Evolution of fluids associated with metasedimentary sequences from Chaves (North Portugal)

In order to identify and characterise fluids associated with metamorphic rocks from the Chaves region (North Portugal), fluid inclusions were studied in quartz veinlets, concordant with the main foliation, in graphitic-rich and nongraphitic-rich lithologies from areas with distinct metamorphic grade. The study indicates multiple fluid circulation events with a variety of compositions, broadly within the C–H–O–N–salt system. Primary fluid inclusions in quartz contain low salinity aqueous–carbonic, H₂O–CH₄–N₂–NaCl fluids that were trapped near the peak of regional metamorphism, which occurred during or immediately after D2. The calculated P–T conditions for the western area of Chaves (CW) is P=300–350 MPa and T500 °C, and for the eastern area (CE), P=200–250 MPa and T=400–450 °C. A first generation of secondary fluid inclusions is restricted to discrete cracks at the grain boundaries of quartz and consists of low salinity aqueous–carbonic, H₂O–CO₂–CH₄–N₂–NaCl fluids. P–T conditions from the fluid inclusions indicate that they were trapped during a thermal event, probably related with the emplacement of the two-mica granites.

A second generation of secondary inclusions occurs in intergranular fractures and is characterised by two types of aqueous inclusions. One type is a low salinity, H₂O–NaCl fluid and the second consists of a high salinity, H₂O–NaCl–CaCl₂ fluid. These fluid inclusions are not related to the metamorphic process and have been trapped after D3 at relatively low P (hydrostatic)–T conditions (P<100 MPa and T<300 °C).

Both the early H₂O–CH₄–N₂–NaCl fluids in quartz from the graphitic-rich lithologies and the later H₂O–CO₂–CH₄–N₂–NaCl carbonic fluid in quartz from graphitic-rich and nongraphitic-rich lithologies seem to have a common origin and evolution. They have low salinity, probably resulting from connate waters that were diluted by the water released from mineral dehydration during metamorphism. Their main component is water, but the early H₂O–CH₄–N₂–NaCl fluids are enriched in CH₄ due to interaction with the C-rich host rocks.

From the early H₂O–CH₄–N₂–NaCl to the later aqueous–carbonic H₂O–CO₂–CH₄–N₂–NaCl fluids, there is an enrichment in CO₂ that is more significant for the fluids associated with nongraphitic-rich lithologies.

The aqueous–carbonic fluids, enriched in H₂O and CH₄, are primarily associated with graphitic-rich lithologies. However, the aqueous–carbonic CO₂-rich fluids were found in both graphitic and nongraphitic-rich units from both the CW and CE studied areas, which are of medium and low metamorphic grade, respectively.     

P–T paths reconstruction of a collisional event: The example of the Thiviers-Payzac Unit in the Variscan French Massif Central

Because of late metamorphic and tectonic overprints, the reconstruction of prograde parts of P–T paths is often difficult. In the SW Variscan French Massif Central, the Thiviers-Payzac Unit (TPU) is the uppermost allochthon emplaced above underlying units. The TPU experienced a Barrovian metamorphism coeval with a top-to-the-NW ductile shearing (D2 event) in Early Carboniferous times (ca. 360–350 Ma). The tectonic setting of the D2 event, compression or synconvergence extension, remains unclear. Using the THERMOCALC software and the model system MnNCKFMASH, the peak P–T conditions are estimated from garnet rims and matrix minerals and the prograde evolution is deduced from garnet core compositions. The combination of these two approaches demonstrates that the TPU experienced pressure and temperature increases before reaching peak conditions at 6.6–9.0 +/− 1.2 kbar and 615–655 +/− 35 °C. This kind of P–T path shows that the regional D2 event corresponds to crustal thickening.     

Reactions and textures in grossular–wollastonite–scapolite calc–silicate granulites from Maligawila, Sri Lanka: evidence for high-temperature isobaric cooling in the meta-sediments of the Highland Complex

Grossular–wollastonite–scapolite calc–silicate granulites from Maligawila in the Buttala klippe, which form part of the overthrusted rocks of the Highland Complex of Sri Lanka, preserve a number of spectacular coronas and replacement textures that could be effectively used to infer their P–T–fluid history. These textures include coronas of garnet, garnet–quartz, and garnet–quartz–calcite at the grain boundaries of wollastonite, scapolite, and calcite as well as calcite–plagioclase and calcite–quartz symplectites or finer grains after scapolite and wollastonite respectively. Other textures include a double rind of coronal scapolite and coronal garnet between matrix garnet and calcite. The reactions that produced these coronas and replacement textures, except those involving clinopyroxene, are modelled in the CaO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–CO₂ system using the reduced activities. Calculated examples of T–X_CO2 and P–X_CO2 projections indicate that the peak metamorphic temperature of about 900–875 °C at a pressure of 9 kbar and the peak metamorphic fluid composition is constrained to be low in X_CO2 (0.1<X_CO2<0.30). Interpretation of the textural features on the basis of the partial grids revealed that the calc–silicate granulites underwent high-temperature isobaric cooling, from about 900–875 °C to a temperature below 675 °C, following the peak metamorphism. The late-stage cooling was accompanied by an influx of hydrous fluids. The calc–silicate granulites provide evidence for high-temperature isobaric cooling in the meta-sediments of the Highland Complex, earlier considered by some workers to be confined exclusively to the meta-igneous rocks. The coronal scapolite may have formed under open-system metasomatism.     

The preservation of high-pressure rocks during exhumation: metagranites and metapelites

Metagranites in the NKFMASH system require external hydration during prograde high-pressure metamorphism in order to equilibrate to ambient HP conditions by producing more siliceous muscovite. Any lack of external fluid or the disappearance of biotite stops re-equilibration and thus prevents recording of high-pressure conditions. The same hydration reactions cause dehydration during exhumation. Orthogneiss from shear zones or adjacent to metapelites and metabasites will take up external fluid during subduction and record the highest P–T conditions, but will also be the first to dehydrate upon exhumation, now hydrating other lithologies and probably refuelling shearzones.

The (de)hydration behavior of Ca-bearing metagranitoids is similar to that in the Ca-free system. However, the anorthite component of plagioclase decomposes with increasing pressure to form either (clino)zoisite or a grossular-rich garnet. Both reactions are fluid-consuming. If H₂O is supplied from an external source, the garnet-bearing assemblage can record P–T conditions up to very high pressures, but dehydrates again during heating and/or decompression to form a more Fe-rich garnet and Al-rich mica(s). The garnet compositions observed in natural HP-metagranites are mostly too Fe-rich to be formed in the presence of an H₂O-rich fluid.

N(C)KFMASH metapelites generally have a more complex mineralogy and succession of mineral assemblages along a P–T path. The H₂O contained in hydrous silicates like chlorite and chloritoid is only partly released, but partly transferred to other minerals like paragonite, glaucophane or phengite during subduction and further dehydration during exhumation is common. The mineral assemblage preserved by the rock may then record P–T conditions way below those of the actual pressure and temperature peak of the path. Contouring of the P–T pseudosection of a specific metapelite composition with mode isopleths for H₂O shows which P–T conditions along a given path are the ones most likely recorded by the rock.     

Intrusion age, geochemistry and metamorphic conditions of a quartz-monzosyenite intrusion at the craton–Eastern Ghats Belt contact near Jojuru, India

The boundary between the Archean cratons and the Eastern Ghats Belt in peninsular India represents a rifted Mesoproterozoic continental margin which was overprinted by a Pan-African collisional event associated with the westward thrusting of the Eastern Ghats granulites over the cratonic foreland. The contact zone contains a number of deformed and metamorphosed nepheline syenite complexes of rift-related geochemical affinities. In addition to the nepheline-bearing rocks, metamorphosed quartz-bearing monzosyenitic bodies can also be identified along the suture in the region between the Godavari-Pranhita graben and the Prakasam Igneous Province. One such occurrence at Jojuru near Kondapalle is geochemically comparable to the nepheline syenites and furnishes a weighted mean concordant U–Th–Pb SHRIMP zircon age of 1263 ± 23 Ma (2σ), which provides a lower age bracket for the rift-related magmatic activity. The original igneous mineral assemblage in the monzosyenite was partially replaced by the formation of coronitic garnet during the Pan-African metamorphism of the rocks. P–T estimates of garnet corona formation at the interface between clinopyroxene–orthopyroxene–ilmenite clusters and plagioclase indicate mid to upper amphibolite facies condition (5.5–7.0 kbar and 600–700 °C) during the thrust induced deformation and metamorphism associated with the Pan-African collisional tectonics.     

Coesite inclusions and prograde compositional zonation of garnet in whiteschist of the HP-UHPM Kokchetav massif, Kazakhstan: a record of progressive UHP metamorphism

Coarse-grained whiteschist, containing the assemblage: garnet+kyanite+phengite+talc+quartz/coesite, is an abundant constituent of the ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic (UHPM) belt in the Kulet region of the Kokchetav massif of Kazakhstan.

Garnet displays prograde compositional zonation, with decreasing spessartine and increasing pyrope components, from core to rim. Cores were recrystallized at T=380°C (inner) to 580°C (outer) at P<10 kbar (garnet–ilmenite geothermometry, margarite+quartz stability), and mantles at T=720–760°C and P_H20=34–36 kbar (coesite+graphite stability, phengite geobarometer, KFMASH system reaction equilibria). Textural evidence indicates that rims grew during decompression and cooling, within the Qtz-stability field.

Silica inclusions (quartz and/or coesite) of various textural types within garnets display a systematic zonal distribution. Cores contain abundant inclusions of euhedral quartz (type 1 inclusions). Inner mantle regions contain inclusions of polycrystalline quartz pseudomorphs after coesite (type 2), with minute dusty micro-inclusions of chlorite, and more rarely, talc and kyanite in their cores; intense radial and concentric fractures are well developed in the garnet. Intermediate mantle regions contain bimineralic inclusions with coesite cores and palisade quartz rims (type 3), which are also surrounded by radial fractures. Subhedral inclusions of pure coesite without quartz overgrowths or radial fractures (type 4) occur in the outer part of the mantle. Garnet rims are silica-inclusion-free.

Type 1 inclusions in garnet cores represent the low-P, low-T precursor stage to UHPM recrystallization, and attest to the persistence of low-P assemblages in the coesite-stability field. Coesites in inclusion types 2, 3, and 4 are interpreted to have sequentially crystallized by net transfer reaction (kyanite+talc=garnet+coesite+H₂O), and were sequestered within the garnet with progressively decreasing amounts of intragranular aqueous fluid.

During the retrograde evolution of the rock, all three inclusion types diverged from the host garnet P–T path at the coesite–quartz equilibrium, and followed a trajectory parallel to the equilibrium boundary resulting in inclusion overpressure. Coesite in type 2 inclusions suffered rapid intragranular H₂O-catalysed transformation to quartz, and ruptured the host garnet at about 600°C (when inclusion P27 kbar, garnet host P9 kbar). Instantaneous decompression to the host garnet P–T path, passed through the kyanite+talc=chlorite+quartz reaction equilibrium, resulting in the dusty micro-assemblage in inclusion cores. Type 3 inclusions suffered a lower volumetric proportion transformation to quartz at the coesite–quartz equilibrium, and finally underwent rupture and decompression when T<400°C, facilitating coesite preservation. Type 4 coesite inclusions are interpreted to have suffered minimal transformation to quartz and proceeded to surface temperature conditions along or near the coesite–quartz equilibrium boundary.     

Review of the systematics of CO2–H2O fluid inclusions

Aqueous solutions that contain volatile (gas) components are one of the most important types of fluid in the Earth's crust. The record that such fluids have left in the form of fluid inclusions in minerals provides a wealth of insight into the geochemical and petrologic processes in which the fluids participated. This article reviews the systematics of CO₂–H₂O fluid inclusions as a starting point for interpreting the chemically more complex systems. The phase relations of the binary are described with respect to a qualitative P–T–X model, and isoplethic–isochoric paths through this model are used to explain the equilibrium and non-equilibrium behaviour of fluid inclusions during microthermometric heating and cooling. The P–T–X framework is then used to discuss the various modes of fluid inclusion entrapment, and how the resulting assemblage textures can be used to interpret the P–T conditions, phase states, and evolution paths of the parent solutions. Finally, quantitative methods are reviewed by which bulk molar volume and composition of CO₂–H₂O fluid inclusions can be determined from microthermometric observations of phase transitions.     

Kyanite eclogite xenolith from the orthogneiss terrane of the Tisza Megaunit, Jánoshalma area, crystalline basement of southern Hungary

New evidence for high-pressure, eclogite facies metamorphism in the crystalline basement of the Tisza Megaunit (southern Hungary) is reported. The retrogressed mafic eclogite forms a small lens in the orthogneiss and it was found in the borehole near Jánoshalma. The carbonated eclogite contains the peak metamorphic assemblage omphacite + garnet + phengite + kyanite + clinozoizite + rutile + K-feldspar + quartz. Omphacite (Xjd_0.40–0.41Xdio_0.52–0.53Xhd_0.05Xaug_1.55–2.85) occurs in the matrix and as inclusions in garnet (Xpy_0.37–0.38Xgrs_0.21–0.22Xalm_0.39–0.40Xsps_0–0.01Xadr_0–0.01) and kyanite. Thermobarometry based on net-transfer reactions between garnet, omphacite, kyanite and phengite yields P–T conditions of 710 ± 10 °C and 2.6 ± 0.75 GPa. Retrogression during decompression is manifested by formation of symplectites; the most typical are diopside + plagioclase after omphacite, corundum + spinel + plagioclase after kyanite and biotite + plagioclase after phengite. Carbonatization along the veins of the retrogressed eclogite was probably coeval with formation of these symplectites. At places where carbonate is absent the rock was completely hydrated and retrogressed down to the greenschist facies with the development of actinolite. Similar eclogites together with abundant orthogneisses occur mainly in the eastern parts of the Tisza Megaunit, suggesting the existence of an ancient (possibly Variscan) subduction/accretionary complex.     

Mineral and fluid inclusions in zircon of UHP metamorphic rocks from the CCSD-main drill hole: A record of metamorphism and fluid activity

The Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling (CCSD) main drill hole (0–3000 m) in Donghai, southern Sulu orogen, consists of eclogite, paragneiss, orthogneiss, schist and garnet peridotite. Detailed investigations of Raman, cathodoluminescence, and microprobe analyses show that zircons from most eclogites, gneisses and schists have oscillatory zoned magmatic cores with low-pressure mineral inclusions of Qtz, Pl, Kf and Ap, and a metamorphic rim with relatively uniform luminescence and eclogite-facies mineral inclusions of Grt, Omp, Phn, Coe and Rt. The chemical compositions of the UHP metamorphic mineral inclusions in zircon are similar to those from the matrix of the host rocks. Similar UHP metamorphic P–T conditions of about 770 °C and 32 kbar were estimated from coexisting minerals in zircon and in the matrix. These observations suggest that all investigated lithologies experienced a joint in situ UHP metamorphism during continental deep subduction. In rare cases, magmatic cores of zircon contain coesite and omphacite inclusions and show patchy and irregular luminescence, implying that the cores have been largely altered possibly by fluid–mineral interaction during UHP metamorphism.

Abundant H₂O–CO₂, H₂O- or CO₂-dominated fluid inclusions with low to medium salinities occur isolated or clustered in the magmatic cores of some zircons, coexisting with low-P mineral inclusions. These fluid inclusions should have been trapped during magmatic crystallization and thus as primary. Only few H₂O- and/or CO₂-dominated fluid inclusions were found to occur together with UHP mineral inclusions in zircons of metamorphic origin, indicating that UHP metamorphism occurred under relatively dry conditions. The diversity in fluid inclusion populations in UHP rocks from different depths suggests a closed fluid system, without large-scale fluid migration during subduction and exhumation.     

Emplacement at granulite facies conditions of the Sesia–Lanzo metagabbros: an early record of Permian rifting?

The evolution of the pre-Alpine Corio and Monastero metagabbros points to strong chemical and mineralogical similarities with that of other Permian gabbro bodies of the Alps, which are concentrated in the Southalpine and Austroalpine domains. The structural and metamorphic pre-Alpine evolution of these gabbros records a re-equilibration following the emplacement in the deep crust (P=0.6–0.9 GPa and T=850±70 °C), exhumation through amphibolite facies conditions (P=0.5–0.35 GPa and T=570–670 °C), followed by a greenschist facies imprint (0.25≤P≤0.35 GPa and T<550 °C). This retrograde P–T evolution suggests that the exhumation occurred in a high thermal gradient regime, such as that induced by upwelling of an asthenospheric plume during continental rifting. This would be consistent with the crustal thinning known to have occurred in both the Southalpine and Austroalpine domains during Permian times. The gabbros and their country acid granulites are spatially associated with the serpentinised subcontinental mantle of the Lanzo Massif. This lithologic association and the metamorphic evolution is similar to that of the Fedoz gabbro (Austroalpine Domain of the Central Alps) and completely different from that observed in passive margins, where no remnants of the lower crust occur and the upper granitic crust directly overlies the serpentinized lherzolites. The location of Permian gabbro bodies in the Austroalpine and Southalpine domains and their absence in the Helvetic domain is evidence for asymmetric rifting.     

Tectonothermal history of the basement rocks in the western zone of the North China Craton and its tectonic implications

The basement of the North China Craton can be divided into the eastern, central and western zones, based on lithological, structural, metamorphic and geochronological data. The western zone comprises two different petrotectonic units: Archaean tonalitic–trondhjemitic–granodioritic (TTG) grey gneisses and metamorphic mafic rocks, and Palaeoproterozoic khondalite series. The former is characterized by isobaric cooling (IBC)-type anticlockwise P–T paths in the north-northwestern part of the zone and near-isothermal decompression (ITD)-type clockwise P–T paths in the eastern part, adjacent to the central zone. On the other hand, the tectonothermal evolution of Palaeoproterozoic khondalite series rocks is characterized exclusively by nearly isothermal decompression following the peak of metamorphism and then cooling, defining clockwise P–T paths. The Archaean TTG gneisses and associated mafic rocks with anticlockwise metamorphic P–T paths reflects an origin related to underplating and intrusion of mantle-derived magmas which may be derived from mantle plumes. They represent a late Archaean continental block in the western part of the North China Craton. The Palaeoproterozoic khondalite series rocks represent passive continental margin deposits. They were metamorphosed and deformed in the late Palaeoproterozoic during the amalgamation of the western continental block with another continental block in the east part of the North China Craton. The ITD-type clockwise P–T–t paths of the Palaeoproterozoic khondalite series rocks record the tectonothermal histories of the collision of the western and eastern continental blocks which resulted in the final assembly of the North China Craton at c. 1800 Ma.     

Spinel granulite in Odesan area, South Korea: Tectonic implications for the collision between the North and South China blocks

Spinel granulite formed in the Fe–Al-rich layers in migmatitic gneiss adjacent to a late Paleozoic collision-related mangerite intrusion in the Odesan area, eastern Gyeonggi Massif, South Korea, contains the high-temperature (HT) assemblage Crd + Spl + Crn. Spinel and cordierite compositions indicate peak metamorphic conditions of 914–1157 °C. Retrograde metamorphism reached amphibolite facies where garnet and cordierite broke down to biotite, sillimanite and quartz. These conditions, and the reactions inferred from mineral textures, are consistent with a clockwise P–T path. Metamorphic zircon overgrowths in the spinel granulite and enclosing migmatitic gneiss, dated by SHRIMP U–Pb, yield Permo-Triassic ages of 245 ± 10 and 248 ± 18 Ma respectively, consistent with the metamorphism being a product of the late Paleozoic collision between the North and South China blocks within South Korea. The zircon core ages and textures suggest that the ultimate source of the spinel granulite was a Paleoproterozoic (1852 ± 14 Ma) igneous rock. The protolith of the host migmatitic gneiss was a sediment derived principally from 2.49, 2.16 and 1.86 Ga sources. The age and conditions of spinel granulite metamorphism are similar to those of spinel-bearing granulite in the Higo terrane in west-central Kyushu (250 Ma, > 950 °C at 8–9 kbar), consistent with a continuation of the Dabie-Sulu collision zone into Japan through the Odesan area.     

Intermediate high-pressure exhumation of the northern segment of the Sanbagawa belt, Saruta-gawa area, central Shikoku, Japan

The retrograde chemical zonal structure of amphibole in hematite-bearing basic and quartz schists from the higher grade zone in the Saruta-gawa area of the Sanbagawa belt was studied to investigate the relationships between the prograde and retrograde P–T paths of the Sanbagawa metamorphism. This amphibole coexists with chlorite, epidote, muscovite, albite, quartz and hematite, and is composed of Al-rich core and Al-poor mantle. The core is fairly homogeneous and has a barroisitic composition. In the mantle part, ^[B]Na increases with decreasing ^[4]Al towards the margins, which have winchite–magnesioriebeckite compositions. The barroisite–winchite–magnesioriebeckite composite crystal is sometimes rimmed by actinolite and/or winchite with low ^[4]Al and ^[B]Na. The Al-rich core and Al-poor mantle are regarded as prograde and retrograde products, respectively. The retrograde mantle in the Saruta-gawa area: (1) is systematically richer in ^[B]Na [0.40–1.73 per formula unit (pfu; for O=23)] than that from the same grade zone in the Asemi-gawa area (0.19–0.78 pfu), about 8 km south of the studied area; (2) tends to be ^[B]Na-poorer (less than 1.73 pfu) than prograde sodic amphibole (up to 1.93 ^[B]Na pfu) produced in the peak temperature stage from the lower grade zone in the same and other areas; and (3) extends its compositional range towards higher ^[B]Na and lower ^[4]Al than prograde-formed amphibole from the same grade zone in the same area. These zonal characteristics imply that (1) the Saruta-gawa samples experienced retrograde metamorphism under higher P/T conditions than the Asemi-gawa samples, (2) the retrograde P–T path of the Saruta-gawa area passes on the lower pressure side of the metamorphic field gradient, and (3) the Saruta-gawa samples underwent retrograde metamorphism under higher P/T conditions than the prograde metamorphism. The higher P/T conditions of the retrograde metamorphism suggests an increasing dP/dT of the geotherm during exhumation. Retrograde P–T conditions during the formation of magnesioriebeckite can be roughly estimated at 7–8 kbar, 400–450°C based on semi-quantitative phase relations of actinolite–winchite–magnesioriebeckite–barroisite series associated with chlorite, epidote, muscovite, albite, quartz and hematite.     

Fluid inclusions in granulites, granulitized eclogites and garnet clinopyroxenites from the Dabie–Sulu terranes, eastern China

Minor granulites (believed to be pre-Triassic), surrounded by abundant amphibolite-facies orthogneiss, occur in the same region as the well-documented Triassic high- and ultrahigh-pressure (HP and UHP) eclogites in the Dabie–Sulu terranes, eastern China. Moreover, some eclogites and garnet clinopyroxenites have been metamorphosed at granulite- to amphibolite-facies conditions during exhumation. Granulitized HP eclogites/garnet clinopyroxenites at Huangweihe and Baizhangyan record estimated eclogite-facies metamorphic conditions of 775–805 °C and ≥15 kbar, followed by granulite- to amphibolite-facies overprint of ca. 750–800 °C and 6–11 kbar. The presence of (Na, Ca, Ba, Sr)-feldspars in garnet and omphacite corresponds to amphibolite-facies conditions. Metamorphic mineral assemblages and P–T estimates for felsic granulite at Huangtuling and mafic granulite at Huilanshan indicate peak conditions of 850 °C and 12 kbar for the granulite-facies metamorphism and 700 °C and 6 kbar for amphibolite-facies retrograde metamorphism. Cordierite–orthopyroxene and ferropargasite–plagioclase coronas and symplectites around garnet record a strong, rapid decompression, possibly contemporaneous with the uplift of neighbouring HP/UHP eclogites.

Carbonic fluid (CO₂-rich) inclusions are predominant in both HP granulites and granulitized HP/UHP eclogites/garnet clinopyroxenites. They have low densities, having been reset during decompression. Minor amounts of CH₄ and/or N₂ as well as carbonate are present. In the granulitized HP/UHP eclogites/garnet clinopyroxenites, early fluids are high-salinity brines with minor N₂, whereas low-salinity fluids formed during retrogression. Syn-granulite-facies carbonic fluid inclusions occur either in quartz rods in clinopyroxene (granulitized HP garnet clinopyxeronite) or in quartz blebs in garnet and quartz matrices (UHP eclogite). For HP granulites, a limited number of primary CO₂ and mixed H₂O–CO₂(liquid) inclusions have also been observed in undeformed quartz inclusions within garnet, orthopyroxene, and plagioclase which contain abundant, low-density CO₂±carbonate inclusions. It is suggested that the primary fluid in the HP granulites was high-density CO₂, mixed with a significant quantity of water. The water was consumed by retrograde metamorphic mineral reactions and may also have been responsible for metasomatic reactions (“giant myrmekites”) occurring at quartz–feldspar boundaries. Compared with the UHP eclogites in this region, the granulites were exhumed in the presence of massive, externally derived carbonic fluids and subsequently limited low-salinity aqueous fluids, probably derived from the surrounding gneisses.     

Anticlockwise evolution of ultrahigh-temperature granulites within continental collision zone in southern India

We report three new localities of corundum and sapphirine-bearing hyper aluminous Mg-rich and silica-poor ultrahigh-temperature granulites formed during Late Neoproterozoic-Cambrian times within the Palghat–Cauvery Shear Zone system in southern India. From petrologic characteristics, mineral chemistry and petrogenetic grid considerations, the peak metamorphic conditions of these rocks are inferred to lie around 950–1000 °C (as suggested by Al in orthopyroxene thermometer) at pressures above 10 kbar (as indicated by the equilibrium orthopyroxene–sillimanite–gedrite ± quartz assemblage). These rocks preserve several remarkable reaction textures, the most prominent among which is the triple corona of spinel–sapphirine–cordierite on corundum, with the whole textural assembly embedded within the matrix of gedrite, suggesting the reaction: Ged + Crn = Spl + Spr + Crd. The formation of sapphirine–sillimanite assemblage/symplectite associated with relict corundum and porphyroblasitc cordierite is explained by the reaction: Crd + Crn = Spr + Sil. The association of sapphirine cordierite symplectite with gedrite–sillimanite assemblage as well as with aluminosilicate boundaries indicates the gedrite consuming reaction: Ged + Sil = Spr + Crd. Extensive growth of sapphirine–cordierite observed on the rim of gedrite porphyroblasts with spinel occurring as relict inclusions within the sapphirine indicates the reaction: Ged + Spl = Spr + Crd. The pressure–temperature (P–T) path defined from the observed mineral assemblages and reaction texture is characterized by anticlockwise trajectory, with a prograde segment of initial heating and subsequent deep burial, followed by retrograde near-isothermal decompression. Such an anticlockwise trajectory is being reported for the first time from southern India and has important tectonic implications since these rocks were developed at the leading edge of the crustal block that was involved in collisional orogeny and subsequent extension during the final phase of assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent. We propose that the rocks were subjected to deep subduction and rapid exhumation, and the extreme thermal conditions were attained either through input from underplated mantle-derived magmas, or convective thinning or detachment of the lithospheric thermal boundary layer during or after crustal thickening.     

Phanerozoic high-pressure eclogite and intermediate-pressure granulite facies metamorphism in the Gyeonggi Massif, South Korea: Implications for the eastward extension of the Dabie–Sulu continental collision zone

Petrological analysis, zircon trace element analysis and SHRIMP zircon U–Pb dating of retrogressed eclogite and garnet granulite from Bibong, Hongseong area, SW Gyeonggi Massif, South Korea provide compelling evidence for Triassic (231.4 ± 3.3 Ma) high-pressure (HP) eclogite facies (M1) metamorphisms at a peak pressure–temperature (P–T) of ca. 16.5–20.0 kb and 775–850 °C. This was followed by isothermal decompression (ITD), with a sharp decrease in pressure from 20 to 10 kb and a slight temperature rise from eclogite facies (M1) to granulite facies (M2), followed by uplift and cooling. Granitic orthogneiss surrounding the Baekdong garnet granulite and the ophiolite-related ultramafic lenticular body near Bibong records evidence for a later Silurian (418 ± 8 Ma) intermediate high-pressure (IHP) granulite facies metamorphism and a prograde P–T path with peak P–T conditions of ca. 13.5 kb and 800 °C. K–Ar ages of biotite from garnet granulites, amphibolites, and granitic orthogneisses in and around the Bibong metabasite lenticular body are 208–219 Ma, recording cooling to about 310 °C after the Early Triassic metamorphic peak. Neoproterozoic zircon cores in the retrogressed eclogite and granitic orthogneiss provide evidence that the protoliths of these rocks were  800 and  900 Ma old, respectively, similar to the ages of tectonic episodes in the Central Orogenic Belt of China. This, and the evidence for Triassic HP/UHP metamorphism in both China and Korea, is consistent with a regional tectonic link within Northeast Asia from the time of Rodinia amalgamation to Triassic continent–continent collision between the North and South China Blocks, and with an eastward extension of the Dabie–Sulu suture zone into the Hongseong area of South Korea.     

Hercynite–quartz-bearing granulites from Brejões Dome area, Jequié Block, Bahia, Brazil: Influence of charnockite intrusion on granulite facies metamorphism

In the present study, we describe and discuss the geology of aluminous–magnesian granulites and associated garnet-bearing charnockitic granulite from the Brejões Dome area, located in the Jequié Block, part of the São Francisco Craton in Bahia, Brazil. Investigation of metamorphic mineral assemblages allows the evaluation of P–T conditions for the formation of these rocks, and therefore to obtain constraints for the better understanding of the geological evolution of the area. We conclude that the rocks from the Brejões Dome area were formed under granulite facies conditions of low to intermediate pressure (5–8 kbar). Temperatures determined in samples of aluminous–magnesian granulites collected away from the dome are in the order of 850 °C, similar to those determined elsewhere in the southern part of the Itabuna–Salvador–Curaçá Orogen. However, samples of the same rock type collected close to the Brejões Dome are hercynite + quartz-bearing and record higher temperatures of about 900–1000 °C. It is suggested that the intrusion of the Brejões charnockite diapir was responsible for a local increase in temperature above the peak temperature of regional granulite metamorphism.     

Spinel–sapphirine–quartz bearing composite inclusion within garnet from an ultrahigh-temperature pelitic granulite: Implications for metamorphic history and P–T path

We report here a multiphase mineral inclusion composed of quartz, plagioclase, K-feldspar, sapphirine, spinel, orthopyroxene, and biotite, in porphyroblastic garnet within a pelitic granulite from Rajapalaiyam in the Madurai Granulite Block, southern India. In this unique textural association, hitherto unreported in previous studies, sapphirine shows four occurrences: (1) as anhedral mineral between spinel and quartz (Spr-1), (2) subhedral to euhedral needles mantled by quartz (Spr-2), (3) subhedral to anhedral mineral in orthopyroxene, and (4) isolated inclusion with quartz (Spr-4). Spr-1, Spr-2, and Spr-4 show direct grain contact with quartz, providing evidence for ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism at temperatures exceeding 1000 °C. Associated orthopyroxene shows high Mg/(Fe + Mg) ratio ( 0.75) and Al₂O₃ content (up to 9.6 wt.%), also suggesting T > 1050 °C and P > 10 kbar during peak metamorphism.

Coarse spinel (Spl-1) with irregular grain morphology and adjacent quartz grains are separated by thin films of Spr-1 and K-feldspar, suggesting that Spl-1 and quartz were in equilibrium before the stability of Spr-1 + quartz. This texture implies that the P–T conditions of the rock shifted from the stability field of spinel + quartz to sapphirine + quartz. Petrogenetic grid considerations based on available data from the FMAS system favour exhumation along a counterclockwise P–T trajectory. The irregular shape of the inclusion and chemistry of the inclusion minerals are markedly different from the matrix phases suggesting the possibility that the inclusion minerals could have equilibrated from cordierite-bearing silicate-melt pockets during the garnet growth at extreme UHT conditions.     

Corundum + quartz and Mg-staurolite bearing granulite from the Limpopo Belt, southern Africa: Implications for a P–T path

A new occurrence of the rare corundum + quartz assemblage and magnesian staurolite has been found in a gedrite–garnet rock from the Central Zone of the Neoarchean Limpopo Belt in Zimbabwe. Poikiloblastic garnet in the sample contains numerous inclusions of corundum + quartz ± sillimanite, magnesian staurolite + sapphirine ± orthopyroxene, and sapphirine + sillimanite assemblages, as well as monophase inclusions. Corundum, often containing subhedral to rounded quartz, occurs as subhedral to euhedral inclusions in the garnet. Quartz and corundum occur in direct grain contact with no evidence of a reaction texture. The textures and Fe–Mg ratios of staurolite inclusions and the host garnet suggest a prograde dehydration reaction of St → Grt + Crn + Qtz + H₂O to give the corundum + quartz assemblage. Peak conditions of 890–930 °C at 9–10 kbar are obtained from orthopyroxene + sapphirine and garnet + staurolite assemblages. A clockwise P–T path is inferred, with peak conditions being followed by retrograde conditions of 4–6 kbar and 500–570 °C. The presence of unusually magnesian staurolite (Mg / [Fe + Mg] = 0.47–0.53) and corundum + garnet assemblages provides evidence for early high-pressure metamorphism in the Central Zone, possibly close to eclogite facies. The prograde high-pressure event followed by high- to ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism and rapid uplifting of the Limpopo Belt could have occurred as a result of Neoarchean collisional orogeny involving the Zimbabwe and Kaapvaal Cratons.     

The metamorphic evolution of the high pressure mafic granulites of the Bacariza Formation (Cabo Ortegal Complex, Hercynian belt, NW Spain)

The high pressure mafic granulites of the Bacariza Formation outcrop in the two uppermost structural units of the Cabo Ortegal Complex (La Capelada unit and Cedeira unit) were separated by a Variscan thrust. In both cases, they appear as heterogeneous metabasites in normal contact between ultramafic rocks and other more homogeneous and less differentiated metabasic rocks, also affected by catazonal metamorphism. The main difference between the mafic granulites in the two units is the degree of deformation, which is higher in the underlying Cedeira unit. Petrologic and mineralogical data indicate that the high-pressure (HP) granulites (Gt-Cpx±Amp-Pl±Qtz±Scp-Rt±Ilm-Czo) are already retrograde (M2 Stage), post-dating an earlier eclogite facies metamorphism (M1 Stage) characterised by the mineral associations: Gt-Cpx±Amp±Ky±Qtz-Rt and Gt-Cpx±Amp±Qtz±Zo-Rt. The main structure related to the exhumation processes is the development of a general mylonitic foliation that, although initiated in granulite facies conditions, was mainly equilibrated in amphibolite facies (M3 Stage). This foliation was affected by isoclinal folds, which led to the formation of the Variscan thrusts responsible for the present stacking position. Thrust conditions were transitional between amphibolite and greenschist facies (M4 Stage). Thermobarometric data point to different P–T exhumation paths in the two units. Estimated P–T conditions were higher in La Capelada unit during M1 (P≥13 kbar; 860°C) and M2 (15 kbar; 800°C) than in the Cedeira unit (M1: P≥11 kbar, 770°C; M2: 12 kbar; 750°C). Temperatures for the M3 stage were comparable (720°C) in both units but rocks from the Cedeira unit show a much bigger drop in pressure. This resulted in an isothermal decompression type path for the Cedeira unit, while both P and T decreased more steadily in La Capelada rocks. These were always located at deeper level than the Cedeira rocks before the Variscan stacking. The difference in the two paths is related to different exhumation rates; higher in rocks from the Cedeira unit than in those from La Capelada. Exhumation processes coeval with underthrusting, and a different location of the rocks with respect to the main shear zone responsible for the exhumation would account for the distinct paths.