Retention of Precambrian Rb/Sr phlogopite ages through Caledonian eclogite facies metamorphism, Bergen Arc Complex, W-Norway

The Lindås Nappe, Caledonides W-Norway was affected by two major tectonometamorphic events. A Precambrian granulite facies event at T=800–900°C, P<10 kbar was followed by localized Caledonian eclogite facies (T=650–700°C and P>15 kbar) and localized amphibolite facies reworking. During the granulite–eclogite facies transition, anorthositic rocks were converted from garnet granulites to kyanite eclogites, while phlogopite-bearing spinel lherzolite reacted to garnet lherzolite. The eclogite and amphibolite facies reequilibration took place along shear zones and fluid pathways. In the unhydrated and undeformed parts, the minerals preserved their granulite facies composition with constant Fe/Mg ratios from core to rim, suggesting diffusional reequilibration. Rb/Sr age dating was carried out on relict granulite facies minerals from three lenses of ultramafites (Alvfjellet, Hundskjeften and Kvamsfjellet). Phlogopite from phlogopite lherzolite at Alvfjellet give 857±9 Ma, while clinopyroxene, amphibole, phlogopite and whole rock from a lherzolite at Hundskjeften yield an age of 842±12 Ma (MSWD=1.9). Clinopyroxene, feldspar, orthopyroxene phlogopite and whole rock from websterite, Kvamsfjellet, yield an age of 835±7 Ma (MSWD<1), while clinopyroxene, phlogopite and whole rock from a lherzolite from the same lens gives a result of 882±9 Ma. These results are interpreted as minimum ages for the granulite facies event and only slightly younger than, or overlap with previous U–Pb zircon ages (929±1 Ma) and Sm–Nd garnet–pyroxene ages (890–923 Ma) interpreted to date the end of the granulite facies event. By contrast, ages obtained for the eclogite and amphibolite facies range from 460 (U–Pb, sphene), 440 (Ar–Ar), 419 (U–Pb, zircon) to 410 Ma (Rb/Sr mineral ages).

These results demonstrate that the reopening temperature for the Rb/Sr system in phlogopite–biotite under dry and static high-pressure conditions is, in the given mineral assemblages, at least 650°C, considerably higher than the 300–400°C assumed as the closure temperature of this system. We ascribe this elevated reopening temperature to fluid absent conditions that prevented element transport and rehomogenization.     

Kyanite eclogite xenolith from the orthogneiss terrane of the Tisza Megaunit, Jánoshalma area, crystalline basement of southern Hungary

New evidence for high-pressure, eclogite facies metamorphism in the crystalline basement of the Tisza Megaunit (southern Hungary) is reported. The retrogressed mafic eclogite forms a small lens in the orthogneiss and it was found in the borehole near Jánoshalma. The carbonated eclogite contains the peak metamorphic assemblage omphacite + garnet + phengite + kyanite + clinozoizite + rutile + K-feldspar + quartz. Omphacite (Xjd_0.40–0.41Xdio_0.52–0.53Xhd_0.05Xaug_1.55–2.85) occurs in the matrix and as inclusions in garnet (Xpy_0.37–0.38Xgrs_0.21–0.22Xalm_0.39–0.40Xsps_0–0.01Xadr_0–0.01) and kyanite. Thermobarometry based on net-transfer reactions between garnet, omphacite, kyanite and phengite yields P–T conditions of 710 ± 10 °C and 2.6 ± 0.75 GPa. Retrogression during decompression is manifested by formation of symplectites; the most typical are diopside + plagioclase after omphacite, corundum + spinel + plagioclase after kyanite and biotite + plagioclase after phengite. Carbonatization along the veins of the retrogressed eclogite was probably coeval with formation of these symplectites. At places where carbonate is absent the rock was completely hydrated and retrogressed down to the greenschist facies with the development of actinolite. Similar eclogites together with abundant orthogneisses occur mainly in the eastern parts of the Tisza Megaunit, suggesting the existence of an ancient (possibly Variscan) subduction/accretionary complex.     

Spinel granulite in Odesan area, South Korea: Tectonic implications for the collision between the North and South China blocks

Spinel granulite formed in the Fe–Al-rich layers in migmatitic gneiss adjacent to a late Paleozoic collision-related mangerite intrusion in the Odesan area, eastern Gyeonggi Massif, South Korea, contains the high-temperature (HT) assemblage Crd + Spl + Crn. Spinel and cordierite compositions indicate peak metamorphic conditions of 914–1157 °C. Retrograde metamorphism reached amphibolite facies where garnet and cordierite broke down to biotite, sillimanite and quartz. These conditions, and the reactions inferred from mineral textures, are consistent with a clockwise P–T path. Metamorphic zircon overgrowths in the spinel granulite and enclosing migmatitic gneiss, dated by SHRIMP U–Pb, yield Permo-Triassic ages of 245 ± 10 and 248 ± 18 Ma respectively, consistent with the metamorphism being a product of the late Paleozoic collision between the North and South China blocks within South Korea. The zircon core ages and textures suggest that the ultimate source of the spinel granulite was a Paleoproterozoic (1852 ± 14 Ma) igneous rock. The protolith of the host migmatitic gneiss was a sediment derived principally from 2.49, 2.16 and 1.86 Ga sources. The age and conditions of spinel granulite metamorphism are similar to those of spinel-bearing granulite in the Higo terrane in west-central Kyushu (250 Ma, > 950 °C at 8–9 kbar), consistent with a continuation of the Dabie-Sulu collision zone into Japan through the Odesan area.     

Permo-Triassic high-pressure metamorphism in the central western Korean Peninsula,and its link to Paleo-Tethyan Ocean closure: Key issues revisited

Permo-Triassic high-pressure(HP) mafic granulites, together with the Bibong retrogressed eclogite,preserved along the central western Korean Peninsula provide important insights into the Late Permian to Triassic collisional orogeny in northeast Asia. The metamorphic pressureetemperatureetime(P-T-t)paths of these rocks, however, remain poorly constrained and even overestimated, owing to outdated geothermobarometers and inaccurate isopleth techniques. Here we evaluate the metamorphic Pe T conditions of Triassic HP mafic granulites including those in Baekdong, Sinri and Daepan and the Bibong Triassic retrogressed eclogite in the Hongseong area, and the Permo-Triassic Samgot mafic granulite in the Imjingang Belt of the central western Korean Peninsula through the application of modern phase equilibria techniques. The Baekdong and Samgot mafic granulites and the Bibong retrogressed eclogite yield a range of 12.0 -16.0 kbar and 800 -900℃, representing HP granulite facies conditions. The Sinri and Daepan granulites from the Hongseong area show relatively lower grade metamorphic conditions between HP granulite and normal granulite facies, and are characterized by sub-isothermal decompression during exhumation. The similarities in the metamorphic ages and the post-collisional igneous activity from the central western Korean Peninsula indicate that the Triassic ages represent the retrograde stage of the metamorphic Pe T paths. In contrast, the Late Permian metamorphic ages, which are older than protolith ages of the post-collisional igneous rocks, correspond to the possible prograde stage of metamorphism. The P-T-t paths presented in this paper, together with the metamorphic ages and post-orogenic igneous events reported from these areas suggest trace of the subduction, accretion and exhumation history, and indicate a tectonic linkage among the northeast Asian continents during the Paleo-Tethyan Ocean closure.     

Tracing the protolith, UHP metamorphism, and exhumation ages of orthogneiss from the SW Sulu terrane (eastern China): SHRIMP U–Pb dating of mineral inclusion-bearing zircons

Orthogneisses are the major country rocks hosting eclogites in the Sulu UHP terrane, eastern China. All of the analyzed orthogneiss cores from the main drilling hole of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Project (CCSD-MH) have similar major and trace element compositions and a granite protolith. These rocks have relatively high LREE/HREE ratios, strong negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu*=0.20–0.39), and negative Ba anomalies (Ba/Ba*=0.25–0.64). Coesite and coesite-bearing UHP mineral assemblages are common inclusions in zircons separated from orthogneiss, paragneiss, amphibolite, and (retrograded) eclogite of the CCSD-MH. This suggests that the eclogite, together with its country rocks, experienced in situ ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism. Laser Raman spectroscopy and cathodoluminescence (CL) images show that zircons from the orthogneisses are zoned and that they have distinct mineral inclusions in the different zones. Most zircons retain early magmatic cores with abundant low-pressure mineral inclusions, which are mantled with metamorphic zircon-containing inclusions of coesite and other UHP minerals. The outermost rims on these grains contain low-pressure mineral inclusions, such as quartz and albite. SHRIMP U–Pb dating of the zoned zircons gives three discrete and meaningful groups of ages: Proterozoic ages for the protolith, 227±2 Ma for the coesite-bearing mantles, and 209±3 Ma for the amphibolite facies retrograde rims. The widespread occurrence of UHP mineral inclusions in zircons from the Sulu metamorphic belt dated at about 227 Ma suggests that voluminous continental crust experienced late Triassic subduction to depths of at least 120 km and perhaps more than 200 km. Eighteen million years later, the terrane was rapidly exhumed to midcrustal levels, and the UHP rocks were overprinted by amphibolite facies metamorphism. The exhumation rate deduced from the zircon age data and previously obtained metamorphic P–T data is estimated to be 5.6–11.0 km/Ma. Such rapid exhumation of the Sulu UHP terrane may be due to the buoyancy forces produced by subduction of low-density continental material into the deep mantle.     

Conditions and timing of high-pressure Variscan metamorphism in the South Carpathians, Romania

High-pressure (HP) metamorphic rocks, including garnet peridotite, eclogite, HP granulite, and HP amphibolite, are important constituents of several tectonostratigraphic units in the pre-Alpine nappe stack of the Getic–Supragetic (GS) basement in the South Carpathians. A Variscan age for HP metamorphism is firmly established by Sm–Nd mineral–whole-rock isochrons for garnet amphibolite, 358±10 Ma, two samples of eclogite, 341±8 and 344±7 Ma, and garnet peridotite, 316±4 Ma.

A prograde history for many HP metamorphic rocks is documented by the presence of lower pressure mineral inclusions and compositional zoning in garnet. Application of commonly accepted thermobarometers to eclogite (grt+cpx±ky±phn±pg±zo) yields a range in “peak” pressures and temperatures of 10.8–22.3 kbar and 545–745 °C, depending on tectonostratigraphic unit and locality. Zoisite equilibria indicate that activity of H₂O in some samples was substantially reduced, ca. 0.1–0.4. HP granulite (grt+cpx+hb+pl) and HP amphibolite (grt+hbl+pl) may have formed by retrogression of eclogites during high-temperature decompression. Two types of garnet peridotite have been recognized, one forming from spinel peridotite at ca. 1150–1300 °C, 25.8–29.0 kbar, and another from plagioclase peridotite at 560 °C, 16.1 kbar.

The Variscan evolution of the pre-Mesozoic basement in the South Carpathians is similar to that in other segments of the European Variscides, including widespread HP metamorphism, in which P–T–t characteristics are specific to individual tectonostratigraphic units, the presence of diverse types of garnet peridotite, diachronous subduction and accretion, nappe assembly in pre-Westphalian time due to collision of Laurussia, Gondwana, and amalgamated terranes, and finally, rapid exhumation, cooling, and deposition of eroded debris in Westphalian to Permian sedimentary basins.     

Decompression P–T path of coesite eclogite to granulite from Weihai, eastern China

Granulitized coesite-bearing eclogite from Weihai, northeastern part of the Shandong peninsula, eastern China was studied in detail to reveal the modification of mineral chemistry during decompression metamorphism. Considerable modification of chemical composition is recorded in clinopyroxene that occurs both as inclusions in garnet and as a matrix mineral. Careful examination of chemical variation with the change in microstructure made it possible to estimate the equilibrium composition of minerals at the coesite eclogite and garnet granulite stages. We were able to define three reference points on the P–T path, namely, coesite eclogite (3 GPa, 660±40°C), granulite (1 GPa, 700±30°C) and amphibolite (0.9 GPa, 600±20°C). The path thus obtained is similar to those obtained by previous workers and supports nearly isothermal decompression of coesite eclogite.     

Continental origin of the Bibong eclogite,southwestern Gyeonggi massif,South Korea

Eclogite is a high-pressure (HP) metamorphic rock that provides important information about the subduction of both continental and oceanic crusts. In this study we present SHRIMP zircon U–Pb isotopic data for a suite of the basement gneisses to investigate the origin of the Proterozoic Bibong eclogite in the Hongseong area, South Korea. Zircon grains from the basement felsic gneisses yielded Paleoproterozoic protolith ages ranging from ca. 2197 to 1880 Ma, and were intruded by syenite at ca. 750 Ma. A HP regional metamorphic event of Triassic age (ca. 255–227 Ma) is recorded in the zircon rims of the country rocks, which is also observed in the zircons from the eclogite. The contacts between the Bibong eclogite and its host rocks support an origin for the Proterozoic protoliths, indicating continental intrusions. The Hongseong area thus preserves evidence for the Triassic collision, indicating a tectonic linkage among the northeast Asian continents.     

A high precision U–Pb age of metamorphic rutile in coesite-bearing eclogite from the Dabie Mountains in central China: a new constraint on the cooling history

This paper first reports a high precision U–Pb age of 218±1.2 Ma for rutile in coesite-bearing eclogite from Jinheqiao in the Dabie Mounteins, east–central China. This work shows that the U–Pb mineral (rutile+omphacite) isochron age of 218±2.5 Ma and conventional rutile U–Pb concordia age of 218±1.2 Ma obtained by common Pb correction based on the Pb isotopic composition of omphacite in the same eclogite sample are consistent, proving that the omphacite with low U/Pb ratio (μ=2.8) can be used for common Pb correction in U–Pb dating of rutile. Oxygen isotope analysis of rutile aliquots gave the consistent δ¹⁸O values of −6.1±0.1%, demonstrating oxygen isotope homogenization in the rutile of different grains as inclusion in garnet and grain in matrix. Oxygen isotope thermometry yields temperatures of 695±35 and 460±15 °C for quartz–garnet and quartz–rutile pairs, respectively. These oxygen isotopic observations suggest that the diffusion of oxygen in rutile as inclusion in garnet is not controlled by garnet. According to field-based thermochronological studies of rutile, an estimate of the T_c of about 460 °C for U–Pb system in rutile under rapid cooling conditions (20 °C/Ma) was advised. Based on this U–Pb age as well as the reported chronological data with their corresponding metamorphic and/or closure temperature, an improved T–t path has been constructed. The T–t path confirms that the UHPM rocks in South Dabie experienced a rapid cooling following the peak metamorphism before 220 Ma and a long isothermal stage from 213 to 180 Ma around 425 °C.     

Granulite facies xenoliths from Prindle volcano, Alaska: Implications for the northern Cordilleran crustal lithosphere

Xenoliths collected from Prindle volcano, Alaska (Lat. 63.72°N; Long. 141.82°W) provide a unique opportunity to examine the lower crust of the northern Canadian Cordillera. The cone's pyroclastic deposits contain crustal and mantle-derived xenoliths. The crustal xenoliths include granulite facies metamorphic rocks and charnockites, comprising orthopyroxene (opx)–plagioclase (pl)–quartz (qtz) ± mesoperthite (msp) and clinopyroxene (cpx). Opx–cpx geothermometry yields equilibrium temperatures (T) from 770 to 1015 °C at 10 kbar. Pl–cpx–qtz geobarometry yields pressures (P) of  6.6–8.0 kbar. Integrated mesoperthite compositions suggest minimum temperatures of 1020–1140 °C at 10 kbar using solvus geothermometry. The absence of garnet in these rocks indicates a range of maximum pressure of 5–11.3 kbar, and calculated solidi constrain upper temperature limits. We conclude that the granulite facies assemblages represent relatively dry metamorphism at pressures indicative of crustal thicknesses similar to present day ( 36 km). Zircon separates from a single crustal xenolith yield mainly Early Tertiary (48–63 Ma) U–Pb ages which are considerably younger than the cooling ages of the high-pressure amphibolites exposed at the surface. The distribution of zircon ages is interpreted as indicating zircon growth coincident with at least two different thermal events as expressed at surface: (i) the eruption of the Late Cretaceous Carmacks Group volcanic rocks in western Yukon and adjacent parts of Alaska, and (ii) emplacement of strongly bimodal high level intrusions across much of western Yukon and eastern Alaska possibly in an extensional tectonic regime. The distributions of zircon growth ages and the preservation of higher-than-present-day (> 25 ± 3 °C km^− 1) geothermal gradients in the granulite facies rocks demonstrate the use of crustal xenoliths for recovering records of past, lithospheric-scale thermal–tectonic events.     

Petrology of ultrahigh-pressure eclogites from the ZK703 drillhole in the Donghai, eastern China

The 558-m-deep ZK703 drillhole located near Donghai in the southern part of the Sulu ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic belt, eastern China, penetrates alternating layers of eclogites, gneisses, jadeite quartzites, garnet peridotites, phengite–quartz schists, and kyanite quartzites. The preservation of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic minerals and their relics, together with the contact relationship and protolith types of the various rocks indicates that these are metamorphic supracrustal rocks and mafic-ultramafic rock assemblages that have experienced in-situ ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism. The eclogites can be divided into five types based on accessory minerals: rutile eclogite, phengite eclogite, kyanite–phengite eclogite, quartz eclogite, and common eclogite with rare minor minerals. Rutile eclogite forms a thick layer in the drillhole that contains sufficient rutile for potential mining. Two retrograde assemblages are observed in the eclogites: the first stage is characterized by the formation of sodic plagioclase+amphibole symplectite or symplectitic coronas after omphacite and garnet, plagioclase+biotite after garnet or phengite, and plagioclase coronas after kyanite; the second stage involved total replacement of omphacite and garnet by amphibole+albite+epidote+quartz. Peak metamorphic P–T conditions of the eclogites were around 32 to 40 kbar and 720°C to 880°C. The retrograde P–T path of the eclogites is characterized by rapidly decreasing pressure with slightly decreasing temperature. Micro-textures and compositional variations in symplectitic minerals suggest that the decompression breakdown of ultrahigh-pressure minerals is a domainal equilibrium reaction or disequilibrium reaction. The composition of the original minerals and the diffusion rate of elements involved in these reactions controlled the symplectitic mineral compositions.     

Triassic blueschists and eclogites from northwest Turkey: vestiges of the Paleo-Tethyan subduction

Triassic eclogite and blueschist facies rocks occur as a thrust sheet, 25-km long and over 2-km thick, in an Eocene fold-and-thrust belt in northwest Turkey along the zmir–Ankara suture. The thrust sheet consists mainly of metabasites with minor marble, phyllite and metachert, and rare lenses of serpentinite. The common blueschist facies mineral assemblage in the metabasites is sodic amphibole+epidote+albite+chlorite+phengite±garnet. Sodic amphibole commonly shows replacement by barroisite, and there is continuous petrographic transition from blueschist–metabasites to barroisite-bearing epidote–amphibolites. Eclogite with the mineral assemblage of garnet+sodic pyroxene+sodic–calcic amphibole+epidote is found only in one locality. P–T conditions of the epidote–blueschist facies metamorphism are estimated as 450±50 °C and 11±2 kbar. The blueschist formation was followed by a decrease in pressure and increase in temperature, leading to the development of barroisite-bearing epidote–amphibolites. Phengite, sodic amphibole and barroisite Ar/Ar ages from three metabasic rocks range between 215 and 205 Ma, and indicate Late Triassic high-pressure metamorphism. The Triassic blueschists in northwest Turkey constitute part of a much larger allochthonous tectonic unit of Triassic mafic volcanic rocks. They probably represent the upper layers of a Triassic oceanic plateau, which was accreted to the Laurasian margin during the latest Triassic. The close spatial association of the Triassic and Cretaceous blueschists along the zmir–Ankara suture suggests that the suture represents a long-lived plate boundary of Late Palaeozoic to early Tertiary age.     

P–T paths reconstruction of a collisional event: The example of the Thiviers-Payzac Unit in the Variscan French Massif Central

Because of late metamorphic and tectonic overprints, the reconstruction of prograde parts of P–T paths is often difficult. In the SW Variscan French Massif Central, the Thiviers-Payzac Unit (TPU) is the uppermost allochthon emplaced above underlying units. The TPU experienced a Barrovian metamorphism coeval with a top-to-the-NW ductile shearing (D2 event) in Early Carboniferous times (ca. 360–350 Ma). The tectonic setting of the D2 event, compression or synconvergence extension, remains unclear. Using the THERMOCALC software and the model system MnNCKFMASH, the peak P–T conditions are estimated from garnet rims and matrix minerals and the prograde evolution is deduced from garnet core compositions. The combination of these two approaches demonstrates that the TPU experienced pressure and temperature increases before reaching peak conditions at 6.6–9.0 +/− 1.2 kbar and 615–655 +/− 35 °C. This kind of P–T path shows that the regional D2 event corresponds to crustal thickening.     

Fluid inclusions in granulites, granulitized eclogites and garnet clinopyroxenites from the Dabie–Sulu terranes, eastern China

Minor granulites (believed to be pre-Triassic), surrounded by abundant amphibolite-facies orthogneiss, occur in the same region as the well-documented Triassic high- and ultrahigh-pressure (HP and UHP) eclogites in the Dabie–Sulu terranes, eastern China. Moreover, some eclogites and garnet clinopyroxenites have been metamorphosed at granulite- to amphibolite-facies conditions during exhumation. Granulitized HP eclogites/garnet clinopyroxenites at Huangweihe and Baizhangyan record estimated eclogite-facies metamorphic conditions of 775–805 °C and ≥15 kbar, followed by granulite- to amphibolite-facies overprint of ca. 750–800 °C and 6–11 kbar. The presence of (Na, Ca, Ba, Sr)-feldspars in garnet and omphacite corresponds to amphibolite-facies conditions. Metamorphic mineral assemblages and P–T estimates for felsic granulite at Huangtuling and mafic granulite at Huilanshan indicate peak conditions of 850 °C and 12 kbar for the granulite-facies metamorphism and 700 °C and 6 kbar for amphibolite-facies retrograde metamorphism. Cordierite–orthopyroxene and ferropargasite–plagioclase coronas and symplectites around garnet record a strong, rapid decompression, possibly contemporaneous with the uplift of neighbouring HP/UHP eclogites.

Carbonic fluid (CO₂-rich) inclusions are predominant in both HP granulites and granulitized HP/UHP eclogites/garnet clinopyroxenites. They have low densities, having been reset during decompression. Minor amounts of CH₄ and/or N₂ as well as carbonate are present. In the granulitized HP/UHP eclogites/garnet clinopyroxenites, early fluids are high-salinity brines with minor N₂, whereas low-salinity fluids formed during retrogression. Syn-granulite-facies carbonic fluid inclusions occur either in quartz rods in clinopyroxene (granulitized HP garnet clinopyxeronite) or in quartz blebs in garnet and quartz matrices (UHP eclogite). For HP granulites, a limited number of primary CO₂ and mixed H₂O–CO₂(liquid) inclusions have also been observed in undeformed quartz inclusions within garnet, orthopyroxene, and plagioclase which contain abundant, low-density CO₂±carbonate inclusions. It is suggested that the primary fluid in the HP granulites was high-density CO₂, mixed with a significant quantity of water. The water was consumed by retrograde metamorphic mineral reactions and may also have been responsible for metasomatic reactions (“giant myrmekites”) occurring at quartz–feldspar boundaries. Compared with the UHP eclogites in this region, the granulites were exhumed in the presence of massive, externally derived carbonic fluids and subsequently limited low-salinity aqueous fluids, probably derived from the surrounding gneisses.     

Intrusion age, geochemistry and metamorphic conditions of a quartz-monzosyenite intrusion at the craton–Eastern Ghats Belt contact near Jojuru, India

The boundary between the Archean cratons and the Eastern Ghats Belt in peninsular India represents a rifted Mesoproterozoic continental margin which was overprinted by a Pan-African collisional event associated with the westward thrusting of the Eastern Ghats granulites over the cratonic foreland. The contact zone contains a number of deformed and metamorphosed nepheline syenite complexes of rift-related geochemical affinities. In addition to the nepheline-bearing rocks, metamorphosed quartz-bearing monzosyenitic bodies can also be identified along the suture in the region between the Godavari-Pranhita graben and the Prakasam Igneous Province. One such occurrence at Jojuru near Kondapalle is geochemically comparable to the nepheline syenites and furnishes a weighted mean concordant U–Th–Pb SHRIMP zircon age of 1263 ± 23 Ma (2σ), which provides a lower age bracket for the rift-related magmatic activity. The original igneous mineral assemblage in the monzosyenite was partially replaced by the formation of coronitic garnet during the Pan-African metamorphism of the rocks. P–T estimates of garnet corona formation at the interface between clinopyroxene–orthopyroxene–ilmenite clusters and plagioclase indicate mid to upper amphibolite facies condition (5.5–7.0 kbar and 600–700 °C) during the thrust induced deformation and metamorphism associated with the Pan-African collisional tectonics.     

Ultrahigh-pressure eclogite transformed from mafic granulite in the Dabie orogen, east-central China

Although ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) metamorphic rocks are present in many collisional orogenic belts, almost all exposed UHP metamorphic rocks are subducted upper or felsic lower continental crust with minor mafic boudins. Eclogites formed by subduction of mafic lower continental crust have not been identified yet. Here an eclogite occurrence that formed during subduction of the mafic lower continental crust in the Dabie orogen, east‐central China is reported. At least four generations of metamorphic mineral assemblages can be discerned: (i) hypersthene + plagioclase ± garnet; (ii) omphacite + garnet + rutile + quartz; (iii) symplectite stage of garnet + diopside + hypersthene + ilmenite + plagioclase; (iv) amphibole + plagioclase + magnetite, which correspond to four metamorphic stages: (a) an early granulite facies, (b) eclogite facies, (c) retrograde metamorphism of high‐pressure granulite facies and (d) retrograde metamorphism of amphibolite facies. Mineral inclusion assemblages and cathodoluminescence images show that zircon is characterized by distinctive domains of core and a thin overgrowth rim. The zircon core domains are classified into two types: the first is igneous with clear oscillatory zonation ± apatite and quartz inclusions; and the second is metamorphic containing a granulite facies mineral assemblage of garnet, hypersthene and plagioclase (andesine). The zircon rims contain garnet, omphacite and rutile inclusions, indicating a metamorphic overgrowth at eclogite facies. The almost identical ages of the two types of core domains (magmatic = 791 ± 9 Ma and granulite facies metamorphic zircon = 794 ± 10 Ma), and the Triassic age (212 ± 10 Ma) of eclogitic facies metamorphic overgrowth zircon rim are interpreted as indicating that the protolith of the eclogite is mafic granulite that originated from underplating of mantle‐derived magma onto the base of continental crust during the Neoproterozoic (c. 800 Ma) and then subducted during the Triassic, experiencing UHP eclogite facies metamorphism at mantle depths. The new finding has two‐fold significance: (i) voluminous mafic lower continental crust can increase the average density of subducted continental lithosphere, thus promoting its deep subduction; (ii) because of the current absence of mafic lower continental crust in the Dabie orogen, delamination or recycling of subducted mafic lower continental crust can be inferred as the geochemical cause for the mantle heterogeneity and the unusually evolved crustal composition.     

Emplacement at granulite facies conditions of the Sesia–Lanzo metagabbros: an early record of Permian rifting?

The evolution of the pre-Alpine Corio and Monastero metagabbros points to strong chemical and mineralogical similarities with that of other Permian gabbro bodies of the Alps, which are concentrated in the Southalpine and Austroalpine domains. The structural and metamorphic pre-Alpine evolution of these gabbros records a re-equilibration following the emplacement in the deep crust (P=0.6–0.9 GPa and T=850±70 °C), exhumation through amphibolite facies conditions (P=0.5–0.35 GPa and T=570–670 °C), followed by a greenschist facies imprint (0.25≤P≤0.35 GPa and T<550 °C). This retrograde P–T evolution suggests that the exhumation occurred in a high thermal gradient regime, such as that induced by upwelling of an asthenospheric plume during continental rifting. This would be consistent with the crustal thinning known to have occurred in both the Southalpine and Austroalpine domains during Permian times. The gabbros and their country acid granulites are spatially associated with the serpentinised subcontinental mantle of the Lanzo Massif. This lithologic association and the metamorphic evolution is similar to that of the Fedoz gabbro (Austroalpine Domain of the Central Alps) and completely different from that observed in passive margins, where no remnants of the lower crust occur and the upper granitic crust directly overlies the serpentinized lherzolites. The location of Permian gabbro bodies in the Austroalpine and Southalpine domains and their absence in the Helvetic domain is evidence for asymmetric rifting.     

Temporal and tectonic evolution of the granulite-eclogite association from the Bergen Arcs, western Norway

The U-Pb and Sm-Nd dating of deep crustal rocks from the Bergen Arcs system helps resolve enigmatic aspects of the tectonic evolution of the Caledonian Orogen in western Norway and yields insights into the arrested stages of eclogite development within the granulites of the area. The U-Pb dating of zircon from one of the eclogite facies shear zones yields an upper intercept age of 945 ± 5 Ma [all errors two standard deviations (2σ)], which is similar to other zircon ages from the granulite facies protolith. The age is interpreted to represent the time of late Proterozoic (Sveconorwegian) granulite metamorphism. The U-Pb ages of sphene and epidote show that the eclogites formed early in the evolution of the Caledonian Orogen (pre-Scandian phase) at about 460 Ma. An eclogite facies quartz vein yields a Sm-Nd whole rock-garnet isochron of 440 ± 12 Ma that may reflect the onset of cooling immediately after peak eclogite facies conditions, although the Sm-Nd systematics reveal some isotopic disequilibrium within the sample. In tandem with previous ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determinations from, an adjacent eclogite of 450 Ma for hornblende and 430 Ma for muscovite, these data indicate that < 30 Ma elapsed between formation of the eclogites and the initial stages of cooling and exhumation to at least mid-crustal levels. This corresponds to minimum cooling rates of 14 °C/m.y. The timing relations suggest that the formation and exhumation of these eclogites from the overlying Caledonian Nappe wedge in western Norway are related to an early phase of crustal subduction during or somewhat before the major phase of continent-continent collision.

The short period of time between the formation of the eclogites and the initial stages of exhumation and rapid cooling is consistent with the only partial and localized transformation of the granulite to eclogite. Isolated occurrences of eclogite within the granulite, the formation of eclogite along metasomatic fronts and the formation of hydrous eclogite facies minerals within the “dry” granulite all point to the importance of fluids in the transformation and re-equilibration of the granulite to eclogite. Together, field and isotopic data demonstrate that both the localized and limited access of fluids and the rapid cycling of continental crust through the deepest portions of the orogen to upper crustal levels resulted in the preservation of the arrested stages of eclogite formation and survival of the granulites metastably through eclogite facies conditions.     

Petrogenesis of UHP metamorphic rocks from Qinglongshan, southern Sulu, east-central China

Five kinds of UHP metamorphic rocks, including eclogite, orthogneiss, paragneiss, schist and quartzite are exposed in the Qinglongshan roadcut, southern Sulu orogenic belt of eastern central China. They comprise metamorphic supracrustal rocks with bimodal volcanic characteristics and continental affinity, and granitic intrusive associations. The preservation of coesite inclusions and/or its pseudomorphs in eclogite and other rocks indicate that they have been subjected to in-situ UHP metamorphism. Four stages of metamorphism were recognized by combining petrographic observations and compositions of minerals from various UHP rocks. Prograde epidote-amphibolite facies, UHP coesite–eclogite facies, post UHP quartz–eclogite facies, and retrograde amphibolite facies assemblages delineate an inferred P–T path with a clockwise trajectory and a retrograde event characterized by the coupling of decompression with a temperature decrease. Garnet porphyroblasts in UHP eclogites display a complex growth zoning and mineral distribution, and record a crucial segment of the prograde and retrograde metamorphic evolution. The preservation of growth zoning in eclogitic and gneissic garnets suggests that the UHP rocks had a short residence time before retrograde metamorphism and a very high uplift rate in order to preserve the prograde growth zoning.     

Genetic Implications of Two Different Ultramafic Rocks from Hongseong Area in the Southwestern Gyeonggi Massif, South Korea

Two distinct ultramafic bodies occur in Baekdong and Bibong in the Hongseong area within Gyeonggi massif of South Korea. The Hongseong area is now extensively documented as an extension of the Dabie-Sulu collision belt in China. The Baekdong ultramafic body has a NWW elongation direction. This elongation trend is similar to the general trend of the Dabie-Sulu collision belt. The Bibong ultramafic body is elongated in a NNE direction and runs parallel to the direction of the main fault in the study area. The Baekdong ultramafic bodies show porphyroclastic and mylonitic textures while those at Bibong exhibit a mosaic texture. Both were grouped into peridotite and serpentinite based on their modal abundance of serpentine. In the olivine (Fo) vs. spinel [Cr# = Cr/ (Cr+Al)] diagram, both ultramafic rocks fall with in olivine spinel mantle array. The compositions of olivine, orthopyroxene and spinel indicate that the Baekdong ultramafic rock formed in deeper parts of the upper-mantle under passive margin tectonic setting. The SREE content of Baekdong ultramafic rock vary from 0.19 to 5.7, exhibits a flat REE pattern in the chondrite-normalized diagram, and underwent 5% partial melting. Conversely, large variation in SREE (0.5 21.53) was observed for Bibong ultramafic rocks with an enrichment of LREE with a negative slope and underwent 17 24% partial melting. The Baekdong ultramafic rocks experienced three stages of metamorphism after a high pressure residual mantle stage. The first stage of metamorphism occurred under the eclogite-granulite transitional facies (1123 911°C, >16.3 kb) the second under the granulite facies (825 740°C, 16.3 11.8 kb) and the third is the retrogressive metamorphism under amphibolite facies (782 718°C, 8.2 8.7 kb) metamorphism. The Baekdong ultramafic rocks had undergone high-P/T metamorphism during subduction of the South China Block, and experienced a fast isothermal uplift, and finally cooled down isobarically. Evidences for metamorphism were not identified in Bibong ultramafic rocks. Hence, the Baekdong ultramafic rocks with in the Hongseong area may indicate a link on the Korean counterpart of Dabie-Sulu collision belt between North and South China Blocks.