occur as inclusions in garnet, omphacite, jadeite, kyanite and epidote from both eclogites and metasediments. Study of major elements indicates that the protolith of the garnet-quartz jadeite rock and the kyanite quartzite was supracrustal sediments. Most eclogites have basaltic composition; some have experienced variable 'crustal'contamination or metasomatism, and others may have had a basaltic tuff or pyroclastic rock protolith.
The Su-Lu ultrahigh- P rocks have been subjected to multi-stage recrystallization and exhibit a clockwise P-T path. Inclusion assemblages within garnet record a pre-eclogite epidote amphibolite facies metamorphic event. Ultrahigh- P peak metamorphism took place at 700–890° C and P >28 kbar at c . 210–230 Ma. The symplectitic assemblage plagioclase + hornblende ± epidote ± biotite + titanite implies amphibolite facies retrogressive metamorphism during exhumation at c . 180–200 Ma. Metasedimentary and metamafic lithologies have similar P-T paths. Several lines of evidence indicate that the supracrustal rocks were subducted to mantle depths and experienced in-situ ultrahigh- P metamorphism during the Triassic collision between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons.     

Relics of the Mozambique Ocean in the central East African Orogen: evidence from the Vohibory Block of southern Madagascar

The Vohibory Block of south‐western Madagascar is part of the East African Orogen, the formation of which is related to the assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent. It is dominated by metabasic rocks, which have chemical compositions similar to those of recent basalts from a mid‐ocean ridge, back‐arc setting and island‐arc setting. The age of formation of protolith basalts has been dated at 850–700 Ma by U–Pb SHRIMP analysis of magmatic cores in zircon, pointing to an origin related to the Neoproterozoic Mozambique Ocean. The metabasic rocks are interpreted as representing components of an island arc with an associated back‐arc basin. In the early stage of the Pan‐African orogeny, these rocks experienced high‐pressure amphibolite to granulite facies metamorphism (9–12 kbar, 750–880 °C), dated at 612 ± 5 Ma from metamorphic rims in zircon. The metamorphism was most likely related to accretion of the arc terrane to the margin of the Azania microcontinent (Proto‐Madagascar) and closure of the back‐arc basin. The main metamorphism is significantly older than high‐temperature metamorphism in other tectonic units of southern Madagascar, indicating a distinct tectono‐metamorphic history.     

大别造山带变质岩地层年龄及其构造意义

选择近期在大别山及苏鲁地区各类变质岩地层中采用不同测试方法所获得的较为精确的同位素年龄数据共４５个进行分析,得到以下几点主要认识：１）扬子板块被动陆缘形成于８００～７００ＭａＢ．Ｐ．之间;２）根据原岩及折返动力学机制分析,南大别与苏鲁超高压、高压变质岩石是扬子板块被动陆缘（大陆隆）物质残余,在２３２～２２１ＭａＢ．Ｐ．伴随扬子板块被动陆缘俯冲到华北板块之下最大限度时在１００ｋｍ上地幔软流圈深度发生超高压变质作用,同时在较浅的构造层次上发生高压及角闪岩相变质作用。这些超高压、高压变质岩石在２２０ＭａＢ．Ｐ．开始折返,然后于２０６～１７８ＭａＢ．Ｐ．快速完成角闪岩相退变质作用;３）北大别高温变质岛弧在１３３～１２２ＭａＢ．Ｐ．伴随白垩纪花岗岩侵入体活动快速抬升,平均冷却速率达３５°Ｃ·Ｍａ－１;４）北大别高温变质岛弧与南大别超高压变质陆隆在１２０～１１０ＭａＢ．Ｐ．停止相对运动,归并为一体。     

P-T grids for silica-undersaturated granulites in the systems MAS (n+ 4) and FMAS (n+ 3)-tools for the derivation of P-T paths of metamorphism

Abstract Considering the minerals cordierite (Cd), sapphirine (Sa), hypersthene (Hy), garnet (Ga), spinel (Sp), sillimanite (Si) and corundum (Co) in the system FeO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ (FMAS), the stable invariant points are [Co], [Ga], [Cd] and [Sa]. Constraints imposed by experimental data for the system MAS indicate that under low P _H2o conditions the invariant points occur at high temperature (> 900° C) and intermediate pressure (7-10 kbar). This temperature is higher than that commonly advocated for granulite facies metamorphism. In granulites Fe-Mg exchange geothermometers may yield temperatures of 100–150° C below peak metamorphic conditions and evidence for peak temperatures is best preserved by relict high-temperature assemblages and by Al-rich cores in orthopyroxene. Application of the FMAS grid to some well-documented granulite occurrences introduces important constraints on their P-T histories. Rocks of different bulk compositions, occurring in close proximity in the field, may record distinct segments of their P-T paths. This applies particularly to rocks with evidence for reaction in the form of coronas, symplectites and zoned minerals. Consideration of curved reaction boundaries and _XMs isopleths may explain apparently contradictory results for the stability of cordierite obtained from low-temperature experiments and thermochemical calculations on the one hand and hightemperature experimental data on the other.     

Geology Along the Line from Yecheng to Shiquanhe and Tectonic Evolution of the Region Involved1

Abstract The geotraverse from Yecheng to Shiquanhe, on the western Qinghai – Tibet Plateau, totalling 1056 km in length, passes the western Kunlun Mountains and the eastern end of the Karakorum Mountains. The Chinese and French scientists made a joint investigation along the line from July to August, 1989. Based on the outcropped ophiolites, palaeontology, sedimentary facies, magmatism, tectonic deformation and metamorphism, the region involved may be divided from north to south into five terranes and four ophiolitic suture zones. The ages of these terranes have a tendency to become increasingly younger from north to south.     

Geology Along the Line from Yecheng to Shiquanhe and Tectonic Evolution of the Region Involved

The geotraverse from Yecheng to Shiquanhe, on the western Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, totalling 1056 km in length, passes the western Kunlun Mountains and the eastern end of the Karakorum Mountains. The Chinese and French scientists made a joint investigation along the line from July to August, 1989. Based on the outcropped ophiolites, palaeontology, sedimentary facies, magmatism, tectonic deformation and metamorphism, the region involved may be divided from north to south into five terranes and four ophiolitic suture zones. The ages of these terranes have a tendency to become increasingly younger from north to south.     

Low-thermal-gradient Hercynian metamorphism in the eastern Pyrenees

Abstract Fluids with compositions in the system CO₂-H₂O-NaCl were trapped in quartz veins enclosed in low-grade metamorphic rocks (chlorite zone) on the southern flank of the Canigó Massif, eastern Pyrenees. The veins, which also contain arsenopyrite crystals, were formed contemporaneously with the main Hercynian foliation and metamorphism. Volumetric properties of the fluid and the results of arsenopyrite geothermometry suggest P-T trapping conditions of 4.6–6 kbar and 450–530° C. This implies that an episode of metamorphism with an average geothermal gradient of 25° C km⁻¹ occurred during the main deformation event. This episode preceded the low- P /high- T metamorphism described around domes and to date considered as characteristic of the Hercynian orogeny in the Pyrenees.     

Rock relationships in the Mogok metamorphic belt, Tatkon to Mandalay, central Myanmar

The Mogok metamorphic belt (MMB), over 1450 km long and up to 40 km wide, consists of regionally metamorphosed rocks including kyanite and sillimanite schists and granites lying along the Western margin of the Shan Plateau in central Myanmar and continuing northwards to the eastern Himalayan syntaxis. Exposures in quarries allow correlation of Palaeozoic meta-sedimentary, early Mesozoic meta-igneous and late Mesozoic intrusive rocks within a 230 km long northerly-trending segment of the MMB, from Tatkon to Kyanigan north of Mandalay, and with the Mogok gemstone district 100 km to the northeast. Relationships among the metamorphic and intrusive rocks, with sparse published radiometric age controls, indicate at least two metamorphic events, one before and one after the intrusion of Late Jurassic to early Cretaceous calc-alkaline rocks. These relationships can be explained by either of two possible tectonic histories. One, constrained by correlation of mid-Permian limestones across Myanmar, requires early Permian and early Jurassic regional metamorphic events, prior to an early Tertiary metamorphism, in the western part of but within a Shan-Thai – western Myanmar block. The second, not compatible with a single laterally continuous Permian limestone, requires pre-Upper Jurassic regional metamorphism and orogenic gold mineralization in the Mergui Group and western Myanmar, early Cretaceous collision of an east-facing Mergui-western Myanmar island arc with the Shan Plateau, and early Tertiary metamorphism in the MMB related to reversal in tectonic polarity following the arc-Plateau collision.     

Geologic and U–Pb geochronologic evidence for early Paleozoic tectonism in the Dadeldhura thrust sheet, far-west Nepal Himalaya

The Dadeldhura thrust sheet inm western Nepal consists of Proterozoic–Lower Paleozoic sedimentary and plutonic rocks, and their metamorphic equivalents, that rest structurally on Proterozoic strata of the Lesser Himalayan sequence. Although regional metamorphism and ductile deformation were widespread during Tertiary thrust emplacement, relicts of early Paleozoic tectonism are preserved locally. New field and geochronologic studies, together with the findings of previous workers, indicate that this early Paleozoic tectonism included: (1) regional metamorphism to at least garnet grade, (2) regional folding of a thick metamorphic sequence into a broad east–west trending syncline, (3) outcrop-scale folding of metasedimentary rocks, (4) emplacement of Cambro–Ordovician granitic bodies during and after the metamorphism and deformation, (5) uplift and erosion of the metamorphic sequence, with garnet-grade rocks locally exposed at the surface, and (6) derivation of Ordovician conglomeratic sandstones from the early Paleozoic orogen. Similar records of metamorphism, deformation, and uplift/erosion have been found in other regions of the Himalaya, indicating that rocks of the Dadeldhura thrust sheet were originally involved in a regionally extensive orogenic system. Future tectonic models of Himalayan orogenesis must accommodate this early Paleozoic event.