The field and microstructural signatures of deformation‐assisted melt transfer: Insights from magmatic arc lower crust,New Zealand

Melt must transfer through the lower crust, yet the field signatures and mechanisms involved in such transfer zones (excluding dykes) are still poorly understood. We report field and microstructural evidence of a deformation‐assisted melt transfer zone that developed in the lower crustal magmatic arc environment of Fiordland, New Zealand. A 30–40 m wide hornblende‐rich body comprising hornblende ± clinozoisite and/or garnet exhibits 'igneous‐like' features and is hosted within a metamorphic, two‐pyroxene–pargasite gabbroic gneiss (GG). Previous studies have interpreted the hornblende‐rich body as an igneous cumulate or a mass transfer zone. We present field and microstructural characteristics supporting the later and indicating the body has formed by deformation‐assisted, channelized, reactive porous melt flow. The host granulite facies GG contains distinctive rectilinear dykes and garnet reaction zones (GRZ) from earlier in the geological history; these form important reaction and strain markers. Field observations show that the mineral assemblages and microstructures of the GG and GRZ are progressively modified with proximity to the hornblende‐rich body. At the same time, GRZ bend systematically into the hornblende‐rich body on each side of the unit, showing apparent sinistral shearing. Within the hornblende‐rich body itself, microstructures and electron back‐scatter diffraction mapping show evidence of the former presence of melt including observations consistent with melt crystallization within pore spaces, elongate pseudomorphs of melt films along grain boundaries, minerals with low dihedral angles as small as <10° and up to <60°, and interconnected 3D melt pseudomorph networks. Reaction microstructures with highly irregular contact boundaries are observed at the field and thin‐section scale in remnant islands of original rock and replaced grains, respectively. We infer that the hornblende‐rich body was formed by modification of the host GG in situ due to reaction between an externally derived, reactive, hydrous gabbroic to intermediate melt percolating via porous melt flow through an actively deforming zone. Extensive melt–rock interaction and metasomatism occurred via coupled dissolution–precipitation, triggered by chemical disequilibrium between the host rock and the fluxing melt. As a result, the host plagioclase and pyroxene became unstable and were reacted and dissolved into the melt, while hornblende and to a lesser extent clinozoisite and garnet grew replacing the unstable phases. Our study shows that hornblendite rocks commonly observed within deep crustal sections, and attributed to cumulate fractionation processes, may instead delineate areas of deformation‐assisted, channelized reactive porous melt flow formed by melt‐mediated coupled dissolution–precipitation replacement reactions.     

Microstructural and metamorphic evolution of a high‐pressure granitic orthogneiss during continental subduction (Orlica–Śnieżnik dome,Bohemian Massif)

A microstructural and metamorphic study of a naturally deformed medium‐ to high‐pressure granitic orthogneiss (Orlica–?nie?nik dome, Bohemian Massif) provides evidence of behaviour of the felsic crust during progressive burial along a subduction‐type apparent thermal gradient (～10 °C km^?1). The granitic orthogneisses develops three distinct microstructural types, as follows: type I – augen orthogneiss, type II – banded orthogneiss and type III – mylonitic orthogneiss, each representing an evolutionary stage of a progressively deformed granite. Type I orthogneiss is composed of partially recrystallized K‐feldspar porphyroclasts surrounded by wide fronts of myrmekite, fully recrystallized quartz aggregates and interconnected monomineralic layers of recrystallized plagioclase. Compositional layering in the type II orthogneiss is defined by plagioclase‐ and K‐feldspar‐rich layers, both of which show an increasing proportion of interstitial minerals, as well as the deformation of recrystallized myrmekite fronts. Type III orthogneiss shows relicts of quartz and K‐feldspar ribbons preserved in a fine‐grained polymineralic matrix. All three types have the same assemblage (quartz + plagioclase + K‐feldspar + muscovite + biotite + garnet + sphene ± ilmenite), but show systematic variations in the composition of muscovite and garnet from types I to III. This is consistent with the equilibration of the three types at different positions along a prograde P?T path ranging from <15 kbar and <700 °C (type I orthogneiss) to 19–20 kbar and >700 °C (types II and III orthogneisses). The deformation types thus do not represent evolutionary stages of a highly partitioned deformation at constant P?T conditions, but reflect progressive formation during the burial of the continental crust. The microstructures of the type I and type II orthogneisses result from the dislocation creep of quartz and K‐feldspar whereas a grain boundary sliding‐dominated diffusion creep regime is the characteristic of the type III orthogneiss. Strain weakening related to the transition from type I to type II microstructures was enhanced by the recrystallization of wide myrmekite fronts, and plagioclase and quartz, and further weakening and strain localization in type III orthogneiss occurred via grain boundary sliding‐enhanced diffusion creep. The potential role of incipient melting in strain localization is discussed.     

Evidence for melt migration enhancing recrystallization of metastable assemblages in mafic lower crust, Fiordland, New Zealand

A major arc batholith, the Western Fiordland Orthogneiss (WFO) in Fiordland, New Zealand, exhibits irregular, spatially restricted centimetre-scale recrystallization from two-pyroxene hornblende granulite to garnet granulite flanking felsic dykes. At Lake Grave, northern Fiordland, the composition and texture of narrow (<10–20 mm across) felsic dykes that cut the orthogneiss are consistent with an igneous origin and injection of melt to form orthogneiss migmatite. New U–Pb geochronology suggests that the injection of dykes and migmatization occurred at c . 115 Ma, during the later stages of arc magmatism. Recrystallization to garnet granulite is promoted by volatile extraction from the host two-pyroxene hornblende granulite via adjacent dykes and the patchy development of garnet granulite is left as a marker adjacent to the melt migration path. New mineral equilibria modelling suggests that a two-pyroxene hornblende assemblage is stable at <11 kbar, whereas a garnet granulite assemblage is stable at >12 kbar, suggesting that garnet granulite may have formed with <5 km crustal loading of the batholith. Although the garnet granulite assemblages signify that the WFO experienced high- P conditions, the very local nature of these textures indicates widespread metastability (>90%) of the two-pyroxene hornblende granulite assemblages. These results indicate the strongly metastable nature of assemblages in mafic lower arc crust during deep burial and demonstrate that the degree of reaction in the case of Fiordland is related to interaction with migrating melts.     

Deformation-enhanced metamorphic reactions and the rheology of high-pressure shear zones, Western Gneiss Region, Norway

Microstructural and petrological analysis of samples with increasing strain in high‐pressure (HP) shear zones from the Haram garnet corona gabbro give insights into the deformation mechanisms of minerals, rheological properties of the shear zone and the role of deformation in enhancing metamorphic reactions. Scanning electron microscopy with electron backscattering diffraction (SEM–EBSD), compositional mapping and petrographic analysis were used to evaluate the nature of deformation in both reactants and products associated with eclogitization. Plagioclase with a shape‐preferred orientation that occurs in the interior part of layers in the mylonitic sample deformed by intracrystalline glide on the (0 0 1)[1 0 0] slip system. In omphacite, crystallographic preferred orientations indicate slip on (1 0 0)[0 0 1] and (1 1 0)[0 0 1] during deformation. Fine‐grained garnet deformed by diffusion creep and grain‐boundary sliding. Ilmenite deformed by dislocation glide on the basal and, at higher strains, prism planes in the a direction. Relationships among the minerals present and petrological analysis indicate that deformation and metamorphism in the shear zones began at 500–650 °C and 0.5–1.4 GPa and continued during prograde metamorphism to ultra‐high‐pressure (UHP) conditions. Both products and reactants show evidence of syn‐ and post‐kinematic growth indicating that prograde reactions continued after strain was partitioned away. The restriction of post‐kinematic growth to narrow regions at the interface of garnet and plagioclase and preservation of earlier syn‐kinematic microstructures in older parts layers that were involved in reactions during deformation show that diffusion distances were significantly shortened when strain was partitioned away, demonstrating that deformation played an important role in enhancing metamorphic reactions. Two important consequences of deformation observed in these shear zones are: (i) the homogenization of chemical composition gradients occurred by mixing and grain‐boundary migration and (ii) composition changes in zoned metamorphic garnet by lengthening diffusion distances. The application of experimental flow laws to the main phases present in nearly monomineralic layers yield upper limits for stresses of 100–150 MPa and lower limits for strain rates of 10^?12 to 10^?13 s^?1 as deformation conditions for the shear zones in the Haram gabbro that were produced during subduction of the Baltica craton and resulted in the production of HP and UHP metamorphic rocks.     

Origin of migmatites by deformation-enhanced melt infiltration of orthogneiss: a new model based on quantitative microstructural analysis

A detailed field study reveals a gradual transition from high‐grade solid‐state banded orthogneiss via stromatic migmatite and schlieren migmatite to irregular, foliation‐parallel bodies of nebulitic migmatite within the eastern part of the Gföhl Unit (Moldanubian domain, Bohemian Massif). The orthogneiss to nebulitic migmatite sequence is characterized by progressive destruction of well‐equilibrated banded microstructure by crystallization of new interstitial phases (Kfs, Pl and Qtz) along feldspar boundaries and by resorption of relict feldspar and biotite. The grain size of all felsic phases decreases continuously, whereas the population density of new phases increases. The new phases preferentially nucleate along high‐energy like–like boundaries causing the development of a regular distribution of individual phases. This evolutionary trend is accompanied by a decrease in grain shape preferred orientation of all felsic phases. To explain these data, a new petrogenetic model is proposed for the origin of felsic migmatites by melt infiltration from an external source into banded orthogneiss during deformation. In this model, infiltrating melt passes pervasively along grain boundaries through the whole‐rock volume and changes completely its macro‐ and microscopic appearance. It is suggested that the individual migmatite types represent different degrees of equilibration between the host rock and migrating melt during exhumation. The melt topology mimicked by feldspar in banded orthogneiss forms elongate pockets oriented at a high angle to the compositional banding, indicating that the melt distribution was controlled by the deformation of the solid framework. The microstructure exhibits features compatible with a combination of dislocation creep and grain boundary sliding deformation mechanisms. The migmatite microstructures developed by granular flow accompanied by melt‐enhanced diffusion and/or melt flow. However, an AMS study and quartz microfabrics suggest that the amount of melt present did not exceed a critical threshold during the deformation to allow free movements of grains.     

Garnet crystal plasticity in the continental crust,new example from south Madagascar

Garnet (10 vol.%; pyrope contents 34–44 mol.%) hosted in quartzofeldspathic rocks within a large vertical shear zone of south Madagascar shows a strong grain‐size reduction (from a few cm to ～300 μm). Electron back‐scattered diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscope imaging coupled with quantitative analysis of digitized images (PolyLX software) have been used in order to understand the deformation mechanisms associated with this grain‐size evolution. The garnet grain‐size reduction trend has been summarized in a typological evolution (from Type I to Type IV). Type I, the original porphyroblasts, form cm‐sized elongated grains that crystallized upon multiple nucleation and coalescence following biotite breakdown: biotite + sillimanite + quartz = garnet + alkali feldspar + rutile + melt. These large garnet grains contain quartz ribbons and sillimanite inclusions. Type I garnet is sheared along preferential planes (sillimanite layers, quartz ribbons and/or suitably oriented garnet crystallographic planes) producing highly elongated Type II garnet grains marked by a single crystallographic orientation. Further deformation leads to the development of a crystallographic misorientation, subgrains and new grains resulting in Type III garnet. Associated grain‐size reduction occurs via subgrain rotation recrystallization accompanied by fast diffusion‐assisted dislocation glide. This plastic deformation of garnet is associated with efficient recovery as shown by the very low dislocation densities (10¹⁰ m^?3 or lower). The rounded Type III garnet experiences rigid body rotation in fine‐grained matrix. In the highly deformed samples, the deformation mechanisms in garnet are grain‐size‐ and shape‐dependent: dislocation creep is dominant for the few large grains left (>1 mm; Type II garnet), rigid body rotation is typical for the smaller rounded grains (300 μm or less; Type III garnet) whereas diffusion creep may affect more elliptic garnet (Type IV garnet). The P–T conditions of garnet plasticity in the continental crust (≥950 °C; 11 kbar) have been identified using two‐feldspar thermometry and GASP conventional barometry. The garnet microstructural and deformation mechanisms evolution, coupled with grain‐size decrease in a fine‐grained steady‐state microstructure of quartz, alkali feldspar and plagioclase, suggests a separate mechanical evolution of garnet with respect to felsic minerals within the shear zone.     

Coseismic formation of eclogite facies cataclasite dykes at Yangkou in the Chinese Su‐Lu UHP metamorphic belt

Eclogite facies cataclasite is recognized at Yangkou in the Chinese Su‐Lu ultrahigh‐P metamorphic belt. The cataclasite dykes (5?15 cm wide) are bounded by mylonite/ultramylonite zones, cutting through unfoliated metagabbro and/or eclogite. The cataclasite veins (generally 2–4 cm wide) are free of mylonite boundary zones, cutting through the foliation of the high‐P host rock. The dykes and veins are dominated by eclogite fragments consisting of debris of omphacite, garnet, quartz, phengite and kyanite, in a matrix of variable amounts of a schist rich in quartz, phengite and kyanite. Garnet clasts in the fragments are welded and overgrown by more Ca‐rich garnet containing mineral inclusions different from those in the garnet cores. The micropoikilitic texture of garnet is typical of eclogitic pseudotachylytes. Crack‐sealing K‐feldspar veinlets in the cataclasite dykes also imply frictional or shock‐induced melting of K‐mica. The modal abundances in the cataclasite and the schist imply that the dykes formed by flow of the omphacite and garnet‐dominated cataclasites into the fractures during seismic faulting, while the lower density minerals (quartz, phengite and kyanite) were largely left in the ultramylonite boundary zones. The dykes have the same composition as their host rocks, except for slightly lower Si and large ion lithophile elements and higher Mg, Ca, Cr, Co and Ni. Chromite, probably spurted from the nearby ultramafic rock, is found as rare particles in the cataclasite fragments. This indicates that material exchange occurred by mechanical mixing between the dykes and the ultramafic rock during seismic faulting. The Cr‐rich eclogite minerals grown on the chromite are evidence for coseismic high‐P crystallization. Short‐lived crystal growth is implied by the fine grain sizes of the eclogite minerals and very limited element diffusion between the garnet clasts and their overgrowths. The fact that the host rocks are more hydrated implies that the dyke formation was not related to fluid infiltration. It appears, therefore, that stress was the key factor inducing the high‐P phase transformation in the dykes. Both stress and temperature were only transiently high in the dykes, which have been metastable since they were formed.     

Grain‐scale dependency of metamorphic reaction on crystal plastic strain

The Breaksea Orthogneiss in Fiordland, New Zealand preserves water‐poor intermediate and mafic igneous rocks that were partially recrystallized to omphacite granulite and eclogite, respectively, at P ≈ 1.8 GPa and T ≈ 850°C. Metamorphic reaction consumed plagioclase and produced grossular‐rich garnet, jadeite‐rich omphacite, clinozoisite and kyanite. The extent of metamorphic reaction, identified by major and trace element composition and microstructural features, is patchy on the grain and outcrop scale. Domains of re‐equilibration coincide with areas that exhibit higher strain suggesting a causal link between crystal plastic strain and metamorphic reaction. Quantitative orientation analysis (EBSD) identifies gradual and stepped changes in crystal lattice orientations of igneous phenocrysts that are surrounded by homophase areas of neoblasts, characterized by high grain boundary to volume ratios and little to no internal lattice distortion. The narrow, peripheral compositional modification of less deformed garnet and omphacite phenocrysts reflects limited lattice diffusion in areas that lacked three‐dimensional networks of interconnected low‐angle boundaries. Low‐angle boundaries acted as elemental pathways (pipe diffusion) that enhanced in‐grain element diffusion. The scale of pipe diffusion is pronounced in garnet relatively to clinopyroxene. Strain‐induced mineral transformation largely controlled the extent of high‐T metamorphic reaction under relatively fluid‐poor conditions.     

The Effects of Disequilibrium and Deformation on the Mineralogical Evolution of Quartz Diorite During Metamorphism in the Eclogite Facies

In the Sesia Zone, Western Alps, a large volume of orthogneissformed as a result of eclogite fades metamorphism and deformationof quartz diorite during early Alpine underthrusting and subduction.Rare lenses of undeformed metaquartz diorite, preserved withinthe orthogneiss, represent an early stage in the evolution ofthis latter rock type. The metamorphic and microstructural evolutionof the orthogneiss in the eclogite fades has been reconstructedfrom studies of gradational contacts between undeformed andstrongly deformed rocks. High pressure transformations of the original igneous plagioclase+ biotite + quartz assemblage to jadeitic pyroxene (Jd_{0.95 –0.85}+ zoisite + quartz + garnet + 2 muscovites developed prior todeformation. Slow intergranular diffusion resulted in a stateof disequilibrium between small textural domains in the metaquartzdiorite. The compositions of the phases of the undeformed metaquartzdiorite do not reflect the bulk rock composition, but were controlledby their position relative to reactant phases. The jadeiticpyroxenes, for example, formed in localized domains which originallyconsisted of sodic plagioclase whereas omphacite was the equilibriumpyroxene for the bulk rock composition. Mineralogical changes which occurred during subsequent deformationof the metaquartz diorite are interpreted as resulting froma progressive enlargement of equilibrium domains and the partialequilibration of mineral compositions to the bulk rock compositionrather than from changes in pressure and temperature. Initiallyduring high-strain deformation, fine-grained aggregates of jadeiticpyroxene + quartz + zoisite (originally pseudomorphing plagioclase)are inferred to have deformed by a mechanism of grain boundarysliding accommodated by diffusive mass transfer. Muscovite andgarnet compositions homogenized during the deformation but dueto slow intracrystalline diffusion, pyroxene compositions (Jd_0.95–0.80) remained metastable. The coarsening of pyroxeneeventually terminated deformation by grain boundary slidingand this mineral subsequently deformed by intracrystalline plastidty.This latter process was accompanied by and perhaps catalyseda change in pyroxene composition from metastable jadeite towardsomphacite by a reaction involving the resorption of garnet andthe nucleation and growth of paragonite. The resulting orthogneissconsists of quartz + omphadte + garnet + phengite + paragonite+ zoisite. The rock is characterized by a broad range of pyroxenecompositions (Jd_{0.8 –0.5}) due to the incomplete equilibrationof this mineral to the bulk rock composition and a lack of Fe-Mgexchange equilibrium between pyroxene and garnet. However, incontrast to the undeformed metaquartz diorite, there are noobvious textural indications of disequilibrium between phasesin the orthogneiss     

The recognition of former melt flux through high‐strain zones

High‐strain zones are potential pathways of melt migration through the crust. However, the identification of melt‐present high‐strain deformation is commonly limited to cases where the interpreted volume of melt “frozen” within the high‐strain zone is high (>10%). In this contribution, we examine high‐strain zones in the Pembroke Granulite, an otherwise low‐strain outcrop of volcanic arc lower crust exposed in Fiordland, New Zealand. These high‐strain zones display compositional layering, flaser‐shaped mineral grains, and closely spaced foliation planes indicative of high‐strain deformation. Asymmetric leucosome surrounding peritectic garnet grains suggest deformation was synchronous with minor amounts of in situ partial melting. High‐strain zones lack typical mylonite microstructures and instead display typical equilibrium microstructures, such as straight grain boundaries, 120° triple junctions, and subhedral grain shapes. We identify five key microstructures indicative of the former presence of melt within the high‐strain zones: (a) small dihedral angles of interstitial phases; (b) elongate interstitial grains; (c) small aggregates of quartz grains with xenomorphic plagioclase grains connected in three dimensions; (d) fine‐grained, K‐feldspar bearing, multiphase aggregates with or without augite rims; and (e) mm‐ to cm‐scale felsic dykelets. Preservation of key microstructures indicates that deformation ceased as conditions crossed the solidus, breaking the positive feedback loop between deformation and the presence of melt. We propose that microstructures indicative of the former presence of melt, such as the five identified above, may be used as a tool for recognising rocks formed during melt‐present high‐strain deformation where low (<5%) volumes of leucosome are “frozen” within the high‐strain zone.     

Pe trology and SHRIMP zircon geochronology of granulites from Vesleknausen,Lützow-Holm Complex,East Antarctica: Neoarchean magmatism and Neoproterozoic high-grade metamorphism

We report new petrological data and geochronological measurements of granulites from Vesleknausen in the highest-grade section of the L＆#252;tzow-Holm Complex, part of the Gondwana-assembling collisional orogen in East Antarctica. The locality is dominated by felsic to intermediate orthogneiss （charnockite and minor biotite gneiss）, mafic orthogneiss, and hornblende-pyroxene granulite, with deformed and undeformed dykes of metagranite and felsic pegmatite. Pseudosection analysis of charnockite in the system NCKFMASHTO, supported by geothermometry of mafic orthogneiss, was used to infer peak metamorphic temperatures of 750e850 ？C, approximately 150 ？C lower than those estimated for met-asedimentary gneisses from Rundv？gshetta, 6 km to the northeast. SHRIMP U-Pb analysis of zircons from feldspar-pyroxene gneiss, which corresponds to a partially molten patch around mafic orthogneiss, yielded a Concordia upper intercept ages of 2507.9 ？ 7.4 Ma, corresponding to the time of formation of the magmatic protolith to the orthogneiss. Partial melting during peak metamorphism probably took place between 591 and 548 Ma, as recorded in rims overgrew around magmatic zircon. Our results suggest that Rundv？gshetta-Vesleknausen-Strandnibba region in southwestern L＆#252;tzow-Holm Bay, where orthogneisses are dominant, consists of a single crustal block, possibly formed by ca. 2.5 Ga arc mag-matism. The Neoarchean magmatic terrane was tectonically mingled with other fragments （such as metasedimentary units in northern L＆#252;tzow-Holm Bay） by subduction/collision events during the as-sembly of Gondwana supercontinent, and subsequently underwent w850 ？C granulite-facies meta-morphosed during Neoproterozoic to Cambrian final collisional event.     

Early Neoproterozoic granulite facies metamorphism of mafic dykes from the Vestfold Block,east Antarctica

Proterozoic mafic dykes from the southwestern Vestfold Block experienced heterogeneous granulite facies metamorphism, characterized by spotted or fractured garnet‐bearing aggregates in garnet‐absent groundmass. The garnet‐absent groundmass typically preserves an ophitic texture composed of lathy plagioclase, intergranular clinopyroxene and Fe–Ti oxides. Garnet‐bearing domains consist mainly of a metamorphic assemblage of garnet, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, hornblende, biotite, plagioclase, K‐feldspar, quartz and Fe–Ti oxides. Chemical compositions and textural relationships suggest that these metamorphic minerals reached local equilibrium in the centre of the garnet‐bearing domains. Pseudosection calculations in the model system NCFMASHTO (Na₂O–CaO–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O–TiO₂–Fe₂O₃) yield P–T estimates of 820–870 °C and 8.4–9.7 kbar. Ion microprobe U–Pb zircon dating reveals that the NW‐ and N‐trending mafic dykes were emplaced at 1764 ± 25 and 1232 ± 12 Ma, respectively, whereas their metamorphic ages cluster between 957 ± 7 and 938 ± 9 Ma. The identification of granulite facies mineral inclusions in metamorphic zircon domains is also consistent with early Neoproterozoic metamorphism. Therefore, the southwestern margin of the Vestfold Block is inferred to have been buried to depths of ~30–35 km beneath the Rayner orogen during the late stage of the late Mesoproterozoic/early Neoproterozoic collision between the Indian craton and east Antarctica (i.e. the Lambert Terrane or the Ruker craton including the Lambert Terrane). The lack of penetrative deformation and intensive fluid–rock interaction in the rigid Vestfold Block prevented the nucleation and growth of garnet and resulted in the heterogeneous granulite facies metamorphism of the mafic dykes.     

SHRIMP U–Pb zircon dating of Grenville-age events in the western part of the Musgrave Block, central Australia

Shrimp U–Pb zircon dating of structurally constrained felsic orthogneiss samples in the western Musgrave Block has been used to delineate discrete magmatic and metamorphic events at c . 1300 and c . 1200  Ma. The dating of pre-D₁ and post-D₁ felsic orthogneiss constrains D₁ to have occurred at 1312±16 to 1324±4  Ma. This is the first geochronological study to identify such a metamorphic and deformation event in the Musgrave Block. D₁ was accompanied by a major magmatic event involving the emplacement of voluminous felsic orthogneiss between 1296 and 1324  Ma. Zircon overgrowths on numerous igneous zircon cores give a consistent age of c . 1200  Ma, reflecting zircon growth during a second high-grade metamorphic event (D₂). This c . 1200  Ma metamorphic event was followed by the intrusion of a c . 1190  Ma megacrystic granite. The c . 1300 and c . 1200  Ma events in the Musgrave Block can be tentatively correlated with metamorphic events in the Albany-Fraser Orogen, and the Windmill Islands and Bunger Hills in east Antarctica. A major continuous Grenville-age orogenic belt joining these areas may have represented a plate boundary between the pre-Rodinian proto-Australian continent and proto-Antarctica during the formation of Rodinia in the Mesoproterozoic.     

Fracturing,fluid flow and shear zone development: Relationships between chemical and mechanical processes in Proterozoic mafic dykes from southwestern Montana,USA

Fluids can play an important role in the localization of deformation in the deep crust, yet the specific mechanisms active during the complex interactions between metasomatism, metamorphism and deformation remain elusive. Precambrian metagabbronorite dykes in southwest Montana contain fractures filled with Hbl±Grt and discrete cm‐scale shear zones with well‐preserved strain gradients. This system offers an ideal opportunity to constrain the chemical and mechanical processes that facilitated strain localization. An early M₁ assemblage of Grt₁+Cpx₁+Pl₁+Qz developed at conditions of 0.51–0.85 GPa and 500–700°C and is preserved largely as a static replacement of relict igneous phases (Opx, Pgt, Pl) in coronitic textures. An M₂ assemblage characterized by Grt₂+Pl₂±Cpx₂+Hbl+Scp+Qz developed at 0.86–1.00 GPa and 660–730°C coincided with fluid flow and deformation associated with shear zone development. Microstructural observations in marginal protomylonite/mylonite and laminated ultramylonite suggest a shear zone evolution that involved (1) nucleation from pre‐existing fractures that were sites for major fluid infiltration, (2) initial widening coincident with grain‐size reduction by microfracturing, dislocation creep, and synkinematic metamorphic reaction by solution transfer, and (3) a switch in the dominant deformation mechanisms active in the ultramylonite from grain‐size insensitive mechanisms to grain‐size sensitive granular flow accommodated by fluid‐assisted diffusion. Throughout this evolution, the effective bulk compositions of the rock volumes responding to metamorphism changed through a combination of mechanical and metasomatic processes.     

Deformation, mass transfer and mineral reactions in an eclogite facies shear zone in a polymetamorphic metapelite (Monte Rosa nappe, western Alps)

This study analyses the mineralogical and chemical transformations associated with an Alpine shear zone in polymetamorphic metapelites from the Monte Rosa nappe in the upper Val Loranco (N‐Italy). In the shear zone, the pre‐Alpine assemblage plagioclase + biotite + kyanite is replaced by the assemblage garnet + phengite + paragonite at eclogite facies conditions of about 650 °C at 12.5 kbar. Outside the shear zone, only minute progress of the same metamorphic reaction was attained during the Alpine metamorphic overprint and the pre‐Alpine mineral assemblage is largely preserved. Textures of incomplete reaction, such as garnet rims at former grain contacts between pre‐existing plagioclase and biotite, are preserved in the country rocks of the shear zone. Reaction textures and phase relations indicate that the Alpine metamorphic overprint occurred under largely anhydrous conditions in low strain domains. In contrast, the mineralogical changes and phase equilibrium diagrams indicate water saturation within the Alpine shear zones. Shear zone formation occurred at approximately constant volume but was associated with substantial gains in silica and losses in aluminium and potassium. Changes in mineral modes associated with chemical alteration and progressive deformation indicate that plagioclase, biotite and kyanite were not only consumed in the course of the garnet‐and phengite‐producing reactions, but were also dissolved ‘congruently’ during shear zone formation. A large fraction of the silica liberated by plagioclase, biotite and kyanite dissolution was immediately re‐precipitated to form quartz, but the dissolved aluminium‐ and potassium‐bearing species appear to have been stable in solution and were removed via the pore fluid. The reaction causes the localization of deformation by producing fine‐grained white mica, which forms a mechanically weak aggregate.     

Separate or shared metamorphic histories of eclogites and surrounding rocks? An example from the Bohemian Massif

Eclogite boudins occur within an orthogneiss sheet enclosed in a Barrovian metapelite‐dominated volcano‐sedimentary sequence within the Velké Vrbno unit, NE Bohemian Massif. A metamorphic and lithological break defines the base of the eclogite‐bearing orthogneiss nappe, with a structurally lower sequence without eclogite exposed in a tectonic window. The typical assemblage of the structurally upper metapelites is garnet–staurolite–kyanite–biotite–plagioclase–muscovite–quartz–ilmenite ± rutile ± silli‐manite and prograde‐zoned garnet includes chloritoid–chlorite–paragonite–margarite, staurolite–chlorite–paragonite–margarite and kyanite–chlorite–rutile. In pseudosection modelling in the system Na₂O–CaO–K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O (NCKFMASH) using THERMOCALC, the prograde path crosses the discontinuous reaction chloritoid + margarite = chlorite + garnet + staurolite + paragonite (with muscovite + quartz + H₂O) at 9.5 kbar and 570 °C and the metamorphic peak is reached at 11 kbar and 640 °C. Decompression through about 7 kbar is indicated by sillimanite and biotite growing at the expense of garnet. In the tectonic window, the structurally lower metapelites (garnet–staurolite–biotite–muscovite–quartz ± plagioclase ± sillimanite ± kyanite) and amphibolites (garnet–amphibole–plagioclase ± epidote) indicate a metamorphic peak of 10 kbar at 620 °C and 11 kbar and 610–660 °C, respectively, that is consistent with the other metapelites. The eclogites are composed of garnet, omphacite relicts (jadeite = 33%) within plagioclase–clinopyroxene symplectites, epidote and late amphibole–plagioclase domains. Garnet commonly includes rutile–quartz–epidote ± clinopyroxene (jadeite = 43%) ± magnetite ± amphibole and its growth zoning is compatible in the pseudosection with burial under H₂O‐undersaturated conditions to 18 kbar and 680 °C. Plagioclase + amphibole replaces garnet within foliated boudin margins and results in the assemblage epidote–amphibole–plagioclase indicating that decompression occurred under decreasing temperature into garnet‐free epidote–amphibolite facies conditions. The prograde path of eclogites and metapelites up to the metamorphic peak cannot be shared, being along different geothermal gradients, of about 11 and 17 °C km^?1, respectively, to metamorphic pressure peaks that are 6–7 kbar apart. The eclogite–orthogneiss sheet docked with metapelites at about 11 kbar and 650 °C, and from this depth the exhumation of the pile is shared.     

P–T conditions of decompression of the Limpopo high-grade terrane: record from shear zones

The Southern Marginal Zone of the late Archean Limpopo Belt of southern Africa is an example of a high‐grade gneiss terrane in which both upper and lower crustal deformational processes can be studied. This marginal zone consists of large thrust sheets of complexly folded low‐strain gneisses, bound by an imbricate system of kilometre‐wide deep crustal shear zones characterized by the presence of high‐strain gneisses (‘primary straight gneisses’). These shear zones developed during the decompression stage of this high‐grade terrane. Low‐ and high‐strain gneisses both contain similar reaction textures that formed under different kinematic conditions during decompression. Evidence for the early M1/D1 metamorphic phase (> 2690 Ma) is rarely preserved in low‐strain gneisses as a uniform orientation of relict Al‐rich orthopyroxene in the matrix and quartz and plagioclase inclusions in the cores of early (M1) Mg‐rich garnet porphyroblasts. This rare fabric formed at > 820 °C and > 7.5 kbar. The retrograde M2/D2 metamorphic fabric (2630–2670 Ma) is well developed in high‐strain gneisses from deep crustal shear zones and is microscopically recognized by the presence of reaction textures that formed synkinematically during shear deformation: M2 sigmoid‐shaped reaction textures with oriented cordierite–orthopyroxene symplectites formed after the early M1 Mg‐rich garnet porphyroblasts, and syn‐decompression M2 pencil‐shaped garnet with oriented inclusions of sillimanite and quartz formed after cordierite under conditions of near‐isobaric cooling at 750–630 °C and 6–5 kbar. The symplectites and pencil‐shaped garnet are oriented parallel to the shear fabric and in the stretching direction. Low‐strain gneisses from thrust sheets show similar M2 decompression cooling and near‐isobaric cooling reaction textures that formed within the same P–T range, but under low‐strain conditions, as shown by their pseudo‐idioblastic shapes that reflect the contours of completely replaced M1 garnet and randomly oriented cordierite–orthopyroxene symplectites. The presence of similar reaction textures reflecting low‐strain conditions in gneisses from thrust sheets and high‐strain conditions in primary straight gneisses suggests that most of the strain during decompression was partitioned into the bounding shear zones. A younger M3/D3 mylonitic fabric (< 2637 Ma) in unhydrated mylonites is characterized by brittle deformation of garnet porphyroclasts and ductile deformation of the quartz–plagioclase–biotite matrix developed at < 600 °C, as the result of post‐decompression shearing under epidote–amphibolite facies conditions.     

Constraints on the timing and conditions of high‐grade metamorphism,charnockite formation and fluid–rock interaction in the Trivandrum Block,southern India

Incipient charnockites have been widely used as evidence for the infiltration of CO₂‐rich fluids driving dehydration of the lower crust. Rocks exposed at Kakkod quarry in the Trivandrum Block of southern India allow for a thorough investigation of the metamorphic evolution by preserving not only orthopyroxene‐bearing charnockite patches in a host garnet–biotite felsic gneiss, but also layers of garnet–sillimanite metapelite gneiss. Thermodynamic phase equilibria modelling of all three bulk compositions indicates consistent peak‐metamorphic conditions of 830–925 °C and 6–9 kbar with retrograde evolution involving suprasolidus decompression at high temperature. These models suggest that orthopyroxene was most likely stabilized close to the metamorphic peak as a result of small compositional heterogeneities in the host garnet–biotite gneiss. There is insufficient evidence to determine whether the heterogeneities were inherited from the protolith or introduced during syn‐metamorphic fluid flow. U–Pb geochronology of monazite and zircon from all three rock types constrains the peak of metamorphism and orthopyroxene growth to have occurred between the onset of high‐grade metamorphism at c. 590 Ma and the onset of melt crystallization at c. 540 Ma. The majority of metamorphic zircon growth occurred during protracted melt crystallization between c. 540 and 510 Ma. Melt crystallization was followed by the influx of aqueous, alkali‐rich fluids likely derived from melts crystallizing at depth. This late fluid flow led to retrogression of orthopyroxene, the observed outcrop pattern and to the textural and isotopic modification of monazite grains at c. 525–490 Ma.     

Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd Mineral Isochron Ages of the Metamorphic Rocks in the Namaqualand Metamorphic Complex, South Africa

Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd isotopic studies were carried out for metamorphic rocks in the Namaqualand Metamorphic Complex, South Africa. The metamorphic rocks give the Rb-Sr mineral isochron ages (whole-rock - biotite - felsic fractions) of 844±85 Ma and 811.6±6.6 Ma for the lower granulite zone and of 776.5±5.4 Ma for the upper granulite zone. The rocks yield the Sm-Nd mineral isochron ages of 1071±18 Ma (whole-rock - garnet - felsic fractions) and 1067±158 Ma (whole-rock - hornblende - biotite rich fraction - felsic fractions) for the lower granulite zone and of 1052.0±3.6 Ma and 1002.5±1.4 Ma (whole-rock - garnet - felsic fractions) for the upper granulite zone. These age data suggest that the granulite facies metamorphism took place at 1060-1000 Ma, and that the rocks cooled down at 850-780 Ma. The Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of metamorphic rocks are different between the lower and upper granulite zones.     

Metamorphic history of eclogites and country rock gneisses in the Aktyuz area,Northern Tien‐Shan,Kyrgyzstan: a record from initiation of subduction through to oceanic closure by continent–continent collision

Eclogites and related high‐P metamorphic rocks occur in the Zaili Range of the Northern Kyrgyz Tien‐Shan (Tianshan) Mountains, which are located in the south‐western segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. Eclogites are preserved in the cores of garnet amphibolites and amphibolites that occur in the Aktyuz area as boudins and layers (up to 2000 m in length) within country rock gneisses. The textures and mineral chemistry of the Aktyuz eclogites, garnet amphibolites and country rock gneisses record three distinct metamorphic events (M1–M3). In the eclogites, the first MP–HT metamorphic event (M1) of amphibolite/epidote‐amphibolite facies conditions (560–650 °C, 4–10 kbar) is established from relict mineral assemblages of polyphase inclusions in the cores and mantles of garnet, i.e. Mg‐taramite + Fe‐staurolite + paragonite ± oligoclase (An_<16) ± hematite. The eclogites also record the second HP‐LT metamorphism (M2) with a prograde stage passing through epidote‐blueschist facies conditions (330–570 °C, 8–16 kbar) to peak metamorphism in the eclogite facies (550–660 °C, 21–23 kbar) and subsequent retrograde metamorphism to epidote‐amphibolite facies conditions (545–565 °C and 10–11 kbar) that defines a clockwise P–T path. thermocalc (average P–T mode) calculations and other geothermobarometers have been applied for the estimation of P–T conditions. M3 is inferred from the garnet amphibolites and country rock gneisses. Garnet amphibolites that underwent this pervasive HP–HT metamorphism after the eclogite facies equilibrium have a peak metamorphic assemblage of garnet and pargasite. The prograde and peak metamorphic conditions of the garnet amphibolites are estimated to be 600–640 °C; 11–12 kbar and 675–735 °C and 14–15 kbar, respectively. Inclusion phases in porphyroblastic plagioclase in the country rock gneisses suggest a prograde stage of the epidote‐amphibolite facies (477 °C and 10 kbar). The peak mineral assemblage of the country rock gneisses of garnet, plagioclase (An_11–16), phengite, biotite, quartz and rutile indicate 635–745 °C and 13–15 kbar. The P–T conditions estimated for the prograde, peak and retrograde stages in garnet amphibolite and country rock are similar, implying that the third metamorphic event in the garnet amphibolites was correlated with the metamorphism in the country rock gneisses. The eclogites also show evidence of the third metamorphic event with development of the prograde mineral assemblage pargasite, oligoclase and biotite after the retrograde epidote‐amphibolite facies metamorphism. The three metamorphic events occurred in distinct tectonic settings: (i) metamorphism along the hot hangingwall at the inception of subduction, (ii) subsequent subduction zone metamorphism of the oceanic plate and exhumation, and (iii) continent–continent collision and exhumation of the entire metamorphic sequences. These tectonic processes document the initial stage of closure of a palaeo‐ocean subduction to its completion by continent–continent collision.