Volcanogenic Cu–Pb–Zn bodies in granulites of the central Arunta Block, central Australia

Abstract Small unexploited copper-lead-zinc deposits, characterized by a distinctive wall-rock association of cordierite quartzite, silica-undersaturated rocks, calc-silicate rocks and impure marbles, occur in quartzofeldspathic gneisses and mafic granulites of the Strangways Metamorphic Complex, central Arunta Block, central Australia. Available data support the hypothesis that these are metamorphosed volcanogenic ore bodies. The chemical compositions of the quartzofeldspathic gneisses are comparable with those of less metamorphosed felsic igneous rocks, particularly the felsic igneous rocks emplaced in the North Australian Orogenic Province in the interval 1880–1800 Ma; and the mafic granulites are chemically similar to basalts (olivine-normative tholeiites). The wall-rock suite can be correlated from chemistry and lithological association with the suites of wall rocks found in unmetamorphosed volcanogenic ore deposits. That the protolith of the cordierite quartzites may well have been leached tuff, similar to the illite-chlorite-quartz tuff found in volcanogenic ore deposits, is also shown by retrogression of the granulitefacies assemblage: cordierite-garnet-ortho-pyroxene-biotite-quartz in the cordierite quartzites to cordierite-anthophyllite-bearing assemblages and thence to chlorite-muscovite-quartz assemblages. Lenses of silica-undersaturated rocks with spinel and, less commonly, sapphirine are interpreted as the metamorphosed equivalents of chlorite-rich pods found within leached tuffs in volcanogenic ore deposits. The wall rocks form sheet-like bodies; this suggests that they were deposited in relatively shallow water, thus precluding the formation of massive sulphides.     

The transformation of amphibolite facies gneiss to charnockite in southern Karnataka and northern Tamil Nadu,India

Amphibolite facies metamorphic grade gives way southward to the granulite grade in southern Karnataka, as acid gneisses develop charnockite patches and streaks and basic enclaves develop pyroxenes. Petrologic investigations in the transitional zone south of Mysore have established the following points:

1. The transition is prograde. Amphibole-bearing gneisses intimately associated with charnockite at Kabbal and several similar localities are not retrogressive after charnockite, as proved by patchy obliteration of their foliation by transgressive, very coarse-grained charnockite, high fluorine content of biotite and amphibole in gneisses, and high large-ion lithophile element contents in gneisses and charnockites. These features are in contrast to very low fluorine in retrogressive amphiboles and biotites, very low large-ion lithophile element contents, and zonal bleaching of charnockite, in clearly retrogressive areas, as at Bhavani Sagar, Tamil Nadu.
2. Metamorphic temperatures in the transitional areas were 700°–800° C, pressures were 5–7 kbar, and H₂O pressures were 0.1–0.3 times total pressures, based on thermodynamic calculations using mineral analyses. Dense CO₂-rich fluid inclusions in the Kabbal rocks confirm the low H₂O pressures at the first appearance of orthopyroxene. Farther to the south, in the Nilgiri Hills and adjacent granulite massif areas, peak metamorphic temperatures were 800°–900° C, pressures were 7–9 kbar, and water pressures were very low, so that primary biotites and amphiboles (those with high F contents) are rare.
3. The incipient granulite-grade metamorphism of the transitional areas was introduced by a wave of anatexis and K-metasomatism. This process was arrested by drying out under heavy CO₂ influx. Charnockites so formed are hybrids of anatectic granite and metabasite, of metabasite and immediately adjacent gneiss, or are virtually isochemical with pre-existing gneiss despite gross recrystallization to granulite mineralogy. These features show that partial melting and metasomatism are attendant, rather than causative, in charnockite development. Copious CO₂ from a deep-crustal or mantle source pushed ahead of it a wave of more aqueous solutions which promoted anatexis. Granulite metamorphism of both neosome and paleosome followed. The process is very similar to that deduced for the Madras granulites by Weaver (1980). The massif charnockites, for the most part extremely depleted in lithophile minor elements, show many evidences of having gone through the same process.

A major problem remaining to be solved is the origin of the large amount of CO₂ needed to charnockitize significant portions of the crust. The most important possibilities include CO₂ from carbonate minerals in a mantle “hot spot” or diapir, from emanations from a crystallizing basaltic underplate, or from shelf sediments trapped at the continent-continent interface in continental overthrusting. Ancient granulite massifs may be such suture zones of continental convergence.     

The problem of rock assimilation by Somma-Vesuvius magma

New chemical and modal analyses are presented of magmatic rocks and pyroxenes nodules from the Somma-Vesuvius volcano and of trachytes from the surrounding area. Geochemical evidence is employed in checking the generally accepted suggestion that magma composition develops from that of trachyte into phonolitic tephrite and finally into tephritic leucitite (vesuvite) by assimilation of dolomite. At the Somma stage of the volcano, phonolitic tephrites (tephritic phonolites) alone have been produced. Vesuvius lavas (tephritic leucitites) are comparatively high in K₂O, CaO, F, Cl, Mn, Cu, Sr and Ba and low in SiO₂ and Nb. The formation of vesuvites by assimilation of dolomitic sedimentary rocks, combined with gravity-separation of early-formed pyroxenes from a trachytic or tephritic magma, is improbable as shown by chemical balances between the respective igneous and sedimentary rocks.     

Eclogites in the Makuti gneisses of Zimbabwe: implications for the tectonic evolution of the Zambezi Belt in southern Africa

The gneisses of the Makuti Group in north-west Zimbabwe are characterized by complex geometries that resulted from intense non-coaxial deformation in a crustal scale high-strain zone that accommodated extensional deformation along the axis of the Zambezi Belt at c. 800 Ma. Within low-strain domains in the Makuti gneisses, undeformed metagabbroic lenses preserve eclogite and granulite facies assemblages, which record a part of the metamorphic history that predates Pan-African events. Eclogitic rocks can be subdivided into: (1) corona-textured metagabbros that preserve igneous textures, and (2) garnet–omphacite rocks in which primary textures are destroyed. The lenses of eclogitic rocks are enveloped in a mantle of garnet–clinopyroxene–hornblende gneiss, which is a common rock type in the Makuti gneisses. The eclogites preserve multi-staged, domainal, symplectic reaction textures that developed progressively as the rocks experienced loading followed by decompression–heating. In the metagabbros, the original clinopyroxene, plagioclase and olivine domains acted separately during the peak of metamorphism, with plagioclase being replaced by garnet and kyanite, and olivine being replaced by orthopyroxene and possibly omphacite. The peak assemblage was overprinted by: (1) the multi-mineralic corona assemblage pargasite–orthopyroxene–spinel–plagioclase replacing garnet–kyanite–clinopyroxene (possibly at c. 19 kbar, 760±25 °C); (2) orthopyroxene–pargasite–plagioclase–scapolite coronas replacing orthopyroxene (15±1.5 kbar, 750±50 °C); and (3) moats of orthopyroxene–plagioclase replacing garnet (10±1 kbar, 760±50 °C). The garnet–omphacite rocks record similar peak conditions (15±1.1 kbar, 760±60 °C). Garnet–clinopyroxene–hornblende–plagioclase gneisses envelop the eclogites and record matrix conditions of 11±1.5 kbar at 730±50 °C using assemblages that are oriented in the regional fabric. These rocks are characterized by decompression-heating textures, reflecting temperature increases during exhumation of the Makuti gneisses. The eclogite facies rocks formed during a collisional event prior to 850 Ma. Their formation could be related to a suture zone that developed along the axis of the Zambezi Belt during the formation of Rodinia (between 1400 and 850 Ma). The main deformation-metamorphism in the Makuti gneisses occurred around 800 Ma and involved extension and exhumation of the high-P rocks (break-up of Rodinia), which experienced a high-T metamorphic overprint. Around 550–500 Ma, a collisional event associated with the formation of Gondwana resulted in renewed burial and metamorphic recrystallization of the Makuti gneisses.     

Variscan amphibolite-facies rocks from the Kurtoğlu metamorphic complex (Gümüşhane area,Eastern Pontides,Turkey)

The Kurtoğlu metamorphic complex, that forms part of the pre-Liassic basement of the Sakarya zone in northern Turkey, consists of at least two tectonic units. Blueschist-facies rocks of unknown metamorphic age in the southern part of the complex are tectonically overlain by Variscan low-pressure high-temperature metamorphic rocks. The latter comprise mica schists and fine-grained gneisses, cut by metaleucogranitic dikes, as well as migmatitic biotite gneisses and subordinate amphibolite intercalations. Structural data indicate that metamorphism and penetrative deformation occurred after dyke intrusion. Peak metamorphic conditions of the mica schists, fine-grained gneisses and metaleucogranites are estimated to ∼650°C and ∼0.4 GPa, based on phase relationships in the system NCKFMASH, Fe–Mg partitioning between garnet and biotite as well as garnet-aluminosilicate-quartz-plagioclase (GASP) and garnet-plagioclase-biotite-quartz (GBPQ) barometry. Peak temperatures of the migmatitic biotite gneisses and amphibolite intercalations are not well constrained but might have been significantly higher (690–740°C), as suggested from hornblende-plagioclase thermometry. ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar incremental dating on muscovite and biotite fractions from the mica schists and fine-grained gneisses yielded plateau ages of ∼323 Ma. Significantly older model ages of ∼329 and ∼337 Ma were obtained on muscovite fractions from two metaleucogranite samples. These fractions contain both relict igneous and newly formed metamorphic muscovite.     

Mineralogy of New Caledonian metamorphic rocks

Variations in chemistry and related physical properties of sheet silicates in the Ouégoa district with metamorphic grade are investigated. Weakly metamorphosed rocks prior to the crystallization of lawsonite contain phengite (d ₀₀₆=3.317–3.323 Å), chlorite and occasionally paragonite while interstratified basaltic sills contain chlorite, minor phengite and stilpnomelane. Pyrophyllite crystallizes before lawsonite in some metamorphosed acid tuffs and is also stable in the lawsonite zone. Paragonite, phengite and chlorite appear to be stable through the sequence from weakly metamorphosed rocks into high-grade “eclogitic” schists and gneisses. Optical, chemical and some X-ray diffraction data is given for representative sheet silicates. Electron probe analyses of 55 phengites, 21 paragonites, 57 chlorites, 12 vermiculites, 2 stilpnomelanes, and 2 chloritoids are presented in graphical form. All K-micas analysed are consistently phengitic (3.29–3.55 Si^iv ions per formula unit) and show limited solid solution with paragonite (4 to 13% Pa). The K∶Na ratio of the phengite is strongly dependant on the assemblage in which it occurs; the amount of phengite component and its Fe∶Mg ratio depends on bulk-rock composition. Phengites from acid volcanics have the highest Fe∶Mg ratio, highest phengite component and β refractive indices. Phengites from basic volcanics and metasediments of the epidote zone have the lowest Fe∶Mg ratio. Phengites from lawsonite-zone metasediments have intermediate Fe∶Mg ratios. The phengites show a small decrease in phengite component with increasing metamorphic grade. d ₀₀₆ for phengites varied from 3.302 to 3.323 Å but at least in the lawsonite and epidote zones appears to reflect composition and had little systematic variation with metamorphic grade; phengites from very low-grade rocks showed the longest values of d ₀₀₆. Paragonite shows almost no phengite-type substitution and only limited solid solution (4–12%) with muscovite. All paragonites (6) and most phengites (20) which have been examined are 2M₁ polymorphs; one Fe²⁺-phengite appears to be a 1M polymorph. The chemistry of chlorites closely reflects parent-rock chemistry. Chlorites from metasediments have distinctly higher Fe/(Fe+Mg) ratios than chlorites from basic igneous rocks; chlorites from the lawsonite and lawsonite-epidote transitional zone metasediments have the highest Fe/(Fe+Mg) ratios. In metabasalts Fe/(Fe+Mg) ratios appear to reflect individual variations in bulk-rock chemistry and show no direct correlation with metamorphic grade. There is little difference in Al/(Si+Al) ratio between chlorites from sediments and basic igneous rocks although in both lithologies the chlorites from the epidote zone appear to be slightly more aluminous. Fe-rich chlorites of the lawsonite zone metasediments have been altered by a process involving leaching of Fe and Mg and introduction of alkalies to a brown pleochroic Fe-vermiculite. Chemical and physical data for this vermiculite are given. The decrease in Fe/(Fe+Mg) ratio in chlorites and phengites on passing from the lawsonite to the epidote zone can be correlated with the crystallization of Fe-rich epidote and almandine in the epidote zone. Elemental partitioning between coexisting minerals has shown Ti to be partitioned into phengite, while Fe and Mn are strongly partitioned into chlorite. When either stilpnomelane or chloritoid coexists with phengite or chlorite, Fe and Mn are slightly enriched in the stilpnomelane or chloritoid relative to the chlorite.     

Suevite of the ries crater,Germany: Source rocks and implications for cratering mechanics

Suevites are impact breccias with a montmorillonitic matrix that contains shocked and unshocked mineral and rock fragments from the crystalline basement, glass inclusions and a small amount of sedimentary clasts. Data are given of the modal composition of fall-out suevites (deposited at isolated points around the crater) and crater suevite (forming a layer below post-impact lake sediments in the crater cavity). Fall-out suevites contain aerodynamically shaped bombs which are absent in crater suevite. Taking into account not only large glass fragments and bombs, but also the finer fractions, the glass content of fall-out and crater suevites amounts to 47 and 29 vol%, respectively. Crystalline clasts in suevites consist of all igneous and metamorphic rock types that constitute the local basement which consists of an upper layer of igneous rocks (mainly granites) and a lower series of gneisses and amphibolite. Based on a collection of 1 200 clasts from 13 suevite occurrences the average crystalline clast population of suevites was determined. Suevites contain on the average 46 % igneous and 54 % metamorphic clasts. In constrast, weakly shocked and unshocked crystalline ejecta of the Ries structure consist of 82 % igneous and 18 % metamorphic rocks. From 138 analyses of crystalline rock samples average compositions of the major rock types were calculated. Comparison of these averages with the average glass composition leads to the conclusion that suevite glasses were formed by shock melting of gneisses in deeper levels of the basement. Suevite matrices consist in most cases of 80 to 90 % montmorillonite, in special cases of celadonite. Chemical analyses are given of some matrices and montmorillonite formulas calculated. It is supposed that montmorillonite was formed by early hydrothermal alteration of rock flour or fine glass particles. In the latter case the original glass content of suevites was higher than at present. Of all ejecta from the Ries crater only crystalline rocks contained in suevites occur in all stages of shock metamorphism up to complete fusion. The overwhelming majority of the ejecta from the sedimentary sequence (about 580 m) show no indications of shock pressures above 10 GPa. The same holds true for crystalline megablocks and breccias around the crater which consist mainly of granites from upper levels of the basement. We assume that the Ries impact can be approximated by a deep-burst model: The projectile penetrated through the sedimentary cover into the basement in such a way that the highest pressures and temperatures developed within the gneiss complex below the upper, predominately granitic layer and that rocks of the sedimentary sequence experienced weak shock compression. Numerical data are given for such a model of the Ries impact on transient crater geometry and volumes of vaporized, melted, shocked and excavated rocks. Fall-out suevites are supposed to have been lifted from the central zone by an expanding plume of vaporized rocks and deposited as fluidized turbulent masses outside the crater whereas the main mass of crater suevite was not removed from the crater cavity.     

P–T conditions of metabasites within regional metapelites in far-eastern Nepal Himalaya and its tectonic meaning

Metabasites exposed in far-eastern Nepal provide an important insight into the metamorphic evolution of the Himalayan orogen independent from data obtained on metapelites. The P–T conditions and formation process of mafic granulite intercalated within Early Oligocene migmatites and two amphibolites surrounded by Early Miocene metapelites were inferred from pseudosection modeling and conventional geothermobarometry combined with the occurrences of field and microstructures. A mafic granulite in the Higher Himalaya Crystalline Sequence (HHCS) yields P–T conditions of 6.5–8 kbar, 730–750 °C. The similar peak P–T condition and retrograde path with low P/T gradient of mafic granulite and surrounding migmatite indicate that both rocks were simultaneously metamorphosed and exhumed together along the tectonic discontinuities in the HHCS. In contrast, the P–T conditions (2–5 kbar, 500–600 °C) of highly-deformed amphibolite block above the Main Central Thrust (MCT) records significantly lower pressure than garnet-mica gneisses in the country rock, suggesting that the amphibolite block derived from upper unit of the MCT zone and became tectonically mixed with the gneisses of hanging wall near the surface. An amphibolite lense below the MCT preserves the prograde P–T conditions (6–7.5 kbar, 550–590 °C) of Early Miocene syn-tectonic metamorphism that occurred in the MCT zone. This study indicates the top-to-the south movement of the MCT zone results in the tectonic assembly of rocks with different P–T–t conditions near the MCT.     

Provenance of Miocene sandstones in northern Iraq: constraints from framework petrography,bulk-rock geochemistry and mineral chemistry

Modal analysis, bulk-rock geochemistry and phase chemistry of sandstones of the Miocene Fat'ha and Injana formations, northern Iraq, show that the clastics were derived from heterogeneous sources that include basic igneous and metamorphic rocks as well as older sedimentary rocks. The sandstones are generally carbonate-rich lithic arenites. Their geochemistry supports the petrographic results and indicates that they are all Fe-rich, lithic or quartz arkosic sandstones. According to geochemical data, garnets are derived from metamorphic sources, hornblende is of igneous origin, and clinopyroxenes, are produced by basic igneous rocks. Epidote is most probably to be a product of disintegration of metamorphic rocks, essentially, metamorphosed igneous rocks. Rutile geochemistry implies low-grade metamorphic and basic to ultrabasic igneous sources. Chemical composition of chromian spinels indicates that they are derived from Alpine-type peridotite. The ophiolitic-radiolarite belts of Taurus-Zagros as well as the uplifted Cretaceous and Paleocene strata of north and northeastern Iraq are likely to be the major source of clastics to the Fat'ha–Injana basin, a foreland basin formed as a result of the continental Arabian and Turkish/Iranian plates collision.     

Structural relations and PbPb zircon ages for the Makuti gneisses: evidence for a crustal-scale Pan-African shear zone in the Zambezi Belt,northwest Zimbabwe

The Makuti Group of northwest Zimbabwe is composed of mafic and intermediate biotite-rich gneisses interlayered with quartzofeldspathic gneisses of granitic composition, and minor sedimentary units. The gneisses have experienced a multi-staged metamorphic history, including an early high temperature-high pressure event and subsequent reworking at upper- to mid-amphibolite-facies conditions. They are positioned along the strongly deformed, southern margin of the east-west trending Zambezi Belt, and have been correlated with supracrustal gneiss units along the northern margin of the Zimbabwe Craton.The Makuti Group is characterised by an intensely developed gneissic layering and complex disharmonic folds that resulted from non-coaxial deformation involving repeated stages of transposition. The basal contact of the g roup coincides with a decrease in strain intensity, but not with a directional change of characteristic structural elements (e.g. lineations, fold axes), nor with a clear change in rock types. Pink quartzofeldspathic gneisses of granitic composition are typical for the Makuti Group, but locally intrude basement gneiss as well. The quartzofeldspathic gneisses occur as porphyritic and non-porphyritic varieties that are, invariably, intensely sheared.The age and nature of the basal contact of the Makuti Group and its relationship to the quartzofeldspathic gneisses has been investigated. Samples for single zircon PbPb dating were collected from a felsic biotite gneiss just below (2704 ± 0.3 Ma) and above (2510 ± 0.4 Ma) the lower contact of the Makuti Group at an ‘unconformity’ 2 km northwest of Vuti. Further samples were collected from pink quartzofeldspathic units at the base (737 ± 0.9 Ma), central part (764 ± 0.9 Ma; 797 ± 0.9 Ma) and top (794 ± 0.5 Ma; 854 ± 0.8 Ma) of the Makuti Group. Two samples of Kariba orthogneiss (1920 ± 0.4 and 1963 ± 0.4 Ma) underlying the Makuti Group in the northwest were also collected. In all samples, long-prismatic, colourless to brown, igneous zircon grains were selected. Dates were obtained using a stepwise single-grain evaporation technique. Although this technique only allows minimum age estimates, the dates are highly reproducible, indicating that they approximate emplacement ages. The ages conform with the field observations that the basement has been reworked in the Makuti Group and that the quartzofeldspathic units may have been emplaced as granites.It is proposed that the Makuti Group represents a crustal scale shear zone that partly reworked basement gneisses and acted as a conduit for granite emplacement. Shearing took place in an extensional setting around 800 Ma ago, and may have resulted in the exhumation of lower crustal rocks.     

New data on the metamorphic petrology of rocks from the Kuekvun uplift (Northern Chukchi Peninsula)

The metamorphic rocks of the Kuekvun uplift are gneisses and schists that developed after Mid-Paleozoic sedimentary sequences, which consist mostly of terrigenous rocks with minor amounts of intermediate to mafic igneous rocks and subordinate carbonates. Two plagiogneiss samples that were selected for detailed analysis were taken from the axial part and flanks of the uplift. The mineral paragenesis and composition of coexisting garnet, biotite, and staurolite indicate a metamorphic temperature of 560–600°C and pressure of 2.5–4 kbar, corresponding to a depth of 8–12 km. These conditions suggest a relatively high geothermal gradient (about 60°C/km), approaching that for contact metamorphic aureoles. Garnets from the axial zone and flanks of the uplift display a similar zoning pattern. The difference is the presence of compositionally contrasting Ca-rich rims in garnets from the axial zone. These rims may be either the result of zoning within the entire metamorphic complex or a late local overprint, e.g., crystallization of granitic plutons, which are common within the study area.     

Exhumation of high-pressure metamorphic rocks during crustal extension in the D'Entrecasteaux region, Papua New Guinea

Abstract The D'Entrecasteaux Islands of eastern Papua New Guinea consist of a number of active metamorphic core complexes formed under an extensional tectonic setting related to sea-floor spreading in the west Woodlark Basin. The complexes are defined by mountainous domes (>2500 m high) of fault-bounded, high-grade metamorphic rocks (including eclogite facies) intruded by 2–4-Ma granodiorite plutons. Garnet–clinopyroxene exchange thermometers indicate that the temperature of equilibration of the eclogites was 730–900° C. The jadeite component of omphacite indicates minimum pressure of 21 kbar, suggesting depths of >70 km. The metamorphic rocks have undergone widespread retrogression to amphibolite facies. Retrogression of the metamorphic basement is associated with shearing and formation of the metamorphic core complexes. P–T conditions in the early stages of shear zone activity, determined using the garnet–biotite exchange thermometer and the GASP and GRIPS barometers, were 570–730° C and 7–11 kbar. A second phase of re-equilibration at much lower pressures appears to be related to the widespread intrusion of granodiorite plutons. One re-equilibrated gneiss indicated maximum temperature of 730° C at estimated pressures of approximately 4 kbar. This late, high-temperature metamorphism is also indicated by reactions involving the production of hercynite and corundum in aluminous gneisses and formation of sillimanite at the expense of kyanite. Two major episodes of granodiorite intrusion occurred during uplift and exhumation of the core complexes. Both closely coincide spatially with high-temperature metamorphic rocks, the onset of deformation in extensional shear zones and subsequent uplift of the metamorphic basement. These observations indicate a fundamental link between uplift and granodiorite intrusion during continental extension and the formation of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands metamorphic core complexes.     

P–T and structural evolution during exhumation of high-T, medium-P basement rocks in the Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa

The P–T evolution of amphibolite facies gneisses and associated supracrustal rocks exposed along the northern margin of the Paleo to MesoArchean Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa, has been reconstructed via detailed structural analysis combined with calculated K(Mn)FMASH pseudosections of aluminous felsic schists. The granitoid‐greenstone contact is characterized by a contact‐parallel high‐strain zone that separates the generally low‐grade, greenschist facies greenstone belt from mid‐crustal basement gneisses. The supracrustal rocks in the hangingwall of this contact are metamorphosed to upper greenschist facies conditions. Supracrustal rocks and granitoid gneisses in the footwall of this contact are metamorphosed to sillimanite grade conditions (600–700 °C and 5 ± 1 kbar), corresponding to elevated geothermal gradients of ～30–40 °C km^?1. The most likely setting for these conditions was a mid‐ or lower crust that was invaded and advectively heated by syntectonic granitoids at c. 3230 Ma. Combined structural and petrological data indicate the burial of the rocks to mid‐crustal levels, followed by crustal exhumation related to the late‐ to post‐collisional extension of the granitoid‐greenstone terrane during one progressive deformation event. Exhumation and decompression commenced under amphibolite facies conditions, as indicated by the synkinematic growth of peak metamorphic minerals during extensional shearing. Derived P–T paths indicate near‐isothermal decompression to conditions of ～500–650 °C and 1–3 kbar, followed by near‐isobaric cooling to temperatures below ～500 °C. In metabasic rock types, this retrograde P–T evolution resulted in the formation of coronitic Ep‐Qtz and Act‐Qtz symplectites that are interpreted to have replaced peak metamorphic plagioclase and clinopyroxene. The last stages of exhumation are characterized by solid‐state doming of the footwall gneisses and strain localization in contact‐parallel greenschist‐facies mylonites that overprint the decompressed basement rocks.     

冀西北怀安地体高级变质表壳岩的锆石年代学研究

位于华北克拉通中部造山带中北段的怀安地体与内蒙孔兹岩带相接,出露高压麻粒岩和退变榴辉岩等多种高级变质岩,是洞悉华北克拉通古元古代构造演化历史的重要窗口。研究区变质表壳岩包括夕线石榴长英质片麻岩、石榴长英质粒状岩石以及紫苏黑云二长片麻岩。阴极发光图像特征显示研究区样品的锆石主要包括碎屑锆石和变质锆石,其中碎屑锆石具有岩浆结晶环带,而变质锆石为单颗粒或围绕着继承性碎屑锆石边部生长,内部结构均匀,Th/U比值较低。锆石LAICP-MS U-Pb定年结果与前人研究结果综合表明该区变质表壳岩石的碎屑锆石的207Pb/206Pb年龄主要集中在~2040Ma,其原岩形成时代与孔兹岩带变泥质岩石相近,均为~2.0Ga。变质锆石记录其变质时代为1957~1804Ma,结合前人对怀安地区变泥质岩和变基性岩变质作用和年代学研究结果,推测得出1.95~1.92Ga代表了峰期(高压)麻粒岩相变质时代,1.90~1.85Ga代表峰后减压阶段变质时代,而1.85~1.80Ga代表退变质晚期的时代。怀安地区变质岩石可能卷入了阴山陆块、鄂尔多斯陆块以及东部陆块间的先后碰撞造山过程,并持续较长时间(1.95~1.80Ga),最终拼贴为统一的整体。     

Kyanite-bearing rocks from the Hackett River area,N.W.T.: Implications for Archean geothermal gradients

The increase in metamorphic grade toward the Hackett River gneiss dome indicates that the structural dome is also a metamorphic culmination. In pelitic rocks east of the dome, the prograde sequence is chlorite, biotite, staurolite-cordierite, sillimanite. To the southwest the sequence is andalusite-staurolite-cordierite, sillimanite. In quartzofeldspathic gneisses which are closer to the dome than the sillimanite isograd, kyanite occurs as corroded relics, cross-cut by sillimanite and rimmed by cordierite and plagioclase.The pelites were metamorphosed under regional low-pressure conditions at the same time the quartzo-feldspathic rocks underwent higher-pressure metamorphism. A lateral variation in geothermal gradient during metamorphism is postulated to account for the change in facies-series. High heat flow beneath oceanic crust produced the low-pressure assemblages in the pelites; higher-pressure assemblages formed in a region of suppressed isotherms around a relatively cool, proto-continental trondhjemitic body. Low-pressure conditions were imposed on the kyanite-bearing gneisses during continuing metamorphism and diapiric uplift.Spatial association of late Archean kyanite-bearing rocks with early Archean sodic proto-cratons has also been noted in the Churchill and Superior Provinces of Canada as well as the Rhodesian Craton.     

Igneous pyroxenes from metamorphosed anorthosite massifs

Anorthosites, mangerites and charnockites from metamorphosed anorthosite massifs (the Adirondacks and elsewhere) commonly contain coarsely exsolved pyroxenes with substantial amounts of exsolved orthopyroxene (in clinopyroxene) and clinopyroxene (in orthopyroxene). Electron microprobe reintegration of such pyroxenes yields compositions which indicate that pigeonite and subcalcic augite coexisted before metamorphic reequilibration. Equilibration temperatures of 1100 °±100 °C for anorthosite and 1000 °C±100 °C for mangerites and charnockites are inferred from the solvus of Ross and Huebner (1975). These temperatures constrain minimum magmatic thermal conditions and suggest that the magmas were relatively dry. Exsolution lamellae of coarse pyroxenes and small equant coexisting pyroxenes (with little or no exsolution) yield temperatures of 750 °C, consistent with equilibration during granulite facies metamorphism. Relict igneous textures and compositions persisted through the metamorphic event due to dry P(H₂O) P(solid) metamorphic conditions. The reintegrated pyroxene compositions provide a window through the metamorphism and yield constraints on the pre-metamorphic igneous events.Contribution No. 340 from the Mineralogical Laboratory, Department of Geology and Mineralogy, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109, U.S.A.     

滇西腾冲地块高黎贡群变质沉积岩时代与原特提斯洋俯冲/增生：来自碎屑锆石U- Pb定年和岩石地球化学证据

滇西腾冲地块高黎贡群变质沉积岩时代和构造背景的厘定对正确认识原特提斯构造域演化过程及腾冲地块与冈瓦纳大陆之间的关系十分关键。岩石学、岩石地球化学结果表明,高黎贡群变质岩由变质沉积岩和变质岩浆岩组成,前者以片岩和副片麻岩为主,夹少量大理岩和石英岩,其原岩由一套杂砂岩、泥岩夹少量灰岩、硅质岩岩石组合,为深海-半深海相沉积物,形成于活动大陆边缘环境。碎屑锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb定年结果表明高黎贡群变质沉积岩中的锆石主要来源于与罗迪尼亚、冈瓦纳超大陆拼合及原特提斯洋俯冲有关的岩浆岩(900~1000Ma和500~600Ma),少量来源于中元古代地层(1500~1600Ma和2300~2400Ma)。4件样品中最年轻碎屑锆石群的加权平均年龄(507~510Ma)及没有出现有意义的小于470Ma碎屑锆石,表明高黎贡群变质沉积岩原岩形成于510~470Ma,是晚寒武世-早奥陶世早期原特提斯洋壳向冈瓦纳大陆下俯冲过程中,在俯冲带上盘沉积的含有大量该期火成岩碎屑的斜坡相沉积物。     

Fractionation of carbon and oxygen isotopes and magnesium between coexisting metamorphic calcite and dolomite

Fractionations of carbon and oxygen isotopes and magnesium between coexisting dolomite and calcite have been determined for marbles and calcareous schists of a wide variety of metamorphic environments from Vermont and the Grenville Province of Ontario. Concordant equilibrium fractionations are given by 83% of the samples. Calibration of the isotopic thermometers using the Mg-calcite solvus thermometer gave in the temperature range: 650°>T°>100°C $$ \begin{gathered} 1,000\ln \alpha _{D - Ct}^{O^{18} } = 0.45 (10^6 T^{ - 2} ) - 0.40 \hfill \\ 1,000\ln \alpha _{D - Ct}^{O^{18} } = 0.18 (10^6 T^{ - 2} ) + 0.17. \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ These isotopic fractionation expressions differ significantly from the experimentally derived relations, including the dolomite-Mg-calcite C¹³ partial exchange experiments of this study. Temperature ranges obtained for the metamorphic zones of Vermont are: chlorite zone, 210° to 295° C; biotite zone, 255° to 400° C; staurolite-kyanite zone, 110° to 550° C. In amphibolite-facies rocks the quenched partition relations can be complex. The temperature of quench or recrystallization may be as large as 400° C below the inferred metamorphic maximum. Oxygen isotope disequilibrium in high grade rocks, particularly from the Chester dome area, Vermont, is characterized by large negative δO _D ¹⁸ –δO _Ct ¹⁸ values. The size of the equilibrium exchange system for carbon and oxygen isotopes and magnesium is small, less than a few inches across the inferred relict bedding. This is attributed to the lack of a mobile pore fluid except in systems undergoing decarbonation. C¹³/C¹² ratios in Grenville and Vermont marbles and O¹⁸/O¹⁶ ratios in Grenville and greenschist-facies Vermont carbonates span the range of ancient limestones. Staurolite-kyanite zone calcareous schists and marbles from the Chester dome area, Vermont are depleted in O¹⁸(δO¹⁸=12 to 20‰) due to equilibrium or disequilibrium decarbonation and some partial exchange. Extrapolation of the dolomite-calcite fractionation expressions to 20° C indicates that dolomite is enriched in O¹⁸ by about 4.9‰ and in C¹³ by about 2.4‰.     

The Belomorian eclogite province: sequence of events and age of the igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Gridino association

Within the Belomorian eclogite province, near Gridino Village, rocks of different compositions (tonalite-trondhjemite-granodioritic gneisses, granites, mafic and ultramafic rocks) were metamorphosed. The metamorphism included subsidence with increasing pressure and temperature, an eclogite stage, decompression in the granulitic facies, and a retrograde stage in the amphibolitic facies. We attempted to characterize the succession and to date igneous and metamorphic events in the evolution of the Gridino eclogite association. For this purpose, we conducted the following studies: U–Pb isotope dating of zircon (conventional and SHRIMP II methods) from gneisses, a mafic dike, and a high-pressure granitic leucosome; U–Pb dating of rutile from mafic dikes; ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of amphibole and mica; and Sm–Nd studies of rocks and minerals. The Sm–Nd model ages of felsic (2.9–3.1 Ga) and mafic (3.0–3.4 Ga) rocks from the Gridino eclogite association and individual magmatic zircon grains with an age of ca. 3.0 Ga indicate the Mesoarchean age of the metamorphic-rock protoliths. The most reliable result is the upper age bound of eclogitic metamorphism (2.71 Ga), which reflects the time of the posteclogitic decompression melting of eclogitized rocks under high-pressure retrograde granulitic metamorphism. The mafic dikes formed from 2.82 Ga to 2.72 Ga, most probably, at 2.82 Ga, in accordance with the crystallization age of magmatic zircon from metagabbro. Superimposed amphibolitic metamorphism and the “final” exhumation of metamorphic complexes at 2.0–1.9 Ga are associated with the later Svecofennian tectonometamorphic stage. Successive cooling of the metamorphic associations to 300 °C at 1.9–1.7 Ga is shown by U–Pb rutile dating and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar mica dating.