A polycyclic two-stage corona growth in the Iforas Granulitic Unit (Mali)

Abstract Retrograde and prograde mineral assemblages from metapelitic and metabasic rocks of the Iforas Granulitic Unit (Mali) were generated by the superimposition of two granulite facies metamorphic events. They clearly result from a polycyclic evolution and can be related to a late Eburnean unroofing followed by a Pan-African burial.
Thermobarometry on Pan-African garnet-bearing assemblages yields ( P, T ) estimates of 620±50°C and 5± Ikbar. The nearly anhydrous conditions produced in the Eburnean appear to be the direct cause of the unusually lowtemperature granulite-facies metamorphism in the Pan-African. These P, T estimates are compared with those obtained on the underlying unit (Kidal Assemblage) upon which the Iforas Granulitic Unit was thrust. A P-T-t path, during the Pan-African orogeny, is proposed and discussed for both the Iforas Granulites and Kidal Assemblage.