High pressure-low temperature metamorphism in the Gran Paradiso basement, Western Alps

The Gran Paradiso basement complex of the French and Italian Alps is composed of metasediments, termed the gneiss minuti, and metabasic rocks, both of which are intruded by a late Hercynian granite. The Bonneval gneiss, which crops out at the western edge of the complex, is composed of highly deformed metasediments, volcanics and volcaniclastic rocks. Eclogites, now highly altered, occur in the metabasic rocks. Kyanite and blue-green amphibole are locally present in the gneiss minuti and aegirine plus riebeckite occur in the Bonneval gneiss. A moderately high pressure - low temperature metamorphic event of probable Alpine age occurred in the basement complex. This metamorphic event differs from that in the overlying Sesia unit and ophiolites of the Schistes lustrés nappe in being at lower pressures (below the ab = jd₁₀₀+ qz transition) and post-dating the major (D2_A) deformation. The origin of the metamorphism is discussed and interpreted as a probable consequence of the overlying nappe pile which was emplaced during the D2_A event. Subsequent greenschist facies metamorphism in the basement complex is a consequence of thermal relaxation during uplift.     

Petrology of very-high-pressure eclogitic rocks from the Brossasco-Isasca Complex, Dora-Maira Massif, Italian Western Alps

Petrographical and mineral chemical data are given for the eclogites which occur in the garnet-kyanite micaschists of the Penninic Dora-Maira Massif between Brossasco, Isasca and Martiniana (Italian Western Alps) and for a sodic whiteschist associated with the pyrope-coesite whiteschists of Martiniana. The Brossasco-Isasca (BI) eclogites are fine grained, foliated and often mica-rich rocks with a strong preferred orientation of omphacite crystals and white micas. Porphyroblasts of hornblende are common in some varieties, whilst zoisite and kyanite occur occasionally in pale green varieties associated with leucocratic layers with quartz, jadeite and garnet. These features differentiate the BI eclogites from the eclogites that occur in other continental units of the Western Alps, which all belong to type C. Garnet, sodic pyroxene and glaucophane are the major minerals in the sodic whiteschist. Sodic pyroxene in the eclogites is an omphacite often close to Jd₅₀Di₅₀, with very little acmite and virtually no Al^IV, and impure jadeite in the leucocratic layers and in the sodic whiteschist. Garnet is almandine with 20–30 mol. % for each of the pyrope and grossular components in the eclogites and a pyrope-rich variety in the sodic whiteschist. White mica is a variably substituted phengite, and paragonite apparently only occurs as a replacement product of kyanite. Amphibole is hornblende in the eclogites, but the most magnesian glaucophane yet described in the sodic whiteschist. Quartz pseudomorphs of coesite were found occasionally in a few pyroxenes and garnets. The P-T conditions during the VHP event are constrained in the eclogites by reactions which define a field ranging from 27–28 kbar to 35 kbar and from 680 to 750° C. These temperatures are consistent with the results of garnet-pyroxene and garnet-phengite geothermometry which suggest that the eclogites may have equilibrated at around 700° C. In the sodic whiteschist pressures ranging from 29 to 35 kbar can be deduced from the stability of the jadeite-pyrope garnet-glaucophane compatibility. As in the eclogites water activity must have been low. Such conditions are close to the P-T values estimated for the early Alpine recrystallization of the pyrope-coesite rock and, like petrographical and mineralogical features, set aside the BI eclogites from the other eclogites of the Western Alps, instead indicating a close similarity to some of the eclogite bodies occurring in the Adula nappe of the Central Alps. An important corollary is that glaucophane stability, at least in Na- and Mg-rich compositions and under very high pressures, may extend up to 700° C, in agreement with the HT stability limit suggested by experimental studies.     

Deformation and metamorphism in the Bard area of the Sesia Lanzo Zone, Western Alps, during subduction and uplift

The structure, microstructure and petrology of a small area close to the village of Bard in Val d'Aosta (Italy) has been studied in detail. The area lies across the contact between the Gneiss Minuti (GM) and the Eclogitic Micaschist (EMS) Complexes of the Lower element of the Sesia portion of the Sesia-Lanzo Zone (Western Alps). Both complexes have undergone high-pressure metamorphism, but the metamorphic assemblages indicate a sudden increase in pressure in going across the contact from the GM to the EMS. Therefore, we interpret the contact as a thrust dividing the lower element of the Sesia into two sub-elements. This interpretation is supported by structural evidence.
The early Alpine (90-70 Ma) metamorphic history is best preserved in the EMS and is one of increasing pressure associated with thrusting. The maximum P/T recorded in the EMS is >1500 MPa (>15kbar) and 550°C and in the GM is < 1500-1300 MPa (< 15-13 kbar) and 500-550°C. We suggest that the rocks were probably in an active Benioff zone during this time.
From then on the histories of the GM and EMS are the same. Deformation continued and the thrust and thrust slices were folded during decreasing pressure. We interpret the first postthrusting deformation in terms of uplift associated with continued shortening of the crust and underplating after the Benioff zone had become inactive and a new Benioff zone had developed further to the north-west.
A still later deformation and the Lepontine metamorphism (38 Ma) are related to continued uplift. Much of this deformation is characterized by structures indicative of vertical shortening and lateral spreading as the mountains rose above the general level of the surface.     

Quantitative basin characterisation to refine debris-flow triggering criteria and processes: an example from the Italian Western Alps

This paper investigates rapid channelized debris flow related to rainfalls in small alpine basins. Its goal is to evaluate and correlate different geological and technical aspects with predisposing and triggering factors that can control these phenomena. The study area is the upper part of the Susa Valley where 12 small basins were selected. For each of them, lithological, geomorphological, climatic and technical information were mapped and analysed. Debris-flow triggering conditions, flow and depositional processes were related to physical characteristics of the basin that can be easily measured and quantified. At least three different groups of basins were found: G1) basins with one event each 4–6 years, characterised by massive or blocky calcareous rocks, G2) basins with more than one event per year that show an abundance of layered or sheared fine-grained rocks and G3) basins with recurrence levels exceeding 10 years, activated only by heavy and prolonged rainfalls, marked by massive or blocky coarse-grained igneous rocks. Furthermore, important morphometric differences were found. These considerations are useful in terms of hazard zonation and risk mitigation.     

Prograde high- to ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism and exhumation of oceanic sediments at Lago di Cignana, Zermatt-Saas Zone, western Alps

Pelagic metasediments and MORB-type metabasalts of the former Tethyan oceanic crust at Cignana, Valtournanche, Italy, experienced UHP metamorphism and subsequent exhumation during the Early to Late Tertiary. Maximum PT conditions attained during UHP metamorphism were 600–630 °C, 2.7–2.9 GPa, which resulted in the formation of coesite-glaucophane-eclogites in the basaltic layer and of garnet-dolomite-aragonite-lawsonite-coesite-phengite-bearing calc-schists and garnet-phengite-coesite-schists with variable amounts of epidote, talc, dolomite, Na-pyroxene and Na-amphibole in the overlying metasediments. During subduction the rocks followed a prograde HP/UHP path which in correspondance with the Jurassic age of the Tethyan crust reflects the thermal influence of relatively old and cold lithosphere and of low to moderate shear heating. Inflections on the prograde metamorphic path may correspond to thermal effects that arise from a decrease in shear heating due to brittle-plastic transition in the quartz-aragonite-dominated rocks, induced convection in the asthenospheric mantle wedge and/or heat consumption by endothermic reactions over a restricted PT segment during subduction. After detachment from the downgoing slab some 50–70 Ma before present, the Cignana crustal slice was first exhumed to ca. 60 km and concomitantly cooled to ca. 550 °C, tracing back the UHP/HP prograde path displaced by 50–80 °C to higher temperatures. Exhumation at this stage is likely to have occurred in the Benioff zone, while the subduction of cool lithosphere was going on. Subsequently, the rocks were near-isothermally exhumed to ca. 30 km, followed by concomitant decompression and cooling to surface conditions (at < 500 °C, < 1 GPa). During this last stage the UHPM slice arrived at its present tectonic position with respect to the overlying greenschist-facies Combin zone. In contrast to the well-preserved HP/UHPM record of the coesite-glaucophane eclogites, the HP/UHP assemblages of the metasediments have been largely obliterated during exhumation. Relics from which the metamorphic evolution of the rocks during prograde HP metamorphism and the UHP stage can be retrieved are restricted to rigid low-diffusion minerals like garnet, dolomite, tourmaline and apatite.     

Garnet–chloritoid equilibria in eclogitic pelitic rocks from the Sesia zone (Western Alps): their bearing on phase relations in high pressure metapelites

Abstract A detailed study of garnet–chloritoid micaschists fom the Sesia zone (Western Alps) is used to constrain phase relations in high pressure (HP) metapelitic rocks. In addition to quartz, phengite, paragonite and rutile, the micaschists display two distinct parageneses, namely garnet + chloritoid + chlorite and garnet + chloritoid + kyanite. Talc has never been observed. Garnet and chloritoid are more magnesian when chlorite is present instead of kyanite. The distinction of the two equilibria results from different bulk rock chemistries, not from P–T conditions or redox state. Estimated P–T conditions for the eclogitic metamorphism are 550–600°C, 15–18 kbar.
The presence of primary chlorite in association with garnet and chloritoid leads us to construct two possible AFM topologies for the Sesia metapelites. The paper describes a KFMASH multisystem for HP pelitic rocks, which extends the grid of Harte & Hudson (1979) towards higher pressures and adds the phase talc. Observed parageneses in HP metapelites are consistent with predicted phase relations. Critical associations are Gt–Ctd–Chl and Gt–Ctd–Ky at relatively low temperatures and Gl–Chl–Ky and Gt–Tc–Ky at relatively high temperatures.     

A Tertiary age for Alpine high-pressure metamorphism in the Gran Paradiso massif, Western Alps: a Rb–Sr microsampling study

The timing of high‐pressure (HP) metamorphism in the internal basement massifs of the Western Alps has been contentious. In the Gran Paradiso massif silvery micaschists, thought to have developed from granitic precursors, contain assemblages indicative of pressures in excess of 18 kbar at 500–550 °C. This paper presents unique geochronological data for the paragenesis of the silvery micaschist HP assemblage. Rb–Sr microsampling of an apatite–phengite pair thought to have remained closed to Rb–Sr exchange since the HP paragenesis formed has yielded an age of 43.0 ± 0.5 Ma. Greenschist retrogression occurred after 36.3 ± 0.4 Ma, probably in the interval 36–34 Ma. The localised disturbance of the Rb–Sr system in phengite, apatite and allanite during retrogression means that only in situ microsampling could obtain meaningful ages from these rocks. The new data indicating a Tertiary age for HP metamorphism in the Gran Paradiso massif agree with recent data for other internal basement massifs in the Western Alps. A model fitting the Gran Paradiso massif into the Western Alpine framework is presented.     

Ductile-brittle transition in pre-Alpine amphibolite facies mylonites during evolution from water-present to water-deficient conditions (Mont Mary nappe, Italian Western Alps)

In the Austroalpine Mont Mary nappe (Italian Western Alps) discrete zones of mylonites–ultramylonites developed from coarse-grained, upper amphibolite facies metapelites of pre-Alpine age. The syn–mylonitic mineral assemblage is quartz–biotite–muscovite–plagioclase–garnet–sillimanite–ilmenite–graphite, and formed via the model hydration reaction: Grt₁+Kfs+H₂O=Bt₂+Ilm₂+Qtz+Ms± Sil .Grain-size reduction of about three orders of magnitude was accompanied by extensive recrystallization of all minerals except sillimanite, and by compositional changes of garnet and biotite. Deformation took place at temperatures of 510–580  °C under low-pressure conditions (0.25–0.45 GPa) and corresponds to the latest stages of pre-Alpine metamorphic evolution. The pre-Alpine mylonitization conditions were close to the brittle-ductile transition, as indicated by syn–mylonitic generation of pseudotachylytes and high differential stress inferred from quartz grain-size piezometry. The brittle-ductile behaviour at a relatively high temperature, and the absence of annealing textures in quartz aggregates, are suggestive of water-deficient conditions during mylonitization. These were accomplished through progressive consumption of water by syn–kinematic hydration reaction and by adsorption onto the greatly increased grain boundary area resulting from dynamic recrystallization.     

Ultra-high-pressure metamorphism of carbonate rocks in the Dabie Mountains, central China

Abstract Widespread ultra-high-P assemblages including coesite, quartz pseudomorphs after coesite, aragonite, and calcite pseudomorphs after aragonite in marble, gneiss and phengite schist are present in the Dabie Mountains eclogite terrane. These assemblages indicate that the ultra-high-P metamorphic event occurred on a regional scale during Triassic collision between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons. Marble in the Dabie Mountains is interlayered with coesite-bearing eclogite and gneiss and as blocks of various size within gneiss. Discontinuous boudins of eclogite occur within marble layers. Marble contains an ultra-high-P assemblage of calcite/aragonite, dolomite, clinopyroxene, garnet, phengite, epidote, rutile and quartz/coesite. Coesite, quartz pseudomorphs after coesite, aragonite and calcite pseudomorphs after aragonite occur as fine-grained inclusions in garnet and omphacite. Phengites contain about 3.6 Si atoms per formula unit (based on 11 oxygens). Similar to the coesite-bearing eclogite, marble exhibits retrograde recrystallization under amphibolite–greenschist facies conditions generated during uplift of the ultra-high-P metamorphic terrane. Retrograde minerals are fine grained and replace coarse-grained peak metamorphic phases. The most typical replacements are: symplectic pargasitic hornblende + epidote after garnet, diopside + plagioclase (An₁₈) after omphacite, and fibrous phlogopite after phengite. Ferroan pargasite + plagioclase, and actinolite formed along grain boundaries between garnet and calcite, and calcite and quartz, respectively. The estimated peak P–T conditions for marble are comparable to those for eclogite: garnet–clinopyroxene geothermometry yields temperatures of 630–760°C; the garnet–phengite thermometer gives somewhat lower temperatures. The minimum pressure of peak metamorphism is 27 kbar based on the occurrence of coesite. Such estimates of ultra-high-P conditions are consistent with the coexistence of grossular-rich garnet + rutile, and the high jadeite content of omphacite in marble. The fluid for the peak metamorphism was calculated to have a very low X_CO2 (<0.03). The P–T conditions for retrograde metamorphism were estimated to be 475–550°C at <7 kbar.     

High pressure metamorphism in the nappes of the Valle dell'Orco traverse (Western Alps collisional belt) *

Abstract A detailed field and petrological study of rocks from nappes cut by the Valle dell'Orco (Italian Western Alps), in particular the Sesia–Lanzo composite unit, has revealed geological and metamorphic histories which started in pre-alpine times and lasted up to the alpine subduction-collisional processes. During these processes the nappes sustained an early high P–low T stage and a later low P greenschist facies stage, but followed partly distinctive P–T–time trajectories. This paper discusses the kinematic evolution and the thermal history of the alpine belt from the early subduction/underthrust to the later exhumation stage. The metamorphic crystallization is often governed by incomplete and/or local equilibrium, and the pervasive syn-metamorphic deformation and the composition of the syn-metamorphic fluid phase (if present) have exerted an effective local control on reaction kinetics.     

Application of K-feldspar–jadeite–quartz barometry to eclogite facies metagranites and metapelites in the Sesia Lanzo Zone (Western Alps, Italy)*

The eclogite facies assemblage K-feldspar–jadeite–quartz in metagranites and metapelites from the Sesia-Lanzo Zone (Western Alps, Italy) records the equilibration pressure by dilution of the reaction jadeite+quartz=albite. The metapelites show partial transformation from a pre-Alpine assemblage of garnet (Alm₆₃Prp₂₆Grs₁₀)–K-feldspar–plagioclase–biotite±sillimanite to the Eo-Alpine high-pressure assemblage garnet (Alm₅₀Prp₁₄Grs₃₅)–jadeite (Jd_80–97Di_0–4Hd_0–8Acm_0–7)–zoisite–phengite. Plagioclase is replaced by jadeite–zoisite–kyanite–K-feldspar–quartz, and biotite is replaced by garnet–phengite or omphacite–kyanite–phengite. Equilibrium was attained only in local domains in the metapelites and therefore the K-feldspar–jadeite–quartz (KJQ) barometer was applied only to the plagioclase pseudomorphs and K-feldspar domains. The albite content of K-feldspar ranges from 4 to 11 mol% in less equilibrated assemblages from Val Savenca and from 4 to 7 mol% in the partially equilibrated samples from Monte Mucrone and the equilibrated samples from Montestrutto and Tavagnasco. Thermodynamic calculations on the stability of the assemblage K-feldspar–jadeite–quartz using available mixing data for K-feldspar and pyroxene indicate pressures of 15–21 kbar (±1.6–1.9 kbar) at 550±50 °C. This barometer yields direct pressure estimates in high-pressure rocks where pressures are seldom otherwise fixed, although it is sensitive to analytical precision and the choice of thermodynamic mixing model for K-feldspar. Moreover, the KJQ barometer is independent of the ratio PH2O/P_T. The inferred limiting a(H₂O) for the assemblage jadeite–kyanite in the metapelites from Val Savenca is low and varies from 0.2 to 0.6.     

Timing of metamorphism in the Tauern Window, Eastern Alps: Rb-Sr ages and fabric formation

The Peripheral Schieferhülle of the Tauern Window of the Eastern Alps represents post-Hercynian Penninic cover sequences and preserves a record of metamorphism in the Alpine orogeny, without the inherited remnants of Hercynian events that are retained in basement rocks. The temperature-time-deformation history of rocks at the lower levels of these cover sequences have been investigated by geochronological and petrographic study of units whose P-T evolution and structural setting are already well understood. The Eclogite Zone of the central Tauern formed from protoliths with Penninic cover affinities, and suffered early Alpine eclogite facies metamorphism before tectonic interposition between basement and cover. It then shared a common metamorphic history with these units, experiencing blueschist facies and subsequent greenschist facies conditions in the Alpine orogeny. The greenschist facies phase, associated with penetrative deformation in the cover and the influx of aqueous fluids, reset Sr isotopes in metasediments throughout the eclogite zone and cover schists, recording deformation and peak metamorphism at 28-30 Ma. The Peripheral Schieferhülle of the south-east Tauern Window yields Rb-Sr white mica ages which can be tied to the structural evolution of the metamorphic pile. Early prograde fabrics pre-date 31 Ma, and were reworked by the formation of the large north-east vergent Sonnblick fold structure at 28 Ma. Peak metamorphism post-dated this deformation, but by contrast to the equivalent levels in the central Tauern, peak metamorphic conditions did not lead to widespread homogenization of the Sr isotopes. Localized deformation continued into the cooling path until at least 23 Ma, partially or wholly resetting Sr white mica ages in some samples. These isotopic ages may be integrated with structural data in regional tectonic models, and may constrain changes in the style of crustal deformation and plate interaction. However, such interpretations must accommodate the demonstrable variation in thermal histories over small distances.     

P–T conditions for the eclogitic re-equilibration of the metaophiolites from Val d'Ala di Lanzo (internal Piemontese zone, Western Alps)

Abstract A study has been made of the high-pressure early-Alpine re-equilibration in the eclogites and metasedimentary cover of the Val d'Ala di Lanzo ophiolite. All of the main high-pressure minerals have been analysed and their compositions used to determine re-equilibration temperatures. The minimum conditions proposed ( P = 1.3 GPa, T = 450–460°C) are also indicated by the presence of a jadeite+quartz-bearing metagranite.
The temperatures are compared with those reported for similar eclogites from the Voltri Group, the Aosta Valley and the Valais. Comparison of recalculated temperatures shows that the temperature (and probably the pressure) of the eclogitic re-equilibration increased in the Aosta Valley and the Valais, in keeping with what has been observed in the internal Penninic basement of the Gran Paradiso and Monte Rosa crystalline massifs.     

Alpine metamorphism of pelitic schists in the Nufenen Pass area, Lepontine Alps

Abstract The effects of Tertiary Alpine metamorphism on pelitic Mesozoic cover rocks have been studied along a cross-section in the central Lepontine Alps in the Nufenen Pass area, Switzerland. Greenschist facies to amphibolite facies conditions are indicated by the formation of the index minerals chloritoid, garnet, staurolite and kyanite in pelitic rocks. Regional metamorphism reached maximum conditions during the interkinematic period between a main Alpine penetrative (D2) and a late Alpine (D3) crenulation type deformation phase or synchronous with the late Alpine deformation. Based on AFM phase relationships four different metamorphic zones can be distinguished: (1) chloritoid zone; (2) staurolite + chlorite zone; (3) staurolite + biotite zone; and, (4) kyanite zone. The isograds that separate these zones can be modelled by univariant reactions in the KFMASH system. The conditions of metamorphism calculated from geological ther-mobarometers for the maximum post-D2 por-phyroblast stage are from North to South: 500° C at 5-6 kbar and 600° C at 7-8 kbar. Detailed thermobarometry of garnet por-phyroblasts with complex textures suggests that maximum temperature was reached later than maximum pressure. Early garnet growth occurred along a prograde P-T-path, post-D2 rims grew with increasing temperature but decreasing pressure, and finally post-D3 garnet formed along a retrograde P-T-path. It may be concluded from the calculated pressure and temperature difference over a short distance (3 km) across the mapped area that the isogradic surfaces of the post-D2 metamorphism are steeply oriented. The data also suggest that isobaric and isothermal surfaces are parallel. Much of the observed metamorphic pattern can be explained as the result of a significant post-D2 differential uplift of the hot Pennine area relative to the Helvetic area along a tectonic contact zone. The closely spaced isograds (isotherms) in the North may then be interpreted as a thermal effect owing to the emplacement of the hot Pennine rocks against the Got-thard massif with its cover. Whereas, in the Pennine metasediments, post-D2 porphyroblast formation can be related to the decompression path which was steep enough for dehydration reactions to proceed. It is also remarkable that late kyanite porphyroblasts probably formed with decreasing pressure. The interpretation given here for the Nufenen Pass area may also apply to the Luk-manier Pass area where similar metamorphic patterns have been reported by Fox (1975). The formation of the ‘Northern Steep Belt’;, as denned by Milnes (1974b), and the associated late Alpine fold zones may, therefore, have significantly modified the metamorphic pattern of the Helvetic-Penninic contact zone.     

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.     

Metamorphic evolution of the Sesia-Lanzo Zone,Western Alps: time constraints from multi-system geochronology

 The Sesia-Lanzo Zone is a polymetamorphic unit containing Hercynian granulite relics overprinted by eclogite and greenschist facies metamorphism and deformation during the Alpine orogeny. Different parts of the unit record different stages on the P-T-deformation evolution, allowing multi-system isotopic studies to unravel the precise timing of the metamorphic history. New Rb–Sr white mica and U–Pb sphene data constrain the age of eclogite facies metamorphism and deformation to 60–70 Ma. This substantially alters the common view of early- to mid-Cretaceous eclogite facies metamorphism in this unit. The new results are more consistent with the established geotectonic framework for the Alpine orogeny, since they do not require a prolonged period of depressed geothermal gradient at a time when the region was in extension. It is also more concordant with recent studies of other units that demonstrate post-Cretaceous high-pressure metamorphism. Step-heated ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar analysis of phengites yields good plateaux giving ages older than the corresponding Rb–Sr age. Such anomalously high ages indicate the presence of radiogenic argon-rich fluids in the grain boundary network under the fluid/pressure conditions acting during this high-pressure metamorphic event. The U–Pb sphene ages are variable in polymetamorphic rocks, and show inheritance of older Pb or sphene crystals into the high-pressure event. Two monometamorphic assemblages yield concordant ages at 66±1 Ma, reflecting crystallisation of the eclogite facies assemblage. The Gneiss Minuti Complex (GMC) lies structurally below the Eclogitic Micaschists, and its pervasive greenschist facies fabric yields tightly clustered Rb–Sr white mica ages at 38–39 Ma. This greenschist event did not affect the majority of the EMC. The ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar ages of micas formed at this time were very disturbed, whereas micas surviving from an earlier higher pressure assemblage had their ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar system reset. The greenschist event did not strongly affect U–Pb systematics in Hercynian age sphenes, suggesting that the GMC did not uniformly suffer an eclogite facies metamorphism during the Alpine cycle, but was juxtaposed against the EMC later in the orogeny. This model still requires that the locus of deformation and metamorphism (and possibly fluid flux) moved outboard with time, leaving the Sesia-Lanzo basement as a shear-bounded unreactive block within the orogenic wedge. Received: 12 October 1995/Accepted:25 June 1996     

Excess Ar-free phengite in ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks from the Lago di Cignana area, Western Alps

Ar/Ar analyses of phengites and paragonites from the ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks (zoisite–clinozoisite schist, garnet–phengite schist and piemontite schist) in the Lago di Cignana area, Western Alps were carried out with a laser probe step-heating method using single crystals and a spot dating method on thin sections. Eight phengite and two paragonite crystals give the plateau ages of 37–42 Ma with 96–100% of ³⁹Ar released. Each rock type also contains mica crystals showing discordant age spectra with age fractions (20–35 Ma) significantly younger than the plateau ages. Phengite inclusions in garnet give ages of 43.2 ± 1.1 Ma and 44.4 ± 1.5 Ma, which are significantly older than the spot age (36.4 ± 1.4 Ma) from the matrix phengites, and the plateau ages from the step-heating analyses. Inclusion ages (43 and 44 Ma) are consistent with a zircon SHRIMP age (44 ± 1 Ma) in this area. These results suggest that the oceanic materials that underwent a simple subduction related UHPM, form excess ⁴⁰Ar-free phengite and that the peak metamorphism is ca. 44 Ma or little older. We suggest that matrix phengites experienced a retrogression reaction changing their chemistry contemporaneously with deformation related to the exhumation of rocks releasing significant radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar from the crystals. This has lead to the apparent ages of the matrix phengites that are significantly younger than the inclusion age.     

Petrological constraints on the eclogite- and blueschistfacies metamorphism and P-T-t paths in the Western Alps*

Phase relationships in the model mafic system and geothermobarometry allow discrimination of four main groups of high-P rocks in the nappes of the Western Alps: very high-P eclogite-facies (including kyanite eclogites and coesite-pyrope assemblages), eclogite-facies (paragonite-zoisite eclogites), high-T blueschist-facies (glaucophane-garnet ± lawsonite assemblages) and low-T blueschist-facies (glaucophane-lawsonite ± pumpellyite assemblages). The blueschist-facies-eclogite-facies transition is promoted chiefly by increasing T, low bulk X_Mg and relatively low μ_H2O. The variety of assemblages and the heterogeneous approach to equilibrium observed in the Alpine rocks are not only constrained by the intersection of the reaction surfaces in P-T-X space, but also by the effect and timing of the processes which control kinetics (i.e. pervasive deformation and fluid infiltration). The faster rate of dehydration reactions relative to hydration reactions along with the fact that different bulk compositions crossed the reaction curves at different temperatures (and times), all may have induced μ_H2O gradients and contributed to the heterogeneous distribution of deformation through a process of reaction-enhanced ductility. Also mass-transfer may have been an effective process in determining the type of high-P assemblage in particular rock volumes. As regards the P-T-t paths, only the post-climax histories are recorded well in the Alpine nappes. Post-eclogitic exhumation paths at decreasing temperatures characterize structurally higher nappes which were first subducted during the early-Alpine (Cretaceous) event. In contrast, more or less isothermal decompression paths characterize structurally deeper nappes formed by westward propagation of the underthrust surfaces during the early-Alpine event and the subsequent meso-Alpine (Palaeogene) collision between the ‘European’and ‘African’plates. In the Western Alps, prevalent eclogite-facies conditions were attained during the metamorphic climax of the early-Alpine subduction, while blueschist-facies recrystallization characterizes the early-Alpine exhumation of the eclogitized units and the subsequent intracontinental underthrusts linked to the meso-Alpine continental collision.     

Eo-Alpine HP metamorphism in the Permian intrusives from the steep belt of the central Alps (Languard-Campo nappe and Tonale Series)

Abstract

Diorites and granitoids that intruded the Upper Austroalpine units of the central Alps during the Permian display map-pable tectonic imprints and metamorphic transformations that were acquired during the Alpine tectonometamorphic cycle. Superposed heterogeneous deformations interacted with metamorphic re-equilibration stages and created a range of textural types that reflect local deformation gradients: coronitic transformations textures, normally foliated S-tectonites and mylonitic foliations. The three textural types are distinguished on maps recording foliation trajectories of successive deformation phases, which are correlated to the evolution of metamorphic assemblages. Tectonic deformation of Alpine age is represented by three generations of ductile syn-metamorphic structures. The mineral assemblages stable during the first Alpine deformation phase (D1) are Amp_II + P1_II + white mica, + Zo/Czo + Grt + Qtz ± Mg-Ch1 ± Ilm in metadiorites and P1_II + white mica_I + Zo/Czo + Grt + Amp_II + Qtz ± Ilm/Ttn in metagranitoids; the successive foliations D2a and D2b are defined by greenschist facies minerals. Thermobarometric estimates allow T = 500–600 °C and P = 1.1 ± 0.2 GPa conditions to be determined during D1 and T ≤ 350 °C and P ≤ 0.5 GPa during D2. Relict igneous minerals in metadiorites allow to determine intrusive conditions of T = 879 ± 110 °C and P = 0.4–0.7 GPa. Radiometric ages and P/T ratio of Alpine P_maxT_Pmax suggest that the inferred P-T-d-t path may represent the thermal state of the initial Alpine subduction stages. © 2000 Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS     

Progressive development of quartz fabrics in a shear zone from Monte Mucrone,Sesia-Lanzo Zone,Italian Alps

Quartz c-axis fabrics are described from a shear zone in a jadeite — garnet bearing meta-granite from Monte Mucrone, in the Sesia-Lanzo Zone of the western Italian Alps. Quartz blebs in the meta-granitoid are progressively deformed into cigar shaped lenses, and are recrystallized. Fabrics measured from individual blebs show considerable variation resulting from an initial orientation effect, and are not very enlightening. A synoptic diagram, however, has a pole-free area which can be correlated with the extension direction, and an asymmetry which is consistent with the known sense of shear operating in the zone.Although the technique of preparing synoptic diagrams is rather painstaking, its use is advocated for complex fabric situations, as it may allow partial removal of problems associated with non-random initial orientation distributions.