Microstructural constraints on the timing of Proterozoic deformation in Central New Mexico

The nature and extent of deformation associated with 1.4 Ga tectonism in the south-western USA are poorly understood. Two models have been proposed. Both agree that Proterozoic crustal accretion occurred at 1.65 Ga and that the rocks remained at mid-crustal conditions ( c . 12 km depth) until 1.4 Ga. However, one model suggests that 1.4 Ga deformation was regionally extensive, the other that it was localized around 1.4 Ga plutons. Following 1.4 Ga tectonism, the crust cooled below 300 °C. Detailed studies of quartz mylonite microfabrics in samples both adjacent to and removed from 1.4 Ga plutons in the Manzano Mountains, central New Mexico, are used to discriminate between these models of mid-Proterozoic thermotectonic history. In this area, as in much of northern New Mexico, the metamorphic conditions prior to emplacement of 1.4 Ga plutons were 500 °C and 4 kbar. The quartz mylonite microfabrics include ribbon grains, recrystallized grains with serrated boundaries, and strong c-axis crystallographic preferred orientations, which indicate no post-deformational modification. All of these microfabrics are consistent with deformation at upper greenschist/lower amphibolite facies conditions, and could have formed during either 1.65 or 1.4 Ga tectonism. Microfabrics formed during 1.65 Ga tectonism, however, should have been substantially modified by annealing recrystallization during residency in the middle crust and/or thermal/mechanical effects associated with 1.4 Ga tectonism. The observed microstructures are consistent with regional deformation associated with metamorphism at 1.4 Ga. The effects of deformation at 1.4 Ga in New Mexico are therefore more widespread than previously thought.     

Anti-clockwise P–T paths in the lower crust: an example from a kyanite-bearing regional aureole, George Sound, New Zealand

The George Sound Paragneiss (GSP) represents a rare Permo-Triassic unit in Fiordland that occurs as a km-scale pillar to gabbroic and dioritic gneiss of c . 120 Ma Western Fiordland Orthogneiss (WFO). It is distinguished from Palaeozoic paragneiss common in western Fiordland (Deep Cove Gneiss) by SHRIMP and laser-ablation U–Pb ages as young as c . 190 Ma and ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Lu >0.2828 for detrital zircon grains. The Mesozoic age of the GSP circumvents common ambiguity in the interpretation of Cretaceous v. Palaeozoic metamorphic assemblages in the Deep Cove Gneiss. A shallowly dipping S₁ foliation is preserved in the GSP distal to the WFO, cut by 100 m scale migmatite contact zones. All units preserve a steeply dipping S₂ foliation. S₁ staurolite and sillimanite inclusions in the cores of metapelitic garnet grains distal to the WFO preserve evidence for prograde conditions of T  <   650 °C and P <  8 kbar. Contact aureole and S₂ assemblages include Mg-rich, Ca-poor cores to garnet grains in metapelitic schist that reflect WFO emplacement at ≈760 °C and ≈6.5 kbar. S₂ kyanite-bearing matrix assemblages and Ca-enriched garnet rims reflect ≈650 °C and ≈11 kbar. Poorly oriented muscovite–biotite intergrowths and rare paragonite reflect post-S₂ high- P retrogression and cooling. Pseudosection modelling in NCKFMASH defines a high- P anti-clockwise P–T history for the GSP involving: (i) mid- P amphibolite facies conditions; preceding (ii) thermal metamorphism adjacent to the WFO; followed by (iii) burial to high- P and (iv) high- P cooling induced by tectonic juxtaposition of cooler country rock.     

40Ar/39Ar Constraints on the tectonic history and architecture of the ultrahigh-pressure Sulu orogen

New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages are presented from the giant Sulu ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terrane and surrounding areas. Combined with U-Pb ages, Sm-Nd ages, Rb-Sr ages, inclusion relationships, and geological relationships, they help define the orogenic events before, during and after the Triassic collision between the Sino–Korean and Yangtze Cratons. In the Qinling microcontinent, tectonism occurred between 2.0 and 1.4 Ga. The UHP metamorphism occurred in the Yangtze Craton between 240 and 222 Ma; its thermal effect on the Qinling microcontinent was limited to partial resetting of K-feldspar ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages. Subsequent unroofing at rates of 5–25 km Myr⁻¹ brought the UHP terrane to crustal levels where it underwent a relatively short amphibolite facies metamorphism. The end of that metamorphism is marked by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages in the 219–210 Ma range, implying cooling at crustal depths at rates of 50–200 °C Myr⁻¹. Ages in the 210–170 Ma range may reflect protracted cooling or partial resetting by Jurassic or Cretaceous magmatism. Jurassic 166–149 Ma plutonism was followed by cooling at rates of c. 15 °C Myr⁻¹, suggesting relatively deep crustal conditions, whereas Cretaceous 129–118 Ma plutonism was succeeded by cooling at rates of c. 50 C Myr⁻¹, suggesting relatively shallow crustal depths.     

Sm–Nd isotopic mapping of lithospheric growth and stabilization in the eastern Kaapvaal craton

Whole-rock Sm–Nd isotope systematics of 79 Archean granitoids from the eastern Kaapvaal craton, southern Africa, are used to delineate lithospheric boundaries and to constrain the timescale of crustal growth, assembly and geochemical differentiation c. 3.66–2.70 Ga. Offsets in ε_Nd values for 3.2–3.3 Ga granitoids across the Barberton greenstone belt (BGB) are consistent with existing models for c. 3.23 Ga accretion of newly formed lithosphere north of the BGB onto pre-existing c. 3.66 Ga lithosphere south of the BGB along a doubly verging subduction margin. The Nd isotopic signature of c. 3.3–3.2 Ga magmatic rocks show that significant crustal growth occurred during subduction–accretion. After c. 3.2 Ga, however, the Nd signature of intrusive rocks c. 3.1 and 2.7 Ga is dominated by intracrustal recycling rather than by new additions from the mantle, signalling cratonic stability.     

Pressure–temperature conditions and retrograde paths of eclogites, garnet–glaucophane rocks and schists from South Sulawesi, Indonesia

High-pressure metamorphic rocks exposed in the Bantimala area, c . 40  km north-east of Ujung Pandang, were formed as a Cretaceous subduction complex with fault-bounded slices of melange, chert, basalt, turbidite, shallow-marine sedimentary rocks and ultrabasic rocks. Eclogites, garnet–glaucophane rocks and schists of the Bantimala complex have estimated peak temperatures of T  =580–630 °C at 18  kbar and T  =590–640 °C at 24  kbar, using the garnet–clinopyroxene geothermometer. The garnet–omphacite–phengite equilibrium is used to estimate pressures. The distribution coefficient K _D1=[( X _pyr)³( X _grs)⁶/( X _di)⁶]/[(Al/Mg)_M2,wm (Al/Si)_T2,wm]³ among omphacite, garnet and phengite is a good index for metamorphic pressures. The K _D1values of the Bantimala eclogites were compared with those of eclogites with reliable P–T  estimates. This comparison suggests that peak pressures of the Bantimala eclogites were P =18–24  kbar at T  =580–640 °C. These results are consistent with the P–T  range calculated using garnet–rutile–epidote–quartz and lawsonite–omphacite–glaucophane–epidote equilibria.     

Two-stage decompression in orthopyroxene–sillimanite granulites from Forefinger Point, Enderby Land, Antarctica: implications for the evolution of the Archaean Napier Complex

Magnesian metapelites of probable Archaean age from Forefinger Point, SW Enderby Land, East Antarctica, contain very-high-temperature granulite facies mineral assemblages, which include orthopyroxene (8–9.5 wt% Al₂O₃)–sillimanite ± garnet ± quartz ± K-feldspar, that formed at 10 ± 1.5 kbar and 950 ± 50°C. These assemblages are overprinted by symplectite and corona reaction textures involving sapphirine, orthopyroxene (6–7 wt% Al₂O₃), cordierite and sometimes spinel at the expense of porphyroblastic garnet or earlier orthopyroxene–sillimanite. These textures mainly pre-date the development of coarse biotite at the expense of initial mesoperthite, and the subsequent formation of orthopyroxene (4–6 wt% Al₂O₃)–cordierite–plagioclase rinds on late biotite.
The early reaction textures indicate a period of near-isothermal decompression at temperatures above 900°C. Decompression from 10 ± 1.5 kbar to 7–8 kbar was succeeded by biotite formation at significantly lower temperatures (800–850°C) and further decompression to 4.5 ± 1 kbar at 700–800°C.
The later parts of this P–T evolution can be ascribed to the overprinting and reworking of the Forefinger Point granulites by the Late-Proterozoic ( c . 1000 Ma) Rayner Complex metamorphism, but the age and timing of the early high-temperature decompression is not known. It is speculated that this initial decompression is of Archaean age and therefore records thinning of the crust of the Napier Complex following crustal thickening by tectonic or magmatic mechanisms and preceding the generally wellpreserved post-deformational near-isobaric cooling history of this terrain.     

Exhumation during oblique transpression: The Feiran–Solaf region, Egypt

The Feiran–Solaf metamorphic complex of Sinai, Egypt, is one of the highest grade metamorphic complexes of a series of basement domes that crop out throughout the Arabian-Nubian Shield. In the Eastern Desert of Egypt these basement domes have been interpreted as metamorphic core complexes exhumed in extensional settings. For the Feiran–Solaf complex an interpretation of the exhumation mechanism is difficult to obtain with structural arguments as all of its margins are obliterated by post-tectonic granites. Here, metamorphic methods are used to investigate its tectonic history and show that the complex was characterized by a single metamorphic cycle experiencing peak metamorphism at ∼700–750 °C and 7–8 kbar and subsequent isothermal decompression to ∼4–5 kbar, followed by near isobaric cooling to 450 °C. Correlation of this metamorphic evolution with the deformation history shows that peak metamorphism occurred prior to the compressive deformation phase D ₂, while the compressive D ₂ and D ₃ deformation occurred during the near isothermal decompression phase of the P–T loop. We interpret the concurrence of decompression of the P–T path and compression by structural shortening as evidence for the Najd fault system exhuming the complex in an oblique transpressive regime. However, final exhumation from ∼15 km depth must have occurred due to an unrelated mechanism.     

Petrological characterization and tectonic significance of retrogressed garnet peridotites, Raobazhai area, North Dabie Complex, east-central China

The Raobazhai ultramafic body of the North Dabie Complex is re-interpreted as a mantle-derived peridotitic slice enclosed in, and isofacially metamorphosed with, surrounding granulite-to-amphibolite facies gneisses. The ultramafic sheet consists mainly of metaharzburgite, but includes subunits of metadunite and mylonitic lherzolite. The rocks contain spinel but neither garnet nor plagioclase. However, in the mylonitic lherzolite, fine-grained intergrowths of spinel, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene outline domains resembling the habit of garnet in two dimensions; broad-beam microprobe analyses imply pseudomorphs after a pyropic garnet precursor. The mineral assemblage of the metadunite and metaharzburgite is: olivine (Fo₉₂)+orthopyroxene (En₉₂)+tremolitic-to-magnesiohornblende+Mg–Al-chromite, indicating amphibolite facies recrystallization. The mineral assemblage of the mylonitic lherzolite is: olivine (Fo₉₀)+orthopyroxene (En₉₀)+clinopyroxene+Cr-bearing spinel+pargasitic amphibole, indicative of granulite-to-amphibolite facies metamorphism. Phase equilibria and geothermometric estimations show that the Raobazhai meta-ultramafics have undergone at least three stages of recrystallization: (I) 950–990 °C, (II) 750–860 °C, and (III) 670–720 °C, assuming equilibrium in the spinel peridotite stability field ( c. 6–15 kbar), although an early, high-pressure stage (≥18 kbar) is probable, based on the inferred garnet pseudomorphs. Petrochemical and geothermobarometric data suggest that the ultramafic slice represents a fragment of the mantle wedge, tectonically incorporated into subducted continental crust and re-equilibrated at granulite-to-amphibolite facies conditions while being exhumed to shallow levels.     

Pressure–temperature evolution of metapelitic granulites in a polymetamorphic terrane: the Rauer Group, East Antarctica

Distinctive lithological associations and geological relationships, and initial geochronological results indicate the presence of an areally extensive region of reworked Archaean basement containing polymetamorphic granulites in the Rauer Group, East Antarctica.
Structurally early metapelites from within this reworked region preserve complex and varied metamorphic histories which largely pre-date and bear no relation to a Late Proterozoic metamorphism generally recognized in this part of East Antarctica. In particular, magnesian metapelite rafts from Long Point record extreme peak P–T conditions of 10–12 kbar and 100–1050°C, and an initial decompression to 8 kbar at temperatures of greater than 900°C. Initial garnet–orthopyroxene–sillimanite assemblages contain the most magnesian (and pyrope-rich) garnets ( X _Mg= 0.71) yet found in granulite facies rocks. A high-temperature decompressional P–T history is consistent with reaction textures in which the phase assemblages produced through garnet breakdown vary systematically with the initial garnet X _Mg composition, reflecting the intersection of different divariant reactions in rocks of varied composition as pressures decreased. This history is thought to relate to Archaean events, whereas a lower-temperature ( c. 750–800°C) decompression to 5 kbar reflects Late Proterozoic reworking of these relict assemblages.
The major Late Proterozoic ( c. 1000 Ma) granulite facies metamorphism is recorded in a suite of younger Fe-rich metapelites and associated paragneisses in which syn- to post-deformational decompression, through 2–4 kbar from maximum recorded P–T conditions of 7–9 kbar and 800–850°C, is constrained by geothermobarometry and reaction textures. This P–T evolution is thought to reflect rapid tectonic collapse of crust previously thickened through collision.     

Low-thermal-gradient Hercynian metamorphism in the eastern Pyrenees

Abstract Fluids with compositions in the system CO₂-H₂O-NaCl were trapped in quartz veins enclosed in low-grade metamorphic rocks (chlorite zone) on the southern flank of the Canigó Massif, eastern Pyrenees. The veins, which also contain arsenopyrite crystals, were formed contemporaneously with the main Hercynian foliation and metamorphism. Volumetric properties of the fluid and the results of arsenopyrite geothermometry suggest P-T trapping conditions of 4.6–6 kbar and 450–530° C. This implies that an episode of metamorphism with an average geothermal gradient of 25° C km⁻¹ occurred during the main deformation event. This episode preceded the low- P /high- T metamorphism described around domes and to date considered as characteristic of the Hercynian orogeny in the Pyrenees.     

Mo-related Adakitic Granitoids from Non-island-arc Setting: Jecheon Pluton of South Korea

Abstract. The Jecheon granitoids, having an elongated shape of NE-SW 27 km and NW-SE 13 km (190 km²), are composed mostly of magnetite-series hornblende-biotite granodiorite and biotite granite, which intrude into the Neoproterozoic metamor-phic and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks of the Ogcheon Belt. The granitoids have Triassic-Jurassic age of 202.7 ±1.9 Ma with very high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr initial ratio of 0.7140. The granodiorite has 63–69 % SiO₂, 15.1–17.3 % Al₂O₃, <1.6 % MgO, 6–15 ppm Y and Sr/Y ratios of 24–76, and is depleted in HREE. Biotite granite together, the Jecheon pluton has adakitic characteristics, which are unique in a continental tectonic setting. The granitoids may have been generated by partial melting of an older adakitic granitoid of I-type basement, or by separation of early crystallized garnet and hornblende from an anatectic melt.     

Permian to Cretaceous polymetamorphic evolution of the Stewart River region, Yukon-Tanana terrane, Yukon, Canada: P–T evolution linked with in situ SHRIMP monazite geochronology

Textural relationships and the trace element chemistry of accessory minerals and garnet can provide the linkage between in situ SHRIMP ages and quantitative pressure–temperature data that is required to decipher complex polymetamorphic and polydeformational histories. Application of these methods to lower amphibolite facies rocks of the Stewart River area, Yukon (Canada) yields robust new constraints on the tectonic evolution of central Yukon Tanana Terrane (YTT).
A TIMS U/Pb titanite age of 365–350 Ma is interpreted to date low- P metamorphism (M1) and D1 deformation associated with arc plutonism above an east-dipping subduction zone. Monazite inclusions in garnet porphyroblasts record a transition from low to high pressure (∼9 kbar and 600 °C) at c . 239 Ma. These data help to establish a c . 260–240 Ma tectonometamorphic event (M2–D2) reflecting intra-arc thickening during west-dipping subduction of Slide Mountain Ocean. Another transition from low- to high- P (M3–D3; 7.8 kbar and 595 °C), dated by c . 195–187 Ma monazite, is interpreted to reflect the change from regional contact metamorphism during arc plutonism to internal duplication of YTT during initial collision of YTT with the North American craton.
The Mt Burnham (north-eastern) region records a different history because of its proximity to later plutons and its late exhumation via extensional faulting. Monazite growth at 146 Ma dates ∼9 kbar metamorphism (M4), interpreted to reflect a previously unrecognized period of plutonism associated with auriferous quartz veins in the Klondike region. Monazite growth at 114–107 Ma reflects low- P (<4.6 kbar) contact metamorphism (M5) accompanying regional plutonism and extension.     

Petrology and microthermometry of aluminous rocks in the Botswanan Limpopo Central Zone: evidence for isothermal decompression and isobaric cooling

Phase analysis in the model K₂O-poor aluminous rock system (FMASH) illustrates the following sequence of reactions during retrograde metamorphism in the Botswanan Limpopo Central Zone:
Opx+Sil+Qtz=Crd ,
Opx+Sil=Spr+Crd ,
Grt+Qtz=Opx+Crd ;
Opx+Crd+W=Ged+Qtz ,
Grt+Opx+Crd+W=Ged ;
and
Grt+Qtz+W=Ged+Crd .
A quantitative petrogenetic grid with phase relations shows that sapphirine results from nearly isothermal decompression in the quartz-undersaturated portions of the grid, and that gedrite formation by reactions (4)–(6) records isobaric cooling from high temperature ( c . 800°  C) after the decompression. Conditions for hydration in the western part of the area were 700–800°  C and c . 6  kbar, based on microthermometric data and the available garnet–cordierite geothermometer. On the basis of these conditions and predicted thermodynamic properties of gedrite, phase relations in T–X _Mg space were constructed to investigate the isobaric cooling event. The results are in good agreement with the hydration P–T  path. Further, the T–X _Mg topologies show that hydration of orthopyroxene in the central part of the area (reaction 4) occurred at about 800°  C and c . 5  kbar. Therefore, we conclude that the Botswanan Limpopo Central Zone has suffered isothermal decompression, similar to the Central Zone in South Africa and Zimbabwe, followed by isobaric cooling. The isobaric cooling event in the western (at c . 6  kbar) and central (at c . 5  kbar) parts of the area commenced at nearly the same temperature ( c . 800°  C), and appear to be consistent with a tectonic model that involved westward movement (thrusting) of the Central Zone.     

Sapphirine-bearing granulites and related high-temperature metamorphic rocks from the Higo metamorphic terrane, west-central Kyushu, Japan

The Higo metamorphic unit in west-central Kyushu island, southwest Japan is an imbricated crustal section in which a sequence of units with increasing metamorphic grade from high (northern part) to low (southern part) structural levels is exposed. The basal part of the metamorphic sequence representing an original depth of 23–24  km consists mainly of garnet–cordierite–biotite gneiss, garnet–orthopyroxene gneiss, orthopyroxene-bearing amphibolite and orthopyroxene-bearing S-type tonalite. These metamorphic rocks underwent high amphibolite-facies up to granulite facies metamorphism with peak P – T  conditions of 720  MPa, 870  °C. In addition sapphirine-bearing granulites and related high-temperature metamorphic rocks also occur as tectonic blocks in a metamorphosed peridotite intrusion. The sapphirine-bearing granulites and their related high-temperature metamorphic rocks can be subdivided into five types of mineral assemblages reflecting their bulk chemical compositions as follows: (1) sapphirine–corundum–spinel–cordierite (2) corundum–spinel–cordierite (3) garnet–corundum–spinel–cordierite (4) garnet–spinel–gedrite–corundum, and (5) orthopyroxene–spinel–gedrite. These metamorphic rocks are characterized by unusually high Al₂O₃ and low SiO₂ contents, which could represent a restitic nature remaining after partial melting of pelitic granulite under the ultra high-temperature contact metamorphism at the peak metamorphic event of the Higo metamorphic unit. The metamorphic conditions are estimated to be about 800  MPa and above 950  °C which took place at about 250  Ma as a result of the thermal effect of the regional gabbroic rock intrusions.     

A second natural occurrence of yoderite

A second example of yoderite has been discovered in whiteschists from the Southern Chewore Hills of northern Zimbabwe. The mineral is pale green in colour and occurs in an equilibrium assemblage with talc+chlorite+kyanite+dravite+hematite. There is no quartz present. Recalculated microprobe analyses give a structural formula of Mg₂Al_5.7Fe_0.3Si₄O₁₈(OH)₂, similar to that obtained for the type locality at Mautia Hill, Tanzania, i.e. Mg₂Al_5.6Fe_0.4Si₄O₁₈(OH)₂. Textural relationships and relative proportions of minerals suggest that the yoderite was formed by reaction between talc, chlorite, kyanite and hematite. Experimental evidence suggests high-water-pressure metamorphic conditions at temperatures exceeding a reaction curve that extends between 13  kbar at 590  °C and 21  kbar at 650  °C. The yoderite-bearing whiteschist is associated with a 1.4  Ga dismembered ophiolite. It is proposed that this yoderite occurrence is associated with a relict subduction/suture zone.     

Metamorphic evolution of the Susunai metabasites in southern Sakhalin, Russian Republic

The Susunai Complex of southeast Sakhalin represents a subduction-related accretionary complex of pelitic and basic rocks. Two stages of metamorphism are recognized: (1) a local, low- P / T  event characterized by Si-poor calcic amphiboles; (2) a regional, high- P / T  event characterized by pumpellyite, actinolite, epidote, sodic amphibole, sodic pyroxene, stilpnomelane and aragonite. The major mineral assemblages of the high- P / T  Susunai metabasites contain pumpellyite+epidote+actinolite+chlorite, epidote+actinolite+chlorite, epidote+Na-amphibole+Na-pyroxene+chlorite+haematite. The Na- amphibole is commonly magnesioriebeckite. The Na-pyroxene is jadeite-poor aegirine to aegirine-augite. Application of empirically and experimentally based thermobarometers suggests peak conditions of T  =250–300 °C, P= 4.7–6 kbar. Textural relationships in Susunai metabasite samples and a petrogenetic grid calculated for the Fe³⁺-rich basaltic system suggest that pressure and temperature increased during prograde metamorphism.     

Quantitative temperature-time information from retrograde diffusion zoning in garnet: constraints for the P–T–t history of the Central Black Forest, Germany

Garnet from a kinzigite, a high-grade gneiss from the central Black Forest (Germany), displays a prominent and regular retrograde diffusion zoning in Fe, Mn and particularly Mg. The Mg diffusion profiles are suitable to derive cooling rates using recent datasets for cation diffusion in garnet. This information, together with textural relationships, thermobarometry and thermochronology, is used to constrain the pressure–temperature–time history of the high-grade gneisses. The garnet–biotite thermometer indicates peak metamorphic temperatures for the garnet cores of 730–810  °C. The temperatures for the outer rims are 600–650  °C. Garnet–Al₂SiO₅–plagioclase–quartz (GASP) barometry, garnet–rutile–Al₂SiO₅–ilmenite (GRAIL) and garnet–rutile–ilmenite–plagioclase–quartz (GRIPS) barometry yield pressures from 6–9  kbar. U–Pb ages of monazite of 341±2  Ma date the low- P high- T metamorphism in the central Black Forest. A Rb/Sr biotite–whole rock pair defines a cooling age of 321±2  Ma. The two mineral ages yield a cooling rate of about 15±2  °C Ma⁻¹. The petrologic cooling rates, with particular consideration of the f O₂ conditions for modelling retrograde diffusion profiles, agree with the geochronological cooling rate. The oldest sediments overlying the crystalline basement indicate a minimum cooling rate of 10  °C Ma⁻¹.     

Low-P / high-T metamorphism in the Okiep Copper District, western Namaqualand, South Africa

The Okiep Copper District, part of the 1.2–1.0 Ga high-grade terrane in western Namaqualand, is composed of a mid-Proterozoic supracrustal sequence and several pre- to post-orogenic intrusive suites affected by two high-grade events (M2a/M2b, M3) of Kibaran and one low-grade event (M4) of Pan-African age. Peak assemblages in quartz-bearing pelites are characterized either by garnet+cordierite coexisting with sillimanite/biotite, or by biotite+sillimanite±garnet; a difference controlled by bulk composition and variation in water activities (0.1–0.7) during dehydration melting. Maximum P–T conditions were reached during M2a coevally with the major deformational event (D2a) and are estimated at 750–820  °C and 5–6  kbar. A counterclockwise P–T  path is indicated by regionally occurring pseudomorphs of sillimanite after andalusite and by prograde reaction textures preserved as relics in M2a porphyroblasts. Two stages of retrograde metamorphism are distinguished: M2a garnet+cordierite-bearing assemblages were retrogressed to biotite+sillimanite+quartz (M2b) along discontinuous foliation planes and shear zones (D2b). Retrograde M3 corona assemblages formed at similar P–T  conditions (580–660  °C and 5.8±0.5  kbar) to the M2b assemblages but M3 crystallization postdates penetrative D2 deformation, intrusion of 1.06 Ga granitoids and formation of associated W–Mo deposits. It is concluded that: (a) Kibaran high-grade metamorphism in the Okiep Copper District is thermally punctuated and (b) reaction textures documenting apparent isobaric cooling of this low- P high- T  terrane must be interpreted with caution.     

Calculated mineral equilibria for eclogites in CaO–Na2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O: application to the Pouébo Terrane, Pam Peninsula, New Caledonia

The high- P , medium- T  Pouébo terrane of the Pam Peninsula, northern New Caledonia includes barroisite- and glaucophane-bearing eclogite and variably rehydrated equivalents. The metamorphic evolution of the Pouébo terrane is inferred from calculated P–T  and P–T  – X H2O pseudosections for bulk compositions appropriate to these rocks in the model system CaO–Na₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O. The eclogites experienced a clockwise P–T  path that reached P ≈19  kbar and T  ≈600  °C. The eclogitic mineral assemblages are preserved because reaction consequent upon decompression consumed the rocks' fluid. Extensive reaction occurred only in rocks with fluid influx during decompression of the Pouébo terrane.