Garnet Peridotites in Eurasian High-Pressure and Ultrahigh-Pressure Terranes: A Diversity of Origins and Thermal Histories

Garnet peridotites and pyroxenites have been reported from 11 of the 15 or so high-pressure/ultrahigh-pressure (HP/UHP) terranes in Eurasia. Most of these ultramafic rocks are Mg-Cr types, derived from depleted upper mantle, but some are more Fe-rich and originated by crystallization in ultramafic-mafic igneous complexes. The peridotites are polymetamorphic, with HP/UHP garnet-bearing assemblages being followed by a succession of retrograde assemblages related to exhumation and cooling; some also contain evidence for a pre-HP/UHP stage, such as spinel inclusions in garnet or the presence of Ti-clinohumite. Equilibration conditions have been calculated from all available analyses of garnetiferous assemblages, by application of the olivine-garnet Fe-Mg exchange thermometer and the Alin-orthopyroxene barometer, resulting in two distinct P-T regimes for garnet peridotites—one at high P/T in the coesite and diamond fields, and another at low P/T in the vicinity of the spinel-to-garnet transition.

Garnet peridotites are thought to have evolved in at least four different tectonothermal settings, including: (1) emplacement of peridotites into oceanic or continental crust, followed by transport of peridotites and associated crust to UHP conditions by a subducting plate; (2) transfer of peridotites from a mantle wedge to the crust of an underlying, subducting plate; (3) origination from upwelling asthenosphere that passed through a high-temperature spinel peridotite stage, followed by cooling into the garnet peridotite field; and (4) extraction of garnet peridotites from ancient subcontinental lithosphere, perhaps by deep-seated faulting within a continental plate.     

柴北缘从大洋俯冲到陆陆碰撞:来自开屏沟造山带M型橄榄岩的证据

造山带幔源（M型）橄榄岩虽然在高压/超高压变质带分布不多,但由于其来自俯冲板块上覆的岩石圈地幔,因此是研究俯冲隧道内俯冲板片与地幔楔之间相互作用的重要对象,对于还原超高压变质带的演化有重要意义.柴北缘鱼卡榴辉岩-片麻岩区边部附近的开屏沟存在一套橄榄岩,其岩石类型、成因、时代等都缺乏研究.对开屏沟橄榄岩全岩的主量和微量元素及铂族元素、橄榄石主量元素、锆石U-Pb年龄和Hf同位素进行了研究.结果显示,其全岩具有高的Mg#、Mg/Si和Ni值,同时表现出亏损难溶的HFSE和HREE,轻微富集LILE和LREE中与流体活动性相关的元素;橄榄石具有较高的Fo值（90.11~92.77）与NiO含量（0.32%~0.45%）、低的CaO含量（< 0.02%）;PGEs的球粒陨石标准化配分模式与交代橄榄岩和残留橄榄岩近似;两组变质锆石年龄为459.5±3.6 Ma和417.5±2.7 Ma,对应的ε_Hf（t）值为-0.71~9.45和-11.96~-1.20,分别反映了洋壳流体（或早期大陆俯冲板片流体）和陆壳流体交代的性质和时限.开屏沟橄榄岩来源于俯冲带上覆地幔楔,遭受了不同来源流体不同程度的交代作用而获得地壳特征,同时为柴北缘大洋俯冲到陆陆碰撞的构造演化提供了新证据.      

Ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism and exhumation of garnet peridotite in Pohorje, Eastern Alps

New evidence for ultrahigh‐pressure metamorphism (UHPM) in the Eastern Alps is reported from garnet‐bearing ultramafic rocks from the Pohorje Mountains in Slovenia. The garnet peridotites are closely associated with UHP kyanite eclogites. These rocks belong to the Lower Central Austroalpine basement unit of the Eastern Alps, exposed in the proximity of the Periadriatic fault. Ultramafic rocks have experienced a complex metamorphic history. On the basis of petrochemical data, garnet peridotites could have been derived from depleted mantle rocks that were subsequently metasomatized by melts and/or fluids either in the plagioclase‐peridotite or the spinel‐peridotite field. At least four stages of recrystallization have been identified in the garnet peridotites based on an analysis of reaction textures and mineral compositions. Stage I was most probably a spinel peridotite stage, as inferred from the presence of chromian spinel and aluminous pyroxenes. Stage II is a UHPM stage defined by the assemblage garnet + olivine + low‐Al orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + Cr‐spinel. Garnet formed as exsolutions from clinopyroxene, coronas around Cr‐spinel, and porphyroblasts. Stage III is a decompression stage, manifested by the formation of kelyphitic rims of high‐Al orthopyroxene, aluminous spinel, diopside and pargasitic hornblende replacing garnet. Stage IV is represented by the formation of tremolitic amphibole, chlorite, serpentine and talc. Geothermobarometric calculations using (i) garnet‐olivine and garnet‐orthopyroxene Fe‐Mg exchange thermometers and (ii) the Al‐in‐orthopyroxene barometer indicate that the peak of metamorphism (stage II) occurred at conditions of around 900 °C and 4 GPa. These results suggest that garnet peridotites in the Pohorje Mountains experienced UHPM during the Cretaceous orogeny. We propose that UHPM resulted from deep subduction of continental crust, which incorporated mantle peridotites from the upper plate, in an intracontinental subduction zone. Sinking of the overlying mantle and lower crustal wedge into the asthenosphere (slab extraction) caused the main stage of unroofing of the UHP rocks during the Upper Cretaceous. Final exhumation was achieved by Miocene extensional core complex formation.     

造山带橄榄岩记录的大陆俯冲带多期壳幔相互作用

俯冲带是地壳与地幔之间物质交换的主要场所.前人对大洋俯冲带壳幔相互作用进行了大量研究,但是对俯冲带壳幔相互作用的物理化学过程和机理仍缺乏明确认识.在大陆俯冲带出露有造山带橄榄岩,它们来自俯冲板片之上的地幔楔,是解决这个问题的理想样品.通过对大别-苏鲁和柴北缘造山带橄榄岩进行系统的岩石学和地球化学研究,发现地幔楔橄榄岩由于俯冲地壳的交代作用而含有新生锆石和残留锆石,它们能为地壳交代作用时间、交代介质来源、性质和组成提供制约.地幔楔橄榄岩在大陆碰撞过程的不同阶段受到了俯冲大陆地壳衍生的多期不同性质流体的交代作用.地幔楔橄榄岩还受到了陆壳俯冲之前古俯冲洋壳衍生流体的交代作用.深俯冲陆壳衍生熔体与橄榄岩反应形成的石榴辉石岩具有高的水含量,能提供高水含量的地幔源区.      

Boundaries of mantle–lithosphere domains in the Bohemian Massif as extinct exhumation channels for high-pressure rocks

Five domains (microplates) have been recognized by seismic anisotropy in the mantle lithosphere of the Bohemian Massif. The mantle domains correspond to major crustal units and each of the domains bears a consistent fossil olivine fabric formed before their Variscan assembly. The present-day mantle fabric indicates that this process consisted of at least three oceanic subductions, each followed by an underthrusting of the continental lithosphere. The seismic anisotropy does not detect remnants of the oceanic subductions, but it can trace boundaries of the preserved continental domains subsequently underthrust along the paths of previous oceanic subductions. The most robust continent–continent collision was followed by westward underthrusting of the Brunovistulian mantle lithosphere, still detectable by seismic anisotropy more than 100 km beneath the Moldanubian mantle lithosphere. Major occurrences of the high-pressure/ultra high-pressure (HP–UHP) rocks follow the ENE and NNE oriented sutures and boundaries of the mantle–lithosphere domains mapped from three-dimensional modeling of body-wave anisotropy. The HP–UHP rocks are products of oceanic subductions and the following underthrusting of the continental crust and mantle lithosphere exhumed along the mantle boundaries. The close relation of the mantle sutures and occurrences of the HP–UHP rocks near the paleosubductions testifies for models interpreting the granulite–garnet peridotite association by oceanic/continental subduction/underthrusting followed by the exhumation of deep-seated rocks. Our findings support the bivergent subduction model of tectonic development of the central part of the Bohemian Massif. The inferences from seismic anisotropy image the Bohemian Massif as a mosaic of microplates with a rigid mantle lithosphere preserving a fossil olivine fabric. The collisional mantle boundaries, blurred by tectonometamorphic processes in easily deformed overlying crust, served as major exhumation channels of the HP–UHP rocks.     

Subduction of a fossil slow–ultraslow spreading ocean: a petrology-constrained geodynamic model based on the Voltri Massif,Ligurian Alps,Northwest Italy

Slow–ultraslow spreading oceans are mostly floored by mantle peridotites and are typified by rifted continental margins, where subcontinental lithospheric mantle is preserved. Structural and petrologic investigations of the high-pressure (HP) Alpine Voltri Massif ophiolites, which were derived from the Late Jurassic Ligurian Tethys fossil slow–ultraslow spreading ocean, reveal the fate of the oceanic peridotites/serpentinites during subduction to depths involving eclogite-facies conditions, followed by exhumation.

The Ligurian Tethys was formed by continental extension within the Europe–Adria lithosphere and consisted of sea-floor exposed mantle peridotites with an uppermost layer of oceanic serpentinites and of subcontinental lithospheric mantle at the rifted continental margins. Plate convergence caused eastward subduction of the oceanic lithosphere of the Europe plate and the uppermost serpentinite layer of the subducting slab formed an antigorite serpentinite-subduction channel. Sectors of the rather unaltered mantle lithosphere of the Adria extended margin underwent ablative subduction and were detached, embedded, and buried to eclogite-facies conditions within the serpentinite-subduction channel. At such P–T conditions, antigorite serpentinites from the oceanic slab underwent partial HP dehydration (antigorite dewatering and growth of new olivine). Water fluxing from partial dehydration of host serpentinites caused partial HP hydration (growth of Ti-clinohumite and antigorite) of the subducted Adria margin peridotites. The serpentinite-subduction channel (future Beigua serpentinites), acting as a low-viscosity carrier for high-density subducted rocks, allowed rapid exhumation of the almost unaltered Adria peridotites (future Erro–Tobbio peridotites) and their emplacement into the Voltri Massif orogenic edifice. Over in the past 35 years, this unique geologic architecture has allowed us to investigate the pristine structural and compositional mantle features of the subcontinental Erro–Tobbio peridotites and to clarify the main steps of the pre-oceanic extensional, tectonic–magmatic history of the Europe–Adria asthenosphere–lithosphere system, which led to the formation of the Ligurian Tethys.

Our present knowledge of the Voltri Massif provides fundamental information for enhanced understanding, from a mantle perspective, of formation, subduction, and exhumation of oceanic and marginal lithosphere of slow–ultraslow spreading oceans.     

大陆碰撞造山带的两类橄榄岩——以柴北缘超高压变质带为例

论述了大陆俯冲碰撞带中地幔橄榄岩的基本特征和成岩类型,并重点讨论柴北缘超高压变质带中不同性质的橄榄岩及其成因。根据岩石学特征,我们确定柴北缘超高压带中发育有两种类型的橄榄岩:(1)石榴橄榄岩,岩石类型包括石榴二辉橄榄岩、石榴方辉橄榄岩、纯橄岩和石榴辉石岩,是大陆型俯冲带的标志性岩石。金刚石包裹体、石榴石和橄榄石的出溶结构、温压计算等均反映其来源深度大于200km。地球化学特征表明该橄榄岩的原岩是岛弧环境下高镁岩浆在地幔环境下堆晶的产物。(2)大洋蛇绿岩型地幔橄榄岩,与变质的堆晶杂岩(包括石榴辉石岩、蓝晶石榴辉岩)和具有大洋玄武岩特征的榴辉岩构成典型的蛇绿岩剖面,代表大洋岩石圈残片。这两类橄榄岩的确定对了解柴北缘超高压变质带的性质和构造演化过程有重要意义。     

西藏泽当地幔橄榄岩中的异常矿物及其指示意义

雅鲁藏布江蛇绿岩带内多个地幔橄榄岩体产有金刚石、碳硅石等异常矿物组合,为了进一步探讨这些异常矿物形成的物理化学条件,在前人已有的研究基础上,对泽当地幔岩体中526 kg的方辉橄榄岩样品开展人工重砂矿物学研究工作。研究表明,同雅鲁藏布江蛇绿岩带内的其他岩体相似,泽当地幔橄榄岩也选出了包含金刚石、碳硅石、锆石等30余种矿物。异常矿物组合指示泽当地幔橄榄岩中存在局部的超高压、极还原环境,可能经历了复杂的演化过程:即古老地壳物质通过深俯冲或者折沉作用,进入地幔甚至是地幔过渡带(410~660 km),随后经历了超高压、极还原环境的改造,在后续的地幔柱或地幔对流作用中从洋中脊上升至浅部环境并返回到地壳中。该过程中地幔橄榄岩中的异常矿物组合记录了岩石的演化信息,因此开展地幔橄榄岩中异常矿物组合的精细矿物学研究,对认识壳-幔物质交换以及深部地幔动力学过程都有重要的研究意义。     

Petrochemical constraints for dual origin of garnet peridotites from the Dabie-Sulu UHP terrane, eastern-central China

Garnet peridotites occur as lenses, blocks or layers within granulite–amphibolite facies gneiss in the Dabie-Sulu ultra-high-pressure (UHP) terrane and contain coesite-bearing eclogite. Two distinct types of garnet peridotite were identified based on mode of occurrence and petrochemical characteristics. Type A mantle-derived peridotites originated from either: (1) the mantle wedge above a subduction zone, (2) the footwall mantle of the subducted slab, or (3) were ancient mantle fragments emplaced at crustal depths prior to UHP metamorphism, whereas type B crustal peridotite and pyroxenite are a portion of mafic–ultramafic complexes that were intruded into the continental crust as magmas prior to subduction. Most type A peridotites were derived from a depleted mantle and exhibit petrochemical characteristics of mantle rocks; however, Sr and Nd isotope compositions of some peridotites have been modified by crustal contamination during subduction and/or exhumation. Type B peridotite and pyroxenite show cumulate structure, and some have experienced crustal metasomatism and contamination documented by high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.707–0.708), low ε_Nd( t ) values (−6 to −9) and low δ¹⁸O values of minerals (+2.92 to +4.52). Garnet peridotites of both types experienced multi-stage recrystallization; some of them record prograde histories. High- P–T  estimates (760–970 °C and 4.0–6.5±0.2 GPa) of peak metamorphism indicate that both mantle-derived and crustal ultramafic rocks were subducted to profound depths >100 km (the deepest may be ≥180–200 km) and experienced UHP metamorphism in a subduction zone with an extremely low geothermal gradient of <5 °C km⁻¹.     

造山带橄榄岩岩石学与构造过程:以松树沟橄榄岩为例

造山带橄榄岩不仅是地幔地球化学,而且是造山带形成与演化过程研究的主要对象.造山带橄榄岩主要有3种类型:（1）阿尔卑斯型橄榄岩,即岩石圈地幔构造-热侵位就位于造山带浅部地壳的橄榄岩;（2）前期层状基性-超基性堆晶岩经俯冲变质形成的橄榄岩;（3）蛇绿岩型橄榄岩.松树沟糜棱岩化橄榄岩及其相关高级变质岩详细的岩石学和地球化学研究发现这些橄榄岩记录了洋岩石圈形成到角闪岩相变质的全过程.即1 000~800 Ma洋岩石圈形成阶段,主要形成纯橄岩; < 800~500 Ma洋-陆转换即陆岩石圈演化阶段,岩石圈被交代形成大量方辉橄榄岩;500~480 Ma快速深俯冲和榴辉岩相变质阶段;460~335 Ma角闪岩相退变质阶段,此阶段在松树沟橄榄岩中形成大量富镁的直闪石类矿物,包括透闪石、阳起石和镁闪石.由此可见,蛇绿岩型造山带橄榄岩能够记录造山带形成与演化的全过程,通常会经历4个形成和演化阶段:（1）洋岩石圈（蛇绿岩）形成阶段,形成纯榄岩;（2）洋-陆转换阶段,陆岩石圈演化阶段,岩石圈受交代形成方辉橄榄岩;（3）岩石圈深俯冲,榴辉岩相变质;（4）俯冲板片抬升至角闪岩相时退变质,此时在橄榄岩中形成富镁的直闪石类矿物.不同造山带中蛇绿岩型橄榄岩的区别可能只是俯冲深度和退变质程度不同而已.最后,蛇绿岩一定要强调是什么时代的蛇绿岩.同时,造山带进变质作用产物经常会被后期抬升过程中退变质作用彻底改造,这应该引起重视.      

From oceanic plateaus to allochthonous terranes: Numerical modelling

Large segments of the continental crust are known to have formed through the amalgamation of oceanic plateaus and continental fragments. However, mechanisms responsible for terrane accretion remain poorly understood. We have therefore analysed the interactions of oceanic plateaus with the leading edge of the continental margin using a thermomechanical–petrological model of an oceanic-continental subduction zone with spontaneously moving plates. This model includes partial melting of crustal and mantle lithologies and accounts for complex rheological behaviour including viscous creep and plastic yielding. Our results indicate that oceanic plateaus may either be lost by subduction or accreted onto continental margins. Complete subduction of oceanic plateaus is common in models with old (> 40 Ma) oceanic lithosphere whereas models with younger lithosphere often result in terrane accretion. Three distinct modes of terrane accretion were identified depending on the rheological structure of the lower crust and oceanic cooling age: frontal plateau accretion, basal plateau accretion and underplating plateaus.Complete plateau subduction is associated with a sharp uplift of the forearc region and the formation of a basin further landward, followed by topographic relaxation. All crustal material is lost by subduction and crustal growth is solely attributed to partial melting of the mantle.Frontal plateau accretion leads to crustal thickening and the formation of thrust and fold belts, since oceanic plateaus are docked onto the continental margin. Strong deformation leads to slab break off, which eventually terminates subduction, shortly after the collisional stage has been reached. Crustal parts that have been sheared off during detachment melt at depth and modify the composition of the overlying continental crust.Basal plateau accretion scrapes oceanic plateaus off the downgoing slab, enabling the outward migration of the subduction zone. New incoming oceanic crust underthrusts the fractured terrane and forms a new subduction zone behind the accreted terrane. Subsequently, hot asthenosphere rises into the newly formed subduction zone and allows for extensive partial melting of crustal rocks, located at the slab interface, and only minor parts of the former oceanic plateau remain unmodified.Oceanic plateaus may also underplate the continental crust after being subducted to mantle depth. (U)HP terranes are formed with peak metamorphic temperatures of 400–700 °C prior to slab break off and subsequent exhumation. Rapid and coherent exhumation through the mantle along the former subduction zone at rates comparable to plate tectonic velocities is followed by somewhat slower rates at crustal levels, accompanied by crustal flow, structural reworking and syndeformational partial melting. Exhumation of these large crustal volumes leads to a sharp surface uplift.     

中国东部新生代玄武岩记录古太平洋俯冲带壳幔相互作用

大陆玄武岩通常具有与洋岛玄武岩相似的地球化学成分,其中含有显著的壳源组分.对于洋岛玄武岩来说,虽然其中的壳源组分归咎于深俯冲大洋板片的再循环,但是对板片俯冲过程中的壳幔相互作用缺乏研究.对于大陆玄武岩来说,由于其形成与特定大洋板片在大陆边缘之下的俯冲有关,可以用来确定古大洋板片俯冲的地壳物质再循环.本文总结了我们对中国东部新生代玄武岩所进行的一系列地球化学研究,结果记录了古太平洋板片俯冲析出流体对地幔楔的化学交代作用.这些大陆玄武岩普遍具有与洋岛玄武岩类似的地球化学成分,在微量元素组成上表现为富集LILE和LREE、亏损HREE,但是不亏损HFSE的分布特点,在放射成因同位素组成上表现为亏损至弱富集的Sr-Nd同位素组成.在排除地壳混染效应之后,这些玄武岩的地球化学特征可以由其地幔源区中壳源组分的性质来解释.俯冲大洋地壳部分熔融产生的熔体提供了地幔源区中的壳源组分,其中包括洋壳镁铁质火成岩、海底沉积物和大陆下地壳三种组分.华北和华南新生代大陆玄武岩在Pb同位素组成上存在显著差异,反映它们地幔源区中的壳源组分有所区别.中国东部新生代玄武岩的地幔源区是古太平洋板片于中生代俯冲至亚欧大陆东部之下时,在>200 km的俯冲带深度发生壳幔相互作用的产物.在新生代期间,随着俯冲太平洋板片的回卷引起的中国东部大陆岩石圈拉张和软流圈地幔上涌,那些交代成因的地幔源区发生部分熔融,形成了现今所见的新生代玄武岩.      

The building blocks of continental crust: Evidence for a major change in the tectonic setting of continental growth at the end of the Archean

Oceanic arcs are commonly cited as primary building blocks of continents, yet modern oceanic arcs are mostly subducted. Also, lithosphere buoyancy considerations show that oceanic arcs (even those with a felsic component) should readily subduct. With the exception of the Arabian–Nubian orogen, terranes in post-Archean accretionary orogens comprise < 10% of accreted oceanic arcs, whereas continental arcs compose 40–80% of these orogens. Nd and Hf isotopic data suggest that accretionary orogens include 40–65% juvenile crustal components, with most of these (> 50%) produced in continental arcs.Felsic igneous rocks in oceanic arcs are depleted in incompatible elements compared to average continental crust and to felsic igneous rocks from continental arcs. They have lower Th/Yb, Nb/Yb, Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios, reflecting shallow mantle sources in which garnet did not exist in the restite during melting. The bottom line of these geochemical differences is that post-Archean continental crust does not begin life in oceanic arcs. On the other hand, the remarkable similarity of incompatible element distributions in granitoids and felsic volcanics from continental arcs is consistent with continental crust being produced in continental arcs.During the Archean, however, oceanic arcs may have been thicker due to higher degrees of melting in the mantle, and oceanic lithosphere would be more buoyant. These arcs may have accreted to each other and to oceanic plateaus, a process that eventually led to the production of Archean continental crust. After the Archean, oceanic crust was thinner due to cooling of the mantle and less melt production at ocean ridges, hence, oceanic lithosphere is more subductable. Widespread propagation of plate tectonics in the late Archean may have led not only to rapid production of continental crust, but to a change in the primary site of production of continental crust, from accreted oceanic arcs and oceanic plateaus in the Archean to primarily continental arcs thereafter.     

Two stage continental collision and plate driving forces

It is proposed that major continental collision normally causes two orogenies. The first is characterized by ophiolite obduction, and the second by widespread deformation, often accompanied by metamorphism and granite intrusion. The two orogenies are separated by a relatively quiescent orogenic pause of 40–60 Ma. The two stages of continental collision are illustrated by examples from the Paleozoic Newfoundland Appalachians, and the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Tethyan collision belts of the Zagros and Himalayas.

The stages of continental collision are explained in terms of the forces driving plate motions, which are dominated by the downward pull of subducting oceanic lithosphere and, to a lesser extent, by the outward push of spreading oceanic ridges.

The Taconic stage marks attempted subduction of continental crust. The buoyancy of continental crust offsets the negative buoyancy of subducting oceanic lithosphere and other driving forces so that plate motion is halted. Orogeny involves vertical buoyancy forces and is concentrated along the narrow belt of plate overlap at the subduction zone.

In a major collision the Taconic stage destroys a substantial proportion of the earth's subducting capacity. It is an event of such magnitude that it has global consequences, reducing sea-floor spreading and the rate of convection. This results in retention of heat within the earth and a consequent increase in the forces driving the plates. The orogenic pause represents the time taken for these forces to become strong enough to overcome the obstruction of buoyant continental crust and renew subduction at the collision zone.

The Acadian stage of collision occurs when renewed subduction is achieved by detachment of continental crust from its underlying lithosphere. As the subcrustal lithosphere is subducted, the crust moves horizontally. The result is crustal shortening with widespread deformation and generation of anatectic granitic magma, as well as subduction related volcanism.

The effects of continental collision on the rate of sea-floor spreading can be related to eustatic changes in sea level, glaciations, and mass extinctions. There may also be connections, through changes in the rate of mantle convection, to the earth's magnetic polarity bias and rotation rate.     

2D thermomechanical modelling of continent–arc–continent collision

Arc–continent collision is a key process of continental growth through accretion of newly grown magmatic arc crust to older continental margin. We present 2D petrological–thermo-mechanical models of arc–continent collision and investigate geodynamic regimes of this process. The model includes spontaneous slab bending, dehydration of subducted crust, aqueous fluid transport, partial melting of the crustal and mantle rocks and magmatic crustal growth stemming from melt extraction processes. Results point to two end-member types of subsequent arc–continent collisional orogens: (I) orogens with remnants of accretion prism, detached fragments of the overriding plate and magmatic rocks formed from molten subducted sediments; and (II) orogens mainly consisting of the closed back-arc basin suture, detached fragments of the overriding plate with leftovers of the accretion prism and quasi insignificant amount of sediment-derived magmatic rocks. Transitional orogens between these two endmembers include both the suture of the collapsed back-arc basin and variable amounts of magmatic production. The orogenic variability mainly reflects the age of the subducting oceanic plate. Older, therefore colder and denser oceanic plates trigger subduction retreat, which in turn triggers necking of the overriding plate and opening of a backarc basin in which new oceanic lithosphere is formed from voluminous decompression melting of the rising hot asthenosphere. In this case, subducted sediments are not heated enough to melt and generate magmatic plumes. On the other hand, young and less dense slabs do not retreat, which hampers opening of a backarc basin in the overriding plate while subducted sediments may reach their melting temperature and develop trans-lithospheric plumes. We have also investigated the influences of convergence rate and volcanic/plutonic rocks' ratio in newly forming lithosphere. The predicted gross-scale orogenic structures find similarities with some natural orogens, in particular with deeply eroded orogens such as the Variscides in the Bohemian Massif.     

蛇绿岩型金刚石和铬铁矿深部成因

地球上的原生金刚石主要有3种产出类型,分别来自大陆克拉通下的深部地幔金伯利岩型金刚石、板块边界深俯冲变质岩中超高压变质型金刚石,和陨石坑中的陨石撞击型金刚石。在全球5个造山带的10处蛇绿岩的地幔橄榄岩或铬铁矿中均发现金刚石和其他超高压矿物的基础上,我们提出地球上一种新的天然金刚石产出类型,命名为蛇绿岩型金刚石。认为蛇绿岩型金刚石普遍存在于大洋岩石圈的地幔橄榄岩中,并提出蛇绿岩型金刚石和铬铁矿的深部成因模式。认为早期俯冲的地壳物质到达地幔过渡带(410~660 km深度)后被肢解,加入到周围的强还原流体和熔体中,当熔融物质向上运移到地幔过渡带顶部,铬铁矿和周围的地幔岩石以及流体中的金刚石等深部矿物一并结晶,之后,携带金刚石的铬铁矿和地幔岩石被上涌的地幔柱带至浅部,经历了洋盆的拉张和俯冲阶段,最终在板块边缘就位。     

Petrology and geochronology of ultrahigh-pressure granitic gneiss from South Dulan,North Qaidam belt,NW China

abstract

An integrated study including petrography, mineral chemistry, metamorphic P–T path modelling, and zircon U–Pb dating was conducted on a granitic gneiss and enclosed eclogite from South Dulan, North Qaidam UHP (ultrahigh-pressure) belt. The result shows that the granitic gneiss underwent a clockwise P–T path with a peak-P stage at 655–745°C, 30–34 kbar, and a subsequent peak-T stage at 815–870°C, 14–18 kbar, which is similar to the P–T estimates reported for coesite-bearing continental-type eclogites in this region. The enclosed eclogite resembles an olivine–pyroxene-rich cumulate in Qaidam block. It has a similar prograde P–T path with the country gneiss and experienced a peak-P stage of 682–748°C at 27–34 kbar. Zircon U–Pb dating yields an eclogite-facies metamorphic age of 447 ± 2 Ma for the granitic gneiss and 445 ± 6 Ma for the enclosed eclogite. These ages agree with metamorphic ages obtained from paragneisses (427–439 Ma), coesite-bearing continental-type eclogites (430–451 Ma), and UHPM (ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic) oceanic crust–mantle sequence (440–445 Ma) from South Dulan, as well as UHP eclogites, garnet peridotite, and gneisses from other units (460–420 Ma) within this belt reported by others. Similar metamorphic ages as well as P–T evolution documented in gneisses and intercalated eclogites imply that both rocks experienced a coeval UHP event. Summarizing all the published geochronology data, we argue that the North Qaidam UHP belt was mainly formed by continental deep subduction at ~460 to ~420 Ma. The UHPM oceanic crust-mantle sequence in South Dulan may represent oceanic lithosphere in the transition zone between oceanic and continental crust, which was dragged upward by the exhumed continental rocks after break-off of the dense oceanic crust.     

Analyses d’ouvrages

New structural data and P–T estimates of syn-deformational assemblages within the Beni Bousera peridotites and their crustal envelope are used to explain their Alpine exhumation. The Beni Bousera peridotites occur as thin sheets within high grade crustal units of the lower Sebtides (inner Rif, Morocco) and are composed of weakly deformed spinel lherzolite in the core of the massif and garnet-spinel mylonite at the rim. The main foliation trajectories in both the peridotites and overlying crustal units show systematic rotation towards their mutual contact, indicating a kilometer-scale top to the NW shearing with a dextral component along this crust/mantle contact. Widespread top to the NW shear criteria within the crustal units overlying the peridotite support this feature. Available ages constrain the development of the main foliation in both the peridotites and crustal rocks between 25 and 20 Ma. New P–T data from the peridotites show that deformation occurs during decompression from ≈ 22 kbar, 1050°C to ≈ 9-15 kbar, 800°C. As a consequence, exhumation of the Beni Bousera peridotites takes place during the Oligo-Miocene lithosphere thinning in the footwall of a lithospheric extensional shear zone. The exceptional preservation of garnet within the mylonitic peridotites results from rapid cooling of the border of the massif due to the juxtaposition with colder crustal rocks along this shear zone. Uplifting of the hot mantle rocks simultaneously induces high temperature metamorphism in the overlying crustal units. These new findings allow us to reconstruct the deformation history of the Beni Bousera region and the Alboran domain in the framework of the western Mediterranean geodynamics during the last 40 Myrs.     

The first evidence of UHP metamorphism in the Polar Urals (Russia)

A new ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic terrane, the Marun-Keu eclogite–peridotite–gneiss complex was established in the Polar Urals (Russia). Owing to the P–T parameters of formation of garnet peridotites obtained for the first time, it was established that they experienced UHP metamorphism with a peak in the diamond stability field (39 kbar, 830oC) due to subduction of rocks of the Marun-Keu complex to the mantle (a depth of more than 100 km). Relics of plagioclase peridotites preserved in central parts of large peridotite bodies and petrochemical data are evidence that Marun-Key garnet peridotites cannot be of mantle origin. A basic-ultrabasic intrusion, which formed in the upper crust, can be considered as their protolith. Later, rocks of the massif plunged to the mantle along the subduction zone and metamorphosed under high-P to ultrahigh-P conditions.

     

Geochemistry of the Cenozoic Potassic Volcanic Rocks in the West Kunlun Mountains and Constraints on Their Sources

The geochemical characteristics of the Cenozoic volcanic rocks from the north Pulu, east Pulu and Dahongliutan regions in the west Kunlun Mountains are somewhat similar as a whole. However, the volcanic rocks from the Dahongliutan region in the south belt are geochemically distinguished from those in the Pulu region (including the north and east Pulu) of the north belt. The volcanic rocks of the Dahongliutan region are characterized by relatively low TiO2 abundance, but more enrichment in alkali, much more enrichment in light rare earth elements and large ion lithosphile elements than those from the Pulu region. Compared with the Pulu region, volcanic rocks from the Dahongliutan region have relatively low 87Sr/86Sr ratios, and high εNd, 207Pb/204Pb and 208Pb/204Pb. Their trace elements and isotopic data suggest that they were derived from lithospheric mantle, consisting of biotite- and hornblende-bearing garnet lherzolite, which had undertaken metasomatism and enrichment. On the primitive mantle-normali