Effect of the chemical composition of the crust on the metamorphic evolution of orogenic wedges

Petrological data provide a good record of the thermal structure of deeply eroded orogens, and, in principle, might be used to relate the metamorphic structure of an orogen to its deformational history. In this paper, we present two‐dimensional thermal modelling of various subduction models taking into account varying wedge geometry as well as variation of density and topography with metamorphic reactions. The models clearly show that rock type accreted in the wedge has important effects on the thermal regime of orogenic wedges. The thermal regime is dominated by radiogenic heat production. Material having high radioactive heat production, like the granodioritic upper crust, produces high temperature metamorphism (amphibolitic conditions). Material with low radioactive heat production results in low temperature metamorphism of greenschist or blueschist types depending on the thickness of the wedge. Application of this model to seemingly unrelated areas of the Central Alps (Lepontine Dome, Grisons) and Eastern Alps (Tauern Window) explains the coexistence and succession of distinct Barrovian and blueschist facies metamorphic conditions as the result of a single, continuous tectonic process in which the main difference is the composition of the incoming material in the orogenic wedge. Accretion of the European upper continental crust in the Lepontine and Tauern Domes produces Barrovian type metamorphism while accretion of oceanic sediments results in blueschist facies metamorphism in the Valaisan domain.     

Les ruptures de surface liées à l'éruption du 28 mars 1983 de l'Etna (Sicile)

Resume L'éruption du 28-3-1983 a été précédée, dans la nuit entre le 27 et 28 Mars, par l'ouverture de fractures sur le flanc sud de l'Etna entre les côtes 2900 et 2300. Ces ruptures correspondent à des failles à rejet surtout vertical et à des fentes. La disposition générale dessine un graben d'orientation N-S à NE-SW, dont la largeur se réduit progressivement de 80 m à environ 25 m au point d'émission des laves, alors que le rejet vertical des failles augmente vers le sud (maximum 1 m 50). En quelques points on a pu noter une légère composante en décrochement. L'extension horizontale provoquée par l'ouverture de ce graben a été estimée à environ 3 m.Ces donnés sont confrontées à celles obtenues par d'autres méthodes et leur interprétation est discutée en rapport avec le mécanisme de l'éruption et les relations entre magmatisme et tectonique.

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The Etna eruption of March 28th, 1983 was preceded, during the night between March 27th and 28th, by the opening of fractures on the southern flank of Mt. Etna between 2300 and 2900 meters a.s.l. The fractures are essentially dip-slip faults andfentes. The resulting general pattern is that of a graben oriented from N-S to NE-SW that becomes progressively narrow passing from about 80 m to 25 m in width at the lava flow emission site, while the vertical fault throw increases towards the south reaching there the maximum value of 1.50 m. In a few places it was possible to detect a slight horizontal component of movement. The horizontal opening due to the graben formation has been estimated to be about 3 m in width.These data have then been compared with others obtained using different methods and their interpretation has been discussed in relation to the eruption mechanism and the relationships between magmatism and tectonics.

     

Influence of the precollisional stage on subduction dynamics and the buried crust thermal state: Insights from numerical simulations

At continental subduction initiation, the continental crust buoyancy may induce, first, a convergence slowdown, and second, a compressive stress increase that could lead to the forearc lithosphere rupture. Both processes could influence the slab surface P–T conditions, favoring on one side crust partial melting or on the opposite the formation of ultra-high pressure/low temperature (UHP-LT) mineral. We quantify these two effects by performing numerical simulations of subduction. Water transfers are computed as a function of slab dehydration/overlying mantle hydration reactions, and a strength decrease is imposed for hydrated mantle rocks. The model starts with an old oceanic plate ( 100 Ma) subducting for 145.5 Myr with a 5 cm/yr convergence rate. The arc lithosphere is thermally thinned between 100 km and 310 km away from the trench, due to small-scale convection occuring in the water-saturated mantle wedge. We test the influence of convergence slowdown by carrying on subduction with a decreased convergence rate (≤ 2 cm/yr). Surprisingly, the subduction slowdown yields not only a strong slab warming at great depth (> 80 km), but also a significant cooling of the forearc lithosphere at shallower depth. The convergence slowdown increases the subducted crust temperature at 90 km depth to 705 ± 62 °C, depending on the convergence rate reduction, and might thus favor the oceanic crust partial melting in presence of water. For subduction velocities ≤ 1 cm/yr, slab breakoff is triggered 20–32 Myr after slowdown onset, due to a drastic slab thermal weakening in the vicinity of the interplate plane base. At last, the rupture of the weakened forearc is simulated by imposing in the thinnest part of the overlying lithosphere a dipping weakness plane. For convergence with rates ≥ 1 cm/yr, the thinned forearc first shortens, then starts subducting along the slab surface. The forearc lithosphere subduction stops the slab surface warming by hot asthenosphere corner flow, and decreases in a first stage the slab surface temperature to 630 ± 20 °C at 80 km depth, in agreement with P–T range inferred from natural records of UHP-LT metamorphism. The subducted crust temperature is further reduced to 405 ± 10 °C for the crust directly buried below the subducting forearc. Such a cold thermal state at great depth has never been sampled in collision zones, suggesting that forearc subduction might not be always required to explain UHP-LT metamorphsim.     

3-D assessment of peak-metamorphic conditions by Raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material: an example from the margin of the Lepontine dome (Swiss Central Alps)

This study monitors regional changes in the crystallinity of carbonaceous matter (CM) by applying Micro-Raman spectroscopy to a total of 214 metasediment samples (largely so-called Bündnerschiefer) dominantly metamorphosed under blueschist- to amphibolite-facies conditions. They were collected within the northeastern margin of the Lepontine dome and easterly adjacent areas of the Swiss Central Alps. Three-dimensional mapping of isotemperature contours in map and profile views shows that the isotemperature contours associated with the Miocene Barrow-type Lepontine metamorphic event cut across refolded nappe contacts, both along and across strike within the northeastern margin of the Lepontine dome and adjacent areas. Further to the northeast, the isotemperature contours reflect temperatures reached during the Late Eocene subduction-related blueschist-facies event and/or during subsequent near-isothermal decompression; these contours appear folded by younger, large-scale post-nappe-stacking folds. A substantial jump in the recorded maximum temperatures across the tectonic contact between the frontal Adula nappe complex and surrounding metasediments indicates that this contact accommodated differential tectonic movement of the Adula nappe with respect to the enveloping Bündnerschiefer after maximum temperatures were reached within the northern Adula nappe, i.e. after Late Eocene time.     

Calibration and testing of an empirical chloritoid-chlorite Mg-Fe exchange thermometer and thermodynamic data for daphnite

A compilation of literature data on the Fe-Mg composition of coexisting chlorite and chloritoid from metapelites metamorphosed at various P - T  conditions shows that the logarithm of the Fe-Mg partitioning (ln K _D) varies linearly with the inverse of temperature, from about 2.4 at 300  °C to about 1.3 at 600  °C. In contrast, no trend was observed with pressure, and the molar volumes of Mg- and Fe-chlorite end-members suggest that the pressure dependence of ln K _D is not significant. Therefore, the chloritoid-chlorite Mg-Fe exchange reaction is a potential thermometer and has been empirically calibrated using the analyses of 112 chloritoid-chlorite pairs from 28 different localities. Temperatures estimated using the Chl-Cld thermometer were checked against independent estimates for 20 samples not involved in the calibration (Beni Mzala window, Morocco), and the results are in fair agreement with independent temperature estimates. However, the analytical uncertainties and errors are too large to obtain reliable temperature estimates for extremely Mg-rich or Fe-rich compositions. The Chl-Cld thermometer is unreliable at XMg-_CLD<0.2 and XMg-_CLD>0.8 at 700  °C, and XMg-_CLD<0.1 and XMg-_CLD>0.9 at 300  °C. Using the results of the empirical calibration, we calculated new thermodynamic data for daphnite. Implementing these data, it becomes possible to estimate T  and P conditions of metamorphism for the invariant chlorite-chloritoid-quartz-aluminosilicate assemblage that is widespread in low-grade metapelites. These estimates appear to be relevant only in the stability field of kyanite, whereas the uncertainties on the calculated pressure conditions are very large in the stability field of kaolinite and pyrophyllite.     

Late‐stage deformation in a collisional orogen (Western Alps): nappe refolding,back‐thrusting or normal faulting?

ABSTRACT Nappe refolding, back-thrusting and normal faulting frequently cause severe late-stage overprinting of the architecture of an orogen. A combined investigation of nappe stack polarity, kinematics of shearing and metamorphic gradients in the Western Alps develops criteria for distinguishing between these three modes of late-stage deformation. This distinction is a prerequisite for any retro-deformation necessary for understanding the main tectonic and metamorphic evolution of collisional orogens. In the case of the Western Alps overprint was by mega-scale nappe refolding in the Oligocene. This implies exhumation of the HP-rocks prior to postnappe folding, i.e. during nappe stacking and by foreland-directed ascent within a subduction channel.     

PILOT: a balloon-borne experiment to measure the polarized FIR emission of dust grains in the interstellar medium

Future cosmology space missions will concentrate on measuring the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background, which potentially carries invaluable information about the earliest phases of the evolution of our universe. Such ambitious projects will ultimately be limited by the sensitivity of the instrument and by the accuracy at which polarized foreground emission from our own Galaxy can be subtracted out. We present the PILOT balloon project, which aims at characterizing one of these foreground sources, the polarized continuum emission by dust in the diffuse interstellar medium. The PILOT experiment also constitutes a test-bed for using multiplexed bolometer arrays for polarization measurements. This paper presents the instrument and its expected performances. Performance measured during ground calibrations of the instrument and in flight will be described in a forthcoming paper.