The effects of porphyroblast growth on the effective viscosity of metapelitic rocks: implications for the strength of the middle crust

Numerical models are used to examine the effects of porphyroblast growth on the rheology of compositionally layered rocks (metapelites and metapsammites) and by extension the middle crust during prograde metamorphism. As porphyroblast abundance increases during prograde metamorphism, metapelitic layers will strengthen relative to porphyroblast‐free metapelitic units, and potentially relative to quartzofeldspathic metapsammitic units. As metapelitic layers become stronger, the integrated strength of compositionally layered successions increases, potentially causing large volumes of mid‐crustal rock to strengthen, altering the strain‐rate distribution in the middle crust and affecting the geodynamic evolution of an orogenic belt. The growth of effectively rigid porphyroblasts creates strength heterogeneities in the layer undergoing porphyroblast growth, which leads to complex strain‐rate distributions within the layer. At the orogen scale, the strengthening of large crustal volumes (on the order of thousands of cubic kilometres) changes the strain‐rate distribution, which may change exhumation rates of high‐grade metamorphic rocks, the geothermal structure and the topography of the orogen. The presence of a strong zone in the middle crust causes strain‐rate partitioning around the zone, suppressed uplift rates within and above the zone and leads to the development of a basin on the surface.     

Timing of metamorphism,melting and exhumation of the Leo Pargil dome,northwest India

The Leo Pargil dome, northwest India, is a 30 km‐wide, northeast‐trending structure that is cored by gneiss and mantled by amphibolite facies metamorphic rocks that are intruded by a leucogranite injection complex. Oppositely dipping, normal‐sense shear zones that accommodated orogen‐parallel extension within a convergent orogen bound the dome. The broadly distributed Leo Pargil shear zone defines the southwest flank of the dome and separates the dome from the metasedimentary and sedimentary rocks in the hanging wall to the west and south. Thermobarometry and in‐situ U–Th–Pb monazite geochronology were conducted on metamorphic rocks from within the dome and in the hanging wall. These data were combined with U–Th–Pb monazite geochronology of leucogranites from the injection complex to evaluate the relationship between metamorphism, crustal melting, and the onset of exhumation. Rocks within the dome and in the hanging wall contain garnet, kyanite, and staurolite porphyroblasts that record prograde Barrovian metamorphism during crustal thickening that reached ～530–630 °C and ～7–8 kbar, ending by c. 30 Ma. Cordierite and sillimanite overgrowths on Barrovian assemblages within the dome record dominantly top‐down‐to‐the‐west shearing during near‐isothermal decompression of the footwall rocks to ～4 kbar by 23 Ma during an exhumation rate of 1.3 mm year^?1. Monazite growth accompanied Barrovian metamorphism and decompression. The leucogranite injection complex within the dome initiated at 23 Ma and continued to 18 Ma. These data show that orogen‐parallel extension in this part of the Himalaya occurred earlier than previously documented (>16 Ma). Contemporaneous onset of near‐isothermal decompression, top‐down‐to‐the‐west shearing, and injection of the decompression‐driven leucogranite complex suggests that early crustal melting may have created a weakened crust that was proceeded by localization of strain and shear zone development. Exhumation along the shear zone accommodated decompression by 23 Ma in a kinematic setting that favoured orogen‐parallel extension.     

Dynamics of Saxothuringian subduction channel/wedge constrained by phase‐equilibria modelling and micro‐fabric analysis

Subduction and exhumation dynamics can be investigated through analysis of metamorphic and deformational evolution of associated high‐grade rocks. The Erzgebirge anticline, which forms at the boundary between the Saxothuringian and Teplá‐Barrandian domains of the Bohemian Massif, provides a useful study area for these processes owing to the occurrence of numerous meta‐basites preserving eclogite facies assemblages, and coesite and diamond bearing quartzofeldspathic lithologies indicating subduction to deep mantle depths. The prograde and retrograde evolution of meta‐basite from the Czech portion of the Erzgebirge anticline has been constrained through a combination of thermodynamic modelling and conventional thermobarometry. Garnet growth zoning indicates that the rocks underwent burial and heating to peak conditions of 2.6 GPa and at least 615 °C. Initial exhumation occurred with concurrent cooling and decompression resulting in the growth of amphibole and zoisite poikiloblasts overgrowing and including the eclogite facies assemblage. The development of clinopyroxene–plagioclase–amphibole symplectites after omphacite and Al‐rich rims on matrix amphibole indicate later heating at the base of the lower crust. Omphacite microstructures, in particular grain size analysis and lattice‐preferred orientations, indicate that the prograde evolution was characterized by a constrictional strain geometry transitioning into plane strain and oblate fabrics during exhumation. The initial constrictional strain pattern is interpreted as being controlled by competing slab pull and crustal buoyancy forces leading to necking of the subducting slab. The transition to plane strain and flattening geometries represents transfer of material from the subducting lithosphere into a subduction channel, break‐off of the dense slab and rebound of the buoyant crustal material.     

Exhumation of the Tauern window,Eastern Alps

The exhumation of metamorphic domes within orogenic belts is exemplified by the Tauern window in the Eastern Alps. There, the exhumation is related to partitioning of final orogenic shortening into deep-seated thrusts, near-surface antiformal bending forming brachyanticlines, and almost orogen-parallel strike-slip faults due to oblique continental plate collision. Crustal thickening by formation of an antiformal stack within upper to middle crustal portions of the lower lithosphere is a prerequisite of late-stage orogenic window formation. Low-angle normal faults at releasing steps of crustal-scale strike-slip faults accomodate tectonic unloading of synchronously thickened crust and extension along strike of the orogen, forming pull-apart metamorphic domes. Initiation of low-angle normal faults is largely controlled by rock rheology, especially at the brittle-ductile transitional level within the lithosphere. Several mechanisms may contribute to uplift and exhumation of previously buried crust within such a setting: (1) Shortening along deep-seated blind thrusts results in the formation of brachyanticlines and bending of metamorphic isograds; (2) oversteps of strike-slip faults within the wrench zone control the final geometry of the window; (3) unloading by tectonic unroofing and erosional denudation; and (4) vertical extrusion of crustal scale wedges. Rapid decompression of previously buried crust results in nearly isothermal exhumation paths, and enhanced fluid circulation along subvertical tensile fractures (hydrothermal ore and silicate veins) that formed due to overall coaxial stretching of lower plate crust.     

Exhumation of high-pressure rocks: a review of concepts and processes

The exhumation of high-pressure metamorphic rocks requires either the removal of the overburden that caused the high pressures, or the transport of the metamorphic rocks through the overburden. Exhumation cannot be achieved simply by thrusting or strike-slip faulting. It may be caused by erosion of shortened and thickened crust, but this is unlikely to be the only mechanism for exhuming rocks from depths greater than about 20 km. One or more of the following additional mechanisms may be involved. 1 Corner flow of low-viscosity material trapped between the upper and lower plates in a subduction zone can cause upward flow of deeply buried rock, and may explain some occurrences of high-pressure tectonic blocks in mélange. This process does not, however, appear to be adequate to explain the exhumation of regional high-pressure terrains. 2 Buoyancy forces acting directly on metamorphic rock bodies may cause them to rise relative to more dense surroundings. This is likely to be the most important mechanism of exhumation of crustal rocks subducted into the mantle, but cannot explain the emplacement of coherent tracts of high-density metamorphic rock into shallow crustal levels. Some high-pressure blocks emplaced at shallow levels in accretionary terrains may have been entrained in diapiric intrusions of low-density mud or serpentinite. 3 Extension driven by the forces associated with contrasts in surface elevation may explain the exhumation and structural setting of many high-pressure terrains. Extension may occur in the upper part of an accretionary wedge thickened by underplating; or it may affect the whole lithosphere in a region of intracontinental convergence, if surface elevation has been increased by the removal of a lithospheric root. In the second case extension may be accompanied by magmatism and an evolution towards higher temperature during decompression of the metamorphic terrain.     

超高压变质岩的塑性流变学

岩石流变作用是大陆造山作用的基本特征,超高压岩石的形成和折返过程也是大陆深俯冲带内物质的复杂流变过程。要深入理解大陆造山带的造山作用和大陆壳岩石的深俯冲和折返动力学过程,必须对大陆地壳及地幔岩石的流变学进行深入研究。岩石圈流变学的主要研究内容主要包括流变学分层性、变形分解和应变局部化及大陆壳岩石部分熔融作用的流变学效应等。应用岩石圈流变学的基本原理和方法,分析了大别-苏鲁超高压变质带中超高压变质岩的塑性流变特点,探讨了超高压变质岩形成和折返过程的塑性流变学。     

Prograde high- to ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism and exhumation of oceanic sediments at Lago di Cignana, Zermatt-Saas Zone, western Alps

Pelagic metasediments and MORB-type metabasalts of the former Tethyan oceanic crust at Cignana, Valtournanche, Italy, experienced UHP metamorphism and subsequent exhumation during the Early to Late Tertiary. Maximum PT conditions attained during UHP metamorphism were 600–630 °C, 2.7–2.9 GPa, which resulted in the formation of coesite-glaucophane-eclogites in the basaltic layer and of garnet-dolomite-aragonite-lawsonite-coesite-phengite-bearing calc-schists and garnet-phengite-coesite-schists with variable amounts of epidote, talc, dolomite, Na-pyroxene and Na-amphibole in the overlying metasediments. During subduction the rocks followed a prograde HP/UHP path which in correspondance with the Jurassic age of the Tethyan crust reflects the thermal influence of relatively old and cold lithosphere and of low to moderate shear heating. Inflections on the prograde metamorphic path may correspond to thermal effects that arise from a decrease in shear heating due to brittle-plastic transition in the quartz-aragonite-dominated rocks, induced convection in the asthenospheric mantle wedge and/or heat consumption by endothermic reactions over a restricted PT segment during subduction. After detachment from the downgoing slab some 50–70 Ma before present, the Cignana crustal slice was first exhumed to ca. 60 km and concomitantly cooled to ca. 550 °C, tracing back the UHP/HP prograde path displaced by 50–80 °C to higher temperatures. Exhumation at this stage is likely to have occurred in the Benioff zone, while the subduction of cool lithosphere was going on. Subsequently, the rocks were near-isothermally exhumed to ca. 30 km, followed by concomitant decompression and cooling to surface conditions (at < 500 °C, < 1 GPa). During this last stage the UHPM slice arrived at its present tectonic position with respect to the overlying greenschist-facies Combin zone. In contrast to the well-preserved HP/UHPM record of the coesite-glaucophane eclogites, the HP/UHP assemblages of the metasediments have been largely obliterated during exhumation. Relics from which the metamorphic evolution of the rocks during prograde HP metamorphism and the UHP stage can be retrieved are restricted to rigid low-diffusion minerals like garnet, dolomite, tourmaline and apatite.     

An overview of the metamorphic evolution in Central Nepal

This paper summarizes the studies of the metamorphic evolution of Central Nepal carried out by Nepali and international teams in the last 25 years. In Central Nepal, three metamorphic units are recognized. (1) The southernmost zone is the Lesser Himalaya, which is characterised by an inverted mineral zoning towards the Main Central Thrust (MCT) zone; (2) the Kathmandu nappe corresponds to an early (<22 Ma) out-of-sequence thrusting zone over the Lesser Himalaya along the Mahabharat thrust (MT) and is characterised by a Barrovian metamorphic evolution; (3) the Higher Himalayan Crystalline unit (HHC) is bounded at its base by the MCT and at its top by the South Tibetan Detachment system (STDS). It is characterised by successive tectonometamorphic episodes during the period spanning from 35–36 Ma to 2–3 Ma. Recent investigations suggest that the apparent metamorphic inversion througout the MCT zone does not reflect geothermal inversion. Instead, these investigations suggest successive cooling of the HHC along the MCT and the local preservation, above the MCT, of high-grade metamorphic rocks. The overall metamorphic history in Central Nepal from Oligocene to Pliocene, reflects the thermal reequilibration of rocks after thickening by conductive and advective heating and partial melting of the middle crust.     

Contrasting metamorphic evolution of metasedimentary rocks from the Çine and Selimiye nappes in the Anatolide belt, western Turkey

Abstract P–T conditions, mineral isograds, the relation of the latter to foliation planes and kinematic indicators are used to elucidate the tectonic nature and evolution of a shear zone in an orogen exhumed from mid‐crustal depths in western Turkey. Furthermore, we discuss whether simple monometamorphic fabrics of rock units from different nappes result from one single orogeny or are related to different orogenies. Metasedimentary rocks from the Çine and Selimiye nappes at the southern rim of the Anatolide belt of western Turkey record different metamorphic evolutions. The Eocene Selimiye shear zone separates both nappes. Metasedimentary rocks from the Çine nappe underneath the Selimiye shear zone record maximum P–T conditions of about 7 kbar and >550 °C. Metasedimentary rocks from the overlying Selimiye nappe have maximum P–T conditions of 4 kbar and c. 525 °C near the base of the nappe. Kinematic indicators in both nappes are related to movement on the Selimiye shear zone and consistently show a top‐S shear sense. Metamorphic grade in the Selimiye nappe decreases structurally upwards as indicated by mineral isograds defining the garnet‐chlorite zone at the base, the chloritoid‐biotite zone and the biotite‐chlorite zone at the top of the nappe. The mineral isograds in the Selimiye nappe run parallel to the regional S_R foliation, parallel the Selimiye shear zone and indicate that the Selimiye shear zone formed during this prograde greenschist to lower amphibolite facies metamorphic event but remained active after the peak of metamorphism. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar mica ages and the tectonometamorphic relationship with the Eocene Cyclades–Menderes thrust, which occurs above the Selimiye nappe in the study area, suggests an Eocene age of metamorphism in the Selimiye nappe. Metasedimentary rocks of the Çine nappe 20–30 km north of the Selimiye shear zone record maximum P–T conditions of 8–11 kbar and 600–650 °C. An age of about 550 Ma is indicated for amphibolite facies metamorphism and associated top‐N shear in the orthogneiss of the Çine nappe. Our study shows that simple monophase tectonometamorphic fabrics do not always indicate a simple orogenic development of a nappe stack. Preservation in some areas and complete overprinting of those fabrics in other areas apparently occur very heterogeneously.     

Field report: Sailing around the exhumed roots of the Mesozoic Patagonian paleo-accretionary wedge(Diego de Almagro Island,Chile)

We undertook a boat expedition to explore the geological framework of a very remote, lesser-known island, in the Chilean Patagonia: the Diego de Almagro Island(latitude S51°330'). This uninhabited, ca.400 km~2 Island is one of the very rare exposures of the Mesozoic accretionary subduction complex along the Chilean margin. Unstable weather, strong winds, steep topography, and very dense vegetation make an on-land mission difficult. Careful preparation based on high-resolution satellite images is advised to optimize shore access and minimize risks of injury. Despite a relatively important degree of regional reequilibration of metamorphic assemblages due to sluggish exhumation through the forearc crust, our results have shown that the island is composed of a nappe stack of ocean-floor derived slivers of metasedimentary units that exhibit very different pressure-temperature-time paths during burial by subduction under the Chilean margin and subsequent exhumation. These rocks are witness to a complex thermal evolution of the subduction zone between Jurassic and Cretaceous times from granulite facies to blueschist facies conditions as well as multiple episodes of accretion at ca. 35 -40 km in depth for almost100 Ma over the Mesozoic era.     

Nappe stacking and first evidence of Late Variscan extension in the Belledonne Massif (External Crystalline Massifs,French Alps)

Abstract

In the southwestern part of the Belledonne Massif (External Crystalline Massifs, French Alps), superimposition of three distinct crustal units has been interpreted as the consequence of Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous thrusting toward the ENE under typical collisional metamorphic conditions (9–7 kbar, 600–650 °C). Structural relationships between the different units and the kinematic analysis of microstructures suggest that ductile extensional tectonics with a sinistral component towards the southwest is responsible for the late structure of this domain. Extensional tectonics are responsible for the exhumation of the deep level of the nappe pile (Allemont unit) that recorded an earlier HP-LT tectonometamorphic evolution (10 ± 1 kbar, 550 ± 50 °C) and for the syn-kinematic adiabatic decompression path recorded in the two lowest units (Livet and Allemont). Such isothermal decompression may have been related to rapid thinning (~ 3mm y^?1) and led to local decompressional melting at the base of the nappe pile. The thinning is best explained by extensional tectonics processes affecting the previously thickened Variscan crust during the Upper Carboniferous prior to its restoration to normal thickness. © Elsevier, Paris     

喜马拉雅造山带的部分熔融与淡色花岗岩成因机制

喜马拉雅造山带核部由高级变质岩和淡色花岗岩组成,是研究大陆碰撞造山带部分熔融与花岗岩成因的天然实验室.基于最新研究成果,探讨了喜马拉雅造山带核部变质作用的条件、类型以及P-T轨迹、部分熔融的方式与程度及熔体成分以及变质作用与部分熔融的时间和持续过程.相关证据表明,造山带核部经历了高压麻粒岩相至榴辉岩相变质作用,具有以增温增压进变质和近等温降压退变质为特征的顺时针型P-T轨迹.这些高压变质岩石发生了长期持续的高温变质与部分熔融.在泥质岩石的进变质过程中白云母和黑云母脱水熔融可以形成不同成分的熔体.同时,总结了淡色花岗岩的形成时间、地球化学特征和源区熔融方式,结果表明碰撞造山过程中加厚下地壳的脱水熔融形成了喜马拉雅造山带的淡色花岗岩.      

Crustal thickening and ductile extension in the NE Greenland Caledonides: a metamorphic record from anatectic pelites

Caledonian orogenesis in NE Greenland resulted from the collision of Laurentia and Baltica during the Ordovician–Silurian. Anatectic pelites within the metasedimentary Smallefjord Sequence record a clockwise P – T  path, the result of early crustal thickening at c . 445–440 Ma and subsequent exhumation of the high-grade metamorphic core by a combination of ductile extension and tectonic denudation. The early prograde segment of the path followed a shallow, near-isothermal trajectory and attained a metamorphic peak of c . 9.0–10.0 kbar at >790 and <850 °C. Prograde metamorphism initiated anatexis of pelites in the kyanite stability field and continued with sillimanite stable. Inclusion trails in the garnet cores are textural remnants of early deformation, which occurred either before or during prograde metamorphism. The peak metamorphic conditions are anomalously high in the context of thermal models and P – T  paths for continental collision zones. The additional heat input required to promote migmatization may have been provided by advection as lower crustal high-pressure rocks and the uppermost mantle were uplifted following lithospheric thinning at an early stage in the orogeny. The prograde path was interrupted by the development of retrograde extensional shear fabrics defined by biotite+sillimanite and associated with garnet breakdown. Field observations indicate that ductile extension was accompanied by melt extraction, transport and emplacement of intracrustal granites dated at c . 430 Ma. Regional ductile extension and exhumation probably resulted from the development of gravitational instabilities within the overthickened crust during continental collision.     

Main Uralian Thrust and Main Uralian Normal Fault: non-extensional Palaeozoic high-P rock exhumation, oblique collision, and normal faulting in the Southern Urals

The crustal architecture of the Southern Urals is dominated by an orogenic wedge thrusted westward upon the subducted East European continental margin. The N–S trending wedge constitutes an antiformal stack composed mainly of the high-P Maksyutov Complex, the overlying Suvanyak Complex and the allochthonous synformal Zilair flysch further west. These tectono-metamorphic units are separated by tectonic contacts and record discontinously decreasing metamorphic conditions from bottom to top. In the east, the E-dipping Main Uralian Normal Fault cross-cuts the metamorphic footwall and juxtaposes the non metamorphic Magnitogorsk island arc. This syncollisional normal fault compensated crustal thickening and exhumation of the high-P rocks. Orogenic shortening was accommodated by the Main Uralian Thrust, a W-vergent crustal-scale shear zone at the base of the wedge. Geological investigations and reflection seismics (URSEIS '95) argue in favour of a geodynamic evolution integrating subduction and basal accretion of high-P rocks during sinistral oblique thrusting along the Main Uralian Thrust and coeval normal-faulting along the Main Uralian Normal Fault.     

Nappe stacking and first evidence of Late Variscan extension in the Belledonne Massif (External Crystalline Massifs,French Alps)

In the southwestern part of the Belledonne Massif (External Crystalline Massifs, French Alps), superimposition of three distinct crustal units has been interpreted as the consequence of Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous thrusting toward the ENE under typical collisional metamorphic conditions (9-7 kbar, 600–650 °C). Structural relationships between the different units and the kinematic analysis of microstructures suggest that ductile extensional tectonics with a sinistral component towards the southwest is responsible for the late structure of this domain. Extensional tectonics are responsible for the exhumation of the deep level of the nappe pile (Allemont unit) that recorded an earlier HP-LT tectonometamorphic evolution ( 10 ± 1 kbar, 550 ± 50 °C and for the syn-kinematic adiabatic decompression path recorded in the two lowest units (Livet and Allemont). Such isothermal decompression may have been related to rapid thinning (~ 3mm y⁻¹) and led to local decompressional melting at the base of the nappe pile. The thinning is best explained by extensional tectonics processes affecting the previously thickened Variscan crust during the Upper Carboniferous prior to its restoration to normal thickness.     

Subduction and exhumation mechanisms of ultra‐high and high‐pressure oceanic and continental crust at Makbal (Tianshan,Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan)

The Makbal Complex in the northern Tianshan of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan consists of metasedimentary rocks, which host high‐P (HP) mafic blocks and ultra‐HP Grt‐Cld‐Tlc schists (UHP as indicated by coesite relicts in garnet). Whole rock major and trace element signatures of the Grt‐Cld‐Tlc schist suggest a metasomatized protolith from either hydrothermally altered oceanic crust in a back‐arc basin or arc‐related volcaniclastics. Peak metamorphic conditions of the Grt‐Cld‐Tlc schist reached ~580 °C and 2.85 GPa corresponding to a maximum burial depth of ~95 km. A Sm‐Nd garnet age of 475 ± 4 Ma is interpreted as an average growth age of garnet during prograde‐to‐peak metamorphism; the low initial εΝd value of ?11 indicates a protolith with an ancient crustal component. The petrological evidence for deep subduction of oceanic crust poses questions with respect to an effective exhumation mechanism. Field relationships and the metamorphic evolution of other HP mafic oceanic rocks embedded in continentally derived metasedimentary rocks at the central Makbal Complex suggest that fragments of oceanic crust and clastic sedimentary rocks were exhumed from different depths in a subduction channel during ongoing subduction and are now exposed as a tectonic mélange. Furthermore, channel flow cannot only explain a tectonic mélange consisting of various rock types with different subduction histories as present at the central Makbal Complex, but also the presence of a structural ‘dome’ with UHP rocks in the core (central Makbal) surrounded by lower pressure nappes (including mafic dykes in continental crust) and voluminous metasedimentary rocks, mainly derived from the accretionary wedge.     

Metamorphism and deformation at different structural levels in a strike-slip fault zone, Ross Lake fault, North Cascades, USA

Continental crust is displaced in strike-slip fault zones through lateral and vertical movement that together drive burial and exhumation. Pressure – temperature–deformation ( P–T–d ) histories of orogenic crust exhumed in transcurrent zones record the mechanisms and conditions of these processes. The Skagit Gneiss Complex, a migmatitic unit of the North Cascades, Washington (USA), was metamorphosed at depths of ∼25–30 km in a continental arc under contraction, and is bounded on its eastern side by the long-lived transcurrent Ross Lake fault zone (RLFZ). The P–T–d conditions recorded by rocks on either side of the RLFZ vary along the length of the fault zone, but most typically the fault separates high-grade gneiss and plutons from lower-grade rocks. The Ruby Mt–Elijah Ridge area at the eastern margin of the Skagit Gneiss exposes tectonic contacts between gneiss and overlying rocks; the latter rocks, including slivers of Methow basin deposits, are metamorphosed and record higher-grade metamorphism than in correlative rocks along strike along the RLFZ. In this area, the Skagit Gneiss and overlying units all yield maximum P–T conditions of 8–10 kbar at >650 °C, indicating that slices of basin rocks were buried to similar mid-crustal depths as the gneiss. After exhumation of fault zone rocks to <15 km depth, intrusion of granitoid plutons drove contact metamorphism, resulting in texturally late andalusite–cordierite in garnet schist. In the Elijah Ridge area of the RLFZ, an overlapping step-over or series of step-overs that evolved through time may have facilitated burial and exhumation of a deep slice of the Methow basin, indicating that strike-slip faults can have major vertical displacement (tens of kilometres) that is significant during the crustal thickening and exhumation stages of orogeny.     

南阿尔金高压-超高温麻粒岩变质作用:大陆地壳超深俯冲与折返过程的记录

南阿尔金造山带是目前报道的具有最深俯冲记录的大陆超高压变质带,其内出露有高压-超高温麻粒岩,它们对深入理解大陆地壳岩石超深俯冲与折返过程具有重要意义.介绍了对南阿尔金巴什瓦克地区长英质麻粒岩和基性麻粒岩的岩相学、矿物化学、相平衡模拟及锆石U-Pb年代学研究成果.其中基性麻粒岩主要记录了深俯冲大陆地壳折返过程的变质演化:包括高压榴辉岩相、高压-超高温麻粒岩相、低压-超高温麻粒岩相及随后的近等压降温演化阶段;长英质麻粒岩除了记录与基性麻粒岩相似的折返过程外,还记录了从角闪岩相到超高压榴辉岩相的进变质演化过程.结合已有研究资料,确定超高压榴辉岩阶段峰期条件> 7~9 GPa和>1 000℃,可达到斯石英稳定域.锆石年代学显示两种岩石类型的原岩和变质年龄均分别在900 Ma和500 Ma左右.变质作用与年代学研究表明,南阿尔金大陆地壳岩石在早古生代发生超深俯冲至200~300 km后,折返至加厚地壳底部发生高压-超高温变质作用,随后被快速抬升至地壳浅部发生低压-超高温变质作用并经历迅速冷却.      

Multi-Layered Low-Angle Ductile Detachment System in Dabie-Sulu UHPM and HPM Belts,China

INTRODUCTIoNTheDabie-Suluregion,Chinahasbeenrecognizedasthelargestultrahigh-pressuremetamorphic(UHPM)(peakp>2.7GPa)andHPMbeltsintheworld,andattractedexten-siveinterestfrominternationalgeoscientists.AwealthofpublicationsexistsabouttheoccurrenceofUHPMindexmin-erals,thegeochronology,metamorphicPTpaths,andthelarge-scaleconceptualtectonicevolutionofUHPMandhigh-pressuremetamorphic(HPM)rocksintheDabie-Suluregion.Morerecentoverviewsaregiven'byErnstetal.(1995),Liouetal.(l996),andHackere…     

大陆俯冲带超高压变质岩部分熔融与壳幔相互作用研究进展

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