Partial melting of crustal rocks

Shales and graywackes were first metamorphosed at 650°C and then partially melted at 700 and 750°C at 2, 4, 6, and 8 kilobars in the presence of 0.75m NaCl−0.45m KCl and 0.225m CaCl₂−0.750m NaCl solutions. In experiments with shales,KK+Na ratio in the decreases with increasing pressure at 650 and 700°C; however, at 750°C this ratio is equal to 0.5 at all pressures investigated. This suggests that melts at 700°C and at 2 to 8 kilobars pressure may be affected metasomatically whereas melts at 700°C and in the same pressure range will not. Melt composition produced in the shale-KClNaCl experiments is granite at 2, 4 and 6 kilobars pressure, whereas the melt compositions in the shale-CaCl₂NaCl experiments range from quartz monzonite (2–5 kilobars) to granodiorite (above 5 kilobars). Experiments with graywacke-KClNaCl produced melts of trondhjemite composition at 2, 2.5, 4, 6, and 7.5 kilobars.

These results indicate that partial melting of crustal rocks such as metamorphosed shales and graywackes in the deeper parts of the crust can produce large volumes of granitic magmas ranging in composition from true granite to trondhjemite to quartz monzonite and granodiorite.     

Mechanisms of continental subduction and exhumation of HP and UHP rocks

We discuss possible scenarios of continental collision, and their relation to mechanisms of exhumation of HP and UHP rocks, inferred from thermo-mechanical numerical models accounting for thermo-rheological complexity of the continental lithosphere. Due to this complexity, mechanisms of continental convergence are versatile and different, in many aspects from those that control oceanic subduction. Elucidating these mechanisms from conventional observations is difficult, and requires additional constraints such as those derived from petrological data. Indeed, exhumation of HP/UHP rocks is an integral part of convergent processes, and burial/exhumation dynamics inferred from metamorphic P–T–t paths provides strong constraints on the collision scenarios. Metamorphic rocks also play an active role due to their contrasting physical properties (rheology, density, fluid transport capacity). Numerical thermo-mechanical experiments suggest that HP/UHP exhumation can only be produced in subduction contexts, as well as that long-lasting (> 10 Myr) continental subduction can only occur in case of cold strong lithospheres (T_Moho < 550 °C, the equivalent elastic thickness T_e > 50 km) and of relatively high convergence rates (> 3–5 cm yr^− 1 ). In this case, high density UHP material in the crustal part of subduction interface provides additional pull on the slab and is not always exhumed to the surface. In case of slower convergence and/or weaker lithosphere (T_e < 40 km), continental subduction is a transient process that takes a limited time span in the evolution of collision zone. Under these conditions, hot mechanically weak UHP rocks enhance decoupling between the upper and lower plate while their exhumation may be rapid (faster than convergence rate) and abundant. Therefore, the UHP exhumation paths can be regarded as sensitive indicators of subduction. Rheological changes and fluid exchanges associated with low-to-middle pressure phase transitions along the subduction interface, such as serpentinization during the oceanic phase and schisting, play a major role producing necessarily mechanical softening of the subduction interface and of the hydrated mantle wedge. The oceanic UHP rocks are exhumed thanks to mixing with low-density continental crustal units during transition from oceanic to continental subduction. At the continental phase, the UHP exhumation occurs as a result of a multi-stage process: at the deep stage (< 40 km depth) the exhumation is rapid and is driven by buoyancy of partly metamorphosed (or partly molten) UHP material often mixed with non-metamorphosed crustal volumes. At final stages, exhumation takes common slow path through the accretion prism mechanism and the erosional denudation. The experiments suggest that formation of UHP rocks requires that continental subduction starts at higher oceanic subduction rate. It then may progressively slow down until the lockup of the subduction interface and/or slab-break-off. A rate of ~ 1–2 cm yr^− 1 is generally sufficient to drive continental subduction during the first several Myr of convergence, but pertinent subduction requires faster convergence rates (> 3–5 cm yr^− 1). We suggest that most continental orogenic belts could have started their formation from continental subduction but this process has been generally limited in time.     

Three varieties of alpine-type ultramafic rocks in the Norwegian Caledonides and basal gnesis complex

Three varieties of alpine-type ultramafic rocks are distinguish in the Norwegian Caledonides associated Basal Gneiss Complex. Type one rocks have primary (magmatic) olivine, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene and chromite, and are partly or completely serpentinised. They are found exclusively in rocks of Cambro-Silurian age. Type two are polymetamorphic metaperidotites or sagvandites consisting of olivine, enstatite and carbonate minerals, with talc and amphibole commonly being present. They are found in medium- to high-grade metamorphic rocks. Type three also show a metamorphic mineral association of olivine, orthopyroxene and minor chromite, while clinopyroxene, amphibole and chrome-bearing chlorite may also be present in some samples. Garnet may or may not occur and, where present, is often surrounded by reaction rims of spinel and amphibole. The type three ultramafic bodies are serpentinised to varying degrees and occur in high-grade metamorphic gneisses which may also contain eclogites and anorthosites. Distinction of these three varieties of ultramafic body may be useful for correlation purposes and for more detailed studies on the nature of their metamorphism.     

Deep subduction of felsic rocks hosting UHP lenses in the central Saxonian Erzgebirge: Implications for UHP terrane exhumation

Contrasting metamorphic conditions determined by chemical geothermobarometric investigations of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) lenses surrounded by high-pressure (HP) and medium-pressure (MP) felsic country rocks are an enigmatic feature of UHP terranes. One of the major questions arising is whether the UHP lenses and the country rocks are a product of different peak metamorphic conditions corresponding to different maximum depth or whether country rocks also experienced UHP conditions but equilibrated and/or re-equilibrated at a different metamorphic stage. Here we address this question to the central Saxonian Erzgebirge in the northwestern Bohemian Massif, Germany. In order to screen the variety of garnet from lithologies occurring in the study area, we analyzed the detrital garnet record from seven modern stream sands. In addition to 700 inclusion-bearing garnet grains previously studied from the 125–250 μm grain-size fraction, we analyzed the 63–125 and 250–500 μm fractions and extended the dataset to overall 2100 inclusion-bearing grains. The new findings of coesite and diamond inclusions in several garnet grains, which are in compositional contrast to garnet of the known UHP lenses but match with those of the felsic country rocks, show that considerable parts of the country rocks underwent UHP metamorphism. Melt inclusions containing cristobalite, kokchetavite, and kumdykolite in garnet derived from the country rocks point to partial melting and re-equilibration during exhumation at HP/HT conditions. Although an amalgamation of rocks which reached different maximum depth may be responsible for some of the contrasting peak metamorphic conditions, the mineralogical evidence for UHP conditions in the felsic country rocks surrounding the UHP lenses proves a largely coherent slab subducted to UHP conditions. Furthermore, the presence of coesite in the subducting voluminous felsic crust and its transformation to quartz during exhumation have great implications for buoyancy development during the metamorphic cycle, which may explain the high exhumation rates of UHP terranes.     

大别造山带岩石圈结构与超高压变质岩折返的另类模型

氦同位素研究确定,大别山榴辉岩等超高压岩石矿物并非来自地幔,而是生成于岩石圈地幔顶部。结合深部地球物理,提出一个岩石圈地幔顶部形成超高压矿物的模型。即表壳岩石俯冲到岩石圈地幔顶部,形成超高压变质岩,然后由于地壳隆升、剥蚀,出露到地表。冲入大别山地区岩石圈地幔顶部的表壳岩石之所以会形成超高压变质岩是因为它同时受到板块会聚的强大压力和蘑菇云地幔产生的高温。沿六安—黄石综合地球物理、地球化学剖面实测的热流剖面显示,南大别构造带的莫霍面温度达到1307℃,超高压变质作用所需要的高温条件至今依然存在。已有文献表明黏塑性的大陆板块在碰撞俯冲时,岩石圈地幔的变形远比通常认定的那种刚性板块俯冲要复杂。俯冲呈对冲形式,方向大都向下,在岩石圈地幔中,俯冲板块和制动板块像麻花一样相互楔入,在深部甚至改变俯冲方向,制动板块反而向俯冲板块俯冲。当岩石圈地幔顶部局部熔融时,无疑俯冲物质将向局部熔融层扩散,在高温高压下发生超高压变质作用。大别山变形晚期,在核部形成“背形穹隆”。将形成于岩石圈地幔顶部的超高压变质岩带到地表,接受剥蚀而出露地表。已有资料表明,全球主要超高压变质岩的分布带与古特提斯洋分布有关,古特提斯洋碰撞带是全球最长的一条陆内碰撞俯冲带。它们是否均为黏塑性板块之间的软碰撞、在邻近碰撞带的岩石圈地幔顶部是否都有高温的区域则尚待验证。     

Greenstone volcanoes in the central Norwegian Caledonides

It seems possible to locate some of the volcanic centres of the greenstone effusions of the Caledonian geosynclinal volcanism in Norway from simple geologic features, such as greenstone thickness and character, gabbro intrusion intensity, and quartz keratophyre frequency. In the central part of the Trondheim region some six probable and four likely volcanoes are indicated. The best example may be the upturned Joma volcano further north.

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Zusammenfassung Es scheint möglich, einige der vulkanischen Zentren der Grünsteineffusionen im Vulkanismus der kaledonischen Geosynklinale durch einfache geologische Merkmale wie Mächtigkeit und Charakter des Grünsteins, Intensität der Gabbrointrusion und Häufigkeit der Quarzkeratophyre aufzufinden. Im Mittelteil des Trondheimgebietes werden 6 wahrscheinliche und 4 mögliche Vulkane angegeben. Das beste Beispiel wäre vielleicht der umgekehrte Joma Vulkan weiter nördlich.

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Résumé Il semble probable de localiser quelques-uns des centres volcaniques des émissions de « greenstone » dans le volcanisme géosynclinal calédonien en Norvège d'après des marques géologiques comme l'épaisseur et le caractère de «greenstone», l'intensité de la gabbro intrusion, et la fréquence de quartz kératophyre. Au milieu de la Trondheim région on constate six volcans probables et quatre volcans possibles. Le meilleur exemple est peut-être le Joma volcan renversé plus au nord.

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, .: , , . Trondheim .

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Dedicated to Professor Dr. A.Rittmann on the occasion of his 75. birthday     

Partial melting of deeply subducted continental crust during exhumation: insights from felsic veins and host UHP metamorphic rocks in North Qaidam,northern Tibet

A combined petrological, geochronological and geochemical study was carried out on felsic veins and their host rocks from the North Qaidam ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) metamorphic terrane in northern Tibet. The results provide insights into partial melting of deeply subducted continental crust during exhumation. Partial melting is petrograpically recognized in metagranite, metapelite and metabasite. Migmatized gneisses, including metagranite and metapelite, contain microstructures such as granitic aggregates with varying outlines, small dihedral angles at mineral junctions and feldspar with magmatic habits, indicating the former presence of felsic melts. Partial melts were also present in metabasite that occurs as retrograde eclogite. Felsic veins in both the eclogites and gneisses exhibit typical melt crystalline textures such as large euhedral feldspar grains with straight crystal faces, indicating vein crystallization from anatectic melts. The Sr–Nd isotope compositions of felsic veins inside gneisses suggest melt derivation from anatexis of host gneisses themselves, but those inside metabasites suggest melt derivation from hybrid sources. Felsic veins inside gneisses exhibit lithochemical compositions similar to experimental melts on the An–Ab–Or diagram. In trace element distribution diagrams, they exhibit parallel patterns to their host rocks, but with lower element contents and slightly positive Eu and Sr anomalies. The geochemistry of these felsic veins is controlled by minerals that would decompose and survive, respectively, during anatexis. Felsic veins inside metabasites are rich either in quartz or in plagioclase with low normative orthoclase. In either case, they have low trace element contents, with significantly positive Eu and Sr anomalies in plagioclase‐rich veins. Combined with cumulate structures in some veins, these felsic veins are interpreted to crystallize from anatectic melts of different origins with the effect of crystal fractionation. Nevertheless, felsic veins in different lithologies exhibit roughly consistent patterns of trace element distribution, with variable enrichment of LILE and LREE but depletion of HFSE and HREE. There are also higher contents of trace elements in veins hosted by gneisses than veins hosted by metabasites. Anatectic zircon domains from felsic veins and migmatized gneisses exhibit consistent U–Pb ages of c. 420 Ma, significantly younger than the peak UHP eclogite facies metamorphic event at c. 450–435 Ma. Combining the petrological observations with local P–T paths and experimentally constrained melting curves, it is inferred that anatexis of UHP gneisses was caused by muscovite breakdown while anatexis of UHP metabasites was caused by fluid influx. These UHP metagranite, metapelite and metabasite underwent simultaneous anatexis during the exhumation, giving rise to anatectic melts with different compositions in various elements but similar patterns in trace element distribution.     

A computer model of sheath-nappes formed during crustal shear in the Western Gneiss Region,central Norwegian Caledonides

The eastern Western Gneiss Region of central Norway is part of the deepest exposed Norwegian Caledonides, where basement gneisses and an overlying thrust-nappe sequence have been folded into large fold-nappes. Structural analysis of a fold-nappe within the central part of the district (the Grøvudal area) suggests that it has a strongly sheath-like form, and that other fold-nappes of the Western Gneiss Region may also have sheath-like forms. The structural history within the Grøvudal area is dominated by intense east-directed subhorizontal shear in an overthrust sense, followed by asymmetric refolding with an easterly vergence. A computer-generated kinematic model was developed to test whether the regional interference patterns could be explained by sheath-fold development during this type of deformation. The computer model shows that the major regional interference patterns could have been formed by such a kinematic history, but does not rule out other possibile histories. The proposed kinematic history is, however, compatible with the regional tectonic history of the main Caledonian nappe pile, suggesting that the complex nappe interference patterns typical of the region were formed in a kinematically simple, but intense, ductile deformation associated with Caledonian continental imbrication.     

柴北缘大陆深俯冲板片折返过程中的深熔作用研究

柴北缘锡铁山地区长英质（花岗）片麻岩普遍经历了不同程度的部分熔融作用,常见新生的花岗质浅色体呈层状、脉状或网络状分布于长英质片麻岩中,并显示出混合岩化的特征。岩相学观察结果显示长英质片麻岩保留了关键的深熔作用显微结构证据:（1）石榴石内部发育有钾长石、石英和斜长石组成的矿物包裹体;（2）长石颗粒边界出现由石英+钾长石±斜长石±白云母组成的楔形矿物集合体;（3）云母颗粒边界发育尖锐的、不规则的微斜长石,而且云母边界溶蚀明显,形成锯齿状不规则的边界;（4）石英、斜长石或钾长石颗粒边界发育圆珠状（stringofbeads）结构,而且颗粒边界或三联点中尖锐状微斜长石与周围矿物的形成较小的二面角。阴极发光图像和锆石U-Pb定年结果表明花岗质浅色体中的锆石具有明显的核、幔、边三层结构,而且具有明显不同的年龄结果。发光较强的继承性锆石岩浆核部的²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U年龄约为~910Ma,而且具有高的Th/U比值;弱发光的变质锆石幔的²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U年龄结果约为~450Ma。新生的锆石增生边中等程度发光,并发育震荡环带和较低的Th/U比值,与世界典型地区混合岩中深熔锆石的特征十分相似,其²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U年龄结果为432±3Ma。野外关系、显微结构特征和年代学的研究结果显示柴北缘锡铁山地区花岗质浅色体可能是其寄主岩石长英质片麻岩在折返到高压麻粒岩相条件下深熔作用的产物,而且白云母的脱水熔融是引发岩石发生深熔作用的主要机制。柴北缘地区已有的资料综合研究表明,大陆深俯冲板片在俯冲/碰撞和折返过程中可能经历了多重深熔作用。     

Continental subduction and exhumation of UHP rocks. Structural and geochronological insights from the Dabieshan (East China)

In the Dabieshan, the available models for exhumation of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) rocks are poorly constrained by structural data. A comprehensive structural and kinematic map and a general cross-section of the Dabieshan including its foreland fold belt and the Northern Dabieshan Domain (Foziling and Luzenguang groups) are presented here. South Dabieshan consists from bottom to top of stacked allochtons: (1) an amphibolite facies gneissic unit, devoid of UHP rocks, interpreted here as the relative autochton; (2) an UHP allochton; (3) a HP rock unit (Susong group) mostly retrogressed into greenschist facies micaschists; (4) a weakly metamorphosed Proterozoic slate and sandstone unit; and (5) an unmetamorphosed Cambrian to Early Triassic sedimentary sequence unconformably covered by Jurassic sandstone. All these units exhibit a polyphase ductile deformation characterized by (i) a NW–SE lineation with a top-to-the-NW shearing, and (ii) a southward refolding of early ductile fabrics.

The Central Dabieshan is a 100-km scale migmatitic dome. Newly discovered eclogite xenoliths in a Cretaceous granitoid dated at 102 Ma by the U–Pb method on titanite demonstrate that migmatization post-dates HP–UHP metamorphism. Ductile faults formed in the subsolidus state coeval to migmatization allow us to characterize the structural pattern of doming. Along the dome margins, migmatite is gneissified under post-solidus conditions and mylonitic–ultramylonitic fabrics commonly develop. The north and west boundaries of the Central Dabieshan metamorphics, i.e. the Xiaotian–Mozitan and Macheng faults, are ductile normal faults formed before Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous. A Cretaceous reworking is recorded by synkinematic plutons.

North of the Xiaotian–Mozitan fault, the North Dabieshan Domain consists of metasediments and orthogneiss (Foziling and Luzenguang groups) metamorphosed under greenschist to amphibolite facies which never experienced UHP metamorphism. A rare N–S-trending lineation with top-to-the-south shearing is dated at 260 Ma by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method on muscovite. This early structure related to compressional tectonics is reworked by top-to-the-north extensional shear bands.

The main deformation of the Dabieshan consists of a NW–SE-stretching lineation which wraps around the migmatitic dome but exhibits a consistently top-to-the-NW sense of shear. The Central Dabieshan is interpreted as an extensional migmatitic dome bounded by an arched, top-to-the-NW, detachment fault. This structure may account for a part of the UHP rock exhumation. However, the abundance of amphibolite restites in the Central Dabieshan migmatites and the scarcity of eclogites (found only in a few places) argue for an early stage of exhumation and retrogression of UHP rocks before migmatization. This event is coeval to the N–S extensional structures described in the North Dabieshan Domain. Recent radiometric dates suggest that early exhumation and subsequent migmatization occurred in Triassic–Liassic times. The main foliation is deformed by north-verging recumbent folds coeval to the south-verging folds of the South Dabieshan Domain. An intense Cretaceous magmatism accounts for thermal resetting of most of the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates.

A lithosphere-scale exhumation model, involving continental subduction, synconvergence extension with inversion of southward thrusts into NW-ward normal faults and crustal melting is presented.     

Strain distribution in a fold in the West Norwegian Caledonides

Strain has been measured from clasts within a deformed conglomerate layer at 17 localities around an asymmetric fold in the Rundemanen Formation in the Bergen Arc System, West Norwegian Caledonides. Strain is very high and a marked gradient in strain ellipsoid shape exists. To either side of the fold, strain within the conglomerate bed is of the extreme flattening type. In the fold, especially on the lower fold closure, the strain is constrictional. Mathematical models of perturbations of flow in glacial ice have produced folds of the same geometry as this fold, with a strikingly similar pattern of finite strain. The fold geometry and strain pattern, as well as other field observations, suggest that the fold developed passively, as the result of a perturbation of flow in a shear zone, where the strain was accommodated by simple shear accompanied by extension along Y.     

Eclogites and eclogites in the Western Gneiss Region, Norwegian Caledonides

The Western Gneiss Region (WGR) marks the outcrop of a composite terrane consisting of variably re-worked Proterozoic basement and parautochthonous or autochthonous cover units. The WGR exhibits a gross structural, petrographic and thermobarometric zonation from southeast to northwest, reflecting an increasing intensity of Scandian (late Palaeozoic) metamorphic and structural imprint. Scandian-aged eclogites have been widely (though for kinetic reasons not invariably) stabilised in metabasic rocks but have suffered varying degrees of retrogression during exhumation. In the region between the Jostedal mountains and Nordfjord, eclogites commonly have distinctively prograde-zoned garnets with amphibolite or epidote–amphibolite facies solid inclusion suites and lack any evidence for stability of coesite (high pressure [HP] eclogites). In the south of this area, in Sunnfjord, eclogites locally contain glaucophane as an inclusion or matrix phase. North of Nordfjord, eclogites mostly lack prograde zoning and evidence for coesite, either as relics or replacive polycrystalline quartz, is present in both eclogites (ultrahigh pressure [UHP] eclogites) and, rarely, gneisses. Coesite or polycrystalline quartz after coesite has now been found in eight new localities, including one close to a microdiamond-bearing gneiss. These new discoveries suggest that, by a conservative estimate, the UHP terrane in the WGR covers a coastal strip of about 5000 km² between outer Nordfjord and Moldefjord. A “mixed HP/UHP zone” containing both HP and UHP eclogites is confirmed by our observations, and is extended a further 40 km east along Nordfjord. Thermobarometry on phengite-bearing eclogites has been used to quantify the regional distribution of pressure (P) and temperature (T) across the WGR. Overall, a scenario emerges where P and T progressively increase from 500°C and 16 kbar in Sunnfjord to >800°C and 32 kbar in outer Moldefjord, respectively, in line with the distribution of eclogite petrographic features. Results are usually consistent with the silica polymorph present or inferred. The P–T conditions define a linear array in the P–T plane with a slope of roughly 5°C/km, with averages for petrographic groups lying along the trend according to their geographic distribution from SE to NW, hence defining a clear field gradient. This P–T gradient might be used to support the frequently postulated model for northwesterly subduction of the WGC as a coherent body. However, the WGC is clearly a composite edifice built from several tectonic units. Furthermore, the mixed HP/UHP zone seems to mark a step in the regional P gradient, indicating a possible tectonic break and tectonic juxtaposition of the HP and UHP units. Lack of other clear evidence for a tectonic break in the mixed zone dictates caution in this interpretation, and we cannot discount the possibility that the mixed zone is, at least, partly a result of kinetic factors operating near the HP–UHP transition. Overall, if the WGC has been subducted during the Scandian orogeny, it has retained its general down-slab pattern of P and T in spite of any disruption during exhumation. Garnetiferous peridotites derived from subcontinental lithospheric mantle may be restricted to the UHP terrane and appear to decorate basement-cover contacts in many cases. P–T conditions calculated from previously published data for both relict (Proterozoic lithospheric mantle?) porphyroclast assemblages and Scandian (subduction-related?) neoblastic assemblages do not define such a clear field gradient, but probably record a combination of their pre-orogenic P–T record with Scandian re-working during and after subduction entrainment. A crude linear array in the P–T plane defined by peridotite samples may be, in part, an artifact of errors in the geobarometric methods. A spatial association of mantle-derived peridotites with the UHP terrane and with basement-cover contacts is consistent with a hypothesis for entrainment of at least some of them as “foreign” fragments into a crustal UHP terrane during subduction of the Baltic continental margin to depths of >100 km, and encourages a more mobilistic view of the assembly of the WGC from its component lithotectonic elements.     

Ultrahigh-Pressure Metamorphism in the Western Gneiss Region of the Norwegian Caledonides

The distribution and characterization of UHP rocks within the Western Gneiss Region (WGR) of the Norwegian Caledonides is reviewed. While recent studies have documented a significantly increased number of eclogite localities preserving mineralogical evidence for Scandian-aged UHP metamorphism, much uncertainty remains over the regional extent of any UHP province because of the widespread overprinting by retrograde amphibolite-facies assemblages (especially in the dominant gneisses) during exhumation of the terrain. Based on current observations, the UHP metamorphic province may be limited to a northwest region of only～4000 km², although an enigmatic mixed zone of HP (quartz-stable) and UHP (coesite-stable) eclogites extends a minimum of 5 km farther south and east in the Outer Nordfjord area.

Quantitative P-T evaluation of key mineral reaction equilibria for eclogites sampled across the WGR indicates an overall regional trend of increased T and P to the northwest. This is consistent with Baltic plate rocks in the northwestern part of the WGR having been subducted to greatest depths during the Scandian plate collision. The distribution of garnet peridotites within the WGR and their significance to understanding the nature, location, and timing of crust-mantle interaction within a major continental-plate subduction zone also is briefly considered.     

CCSD超高压变质金红石U-Pb定年及其约束意义

本文尝试性地对来自中国大陆科学钻探(CCSD)主孔及地表的超高压(UHP)变质榴辉岩中的金红石进行了U-Pb定年研究,初步获得了211±22Ma的等时线年龄,这是苏北地区榴辉岩型金红石矿床的第一个直接的年龄结果,结合前人在大别山地区获得的首个准确的金红石U-Pb年龄218Ma及金红石U-Pb体系大约500℃的封闭温度分析,该年龄代表的是UHP变质峰值期后板块折返过程的冷却年龄,峰值期形成的金红石在此时发生了变质重结晶作用.此年龄对整个苏鲁UHP变质地体的俯冲-折返历史及本地区榴辉岩型金红石矿床的形成过程都有重要的约束意义.     

Intergranular diamonds derived from partial melting of crustal rocks at ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic conditions

By reporting for the first time intergranular diamond in quartz–feldspar (Qtz–Kfs) aggregates, the processes of metamorphic diamond formation have to be reconsidered. Based on their Kfs/Qtz ratio, the texture of these aggregates are proposed to result from ‘granitic’ melt with a calculated composition that corresponds well with that of experimental data for the pelitic system. Taking into account experiments on CO₂ solubility in silicate melt under ultrahigh‐pressure conditions, a granitic melt is further suggested to act as a crystallization medium as well as a transport medium for producing metamorphic diamond.     

The Caledonian thrust front and palinspastic restorations in the southern Norwegian Caledonides

The Osen-Røa thrust sheet of the southern Norwegian Caledonides comprises the coarse clastic late Precambrian Sparagmite region, and the folded and imbricated Cambro-Silurian rocks of the Oslo region. Ramp-flat geometries occur in the hangingwall of the Osen-Røa thrust in the Mjøsa district. Two major ramps are recognized. One coincides with the strike of the Ringsaker inversion, while the other coincides with the traditional thrust front in the Gjøvik area. The Osen-Røa thrust cuts up section in the transport direction (south), eventually cutting out all late Precambrian rocks, to lie as a 150 km long flat in the Cambrian Alum shales of the Oslo region. The now eroded detachment termination probably died out horizontally in the Alum shales to end as a buried thrust front in the southern Oslo region. Restoration of hanging- and footwall cutoffs allows the amount of overthrusting to be calculated; the Sparagmite region/Oslo region boundary restores to a minimum of 130 km to the NNW. This displacement estimate agrees with estimates of 135 km NNW transport calculated from balanced cross-section restorations through the Oslo region.     

Rapid tectonic exhumation, detachment faulting and orogenic collapse in the Caledonides of western Ireland

Collision of the oceanic Lough Nafooey Island Arc with the passive margin of Laurentia after 480 Ma in western Ireland resulted in the deformation, magmatism and metamorphism of the Grampian Orogeny, analogous to the modern Taiwan and Miocene New Guinea Orogens. After 470 Ma, the metamorphosed Laurentian margin sediments (Dalradian Supergroup) now exposed in Connemara and North Mayo were cooled rapidly (>35 °C/m.y.) and exhumed to the surface. We propose that this exhumation occurred mainly as a result of an oceanward collapse of the colliding arc southwards, probably aided by subduction rollback, into the new trench formed after subduction polarity reversal following collision. The Achill Beg Fault, in particular, along the southern edge of the North Mayo Dalradian Terrane, separates very low-grade sedimentary rocks of the South Mayo Trough (Lough Nafooey forearc) and accreted sedimentary rocks of the Clew Bay Complex from high-grade Dalradian meta-sedimentary rocks, suggesting that this was a major detachment structure. In northern Connemara, the unconformity between the Dalradian and the Silurian cover probably represents an eroded major detachment surface, with the Renvyle–Bofin Slide as a related but subordinate structure. Blocks of sheared mafic and ultramafic rocks in the Dalradian immediately below this unconformity surface probably represent arc lower crustal and mantle rocks or fragments of a high level ophiolite sheet entrained along the detachment during exhumation.Orogenic collapse was accompanied in the South Mayo Trough by coarse clastic sedimentation derived mostly from the exhuming Dalradian to the north and, to a lesser extent, from the Lough Nafooey Arc to the south. Sediment flow in the South Mayo Trough was dominantly axial, deepening toward the west. Volcanism associated with orogenic collapse (Rosroe and Mweelrea Formations) is variably enriched in high field strength elements, suggesting a heterogeneous enriched mantle wedge under the new post-collisional continental arc.     

Geochronology and geochemistry of leucosomes in the North Dabie Terrane, East China: implication for post-UHPM crustal melting during exhumation

Migmatites are widespread in the North Dabie ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic terrane (NDT) of Dabie orogen, East China. Idiomorphic and poikilitic amphibole grains in both leucosome and melanosome contain inclusions of plagioclase, quartz and biotite, suggesting formation of leucosome by fluid-present melting of biotite + plagioclase + quartz-bearing protoliths at P = 5–7 kbar, T = 700–800 °C. Precise SIMS zircon U–Pb dating indicates that migmatization of Dabie orogen initiated at ~140 Ma and lasted for ~10 Ma, coeval with the formation of low-Mg^# adakitic intrusions in Dabie orogen. Based on mineralogical, petrographic and geochemical data, leucosomes in NDT can be subdivided into three groups. (1) High La/Yb_(N)–Medium Sr/Y group (Group I), whose high Dy/Yb_(N) but medium Sr/Y ratios are caused by amphibole and plagioclase residual during partial melting of dioritic to granodioritic gneisses. (2) Low La/Yb_(N)–Low Sr/Y group (Group II), whose flat HREE patterns are produced by entrainment of peritectic amphiboles into melts derived from partial melting of dioritic gneiss. (3) High La/Yb_(N)–High Sr/Y and Eu^# group (Group III), whose extremely high Sr and Eu but low other REE concentrations are caused by accumulation of plagioclase and quartz. Although Group I and III fall in the adakitic fields on La/Yb_(N)–Yb_(N) and Sr/Y–Y diagrams, they are chemically distinct from contemporary high-pressure adakitic intrusions in Dabie orogen in a series of geochemical indexes, for example, lower Dy/Yb_(N) and/or Sr/Y ratios at given La/Yb_(N) ratio, lower Sr/CaO ratios, lower Rb concentration but higher K/Rb ratios. Therefore, leucosomes are produced by anatexis of the exhumed ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks at middle crustal level, instead of partial melting of thickened lower crust with garnet-rich and plagioclase-poor residual. The coeval occurrence of migmatites and high-pressure adakitic intrusions in Dabie orogen indicates large-scale partial melting of middle to thickened lower crustal column in the early Cretaceous. The required heat source may be the mantle heat conducting through the lithospheric mantle whose lower parts have been convectively removed.     

Timing of UHP exhumation and rock fabric development in gneiss domes containing the world's youngest eclogite Facies rocks,southeastern Papua New Guinea

The youngest known ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) rocks in the world occur in the Woodlark Rift of southeastern Papua New Guinea. Since their crystallization in the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene, these eclogite facies rocks have been rapidly exhumed from mantle depths to the surface and today they remain in the still‐active geodynamic setting that caused this exhumation. For this reason, the rocks provide an excellent opportunity to study rates and processes of (U)HP exhumation. We present New Rb–Sr results from 12 rock samples from eclogite‐bearing gneiss domes in the D'Entrecasteaux Islands, and use those results to examine the time lag between (U)HP metamorphism and later ductile thinning, penetrative fabric development and accompanying metamorphic retrogression at amphibolite facies conditions during their exhumation. A Rb–Sr age for a sample of mafic eclogite (with no preserved coesite) from the core zone of the Mailolo gneiss dome (Fergusson Island) provides a new estimate of the timing of HP metamorphism (5.6 ± 1.6 Ma). The strongly deformed quartzofeldspathic and granitic gneisses (90–95% by volume) that enclose variably retrogressed relict blocks of mafic eclogite (5–10% by volume) yield Rb–Sr isochron ages from 4.4 to 2.4 Ma. For the UHP‐bearing gneisses of Mailolo dome, previously published U–Pb ages on zircon and our Rb–Sr isochron ages are consistent with a mean time lag of 2.2 ± 1.5 Ma (~95% c.i.) for passage of the rock between eclogite and amphibolite facies conditions. New thermobarometric data indicate that the main syn‐exhumational foliation developed at amphibolite facies conditions of 630–665 °C and 12.1–14.4 kbar. These pressure estimates indicate that the lower crust of the Woodlark Rift was unusually thick (>40 km) at the time of the amphibolite facies overprint, possibly as a result of accumulation and underplating of UHP‐derived material from below. Our data imply a minimum unroofing rate of 10 ± 7 mm year^?1 (~95% c.i.) for the (U)HP body from minimum HP depths (73 ± 7 km) to lower crustal depths. This minimum unroofing rate reinforces previous inferences that the exhumation from the mantle to the surface of the gneiss domes in the D'Entrecasteaux Islands took place at plate tectonic rates. On the basis of previous structural studies and the new thermobarometry, we attribute the high (cm year^?1) exhumation to diapiric ascent of the partially molten terrane from mantle depths, with a secondary contribution from pure shear thinning of the terrane after its arrival in the crust.