Chemical mass balance in a reaction zone between serpentinite and metapelites in the Nishisonogi metamorphic rocks, Kyushu, Japan: Implications for devolatilization

Abstract   Reaction zones of 0.5–10.0 m thick are commonly observed between serpentinite and pelitic schist in the Nishisonogi metamorphic rocks, Kyushu, Japan. Each reaction zone consists of almost monomineralic or bimineralic layers of talc + carbonates, actinolite (or carbonates + quartz), chlorite, muscovite and albite from serpentinite to pelitic schist. Magnesite + quartz veins extend into the serpentinite from the talc + carbonates layer, while dolomite veins extend into the pelitic schist from the muscovite layer. These veins are filled by subhedral minerals with oriented growth features. Primary fluid inclusions yield the same homogenization temperatures (145–150°C) both in the reaction zone and in the veins, suggesting their simultaneous formation. Mass-balance calculations using the isocon method indicate that SiO₂, MgO, H₂O and K₂O are depleted in the reaction zone relative to the protoliths. These components were probably extracted from the reaction zone as fluids during the formation of the reaction zone.     

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).     

Discovery of khondalite series from the western segment of Altyn Tagh and their petrological and geochronological studies

The khondalite series, which are characterized by aluminum-rich gneisses (schists) consisting of sillimanite-garnet-biotite-monzonite gneiss, garnet-biotite-monzonite gneiss, graphite-sillimanite-biotite schist, and garnet-amphibole two-pyroxene granulites occurring as lenses and layers within gneisses (schists), were discovered in Tula area of western segment of Altyn Tagh. The petrology and geochemistry indicate that the protoliths of aluminum-rich gneisses (schists) are aluminum-rich pelitic and pelitic arenaceous sedimentary rocks, the protoliths of basic granulites are continental tholeiitic basalts. Therefore, the khondalite series may be produced at continental margin. They had suffered granulitic facies metamorphism with peak temperatures of 700-850℃ and pressures of 0.8-1.2 GPa. The U-Pb and Pb-Pb isotopic dating of zircons provided the ages of 447-462 Ma representing the ages of peak granulitic metamorphism. The U-Pb dating of detrital zircons from aluminum-rich gneisses yielded older upper intercept ages which reflect the times of older materials derived from source rocks of the gneiss protoliths.     

Duplex of metamorphic units including ultramafic rocks in the central region of Tokunoshima,Southwest Japan

Geological observations in the central part of Tokunoshima in the Amami Islands, Southwest Japan, reveal that discrete layers of serpentinite, dioritic gneiss, and amphibolite are intercalated into pelitic schist and these rock bodies form a northwest‐dipping tectonic stack. A subhorizontal psammitic schist layer overlies them. These rocks underwent ductile deformation that is denoted by penetrative foliation and mineral lineation. Microstructures of the sheared metamorphic rocks and serpentinite indicate top‐to‐the‐east, ‐southeast or ‐south (hanging‐wall up) displacements. The en echelon array of rock bodies is interpreted as a duplex with the psammitic schist layer on its top and the pelitic schist layer on its bottom. It is inferred that the serpentinite‐bearing duplex was formed due to the tectonic erosion and the subsequent accretionary growth operated in a Cretaceous or older subduction zone. Tokunoshima has been considered to belong to the Shimanto Belt. However, regional low‐pressure and high‐temperature type amphibolite‐facies metamorphism and related ductile deformation have not been recognized in the other areas of the Shimanto Belt. There is no metamorphic rock occurrence comparable to that of Tokunoshima in the neighboring islands. The metamorphic rocks in Tokunoshima can be correlated to any of low‐pressure/temperature type metamorphic regions in Kyushu.     

K–Ar age–chemistry–fabric relations of phengite from the Sanbagawa high-pressure schists, Japan

The Sanbagawa high-pressure schists from central Shikoku in Southwest Japan have experienced high-strain ductile deformation during exhumation and cooling. This study examines the effects of high-strain ductile deformation on K–Ar ages of phengites on the basis of fabric, chemistry and K–Ar ages of phengites from the pelitic, psammitic and quartzose (or albitic) schists collected from the same outcrop in the albite–biotite zone. Phengites in the pelitic and psammitic schists generally occur forming aggregates consisting of fine-grained phengite crystals and are extremely fine-grained in domains close to relatively rigid garnet and albite porphyroblasts, indicating that deformation-induced grain-size reduction had taken place in phengite during the ductile deformation accompanying the exhumation of host schists. We suggest that the grain-size reduction of phengite is due to strain-induced recrystallization or dynamic recrystallization. The matrix phengites in schists are chemically heterogeneous on the thin-section scale but the phengites from pelitic and psammitic schists from the same outcrop have similar chemical range. Phengite included in garnet has a high Si value and its Na/(Na + K) and Mg/(Mg + Fe) ratios are significantly low in comparison with those in matrix. The phengite included in garnet records the chemistry in equilibrium with other major silicate phases during the higher pressure stage of the P–T–t history of the schists. In contrast, the matrix phengites having low Si values are likely to have been formed during retrograde metamorphism in extremely restricted equilibrium domains. The two or three different types of schists from the same outcrop, which have a similar grain size of phengite, have similar K–Ar ages, suggesting that the closure temperature does not depend on chemistry. However, the hematite-rich quartzose schist with strong grain-size reduction of both phengite and quartz has a significantly younger K–Ar phengite age than the pelitic and quartzose schists in the same outcrop that do not show grain-size reduction. We suggest that the exhumation tectonics of the schists, which have experienced strong ductile deformation at temperatures less than ~350°C, played an important role resulting in the observed variation in age.     

中国华北地区壳内低速高导层（体）成因模式的探讨

依据高温高压下华北地区地壳主要岩石的物理性质－波速，电性测定的结果，提出了华北地区低速高导层可能的成因模式以及不同模式的适应范围。认为；碳酸盐岩在深部一定温度，压力和氧逸度条件下碳的析出会导致高导层体的出现；深部韧性剪切带组成矿物的定向排列，可使岩石的波速，电生产生各向异性行为，导致低速高导层的产生；绿片岩相和角闪岩相石中含水矿物的脱水作用会导致上，中地壳岩石物理力学性质的突变，这可能是该地区低速     

High temperatures and inverted metamorphism in the schist of Sierra de Salinas,California

New field and thermobarometric work in the Californian Salinian block clarifies current and pre-Tertiary relationships between the schist of Sierra de Salinas and Cretaceous arc-related granitic rocks. The contact is variably preserved as a brittle fault and high-temperature mylonite zone, the Salinas shear zone, which represents the contact between North America and sediments accreted above the Farallon slab between ∼ 76 Ma and ∼ 70 Ma. Near granulite facies, prograde replacement of hornblende with clinopyroxene is associated with deformation of plutonic rocks at the base of the upper plate. In the lower plate, the schist of Sierra de Salinas, garnet–biotite thermometry indicates decreasing temperatures down-section from at least 714 °C to ∼ 575 °C over an exposed thickness of ∼ 2.5 km, consistent with petrologic evidence of an inverted metamorphic gradient. The measured temperatures are significantly higher than observed at shallow levels above subducting slabs or predicted by 2D computational models assuming low shear stresses. Previous workers have called upon shear heating to explain similar observations in the correlative Pelona schist, an unlikely scenario given the results of recent rock deformation experiments which predict that feldspar–quartz–mica aggregates are far too weak to withstand stresses of ∼ 70 MPa required by the shear heating hypothesis. As an alternative, we propose that high temperatures resulted from conductive heating while the leading edge of the schist traveled ∼ 150 km beneath the recently active Salinian continental arc during the initiation of shallow subduction. Weakening of the schist due to high temperatures helped facilitate the collapse of the Salinian arc as the schist was emplaced. Schist emplacement coincided with loss of lower, mafic portions of the arc, and therefore evolution of the Southern California crust towards a more felsic composition.     

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.     

The effect of cyclic operation of brittle and ductile deformation on the metamorphic assemblage in cataclasites and mylonites

Cataclasites and mylonites, and the brittle-ductile processes that produce them, were studied at exposures along the northern rim of the Grong culmination, a transverse basement antiform in the central Scandinavian Caledonides. The rock suite studied is composed of gneisses, mylonites, and cataclasites which have a granodioritic composition. The microstructure of the rocks appears to be the result of repeated alternations of brittle faulting (associated with hydrothermal mineral growth) and ductile deformation of the crystallization products. During brittle faulting K-feldspar-chlorite veins are formed, probably by incongruent pressure solution of micas. During plastic deformation of the rocks the mineral association is transformed to white mica and green biotite, according to the reaction. $$5 biotite + 3 white mica + 9 quartz + 4 H_2 O = 8 K - feldspar + 9 chlorite$$ During this reaction plagioclase is overgrown by mica and epidote, and K-feldspar crystals are replaced by albite. The reactions which involve K-feldspars are cyclic: K-feldspar that is generated in cracks tends to be removed by albitization during ductile deformation. It is concluded that the mylonites studied represent a movement zone in the Earth's crust in which seismic and aseismic slip alternated during a large part of the deformation history.     

冀东陆壳结构的岩石学模型

冀东地区的古老变质岩系是一个出露的大陆地壳断面。根据变质岩系的变质相、亚相的研究和地质温压计计算的结果推定的深度,并结合地球物理测深资料,以及笔者测定和前人的岩石高压下波速实验资料提出了本区大陆地壳结构的岩石学模型。下地壳由麻粒岩相岩石组成,上部为角闪石麻粒岩亚相的中性成分的麻粒岩,下部为辉石麻粒岩亚相的基性成分的麻粒岩构成,底部夹有透镜状蛇纹石化橄榄岩以及紫苏花岗岩。中地壳主要由高角闪岩相的中性-中酸性成分的片麻岩、片岩构成,顶部为低角闪岩相的片麻岩、片岩,广泛发育英云闪长岩和花岗闪长岩岩体,含隙间高温流体相(fluid phase),形成高导-低速层。上地壳主要为绿片岩相(部分低角闪岩相)的板岩、千枚岩、片岩、变粒岩以及花岗岩组成,顶部为沉积盖层     

江西省大湖塘石门寺矿区超大型钨矿的发现及找矿意义

江西省武宁县大湖塘石门寺超大型钨矿的成功勘查是我国地质找矿工作的重大发现。矿化类型划分为细脉浸染型、隐爆角砾岩型和石英大脉型。前者占总储量的74％,该类型以晋宁晚期黑云母花岗闪长岩为容矿围岩,以燕山中期酸性深成至浅成花岗岩为成矿母岩。矿体厚大且产状平缓,大致平行于黑云母花岗闪长岩与似斑状黑云母花岗岩株顶部的接触面分布,以外接触带为主（I1矿体）,水平投影面积1．50km2,单工程最大厚度389．33m,平均厚度143．67m,平均品位0．193％,厚度变化系数63．7％,品位变化系数115．8％。工业矿物主要为白钨矿、黑钨矿、黄铜矿、辉钼矿。矿石组构类型主要有结晶结构、交代结构、细脉状构造、浸染状构造,常见近矿围岩蚀变为黑鳞云母化、云英岩化、绿泥石化,成因类型属岩浆期后高中温热液矿床,工业类型可划归为细脉浸染型白钨矿。石门寺矿区以黑云母花岗闪长岩为容矿围岩的细脉浸染状白钨的发现,改变了以往只专注评价石英大脉型黑钨矿的找矿思路,为矿区及九岭矿集区实现钨多金属找矿突破指明了新的方向。     

A new occurrence of retrogressed eclogite from the Sanbagawa belt of southwest Japan and its significance

The present paper reports, for the first time, the occurrence of an omphacite‐bearing mafic schist from the Asemi‐gawa region of the Sanbagawa belt (southwest Japan). The mafic schist occurs as thin layers within pelitic schist of the albite–biotite zone. Omphacite in the mafic schist only occurs as inclusions in garnet, and albite is the major Na phase in the matrix, suggesting that the mafic schist represents highly retrogressed eclogite. Garnet grains in the sample show prograde‐type compositional zoning with no textural or compositional break, and contain mineral inclusions of omphacite, quartz, glaucophane, barroisite/hornblende, epidote and titanite. In addition to the petrographic observations, Raman spectroscopy and focused ion beam system–transmission electron microscope analyses were used for identification of omphacite in the sample. The omphacite in the sample shows a strong Raman peak at 678 cm^?1, and concomitant Raman peaks are all consistent with those of the reference omphacite Raman spectrum. The selected area electron diffraction pattern of the omphacite is compatible with the common P2/n omphacite structure. Quartz inclusions in the mafic schist preserve high residual pressure values of Δω₁ > 8.5 cm^?1, corresponding to the eclogite facies conditions. The combination of Raman geothermobarometries and garnet–clinopyroxene geothermometry gives peak pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions of 1.7–2.0 GPa and 440–540 °C for the mafic schist. The peak P–T values are comparable to those of the schistose eclogitic rocks in other Sanbagawa eclogite units of Shikoku. These findings along with previous age constraints suggest that most of the Sanbagawa schistose eclogites and associated metasedimentary rocks share similar simple P–T histories along the Late Cretaceous subduction zone.     

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.     

Regional occurrence of orthopyroxene-bearing basic rocks in the Yanai district, southwest Japan: Evidence for granulite-facies Ryoke metamorphism

Abstract   The present paper is reporting on the regional occurrence of orthopyroxene-bearing basic rocks from the Ryoke Metamorphic Belt in the Yanai district, southwest Japan. Their localities are confined to the highest-grade zone of the area (i.e. the garnet–cordierite zone, where garnet coexists with cordierite, K-feldspar and biotite in pelitic rocks). Orthopyroxene coexists with quartz and hydrous minerals such as biotite, cummingtonite and hornblende, and in some cases with clinopyroxene, suggesting that the highest grade of the Ryoke metamorphism reached a low-temperature subfacies of the granulite facies, contrary to the upper amphibolite facies as previously asserted.     

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.     

哀牢山变质带元江──墨江剖面岩石的纵波波速特征及其地质意义

依据研究区的地热梯度（25℃／km）,在高温高压（最高温度为1050℃,最高压力为1.2GPa）条件下系统测量了横穿红河-哀牢山断裂带的元江-墨江地质剖面上的哀牢山岩群各类变质岩（千枚岩、片岩、浅粒岩、变粒岩、大理岩和片麻岩）的纵波速度．实验结果表明,不同岩类的纵波速度随温度压力变化的趋势不同．在相当于衷牢山岩群变质岩峰期变质温度和压力条件下（P=0．4-0.8GPa,T=35-700℃）,测得大部分岩石的纵波速度为5．50－5．80km／s,这一纵波速度值与区域地球物理测深揭示的中地壳低速层的纵波速度相当因此,结合该区变质岩、地壳内热状态及地球物理测深研究成果可初步认为：组成哀牢山岩群的浅粒岩、变粒岩、酸性片麻岩以及部分千枚岩、片岩为该地区中地壳低速层的主要岩石类型．     

A model for lower continental crust

This proposed model is based on geological, geophysical and geochemical data. Previous models suggested for the lower continental crust consisted of basalt, gabbro, or charnockitic rocks; however, experimental and field petrological data indicate that the bulk of crustal rocks are metamorphic. A lower crust of heterogeneous metamorphic rocks also agrees with seismic reflection results which show numerous reflections from “layering”. Geothermal conditions favor a “dry” charnockitic or gabbroic lower crust rather than an amphibolitic lower crust because heat production data imply that wet amphibolitic rocks would have a higher heat production than their dry metamorphic equivalents. Relatively high velocities from field and laboratory measurements in such low-density rocks as granite, syenite, anorthosite and granulitic rocks in general imply that the composition of the lower crust is more felsic than gabbro. Variation in seismic velocity and depths from crustal refraction studies and numerous seismic reflections all indicate a highly heterogeneous lower crust. The lower crust, which has traditionally been described as gabbroic or mafic, may consist of such diverse rocks as granite gneiss, syenite gneiss, anorthosite, pyroxene granulite, and amphibolite, interlayered on a small scale, deformed, and intruded by granite and gabbro. Interlayering of these rocks explains the presence and character of seismic reflections. Abrupt changes in dip, tight folding, disruption of layers, intrusion, and changes in layer thickness explain the characteristic discontinuity of deep reflections. Igneous intrusions may be floored by metamorphic rocks. The lower crust consists of a complex series of igneous and metamorphic rock of approximate intermediate composition.     

Influence of fluid composition on the elastic properties of sandstone and quartzite at high temperature and pressure in application to the problem of crustal waveguides

Recent geophysical studies have revealed zones with anomalously low seismic velocities and increased electric conductivity in the middle part of the Earth’s crust. It is suggested that these zones can probably be related with the variations in the porosity and permeability of the rocks and the presence of fluids, and that they can explain the existence of crustal waveguides. In order to verify this model, we carried out an experimental study. Among the studied metamorphic processes, the acid metasomatose most completely explains the silicification of rocks. The present work considers the physico-chemical causes of the redeposition of quartz from the solutions, the influence of the pH of the solutions on the mass transfer and deposition of quartz during silicification, and alteration of the physical properties of the rocks. Silicification leads to the increase in density, change in microtexture, and cementation of rocks. It also causes the change in seismic velocities in the Earth’s crust.     

Seismic response to natural gas anomalies in crystalline rocks

According to the geological and seismic reflection data of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling (CCSD) main-hole (MH), and the anomalies of CH4, CO2, and He are correlated to the three-component seismic reflectors, especially in horizontal component profiles. However, the seismic response is dif-ficult to be explained as the porosity of crystalline rocks is only about 1% in well section where the gas anomalies occur. Seismic velocity measurement of the MH cores indicated that compared with wa-ter-saturated rock samples, seismic velocity (especially the S-wave) could be distinctly decreased by gas contained in tiny cracks despite of the low porosity, and then notable seismic response could be induced in gas-filled crystalline rocks. It could be predicated that if the porosity of certain rocks in the middle crust rose due to water-rock interaction and had natural gas filled, then there would be more probability for natural gas in top of the mid-crust to fill in the crystalline rocks with increased porosity. In such case, based on the decrease of Swave velocity in crystalline rocks, seismic method could be applied in the future to explore natural gas reservoirs in the middle crust.     

Thermobaric structure of the Kokchetav ultrahigh-pressure–high-pressure massif deduced from a north–south transect in the Kulet and Saldat–Kol regions, northern Kazakhstan

Abstract To investigate the regional thermobaric structure of the diamondiferous Kokchetav ultrahigh‐pressure and high‐pressure (UHP–HP) massif and adjacent units, eclogite and other metabasites in the Kulet and Saldat–Kol regions, northern Kazakhstan, were examined. The UHP–HP massif is subdivided into four units, bounded by subhorizontal faults. Unit I is situated at the lowest level of the massif and consists of garnet–amphibolite and acidic gneiss with minor pelitic schist and orthogneiss. Unit II, which structurally overlies Unit I, is composed mainly of pelitic schist and gneiss, and whiteschist locally with abundant eclogite blocks. The primary minerals observed in Kulet and Saldat–Kol eclogites are omphacite, sodic augite, garnet, quartz, rutile and minor barroisite, hornblende, zoisite, clinozoisite and phengite. Rare kyanite occurs as inclusions in garnet. Coesite inclusions occur in garnet porphyroblasts in whiteschist from Kulet, which are closely associated with eclogite masses. Unit III consists of alternating orthogneiss and amphibolite with local eclogite masses. The structurally highest unit, Unit IV, is composed of quartzitic schist with minor pelitic, calcareous, and basic schist intercalations. Mineral assemblages and compositions, and occurrences of polymorphs of SiO₂ (quartz or coesite) in metabasites and associated rocks in the Kulet and Saldat–Kol regions indicate that the metamorphic grades correspond to epidote–amphibolite, through high‐pressure amphibolite and quartz–eclogite, to coesite–eclogite facies conditions. Based on estimations by several geothermobarometers, eclogite from Unit II yielded the highest peak pressure and temperature conditions in the UHP–HP massif, with metamorphic pressure and temperature decreasing towards the upper and lower structural units. The observed thermobaric structure is subhorizontal. The UHP–HP massif is overlain by a weakly metamorphosed unit to the north and is underlain by the low‐pressure Daulet Suite to the south; boundaries are subhorizontal faults. There is a distinct pressure gap across these boundaries. These suggest that the highest grade unit, Unit II, has been selectively extruded from the greatest depths within the UHP–HP unit during the exhumation process, and that all of the UHP–HP unit has been tectonically intruded and juxtaposed into the adjacent lower grade units at shallower depths of about 10 km.