Fast exhumation of the ultrahigh-pressure Alpe Arami garnet peridotite (Central Alps, Switzerland): constraints from geospeedometry and thermal modelling

Previous studies suggest that the metamorphic evolution of the ultrahigh‐pressure garnet peridotite from Alpe Arami was characterized by rapid subduction to a depth of c. 180 km with partial chemical equilibration at c. 5.9 Gpa/1180 °C and an initial stage of near‐isothermal decompression followed by enhanced cooling. In this study, average cooling rates were constrained by diffusion modelling on retrograde Fe–Mg zonation profiles across garnet porphyroclasts. Considering the effects of temperature, pressure and garnet bulk composition on the Fe–Mg interdiffusion coefficient, cooling rates of 380–1600 °C Myr^?1 for the interval from 1180 to 800 °C were obtained. Similar or even higher average cooling rates resulted from thermal modelling, whereby the characteristics of the calculated temperature‐time path depend on the shape and size of the hot peridotite body and the boundary conditions of the cooling process. The very high cooling rates obtained from both geospeedometry and thermal modelling imply extremely fast exhumation rates of c. 15 mm yr^?1 or more. These results agree with the range of exhumation rates (16–50 mm yr^?1) deduced from geochronological results. It is suggested that the Alpe Arami peridotite passively returned towards the surface as part of a buoyant sliver, caused as a consequence of slab breakoff.     

New Constraints on the P-T Evolution of the Alpe Arami Garnet Peridotite Body (Central Alps, Switzerland)

The metamorphic evolution of the garnet peridotite body of AlpeArami, Central Alps, is a matter of current controversy. Inthis paper, the inter- and intragrain distribution of majorand trace elements obtained by electron and ion probe microanalysesis used to better constrain the P–T evolution of thisperidotite. Using the compositions of homogeneous porphyroclastcores, peak metamorphic conditions of 1180 ± 40°Cand 5·9 ± 0·3 GPa are estimated, basedon consistent results from the application of several independentthermometers (Fe–Mg exchange between garnet, pyroxenesand olivine, Ni exchange between garnet and olivine, Co andNi exchange between orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene), the Al-in-orthopyroxenebarometer and the Ca–Cr systematics of garnet. Orthopyroxeneand clinopyroxene porphyroclasts are, however, not in equilibriumwith respect to some elements with low diffusivities, such asCa, Ti, Cr, V and Sc. This disequilibrium appears to be themain cause for the lower P–T values suggested by someof the previous workers. On the other hand, there is no evidencefor an ultradeep (>200 km) origin of the Alpe Arami bodyas postulated recently. Chemical zonation profiles across mineralgrains suggest that during retrograde evolution a near-isothermaldecompression was followed by accelerated cooling. KEY WORDS: Alpe Arami; Central Alps; garnet peridotite; ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism; geothermobarometry; secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS)     

Clinoamphibole lamellae in diopside of garnet lherzolite from Alpe Arami,Bellinzona, Switzerland

Porphyroclastic diopside in garnet lherzolite from Alpe Arami, Bellinzona, Switzerland includes optically-visible clinoamphibole lamellae with a composition intermediate between pargasite and edenite. X-ray and electron microscopic observations show that the diopside crystal contains sub-microscopic thin clinoamphibole lamellae parallel to (010), which have coherent interfaces to the host. A kind of planar defect parallel to (010) in clinopyroxene structure, as suggested by Chisholm (1973), is shown here to correspond to intercalation of a 9 Å lattice fringe of double-chain structure in the electron micrograph of the diopside. The thin clinoamphibole lamellae are observed to be segregated domains consisting of two and more 9 Å fringes.From the chemical characteristics and textural relations of the development of such clinoamphiboles, the chemical change required to form them is considered to have been caused principally by decreasing solubility of atoms such as Na, Al and Cr in clinopyroxene structure during the retrogressive reequilibration. Also, a possibility of finite solid solution of clinoamphibole in clinopyroxene is discussed.     

Mineralogic Study of Eclogitic Rocks from Alpe Arami, Lepontine Alps, Southern Switzerland

Certain ultramafic-mafic lenses exposed in Ticino along thecontact zone between the underlying Simano and overlying Adulanappes display relatively high-pressure phase assemblages. AtAlpe Arami, metabasaltic layers associated with pyropic garnet-bearingIherzolite consist mainly of an early eclogitic assemblage characterizedby Alm₃₉Py₃₇Gross₂₃Spess₀₁+ Di₄₉Hd₀₈Jd₄₃+rutile±kyanite.Iron-magnesium fractionation between garnet+omphacite pairsyields a K_D, (Fe²⁺/Mg)_garnet/(Fe²⁺/Mg)_{cllnopyroxence}, of about6. This earlier assemblage has been replaced by a later, somewhatpargasitic hornblende+oligoclase+clinozoisite phase compatibility.Associated primary garnet peridotites contain Ca-rich clinopyroxeneand Al₂O₃-poor orthopyroxene. Both rock types have been affectedby a still later period of incipient chloritization. Available phase equilibrium and element partitioning data arecompatible with an inferred P-T condition of origin for theAlpe Arami mafic-ultramafic complex of 965–1000 °C,30–50 kilobars, indicating deep upper mantle generation.Amphibolites could have been produced during depressurizationaccompanying ascent of the mass through the upper mantle, butinasmuch as plagioclase accompanies the hornblende, the assemblageprobably crystallized after emplacement of the complex in theLepontine terrane prior to the termination of the Late Alpineregional metamorphism. Incipient production of high-rank greenschistphases certainly reflects a crustal event.     

Ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism and exhumation of garnet peridotite in Pohorje, Eastern Alps

New evidence for ultrahigh‐pressure metamorphism (UHPM) in the Eastern Alps is reported from garnet‐bearing ultramafic rocks from the Pohorje Mountains in Slovenia. The garnet peridotites are closely associated with UHP kyanite eclogites. These rocks belong to the Lower Central Austroalpine basement unit of the Eastern Alps, exposed in the proximity of the Periadriatic fault. Ultramafic rocks have experienced a complex metamorphic history. On the basis of petrochemical data, garnet peridotites could have been derived from depleted mantle rocks that were subsequently metasomatized by melts and/or fluids either in the plagioclase‐peridotite or the spinel‐peridotite field. At least four stages of recrystallization have been identified in the garnet peridotites based on an analysis of reaction textures and mineral compositions. Stage I was most probably a spinel peridotite stage, as inferred from the presence of chromian spinel and aluminous pyroxenes. Stage II is a UHPM stage defined by the assemblage garnet + olivine + low‐Al orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + Cr‐spinel. Garnet formed as exsolutions from clinopyroxene, coronas around Cr‐spinel, and porphyroblasts. Stage III is a decompression stage, manifested by the formation of kelyphitic rims of high‐Al orthopyroxene, aluminous spinel, diopside and pargasitic hornblende replacing garnet. Stage IV is represented by the formation of tremolitic amphibole, chlorite, serpentine and talc. Geothermobarometric calculations using (i) garnet‐olivine and garnet‐orthopyroxene Fe‐Mg exchange thermometers and (ii) the Al‐in‐orthopyroxene barometer indicate that the peak of metamorphism (stage II) occurred at conditions of around 900 °C and 4 GPa. These results suggest that garnet peridotites in the Pohorje Mountains experienced UHPM during the Cretaceous orogeny. We propose that UHPM resulted from deep subduction of continental crust, which incorporated mantle peridotites from the upper plate, in an intracontinental subduction zone. Sinking of the overlying mantle and lower crustal wedge into the asthenosphere (slab extraction) caused the main stage of unroofing of the UHP rocks during the Upper Cretaceous. Final exhumation was achieved by Miocene extensional core complex formation.     

Revised Thermobarometry of Alpe Arami and other Garnet Peridotites from the Central Alps

The four, currently best constrained, independent thermobarometersfor garnet peridotites, namely Taylor’s (Neues Jahrbuchfür Mineralogie, Abhandlungen 172, 381–408, 1998)pyroxene solvus and Krogh’s (Contributions to Mineralogyand Petrology 99, 44–48, 1988) clinopyroxene–garnetFe–Mg exchange thermometers, and Taylor’s (1998)Al-in-orthopyroxene and Nimis & Taylor’s (Contributionsto Mineralogy and Petrology, 139, 541–544, 2000) Cr-in-clinopyroxenebarometers, have been applied to garnet lherzolites from theCentral Alps. Analyses from the literature, as well as new in-houseanalyses, all pertaining to core compositions of first-generation,garnet lherzolite minerals, have been selected for thermobarometriccalculations. The P–T data obtained for the three knowngarnet lherzolite occurrences in the Central Alps are tightlyconstrained, consistent with one another, and summarized asfollows: Alpe Arami, 3·2 GPa and 840°C; Monte Duria,3·0 GPa and 830°C; Cima di Gagnone, 3·0 GPaand 740°C. These values are consistent with experimentaldata on pargasite stability and composition in peridotitic systems.Our P–T estimates, along with microstructural and fieldgeological observations, indicate that the garnet lherzoliteparageneses form part of the prograde, Alpine, high-pressuremetamorphic sequence of the Adula–Cima Lunga unit. Thermobarometryshows that the garnet lherzolites reached a maximum depth ofsubduction of     

Sub-solidus Oligocene zircon formation in garnet peridotite during fast decompression and fluid infiltration (Duria, Central Alps)

Summary A garnet peridotite lens from Monte Duria (Adula nappe, Central Alps, Northern Italy) contains porphyroblastic garnet and pargasitic amphibole and reached peak metamorphic conditions of ∼830 C, ∼2.8 GPa. A first stage of near isothermal decompression to pressures <2.0 GPa is characterised by domains where fine grained spinel, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene and amphibole form. The newly formed amphibole contains elevated levels of fluid mobile elements such as Rb, Ba and Pb indicating that recrystallization was assisted by infiltration of a crustal-derived fluid. Further decompression and cooling to ∼720 °C, 0.7–1.0 GPa associated with limited fluid influx is documented by the formation of orthopyroxene-spinel-amphibole symplectites around garnet. Zircon separated from this garnet peridotite exhibits two distinct zones. Domain 1 displays polygonal oscillatory zoning and high trace element contents. It contains clinopyroxene and amphibole inclusions with the same composition as the same minerals formed during the spinel peridotite equilibration, indicating that this domain formed under sub-solidus conditions during decompression and influx of crustal fluids. Domain 2 has no zoning and much lower trace element contents. It replaces domain 1 and is likely related to zircon recrystallization during the formation of the symplectites. SHRIMP dating of the two domains yielded ages of 34.2 ± 0.2 and 32.9 ± 0.3 Ma, respectively, indicating fast exhumation of the peridotite within the spinel stability field. We suggest that the Duria garnet peridotite originates from the mantle wedge above the tertiary subduction of the European continental margin and that it was assembled to the country rock gneisses between 34 and 33 Ma. Third author was Deceased     

Syn-convergence exhumation of the Central Alps

Abstract

The exhumation of rocks in a plate convergence setting is commonly related to erosion and/or tectonic denudation accompanied by isostatic adjustment. Isostatic compensation is the physical response to denudation. It leads to unroofing of deep levels of the crust. A new model for producing topographic relief is proposed which explains well the rapid exhumation of high-temperature rocks in the Central Alps via erosion and tectonic denudation (i.e. gravitational collapse and normal faulting). It is shown that the forward motion of the cold and rigid Adriatic indenter into the European crust is twofold. Firstly, horizontal compression led to the vertical extrusion of the deepest ductile European basement into shallower levels. This tectonic process induced heat transfer through the southern steep belt as well as heat advection together with the extruded material, resulting in the metamorphic aureole observed in the Central Alps. Secondly, the lower part of the Adriatic crust protruded into the warm European crust as a result of continuous forward motion. Geophysical data suggest that the isostatic response to indentation (i.e. deepening of the alpine root) has been inhibited by the mechanical strength of the cold and rigid Adriatic crust. Then, the indentation process induced a deviation from isostatic equilibrium by creating a tremendous topographic relief. This relief disappeared rapidly, possibly as fast as it forms, by enhanced erosion and tectonic denudation leading to rapid exhumation of the metamorphic dome.     

Silica precipitates in omphacite from eclogite at Alpe Arami, Switzerland: evidence of deep subduction

Observations of oriented SiO₂ precipitates in omphacite from eclogite with tholeiitic basalt protolith bordering the Alpe Arami garnet peridotite massif, Ticino, Switzerland, and petrological studies of the eclogitic mineral assemblages, suggest that this rock was subjected to higher‐pressure metamorphism than previously realized. We employed various calibrations of the Fe²⁺ ? Mg exchange thermometer and calculations of equilibria with thermodynamic data, considering the calcium–Tschermak's component (CaAl₂SiO₆), of garnet‐pyroxene pairs. From these calculations, it is concluded that the eclogitic lenses have recorded at least four stages of mineral growth corresponding to the following: Stage I (prograde) c. 2.4 GPa; 700 °C; Stage IIa (maximum recorded grade) c. 7.0 GPa; 1100 °C; Stage IIb (retrograde) c. 3.7 GPa; 900 °C; Stage III (retrograde) c. 2.1 GPa; 750 °C. Because of the preservation of Stage I, a relatively rapid subduction and exhumation of Alpe Arami eclogite is suggested. The exhumation path of the eclogitic rock is in good agreement with most exhumation paths inferred for the Alpe Arami garnet lherzolite proposed previously by several authors based upon a variety of different observations, although the eclogite and peridotite exhumation paths may diverge at depths greater than 120 km.     

Petrogenesis of the garnet peridotite and garnet-free peridotite of the Zhimafang ultramafic body in the Sulu ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic belt, eastern China

The CCSD‐PP1 drillhole penetrated a 110‐m‐thick sequence of the Zhimafang ultramafic body in the Sulu ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) metamorphic belt, east China. The sequence consists of interlayered garnet‐bearing (Grt) and garnet‐free (GF) peridotite. Eleven layers of Grt‐peridotite, ranging from 1.2 to 9.5 m in thickness, have an aggregate thickness of 54.49 m, whereas eight layers of GF‐peridotite, ranging from 2.2 to 14.2 m in thickness, have a total thickness of 57.53 m. The boundaries between the two rock types are gradational. The Grt‐peridotites have slightly higher contents of Al₂O₃, CaO and SiO₂, and lower Mg^#s (0.90–0.92) than the GF‐peridotites (Mg^#s 0.91–0.93). Both contain low TiO₂ (<0.05 wt%) and have higher modal abundances of enstatite (average 10 vol.%) than diopside (1–5 vol.%), typical of depleted‐type upper mantle. The diopside in these rocks has high and relatively uniform Mg^# members (0.93–0.95), but highly variable Al₂O₃ (0.2–2.3 wt%), Na₂O (0.5–2.5 wt%) and Cr₂O₃ (0.38–2.09 wt%). Enstatite (En_92?93) contains very low Al₂O₃ (0–0.3 wt%). Both porphyroblastic and equigranular garnet are present. The equigranular varieties are zoned, from core to rim in Cr₂O₃ (3.4–4.2 wt%), MgO (18.4–17.5 wt%) and Al₂O₃ (21.1–20.1 wt%). Titania is very low in all the garnet, mostly <0.05 wt%. Chromite or chromium (Cr)‐spinel occur both in the Grt‐ and GF‐peridotite, and are characterized by high contents of Cr₂O₃ (49–58 wt%) and FeO (24–43 wt%), similar to that in iron‐rich Alpine‐type peridotites. Based on the bulk‐rock MgO–FeO compositions, the Zhimafang Grt‐peridotite probably underwent 20–30% partial melting, whereas the GF‐peridotite may have undergone as much as 35–40% partial melting, suggesting that the two rock types owe their differences to different degrees of partial melting rather than to pressure differences during metamorphism.     

Tertiary tectono-metamorphic evolution of the European margin during Alpine collison: example of the Leventina Nappe (Central Alps,Switzerland)

The Leventina Nappe represents one of the lowermost exposed units in the Alpine nappe stack and corresponds to a slice of the European margin that was entrained into the Alpine continental accretionary prism during the Tertiary tectonic event. This study yields details regarding the tectonic and metamorphic history of the Leventina Nappe, through detailed analysis of structures and shear zone patterns, and the examination of the Si-content of white mica along a north-south profile. The Leventina Nappe underwent three phases of ductile deformation. Foliation S1 is mostly sub-parallel to the regionally dominant structural fabric (the S2 foliation). S2 foliation is penetratively developed in the structurally higher portions of the Leventina Nappe toward the Simano Nappe, while it is only weakly developed in the core of the Leventina Nappe. A 50 to 200 m wide mylonite zone, with a D2 top-to-NW sense of shear marks the boundary to the Simano Nappe. Throughout the Leventina Nappe only small-scale D2 shear bands (mm to cm wide) are observed, showing a top-to-NW sense of shear. Deformation phase D3 locally generated a vertical axial plane foliation (S3) associated with the large-scale D3 Leventina antiform.Microtextural evidence and phengite geobarometry were used to constrain the temperature and pressure conditions of equilibration of the Leventina Gneisses. Highest Si (pfu) values are preserved in the core of phengitic micas and reflect pressure and temperature conditions of around 8 kbar at 550 °C and 10 kbar at 650 °C in the northern and southern parts of the Leventina Nappe, respectively. Lower Si (pfu) values from the rims of white micas correspond to a metamorphic pressure of ca. 5 kbar during the exhumation of the unit. These metamorphic conditions are related to the underthrusting of the thinned European margin into the continental accretionary prism during late Eocene time. These new data allow us to propose a kinematic model for the Leventina Nappe during the Tertiary Alpine tectonics.     

Deformation fabrics of the Cima di Gagnone peridotite massif, Central Alps, Switzerland: evidence of deformation at low temperatures in the presence of water

We report a new observation of the olivine B-type lattice-preferred orientation (LPO), from the garnet peridotite at Cima di Gagnone, Switzerland. The olivine B-type fabric forms at low temperatures and/or high stress in the presence of water, and is of particular interest because it may be used to explain the trench-parallel shear-wave splitting that is often observed at subduction zones. In conjunction with the olivine B-type fabric, we have found strong orthopyroxene LPO that is identical to those formed under water-free conditions. This suggests that water may not have a significant effect on orthopyroxene fabric. From the olivine microstructure, we determine that a stress of 22 ± 8 MPa was applied during the deformation event that formed the olivine LPO. Using an olivine flow-law, and assuming geological strain-rates, we determine the temperature of deformation to be 800 ± 175°C. This does not preclude an ultra-deep origin for the ultramafic rocks at Cima di Gagnone, but indicates that much of the deformation recorded in the microstructure occurred at modest temperatures.Communicated by T.L. Grove     

Melting-induced fluid flow during exhumation of gneisses of the Sulu ultrahigh-pressure terrane

Hydrothermally altered rocks are products of fluid–rock interactions, and typically preserve numerous quartz veins that formed as chemical precipitates from fluids that fill up cracks. Thus, quartz veins are the record of the fluid system that involved fracture flow in the direction of changing temperature or pressure. In order to decipher the fluid activity in the Sulu ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terrane in eastern China, quartz veins together with an adjacent eclogite lens and the host gneiss were studied. In one location a deformed quartz vein is located at the boundary between the host gneiss and the eclogite lens. The amphibolite-facies overprinting of the eclogite lens decreases from the rim to the core of the lens, with fresh eclogite preserved in the core. The foliated biotite gneiss contains felsic veins and residual phengites. Zircon rims from the gneiss are characterized by melt-related signatures with steep HREE patterns, high Hf contents and negative Eu anomalies, and a pool of weighted average ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U analyses reveal an age of 219 ± 3 Ma (2σ), which is younger than the UHP metamorphic age (236 ± 2 Ma, 2σ) recorded by zircons from the eclogite lens. This suggests that the gneiss in the Sulu UHP terrane could have suffered from partial melting due to phengite dehydration during the “hot” exhumation stage.The formation age of the quartz vein (219 ± 2 Ma, 2σ) defined by zircon rims agrees well with the partial melting time (219 ± 3 Ma, 2σ) of the host gneiss. The initial ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf ratios of zircon rims from the quartz vein are obviously lower than zircons from the eclogite lens, but overlap with the coeval zircon domains from the nearby granite dikes produced by partial melting of orthogneiss. These observations suggest that the quartz vein and corresponding fluid flow could be associated with partial melting of the host gneiss. On the other hand, amphibole-bearing and HREE-rich zircon rims from the amphibolite pool an amphibolite-facies metamorphic age of 217 ± 5 Ma (2σ), overlap with the formation age of the quartz vein. This implies that retrogression of the eclogite lens could have been caused by melting-induced fluid flow. Based on the above observations, we speculate that partial melting of the gneiss in the continental subduction-related UHP belt could have induced a significant fluid flow during the exhumation stage, and thus contributed significantly to the extensive retrogression of eclogites in the Sulu UHP terrane.     

High-altitude erratics in the Bernese Alps (Switzerland)

Little is known about the Early Pleistocene landscape and glacial history of the Swiss Alps, largely because of the scarcity of sediments dating from that period. Here we investigate high-altitude, presumably Early Pleistocene relics of unconsolidated, near-surface sediments that occur at the Stockeseen site (close to the Stockhorn) and at Wagenmoos (close to Sibe H?ngste) in the Bernese Alps. We complemented our study by analysing cave gravels from 13 sites. Whereas the underlying bedrocks are part of the purely sedimentary Penninic Prealps and the Helvetic zone, the investigated sediments and cave gravels contain characteristic erratic crystalline clasts (HP-LT-metagabbro, medium-grade metamorphic quartzite, jadeitite, glaucophane-schist, low-grade metamorphic gabbro and peridotite). The erratics originate from Penninic and Austroalpine nappes which are exposed only south of the Bernese High Alps, today??s water divide. In combination with partly distinct glacial features of the indicator erratics, this suggests that transfluences existed from the Valais (Rh?ne valley) to the Bernese Alps. Our findings suggest two transfluence routes, one over a precursor of the Gemmipass to the palaeo-Kander valley, providing crystalline erratics towards Sibe H?ngste, and one over precursors of the Sanetschpass and Saanenm?serpass into the palaeo-Simmen valley and towards the Stockhorn. The Wagenmoos erratics must have been deposited before the re-routing of the palaeo-Aare river (from northward to westward) and its subsequent deepening, which indicates an Early Pleistocene timing of the respective transfluence. This is in agreement with published burial ages of ~1.87?Ma?±?0.21 for cave gravels with crystalline components in the cave system Réseau Siebenhengste?CHohgant (beneath the Wagenmoos site).