Geomorphic evolution of the Southern Alps,New Zealand

The Southern Alps are the topographic expression of late Cenozoic (<8 Ma ago) uplift of the crust of the leading edge of the Pacific plate in South Island, New Zealand. New fission track data on the basement exposed in the Southern Alps quantify the age, amount, and rate of rock uplift, and in combination with geomorphic parameters permit the construction of a new model of the geomorphic evolution of the Southern Alps. The model emphasizes the development over time and space of rock uplift, mean surface elevation, exhumation of crustal section, and relief. The earliest indications of mean surface uplift are between 4 and 5 Ma ago at the Alpine Fault. Mean surface uplift, which lagged the start of rock uplift, propagated southeastward from the Alpine Fault at a rate of 30 km/Ma. By about 4 Ma ago, exhumation had exposed greywacke basement adjacent to and east of the entire 300 km long central section of the Alpine Fault. At 3 Ma ago, greenschist was exposed in the southern parts of the Southern Alps near Lake Wanaka, and since then has become exhumed along a narrow strip east of the Alpine Fault. The model infers that amphibolite grade schist has been exhumed adjacent to the Alpine Fault only in the last 0·3 Ma. The age of the start of rock uplift and the amount and rate of rock uplift, all of which vary spatially, are considered to be the dominant influences on the development of the landscape in the Southern Alps. The Southern Alps have been studied in terms of domains of different rock uplift rate. At present the rate of rock uplift varies from up to 8–10 mm/a adjacent to the Alpine Fault to 0·8–1·0 mm/a along the southeastern margin of the Southern Alps. This spectrum can be divided into two domains, one northwest of the Main Divide where the present rock uplift rates are very high (up to 8–10 mm/a) and exceed the long-term value of 0·8–1·0 mm/a, and another to the southeast of the Main Divide where the long-term rate is 0·8–1·0 mm/a. A domain of no uplift lies immediately to the east of the Southern Alps, and is separated from them by a 1·0–1·5 km step in the basement topography. We argue that this spatial sequence of uplift rate domains represents a temporal one. The existing models of the geomorphic development of the Southern Alps—the dynamic cuesta model of J. Adams and the numerical model of P. Koons—are compared with the new data and evolutionary model. Particular constraints unrealized by these two earlier models include the following: the earlier timing of the start of rock uplift of the Southern Alps (8 Ma ago); the spatial variation in the timing of the start of rock uplift (8 Ma ago to 3 Ma ago); the lower long-term rock uplift rate (0·8–1·0 mm/a) of the Southern Alps for most of the late Cenozoic; the lag between the start of rock uplift and the start of mean surface uplift; and the patterns of the amounts of late Cenozoic rock uplift and erosion across the Southern Alps.     

A jadeite–quartz–glaucophane rock from Karangsambung, central Java, Indonesia

High-pressure metamorphic rocks are exposed in Karangsambung area of central Java, Indonesia. They form part of a Cretaceous subduction complex (Luk–Ulo Complex) with fault-bounded slices of shale, sandstone, chert, basalt, limestone, conglomerate and ultrabasic rocks. The most abundant metamorphic rock type are pelitic schists, which have yielded late Early Cretaceous K–Ar ages. Small amounts of eclogite, glaucophane rock, garnet–amphibolite and jadeite–quartz–glaucophane rock occur as tectonic blocks in sheared serpentinite. Using the jadeite–garnet–glaucophane–phengite–quartz equilibrium, peak pressure and temperature of the jadeite–quartz–glaucophane rock are P  = 22 ± 2 kbar and T  = 530 ± 40 °C. The estimated P–T conditions indicate that the rock was subducted to ca 80 km depth, and that the overall geothermal gradient was ∼ 7.0 °C/km. This rock type is interpreted to have been generated by the metamorphism of cold oceanic lithosphere subducted to upper mantle depths. The exhumation from the upper mantle to lower or middle crustal depths can be explained by buoyancy forces. The tectonic block is interpreted to be combined with the quartz–mica schists at lower or middle crustal depths.     

Extensive normal faulting during exhumation revealed by the spatial variation of phengite K–Ar ages in the Sambagawa metamorphic rocks,central Shikoku,SW Japan

Metamorphic rocks experience change in the mode of deformation from ductile flow to brittle failure during their exhumation. We investigated the spatial variation of phengite K–Ar ages of pelitic schist of the Sambagawa metamorphic rocks (sensu lato) from the Saruta River area, central Shikoku, to evaluate if those ages are disturbed by faults or not. As a result, we found that these ages change by ca 5 my across the two boundaries between the lower‐garnet and albite–biotite, and the albite–biotite and upper‐garnet zones. These spatial changes in phengite K–Ar ages were perhaps caused by truncation of the metamorphic layers by large‐scale normal faulting at D₂ phase under the brittle‐ductile transition conditions (ca 300°C) during exhumation, because an actinolite rock was formed along a fault near the former boundary. Assuming that the horizontal metamorphic layers and a previously estimated exhumation rate of 1 km/my before the D₂ phase, the change of 5 my in phengite K–Ar ages is converted to a displacement of about 10 km along the north‐dipping, low‐angle normal fault documented in the previous study. Phengite ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar ages (ca 85 to 78 Ma) in the actinolite rock could be reasonably comparable to the phengite K–Ar ages of the surrounding non‐faulted pelitic schist, because the K–Ar ages of pelitic schist could have been also reset at temperatures close to the brittle–ductile transition conditions far below the closure temperature for thermal retention of argon in phengite (about 500–600°C).     

Ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks and the thermal evolution of continent collision belts

Abstract Coesite-bearing eclogites exposed in the Alpine, Qinling-Dabie (China), Caledonian, and Ural orogenic belts provide insight into the time-dependent thermal structure of continent collision belts. Coesite-bearing eclogites record peak metamorphic temperatures of 550-900°C at pressures ≥ 2.5 GPa reflecting anomalously cool conditions at depths of 90 km or more. The low temperatures recorded by coesite-bearing eclogites strongly suggest formation in a convergent plate margin where the downward advection of cool lithosphere depresses isotherms on a regional scale. Subduction zone pressure-temperature (P-T) paths calculated using a two-dimensional finite-difference model predict steady-state temperatures of 450-650°C at 100 km depth at the slab-mantle interface for convergence rates of 10 to 100 mm/yr. Coesite-bearing eclogites record peak temperatures ~100-250°C higher, possibly reflecting (i) formation during the early stages of convergence prior to the achievement of thermal steady state; (ii) attainment of peak metamorphic temperatures during decompression (exhumation); (iii) formation during slow, <10 mm/yr, convergence; or (iv) uncertainties in the modeling parameters. Retrograde P-T paths determined for coesite-bearing eclogites from the western Alps and China indicate cooling during decompression from depths of ~100 km. Cooling of eclogite terrains during exhumation requires loss of heat downward into lithosphere that continues to subduct beneath the eclogites, loss of heat upward into the cooler hanging wall of a large-scale normal fault/shear zone, or a combination of the two scenarios.     

Radiometric ages of Alpine metamorphic rocks in the western and central Alps

Abstract The chronological characteristics of Alpine metamorphic rocks are described and Alpine metamorphic events are reinterpreted on the basis of chronological data for the western and central Alps from 1960 to 1992. Metamorphic rocks of the Lepontine, Gran San Bernardo, Piemonte, Internal Crystalline Massifs and Sesia-Lanzo mostly date Alpine metamorphic events, but some (along with granitoids and gneisses from the Helvetic and Southern Alps) result from the Variscan, Caledonian or older events and thus predate the Alpine events. Radiometric age data from the Lepontine area show systematic age relations: U-Pb monazite (23-29 Ma), Rb-Sr muscovite (15–40 Ma) and biotite (15–30 Ma), K-Ar biotite (10-30 Ma), muscovite (15–25 Ma) and hornblende (25-35 Ma), and FT zircon (10-20 Ma) and apatite (5-15 Ma), which can be explained by the different closure temperatures of the isotopic systems. A 121 Ma U-Pb zircon age for a coesite-bearing whiteschist (metaquartzite) from the Dora-Maira represents the peak of ultra-high pressure metamorphism. Coesite-free eclogites and blueschists related to ultra-high pressure rocks in the Penninic crystalline massifs yield an ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar plateau age of about 100 Ma for phengites, interpreted as the cooling age. From about 50 Ma, eclogites and glaucophane schists have also been reported from the Piemonte ophiolites and calcschists, suggesting the existence of a second high P/T metamorphic event. Alpine rocks therefore record three major metamorphic events: (i) ultra-high and related high P/T metamorphism in the early Cretaceous, which is well preserved in continental material such as the Sesia-Lanzo and the Penninic Internal Crystalline Massifs; (ii) a second high P/T metamorphic event in the Eocene, which is recognized in the ophiolites and calcschists of the Mesozoic Tethys; and (iii) medium P/T metamorphism, in which both types of high P/T metamorphic rocks were variably reset by Oligocene thermal events. Due to the mixture of minerals formed in the three metamorphic events, there is a possibility that almost all geochronological data reported from the Alpine metamorphic belt show mixed ages. Early Cretaceous subduction of a Tethyan mid-ocean ridge and Eocene continental collision triggered off the exhumation of the high pressure rocks.     

Prograde eclogites from the Tonaru epidote amphibolite mass in the Sambagawa Metamorphic Belt, central Shikoku, southwest Japan

Abstract   Prograde eclogites occur in the Tonaru epidote amphibolite mass in the Sambagawa Metamorphic Belt of central Shikoku. The Tonaru mass is considered to be a metamorphosed layered gabbro, and occurs as a large tectonic block (approximately 6.5 km × 1 km) in a high-grade portion of the Sambagawa schists. The Tonaru mass experienced high- P /low- T prograde metamorphism from the epidote-blueschist facies to the eclogite facies prior to its emplacement into the Sambagawa schists. The estimated P – T conditions are T  = 300–450°C and P  = 0.7–1.1 GPa for the epidote-blueschist facies, and the peak P – T conditions for the eclogite facies are T  = 700–730°C and P  ≥ 1.5 GPa. Following the eclogite facies metamorphism, the Tonaru mass was retrograded to the epidote amphibolite facies. It subsequently underwent additional prograde Sambagawa metamorphism, together with the surrounding Sambagawa schists, until the conditions of the oligoclase–biotite zone were reached. The high- P /low- T prograde metamorphism of the eclogite facies in the Tonaru mass and other tectonic blocks show similar steep d P /d T geothermal gradients despite their diverse peak P – T conditions, suggesting that these tectonic blocks reached different depths in the subduction zone. The individual rocks in each metamorphic zone of the Sambagawa schists also recorded steep d P /d T geothermal gradients during the early stages of the Sambagawa prograde metamorphism, and these gradients are similar to those of the eclogite-bearing tectonic blocks. Therefore, the eclogite-bearing tectonic blocks reached greater depths in the subduction zone than the Sambagawa schists. All the tectonic blocks were ultimately emplaced into the hanging wall side of the later-subducted Sambagawa high-grade schists during their exhumation.     

2017年9月23日朝鲜ML3.4地震矩张量反演

利用区域地震台网数字波形资料,对2017年9月23日朝鲜M_L3.4地震进行地震矩张量反演计算与参数稳定性评估,获得了此次地震的震源机制解.结果表明,地震矩心深度为3 km,标量地震矩为1.34×10¹⁴ N·m,矩震级为M_W3.4.地震矩张量结果分解后,双力偶分量（DC）为96.4%,补偿线性矢量偶极分量（CLVD）为-0.8%,震源体体积变化的各向同性分量（ISO）为-2.8%.主压应力P轴方位角为144°,倾角为74°,主张应力T轴方位角为341°,倾角为15°.其中一个节面的参数为：走向248°,倾向60°,滑动角-94°.地震震源体积变化分量很小,震源机制类型属于典型的由断层剪切位错引起的正断层型地震事件,且主张应力T轴方向与区域近地表应变率场方向一致.由于朝鲜2017年9月3日核试验释放的能量对局部区域应力场进行了扰动,致使核试验场附近地壳岩体处于破裂的临界状态,2017年9月23日朝鲜M_L3.4地震事件可能是区域应力场作用下的一次山体滑动事件.     

Tectonics of an Early Carboniferous forearc inferred from a high-P/T schist-bearing conglomerate in the Nedamo Terrane, Northeast Japan

The Nedamo Terrane, an Early Carboniferous accretionary complex, is the oldest biostratigraphically dated accretionary complex in Japan. The purpose of this study is to describe and interpret a conglomerate from the Nedamo Terrane that contains clasts of high-pressure/low-temperature (high- P/T ) schist (mainly garnet-bearing phengite schist) and ultramafic rock, and to infer the tectonics of an Early Carboniferous arc–trench system at the eastern margin of the paleo-Asian continent. Clasts of high- P/T schist and ultramafic rock within the conglomerate make up 8.4 and 6.7% of the total clasts, respectively, based on modal counts. These clasts are subangular to subrounded, whereas volcanic clasts are well rounded. The source of the schist clasts, which yield a radiometric age of 347–317 Ma, is considered to be the Renge Metamorphic Rocks of Southwest Japan or equivalent rocks. Based on the chemical composition of chromian spinel, the source of ultramafic clasts is inferred to be the island-arc-type Ordovician Miyamori and Hayachine ultramafic complexes in the Kitakami Massif. The conglomerate records multiple provenance regions, including an island arc (South Kitakami Terrane) and a forearc ridge; the high P/T schist and ultramafic rocks were exhumed in the forearc region. The duration of the interval from the early stages of exhumation of the schist to its deposition in the trench as clasts is estimated to have been less than 30 my.     

Blueschist-facies metamorphism during Paleozoic orogeny in southwestern Japan: Phengite K–Ar ages of blueschist-facies tectonic blocks in a serpentinite melange beneath early Paleozoic Oeyama ophiolite

Blueschist-bearing Osayama serpentinite melange develops beneath a peridotite body of the Oeyama ophiolite which occupies the highest position structurally in the central Chugoku Mountains. The blueschist-facies tectonic blocks within the serpentinite melange are divided into the lawsonite–pumpellyite grade, lower epidote grade and higher epidote grade by the mineral assemblages of basic schists. The higher epidote-grade block is a garnet–glaucophane schist including eclogite-facies relic minerals and retrogressive lawsonite–pumpellyite-grade minerals. Gabbroic blocks derived from the Oeyama ophiolite are also enclosed as tectonic blocks in the serpentinite matrix and have experienced a blueschist metamorphism together with the other blueschist blocks. The mineralogic and paragenetic features of the Osayama blueschists are compatible with a hypothesis that they were derived from a coherent blueschist-facies metamorphic sequence, formed in a subduction zone with a low geothermal gradient (~ 10°C/km). Phengite K–Ar ages of 16 pelitic and one basic schists yield 289–327 Ma and concentrate around 320 Ma regardless of protolith and metamorphic grade, suggesting quick exhumation of the schists at ca 320 Ma. These petrologic and geochronologic features suggest that the Osayama blueschists comprise a low-grade portion of the Carboniferous Renge metamorphic belt. The Osayama blueschists indicate that the 'cold' subduction type (Franciscan type) metamorphism to reach eclogite-facies and subsequent quick exhumation took place in the northwestern Pacific margin in Carboniferous time, like some other circum-Pacific orogenic belts (western USA and eastern Australia), where such subduction metamorphism already started as early as the Ordovician.     

The thermal history and uplift process of the Ouxidaban pluton in the South Tianshan orogen: Evidence from Ar-Ar and (U-Th)/He

The uplift and exhumation process in the Tianshan orogen since the late Paleozoic were likely related to the preservation of ore deposits. This study involved reconstructing the whole tectonic thermal history of the Ouxidaban pluton in central South Tianshan Mountains based on hornblende/plagioclase Ar-Ar and zircon/apatite(U-Th)/He methods. The thermal history and uplift process of central South Tianshan Mountains since the late Paleozoic were analyzed according to the results of previous works and cooling/exhumation rate features. The hornblende yields a plateau age of 382.6±3.6 Ma, and the plagioclase yields a weighted mean age of 265.8±4.9 Ma. The Ouxidaban pluton yields weighted mean zircon(U-Th)/He age of 185.8±4.3 Ma and apatite(U-Th)/He age of 31.1±2.9 Ma, respectively. Five stages of tectonic thermal history of South Tianshan Mountains since the late Paleozoic could be discriminated by the cooling curve and modeling simulation:(1) from the latest Silurian to Late Devonian, the average cooling rate of the Ouxidaban pluton was 7.84°C/Ma;(2) from the Late Devonian to the latest Middle Permian, the average cooling rate was about 2.07°C/Ma;(3) from the latest Middle Permian to the middle Eocene, the cooling rate decreased to about 0.68°C/Ma, suggesting that the tectonic activity was gentle at this time;(4) a sudden increase of the cooling rate(5.00°C/Ma) and the exhumation rate(0.17 mm/a), and crustal exhumation of ~1.83 km indicated that the Ouxidaban pluton would suffer a rapid uplift event during the Eocene(~46?35 Ma);(5) since the middle Eocene, the rapid uplift was sustained, and the average cooling rate since then has been 1.14°C/Ma with an exhumation rate of about 0.04 mm/a and an exhumation thickness of 1.33 km. The strong uplift since the Cenozoic would be related to a far-field effect from the Indian and Eurasian plates' collision. However, it was hysteretic that the remote effect was observed in the Tianshan orogenic belt.     

Ultrahigh-pressure garnet lherzolite from Chijiadian, Rongcheng County, in the Su-Lu region of eastern China

Abstract Petrological studies of a serpentinized garnet lherzolite body in Rongcheng of the Su-Lu region of eastern China revealed unusually high pressure. Spinel lherzolite probably in a subducting slab was transformed to garnet lherzolite at mantle depth. During exhumation, they were subsequently subjected to the granulite and then amphibolite overprinting and a phase of serpentinization. The peak P–T conditions of the garnet lherzolite estimated after detailed analysis of the metamorphic texture are 4–5 GPa and 820°C or 5–6 GPa and 780°C, depending on the chosen geothermobarometers. The lower dP/dT of the garnet lherzolite can be interpreted as the results of subduction of an old (say 100 Ma older than the time of collision) and cold, slab underneath the margin of the Sino–Korean craton.     

Ultra-high pressure metamorphic rocks in the Dabie-Su-Lu region, China: Their formation and exhumation

Abstract Based on petrological, structural, geological and geochronological research, the authors summarize the progress of ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphic rock study since 1989 by Chinese geoscientists and foreign geoscientists in the Dabie-Su-Lu region. The authors introduce and discuss a two-stage exhumation process for the UHP metamorphic rocks that have various lithologies; eclogite, ultramafics, jadeitic quartzite, gneiss, schist and marble. The metamorphic history of UHP metamorphic rocks is divided into three stages, that is, the pre-eclogite stage, coesite eclogite stage, and retrograde stage. Prior to UHP metamorphism, the ultramafics had a high temperature environment assemblage of mantle and others had blueschist facies assemblages. The granulite facies assemblages, which have recorded a temperature increase event with decompression, have developed locally in the Weihai basaltic rocks. Isotopic ages show a long range from > 700 Ma to 200 Ma. The diversity in protoliths of UHP metamorphic rocks may be related to the variation of isotopic ages older than 400 Ma. The Sm-Nd dating of ~ 220 Ma could reflect the initial exhumation stage after the peak UHP metamorphism in relation to the collision between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze blocks and subsequent events. Petrological and structural evidence imply a two-stage exhumation process. During the initial exhumation, the UHP metamorphic rocks were sheared and squeezed up in a high P/T regime. In the second exhumation stage the UHP metamorphic rocks were uplifted and eventually exposed with middle crustal rocks.     

Rapid Exhumation in the Alpine Belt of the Betic-Rif (W Mediterranean): Tectonic Extrusion

—Extreme cooling rates (500 °C/m.y.) during the late stage, 22–18 Ma, orogenic evolution of the Alpine Betic-Rif belt are suggested to result from rapid exhumation caused by tectonic extrusion and concomitant extensional tectonics. The extrusional/extensional tectonic setting is controlled by the SW-NE trending break-off scar left in the lithosphere of the Alborán Sea and SE Spain after detachment of a lithospheric slab. The extruded material represents the collisional crustal nappe pile (together with fragments of underlying mantle, such as the Ronda peridotites) and the cause of the extrusion is the thermal softening within the crustal section during and after collision. The extrusion/extension took place under the influence of a NW-SE directed compressive regime, perpendicular to the collisional belt. At the same time the sub-lithospheric mantle still showed the E-W compressive regime of the collisional stage. The Alpine tectono-metamorphic evolution of the Betic-Rif belt in the W Mediterranean thus comprises two main stages: (1) continental collision with formation of primary nappes and high-pressure metamorphic parageneses, (2) tectonic extrusion with vertically directed tectonics (high pressure, very rapid decompression) and extensional tectonics with roughly horizontal, lateral transport and final emplacement of the extruded mélange in the form of a stack of detachment sheets (low pressure, very rapid cooling). This model for the Betic-Rif may offer important constraints to all rapidly exhumed convergent terranes.     

Phase relations and P–T conditions of the Ryoke pelitic and psammitic metamorphic rocks in the Ina district, Central Japan

The Ina district of the Ryoke Belt is divided into two mineral zones, based on the mineral parageneses of the pelitic and psammitic rocks at the peak metamorphism. A biotite–muscovite zone (quartz + plagioclase + biotite + muscovite with or without K-feldspar) constitutes the northwestern part, and a biotite–cordierite–K-feldspar zone (quartz + plagioclase + biotite + cordierite + K-feldspar) comprises the central to southern and eastern parts. The isograd reaction between two mineral zones is defined by a divariant reaction: Mg-rich biotite + muscovite + quartz = Fe-rich biotite + cordierite + K-feldspar + H₂O (1), which, in the K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O (KFMASH) system, occurs at ∼ 590 °C at 0.2 GPa and 660 °C at 0.4 GPa. Fibrolite accompanied by andalusite porphyroblasts in aluminous pelitic rocks of the biotite–muscovite zone and the low-grade part of the biotite–cordierite–K-feldspar zone, suggests that sillimanite was the stable aluminosilicate at the peak metamorphic condition throughout the area. In the high-grade part of the biotite–cordierite–K-feldspar zone, fibrolite mostly occurs as inclusions in cordierite or in plagioclase. The phase relations and the compositional zoning of plagioclase in relation to fibrolite inclusions suggest that fibrolite was formed under relatively high-pressure conditions, and that partial melting took place.     

1996年5月3日内蒙古包头西M_S6.4级地震的震源机制研究

利用地幔波波形拟合和P波初动符号联合反演的方法,估计了1996年5月3日内蒙古包头西MS6．4级地震的震源机制．得到节面1（40°,70°,－174°）,节面2（308°,84°,－20°）。主压力轴P（-13．95×1017Nm,262°,19°）,主张力轴T（15．66×1017Nm,356°,10°）,中性轴N（B）（1．52×1017Nm,112°,69°）．地震形成左旋走滑兼弱倾滑断裂,断裂面较陡．据ML≥3.0级的余震分布、Ⅷ度区的烈度分布以及宏观震中与微观震中的相对位置推测,节面2可能与实际的地震破裂面相近．据宽频垂直向（BHZ）波形记录中SP与P的到时差估计,震源深度约为21Km．     

华北克拉通东北部及邻区地壳和地幔转换带厚度研究

本文利用宽频流动台阵记录的远震波形资料和接收函数波动方程叠后偏移方法,获得了华北克拉通东北部边界及其邻近地区的地壳和地幔转换带的间断面结构图像.结果显示研究区域的地壳厚度存在显著的横向变化:以南北重力梯度带为界,西北部的兴蒙造山带地壳较厚(~40 km),东南部的燕山带、松辽盆地和辽东台隆地壳明显较薄(30~35 km).这有可能反映,研究区南北重力梯度带两侧地壳在中-新生代区域构造伸展过程中经历了不同程度的改造和减薄.地幔转换带成像结果显示,研究区410 km和660 km间断面结构存在横向差异.经度121°E-122°E之间,上地幔底部出现双重间断面,深度分别为660 km和690 km.经度122.5°E以东(北黄海地区),410 km间断面有5~20 km幅度的下沉,660 km间断面有5~15 km幅度的抬升;该地区地幔转换带厚度相对全球平均偏薄10~20 km,指示着该地区较热的上地幔底部温度环境.我们认为太平洋俯冲板块可能停滞在研究区119°E-122°E经度范围的地幔转换带中,但未延伸至118°E以西;而俯冲板块在124°E以东可能局部穿透了上地幔底部而进入下地幔,同时引起小尺度的地幔对流,导致北黄海地区下地幔物质的上涌.     

Kyanite-anthophyllite schist and southwest extension of the Dabie Mountains ultrahigh- to high-pressure belt

Abstract Kyanite-anthophyllite schist preserves the first record of high pressure in the amphibolite-facies unit of the SW Dabie Mountains, whereas ultrahigh- and high-pressure (UHP and HP) metamorphism has been well documented by the occurrence of coesite, diamond and mafic eclogite in the SE Dabie Mountains. Textural evidence indicates that minerals of the kyanite-anthophyllite schist formed mainly in two stages: (i) garnet + kyanite + antho-phyllite + rutile formed at pressure in excess of 1.2 GPa at T < 650°C; (ii) cordierite±staurolite formed by reaction of anthophyllite + kyanite at P < 0.5 GPa, T∼530°C. Plagioclase and ilmenite replaced garnet and rutile respectively during decompression. In a still later stage, secondary biotite recrystallized, accompanied by sillimanite replacing kyanite, and spinel replacing staurolite. The P-T information suggests that the amphibolite unit in the SW Dabie Mountains is part of the Triassic collision belt between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons. The P-T paths of the UHP eclogite in the eastern Dabie Mountains and the HP kyanite-anthophyllite schist in the SW Dabie Mountains show similar decompression and equivalent late stage Barrovian-style metamorphism. Emplacement of voluminous granitoid at middle crustal levels between 134–118 Ma contributed to the development of the Barrovian-type metamorphism in the Dabie Mountains.     

Diamond-bearing and diamond-free metacarbonate rocks from Kumdy–Kol in the Kokchetav Massif, northern Kazakhstan

Abstract Dolomite marble from the Kumdy–Kol area of the Kokchetav Massif contains abundant microdiamond, mainly in garnet and a few in diopside. The mineral assemblage at peak metamorphic condition consists of dolomite + diopside + garnet (+ aragonite) ± diamond. Inclusions of very low MgCO₃ calcite and almost pure calcite occur in diopside and are interpreted as aragonite and/or aragonite + dolomite. Single-phase Mg–calcite in diopside with a very high MgCO₃ component (up to 21.7 mol%) was also found in diamond-free dolomitic marble, and is interpreted as a retrograde product from aragonite + dolomite to Mg–calcite. The dolomite stability constrains the maximum pressure (P) at < 7 GPa using previous experimental data, whereas the occurrence of diamond yields the minimum peak pressure–temperature (P–T) condition at 4.2 GPa and 980 °C at X co ₂ = 0.1. The highest MgCO₃ in Mg–calcite constrains the minimum P–T condition higher than 2.5 GPa and 800 °C for the exhumation stage. As these marbles were subjected to nearly identical P–T metamorphic conditions, the appearance of diamond in some carbonate rocks was explained by high X co ₂. A low X co ₂ condition refers to high oxidized conditions and diamond (and/or graphite) becomes unstable. Difference in X co ₂ for marble from the same area suggests local heterogeneity of fluid compositions during ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism.     

Phengite K-Ar ages of schists from the Sanbagawa southern marginal belt, central Shikoku, southwest Japan: Influence of detrital mica and deformation on age

Abstract K–Ar age determinations were carried out on phengite separates from pelitic schists collected systematically from the Sanbagawa southern marginal belt and the associated area. The petrography and phengite chemistry by electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) revealed the existence of detrital white micas in the schist that have an extremely older age (108 Ma) in comparison with the neighboring schists (88 Ma) without any detrital mica. The ages become gradually older from the north ( ca 78 Ma) to the south ( ca 90 Ma) except for some samples that contain detrital micas and/or have been reactivated thermally by intrusives. The age is interpreted as an exhumation-cooling age that has been controlled by the ductile deformation of the host rocks that have never experienced a culmination temperature higher than 350°C which corresponds to the closure temperature of the K–Ar phengite system. The southward aging of the recorded ages in the extensive chlorite zone of the central Shikoku, from the Dozan river area of the north ( ca 65 Ma) to the study area of the south ( ca 85 Ma) through the Asemi river area ( ca 75 Ma), is explained in terms of increasing exhumation/cooling rates of the host rocks from north to south. The phengite K–Ar ages in the pelitic schists from the Kyomizu tectonic zone, which is classically considered as a remarkable thrusting shear zone, have no significant difference in comparison with that of the neighboring schists. This fact suggests that the latest stage of brittle deformation during exhumation/uplift has not significantly affected the ages of phengite in the schists.     

体波波形反演对青藏高原上地幔速度结构的研究

采用波形反演方法对青藏高原地区震中距8°-38°范围内的宽频带炸波波形进行拟合,研究该地区上地幔平均速度结构以及上地幔纵、横波速度的横向不均匀性结果表明青藏高原地区的平均地壳厚度约为68km,上地幔盖层平均厚度约为30－40km,速度约为8.10km／s雅鲁藏布江附近地壳厚度最大,约80km,相应的上地幔Pn速度为8．15km／s左右,青藏高原中部地区的地壳平均厚度约68-70km．位于拉萨地块北部的羌塘地块S波速度相对较低,其地壳和上地慢的平均S波速度分别比拉萨地块低1％和2％以上34°N以北,90°E附近的区域存在明显的上地幔P波低速异常区,P波的平均速度小于7．8km／s据此结果及前人工作,推断印度板块的俯冲可能以雅鲁藏布江缝合带附近为界,青藏高原巨大的地壳厚度是由于欧亚板块碰撞造成地壳缩短与增厚引起.