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

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

碧溪岭石榴异剥橄榄岩的显微构造及成因机制

对超高压变质带中橄榄岩变形显微构造的研究, 有助于了解板块边界构造环境中地幔物质的流变性质和变形机制, 进而探讨其在深俯冲/折返过程中的地球动力学过程的作用.采用光学显微镜、电子探针、红外光谱、电子背散射衍射(EBSD)、位错氧化缀饰等多种方法系统研究了来自中国大别碧溪岭的石榴异剥橄榄岩中的变形显微构造.研究结果表明: (1)碧溪岭石榴异剥橄榄岩发育较好的形状优选方位, 但只有单斜辉石显示了强晶格优选方位, 而橄榄石晶格优选方位很弱, 与常见上地幔橄榄岩中单斜辉石组构弱而橄榄石组构强的特点差异显著, 反映了单斜辉石经历位错蠕变而橄榄石经历位错调节的颗粒边界滑移变形; (2)碧溪岭异剥橄榄岩中单斜辉石和橄榄石均含有一定量的结构水, 其中单斜辉石含水量124×10-6~274×10-6, 橄榄石含水量38×10-6~80×10-6, 高于常见造山带橄榄岩中各矿物的含水量, 可能反映了壳源物质混染引起的高含水量变形环境; (3)橄榄石中发育显著位错显微构造, 根据位错显微构造计算的变形差异应力为230~600 MPa, 高于正常上地幔稳态流变应力, 反映了俯冲带中的相对低温变形环境.综合分析研究表明, 超高压变质带中的高压、低温、高差异应力和高结构水含量是形成碧溪岭相对独特的橄榄石、单斜辉石变形显微构造的原因.      

Deep-crustal granulites with migmatitic and mylonitic fabrics from the Zambezi Belt, northeastern Zimbabwe

Abstract High- P granulites contained in two allochthonous tectonic units were thrust southwards onto the northern margin of the Zimbabwe craton during the Pan-African Zambezi orogeny. In the lower sheet, the Masoso Metamorphic Suite contains mafic garnet granulite assemblages formed during a high- P-T metamorphic event, although the suite as a whole is predominantly granitic. The garnet granulites occur as relicts within narrow mafic layers characterized by migmatitic and mylonitic fabrics. The annealed mylonites represent surfaces of deep-crustal tectonic imbrication that formed immediately before the Pan-African orogeny. Gabbros which intruded the granulites after the main phase of migmatization have formed corona textures that document a low- P-T metamorphic event at mid-crustal levels. The style of deformation then changed and the Masoso Suite with its mylonitic layers was folded and thrusted southwards onto the Archaean Zimbabwe craton.     

Silica and volatile-element metasomatism of Archean mantle: a xenolith-scale example from the Kaapvaal Craton

Textural evidence in a composite garnet harzburgite mantle xenolith from Kimberley, South Africa, suggests metasomatism of a severely melt-depleted substrate by a siliceous, volatile-rich fluid. The fluid reacted with olivine-rich garnet harzburgite, converting olivine to orthopyroxene, forming additional garnet and introducing phlogopite, and small quantities of sulfide and probable carbonate. Extensive reaction (>50%) forming orthopyroxenite resulted from channelized flow in a vein, with orthopyroxene growth in the surrounding matrix from a pervasive grain-boundary fluid. The mineralogy of the reaction assemblage and the bulk composition of the added component dominated by Si and Al, with lesser quantities of K, Na, H, C and S, are consistent with experimental studies of hybridization of siliceous melts or fluids with peridotite. However, low Na, Fe and Ca compared with melts of eclogite suggest a fluid phase that previously evolved by reaction with peridotitic mantle. Garnet and phlogopite trace element compositions indicate a fluid rich in large-ion lithophile (LIL) elements, but poor in high field-strength elements (HFSE), qualitatively consistent with subduction zone melts and fluids. An Os isotope (T_RD) model age of 2.97 ± 0.04 Ga and lack of compositional zonation in the xenolith indicate an ancient origin, consistent with proposed 2.9 Ga subduction and continental collision in the Kimberley region. The veined sample reflects the silicic end of a spectrum of compositions generated in the Kimberley mantle lithosphere by the metasomatizing effects of fluids derived from oceanic lithosphere. These results provide petrographic and chemical evidence for fluid-mediated Si-, volatile- and trace-element metasomatism of Archean mantle, and support models advocating large-scale modification of regions of Archean subcontinental mantle by subduction processes that occurred in the Archean.     

大陆碰撞造山带的两类橄榄岩——以柴北缘超高压变质带为例

论述了大陆俯冲碰撞带中地幔橄榄岩的基本特征和成岩类型,并重点讨论柴北缘超高压变质带中不同性质的橄榄岩及其成因。根据岩石学特征,我们确定柴北缘超高压带中发育有两种类型的橄榄岩:(1)石榴橄榄岩,岩石类型包括石榴二辉橄榄岩、石榴方辉橄榄岩、纯橄岩和石榴辉石岩,是大陆型俯冲带的标志性岩石。金刚石包裹体、石榴石和橄榄石的出溶结构、温压计算等均反映其来源深度大于200km。地球化学特征表明该橄榄岩的原岩是岛弧环境下高镁岩浆在地幔环境下堆晶的产物。(2)大洋蛇绿岩型地幔橄榄岩,与变质的堆晶杂岩(包括石榴辉石岩、蓝晶石榴辉岩)和具有大洋玄武岩特征的榴辉岩构成典型的蛇绿岩剖面,代表大洋岩石圈残片。这两类橄榄岩的确定对了解柴北缘超高压变质带的性质和构造演化过程有重要意义。     

A recalibration of the garnet-olivine geothermometer and a new geobarometer for garnet peridotites and garnet-olivine-plagioclase-bearing granulites

The garnet-olivine Fe-Mg exchange geothermometer and the garnet-olivine-plagioclase geobarometer have been simultaneously calibrated using reversed experimental data based on the model reactions and between 900 and 1500 °C at 9.1–95.0 kbar and between 4.7 and 7.0 kbar at 750–1050 °C, respectively. The resulting garnet-olivine thermometer reproduces experimental temperatures mostly within ±75 °C and the garnet-olivine-plagioclase barometer reproduces experimental pressures well within ±0.19 kbar. These new thermobarometers use the same garnet and olivine activity models and are thermodynamically consistent. Application of these thermobarometers to garnet peridotites from mantle xenoliths, orogenic garnet peridotites over the world and the Adirondack olivine-bearing metagabbros yielded reasonable P–T results. The present garnet-olivine thermometer can be used to measure medium-high-grade to ultrahigh-grade, low-pressure to ultrahigh–high-pressure garnet peridotites and metagabbros, whereas the garnet-olivine-plagioclase barometer has limited application to garnet-olivine-plagioclase-bearing granulites.     

西藏罗布莎地幔橄榄岩变形显微构造特征及其地质意义

地幔橄榄岩是罗布莎蛇绿岩的主要组成成分之一,通过显微构造特征可对其变形特征进行分析,确定流变学参数,探讨地幔橄榄岩的变形历史。以蛇纹石化程度较低的二辉橄榄岩和方辉橄榄岩为研究对象,橄榄石位错特征研究显示,本区橄榄石主要发育了低温常见的直线型自由位错,局部可见位错弓弯、位错环、位错壁等高温位错,反映罗布莎地幔橄榄岩变形以低温塑性流变为主,局部经历了高温塑性流变,主导变形机制为位错蠕变。橄榄石自由位错统计结果表明,二辉橄榄岩中的橄榄石自由位错密度为4.422×107/cm2,方辉橄榄岩中的橄榄石为9.137×107/cm2,变形过程中所受差异应力分别为65MPa和93MPa。橄榄石和斜方辉石显微组构测量采用了电子背散射衍射技术(EBSD),分析结果表明,橄榄石均发育A型组构,为浅部地幔常见的组构类型,该结果与金刚石、柯石英等超高压矿物所指示的形成深度不一致。     

Reconstruction of the exhumation path of the Alpe Arami'ql garnet-peridotite body from depths exceeding 160 km

Chemical disequilibrium exists between all phases of the Alpe Arami garnet-peridotite body (Ticino, Switzerland) which hampers the evaluation of P–T  conditions of origin, yet disequilibrium offers the inherent possibility to derive a P–T–t path for this mantle slice. We tried to tackle this problem by carrying out new mineral analyses and taking diffusion rates and bulk-rock compositional effects into consideration. Peak metamorphic conditions from mineral core compositions were estimated as 1120±50 °C/5±0.2 GPa. These values are significantly higher than previously published results and were determined from a combination of the O'Neill & Wood (1979) Fe/Mg garnet–olivine exchange thermometer and the Al-in-orthopyroxene barometer (Brey & Köhler, 1990), and are supported by the Ca/Cr ratios in garnet, which are in accord with these conditions. Details of the exhumation path were derived from (1) rim compositions of minerals that yield a first retrograde stage of 720±50 °C/2±0.25 GPa (2) a spinel lherzolite assemblage in narrow shear zones (tectonic phase F0', after Möckel, 1969) which documents a second retrograde stage at 500–600 °C/0.8–1.5 GPa. The Ca content in olivine (Köhler & Brey, 1989) can be used to evaluate further P–T  conditions along the retrograde path. We measured very low values (30–40  ppm Ca) in the cores of olivine and a remarkable increase towards the rim (120  ppm). The low core values may reflect an equilibrium stage during the main Alpine metamorphism. The increasing values towards the olivine rims probably represent a late-stage heating event. The initial cooling rates for the peridotite body are between 2700 and 5100 °C Ma⁻¹, depending on which diffusion data are used.     

The Luliangshan garnet peridotite massif of the North Qaidam UHPM belt, NW China - a review of its origin and metamorphic evolution

The Luliangshan garnet peridotite massif is an ultramafic complex in the North Qaidam UHPM belt, NW China. The strongly layered complex comprising garnet-bearing dunite, garnet-harzburgite, garnet-lherzolite and garnet-pyroxenite and garnet-free dunite, occurs together with eclogite embedded in various continental gneisses. The geological setting, the internal structure, bulk-composition, rare earth elements, isotopic and mineral composition data show that the garnet peridotite derives from a middle Ordovician Alaskan-type layered sub-arc cumulate intrusion of ascending mantle wedge melts. An abyssal peridotite protolith can be excluded. During the Ordovician-Silurian continental collision, thickening and foundering, the Luliangshan peridotite complex was exposed to ultrahigh pressures (UHP) reaching 5.5 GPa possibly >6 GPa at temperatures of 900 °C (perhaps up to 1000 °C) corresponding to a depth of ∼200 km. The extreme pressure conditions have been derived from thermobarometry using mineral compositions of the garnet peridotite assemblages, but they are supported by a wealth of decompression-induced mineral exsolutions in UHP minerals and by diamond inclusion in zircon. The Luliangshan garnet peridotite has experienced four stages of retrograde overprint during exhumation that lasted into the Devonian: (i) decompression-induced unmixing of the UHP minerals; (ii) garnet kelyphitisation; (iii) amphibole overprinting and (iv) serpentinization. Hydrous minerals occurring within peak metamorphic assemblage represent pseudo-inclusions, that is reaction products of reactions related to various stages of decompression and cooling rather than prograde inclusions during porphyroblast growth.     

大别造山带毛屋岩体的解体及古地幔性质的厘定

根据详细的地球化学 (特别是稀土元素地球化学 )的研究资料 ,提出大别造山带毛屋岩体应该解体。毛屋岩体不是由多幕式镁铁 超镁铁质层状堆晶作用形成的一套岩石系列 ,而是由橄榄岩类、含石榴石方辉岩类、榴辉岩类和绿辉石岩类组成的一个混杂岩体。其中含石榴石方辉岩类与绿辉石岩类之间存在成因上的联系 ,含石榴石方辉岩类的原岩是本区原始地幔经约36 %的部分熔融后剩下的残余 ,而绿辉石岩的原岩是由该熔融体结晶的产物。根据含石榴石方辉岩与绿辉石岩之间的成分制约关系 ,对该区古地幔的稀土元素组成和地幔性质进行了反演 ,结果表明 ,该区原始地幔稀土元素成分与球粒陨石中的相似 ,为轻稀土略亏损的平坦型组成模式 ;该区原始地幔矿物成分为橄榄石 (72 8% )、单斜辉石 (12 4% )和石榴石 (14 8% ) ,属含单辉石榴橄榄岩的地幔。     

Experimental modeling of mantle metasomatism coupled with eclogitization of crustal material in a subduction zone

Alteration of mantle wedge rocks under the influence of fluids and melts is a poorly known subduction-zone process. It was experimentally modeled using various materials analogous to the crust (glaucophane schist and amphibolite) and mantle (olivine and olivine + orthopyroxene) under the P-T conditions (800°C and 29 kbar) corresponding to a hot subduction zone. Schist or amphibolite was loaded into the lower part of a capsule and underwent partial (10–90%) eclogitization during the experiment with the formation of omphacite, garnet, and quartz, sometimes coexisting with Ca-Na amphibole and orthopyroxene. The eclogitization was accompanied by the release of aqueous fluid, which dissolved minerals and products of partial melting of the schist. Ascending fluid flows transported major components into the overlying peridotite. This resulted in the formation of a garnet-phlogopite-orthopyroxene reaction zone at the base of the peridotite layer; this zone accumulated Si and K, which was practically absent in the starting materials. The gain of Si, Al, and CO₂ and loss of Mg resulted in the growth of new minerals in the olivine material: garnet, orthopyroxene, and magnesite. Under natural conditions, such a change would have been described as dunite transformation to garnet-bearing harzburgite. The experiments showed that the mineral and chemical composition of the suprasubduction mantle strongly depends on the transfer of components from a downgoing lithospheric slab.     

Evolution of the Pan-African Wadi Haimur metamorphic sole, Eastern Desert, Egypt

By comparison with the general features of metamorphic soles (e.g. vertical and lateral extension, metamorphic grade and diagnostic mineral parageneses, deformation and dominant rock types), it is inferred that the amphibolites, metagabbros and hornblendites of the Wadi Um Ghalaga–Wadi Haimur area in the southern part of the Eastern Desert of Egypt represent the metamorphic sole of the Wadi Haimur ophiolite belt. The overlying ultramafic rocks represent overthrusted mantle peridotite. Mineral compositions and thermobarometric studies indicate that the rocks of the metamorphic sole record metamorphic conditions typical of such an environment. The highest P – T conditions ( c . 700 °C and 6.5–8.5 kbar) are preserved in clinopyroxene amphibolites and garnet amphibolites from the top of the metamorphic sole, which is exposed in the southern part of the study area. The massive amphibolites and metagabbros further north (Wadi Haimur) represent the basal parts of the sole and show the lowest P – T  conditions (450–620 °C and 4.7–7.8 kbar). The sole is the product of dynamothermal metamorphism associated with the tectonic displacement of ultramafic rocks. Heat was derived mainly from the hot overlying mantle peridotites, and an inverted P – T  gradient was caused by dynamic shearing during ophiolite emplacement. Sm/Nd dating of whole-rock–metamorphic mineral pairs yields similar ages of c . 630 Ma for clinopyroxene and hornblende, which is interpreted as a lower age limit for ophiolite formation and an upper age limit for metamorphism. A younger Sm/Nd age for a garnet-bearing rock ( c . 590 Ma) is interpreted as reflecting a meaningful cooling age close to the metamorphic peak. Hornblende K/Ar ages in the range 570–550 Ma may reflect thermal events during late orogenic granite magmatism.     

Crustal thickening and ductile extension in the NE Greenland Caledonides: a metamorphic record from anatectic pelites

Caledonian orogenesis in NE Greenland resulted from the collision of Laurentia and Baltica during the Ordovician–Silurian. Anatectic pelites within the metasedimentary Smallefjord Sequence record a clockwise P – T  path, the result of early crustal thickening at c . 445–440 Ma and subsequent exhumation of the high-grade metamorphic core by a combination of ductile extension and tectonic denudation. The early prograde segment of the path followed a shallow, near-isothermal trajectory and attained a metamorphic peak of c . 9.0–10.0 kbar at >790 and <850 °C. Prograde metamorphism initiated anatexis of pelites in the kyanite stability field and continued with sillimanite stable. Inclusion trails in the garnet cores are textural remnants of early deformation, which occurred either before or during prograde metamorphism. The peak metamorphic conditions are anomalously high in the context of thermal models and P – T  paths for continental collision zones. The additional heat input required to promote migmatization may have been provided by advection as lower crustal high-pressure rocks and the uppermost mantle were uplifted following lithospheric thinning at an early stage in the orogeny. The prograde path was interrupted by the development of retrograde extensional shear fabrics defined by biotite+sillimanite and associated with garnet breakdown. Field observations indicate that ductile extension was accompanied by melt extraction, transport and emplacement of intracrustal granites dated at c . 430 Ma. Regional ductile extension and exhumation probably resulted from the development of gravitational instabilities within the overthickened crust during continental collision.     

Hot contacts of garnet peridotites in middle/upper crustal levels: new constraints on the nature of the late Variscan high-T/low-P event in the Moldanubian (Central Vosges/NE France)

P–T  paths based on parageneses in the immediate vicinity of former high-temperature contact zones between mantle peridotites and granulitic country rocks of the Central Vosges (NE France) were derived by applying several conventional thermometers and thermobarometric calculations with an internally consistent dataset. The results indicate that former garnet peridotites and garnet–spinel peridotites were welded together with crustal rocks at depths corresponding to 1–1.2 GPa. The temperature of the crustal rocks was about 650–700 °C at this stage, whereas values of 1100 °C (garnet peridotites) and 800–900 °C (garnet–spinel peridotites) were calculated for the ultramafic rocks. After emplacement of the mantle rocks, exhumation of the lower crust took place to a depth corresponding to 0.2–0.3 GPa. The temperatures of the incorporated peridotite slices were still high (900–1000 °C) at this stage. This is indicated by the presence of high- T  /low- P parageneses ( c . 800 °C, 0.2–0.3 GPa) in a small (1–10 m) contact aureole around a former garnet peridotite. Crustal rocks distant to the peridotites equilibrated in the same pressure range at lower temperature (650–700 °C). High cooling rates (10²–10³ °C Ma⁻¹) were calculated for a garnet–biotite rock inclusion in the peridotites and for the crustal rocks at the contact by applying garnet–biotite diffusion modelling. Minimum rates of 0.75–7.5 cm a⁻¹ are required for vertical ascent of rock units (30 km vertical distance) derived from the crust–mantle boundary, resulting in a late Variscan (340 Ma) high- T  /low- P event.     

Ultra-high-pressure (UHP) marble and eclogite in the Su-Lu UHP terrane, eastern China

A large mass of dolomitic marble including many eclogite blocks occurs in orthogneisses of the Rongcheng area of the Su-Lu province, eastern China. The marble consists mainly of dolomite, calcite (formerly aragonite), graphite, forsterite, diopside, talc, tremolite and phlogopite. Aggregates of talc and calcite occur at the boundary between dolomite and diopside. Tremolite is a reaction product between talc and calcite. Eclogite blocks are rimmed by dark green amphibolite. The primary mineral assemblage in the core of eclogite is Na-bearing garnet (up to 0.2  wt% Na₂O), omphacitic pyroxene, clintonite and rutile. Secondary minerals are pargasitic/edenitic amphibole, plagioclase, sodic diopside, chlorite, zoisite and titanite. The peak metamorphic conditions, based on stability of the dolomite+forsterite+aragonite (now calcite)+graphite assemblage, under conditions where tremolite is unstable, are estimated at T  =610–660 °C and P =2.5–3.5  GPa (for X _{CO=0.001). A reaction between dolomite and diopside to form talc under tremolite-unstable conditions indicates a temperature decrease under ultra-high-pressure conditions (} P >2.4  GPa, X _{CO<0.0013). The formation of secondary tremolite is consistent with a nearly adiabatic pressure decrease post-dating the ultra-high-pressure metamorphism. The temperature decrease under ultra-high-pressure conditions preceding decompression may reflect the underplating of a cold slab, and the rapid decompression probably corresponds to the upwelling stage promoted by the delamination of a downwelling lithospheric root. The} P – T  conditions of the amphibolitization stage are estimated at <0.9  GPa and <460 °C, and are similar to conditions recorded by the surrounding orthogneisses.     

Garnet peridotite from Colorado Plateau ultramafic diatremes: Hydrates,carbonates, and comparative geothermometry

Crystal fragments of pyrope from diatremes of ultramafic microbreccia in the Navajo Province of the Colorado Plateau contain inclusions of olivine, pyroxene, spinel, chlorite, amphibole, chlorapatite, and dolomite. The included suite supports earlier hypotheses that hydrous phases and carbonates were primary parts of some garnet peridotite assemblages in the Plateau lithosphere. Garnets with spinel and orthopyroxene inclusions likely all were sampled at pressures less than 36 kb and perhaps as low as 15–20 kb; no evidence was found for inclusions from greater depths. Temperature estimates are 800°–900° C for garnet-clinopyroxene equilibration, but only 500°–700° C for garnetolivine equilibration. Inherent differences between geothermometry methods account for only part of the discrepancy. Pronounced Fe-Mg zoning in garnet at olivine contacts and the lack of such zoning at clinopyroxene contacts are evidence that the difference in part relates to relative reequilibration rates with cooling. The garnet-olivine temperature estimates may be the best approximations to mantle temperatures before eruption. Our data are compatible both with the hypothesis that the garnet peridotite was emplaced in the mantle by large-scale, horizontal transport in the lithosphere and with the hypothesis that rocks were sampled from Precambrian lithosphere cooled to temperatures like those along a low heat flow geotherm. Discordances between the geothermometers here and in other lherzolite localities may be keys to evaluating tectonic histories of lherzolite masses.     

Well-preserved garnet growth zoning in granulite from the Dabie Mountains, central China

Ultra-high pressure eclogites and granulites both occur in the Dabie Mountains, central China. A garnet porphyroblast from felsic granulite in the Dabie Mountains has been analysed for compositional zoning by electron microprobe. Two segments of the porphyroblast have opposite compositional variations. Segment I (from centre outward 9  mm to analytical point 18) has decreasing X_Sps and increasing X_Pyr, while Segment II (from analytical point 18, 1  mm outward to the rim) has increasing X_Sps and X_Alm and decreasing X_Pyr and X_Grs. The compositional zoning in segment I is considered as growth zoning and that in Segment II as diffusive retrograde zoning. Garnet growth zoning records a P–T  path prior to the peak granulite metamorphism. The minimum P – T  conditions are estimated to be 1.35  GPa and 850  °C for peak metamorphism, based on the highest Mg/(Fe+Mg) composition in the garnet (analytical point 18) and matrix hypersthene, biotite and plagioclase. A symplectitic corona surrounds the porphyroblast and appears to have formed at 0.6  GPa and 700  °C. The well-preserved growth zoning in garnet suggests a short residence time for the granulite at peak metamorphism and thus rapid tectonic uplift history. The P–T  path is consistent with that of ultra-high-pressure eclogite in the area. Tectonic movements during a collisional event could have brought both the granulite and the eclogite to their present positions.     

Characterization of polymetamorphism in the Austroalpine basement east of the Tauern Window using garnet isopleth thermobarometry

Garnet in metapelites from the Wölz and Rappold Complexes of the Austroalpine basement east of the Tauern Window typically shows two distinct growth zones. A first garnet generation usually forms the cores of garnet porphyroblasts and is separated by a prominent microstructural and chemical discontinuity from a second garnet generation, which forms rims of variable width. Whereas the rims were formed during the Eo-Alpine metamorphic overprint, the garnet cores represent remnants of at least two pre-Eo-Alpine metamorphic events. The pressure and temperature estimates obtained from garnet isopleth thermobarometry applied to the first growth increments of the pre-Eo-Alpine garnet cores from the Wölz and Rappold Complexes cluster into two distinct domains: (i) in the Wölz Complex, incipient growth of the first-generation garnet occurred at 4 ± 0.5 kbar and 535 ± 20 °C, (ii) in the Rappold Complex, incipient growth of the oldest garnet cores took place at 5.3 ± 0.3 kbar and 525 ± 15 °C. The Eo-Alpine garnet generation started to grow at 6.5 ± 0.5 kbar and 540 ± 10 °C. According to radiometric dating, the low-pressure garnet from the Wölz complex was formed during a Permian metamorphic event. The first-generation garnet of the Rappold Complex is probably of Variscan age.     

The metahyaloclastitic matrix of a unique metavolcanic block reveals subduction in the Somozas Mélange (Cabo Ortegal Complex,NW Iberia): tectonic implications for the assembly of Pangea

The allochthonous Cabo Ortegal Complex (NW Iberian Massif) contains a ~500 m thick serpentinite‐matrix mélange located in the lowest structural position, the Somozas Mélange. The mélange occurs at the leading edge of a thick nappe pile constituted by a variety of terranes transported to the East (present‐day coordinates; NW Iberian allochthonous complexes), with continental and oceanic affinities, and represents a Variscan suture. Among other types of metaigneous (calcalkaline suite dated at 527–499 Ma) and metasedimentary blocks, it contains close‐packed pillow‐lavas and broken pillow‐breccias with a metahyaloclastitic matrix formed by muscovite–paragonite–margarite–garnet–chlorite–kyanite–hematite–epidote–quartz–rutile. Pseudosection modelling in the MnCNTKFMASHO system indicates metamorphic peak conditions of ~17.5–18 kbar and ~550 °C followed by near‐isothermal decompression. This P–T evolution indicates subduction/accretion of an arc‐derived section of peri‐Gondwanan transitional crust. Subduction below the Variscan orogenic wedge evolved to continental collision with important dextral component. Closure of the remaining oceanic peri‐Gondwanan domain and associated release of fluid led to hydration of the overlying mantle wedge and the formation of a low‐viscosity subduction channel, where return flow formed the mélange. The submarine metavolcanic rocks were deformed and detached from the subducting transitional crust and eventually incorporated into the subduction channel, where they experienced fast exhumation. Due to the cryptic nature of the high‐P metamorphism preserved in its tectonic blocks, the significance of the Somozas Mélange had remained elusive, but it is made clear here for the first time as an important tectonic boundary within the Variscan Orogen formed during the late stages of the continental convergence leading to the assembly of Pangea.     

Alpine olivine- and titanian clinohumite-bearing assemblages in the Erro-Tobbio peridotite (Voltri Massif, NW Italy)

The microstructures in the Erro-Tobbio peridotite indicate several stages of recrystallization of olivine + titanian clinohumite-bearing assemblages. The development of these assemblages is closely associated with serpentinite mylonites, in which they occur in shear bands and foliations and are inferred to have grown synkinematically, in veins, and as post-kinematic radial aggregates. In the peridotite wall-rock adjacent to these mylonites, the same assemblages have recrystallized statically at the expense of original olivine and pyroxenes, mesh-textured chrysolite and antigorite veins. In addition, the olivine-bearing assemblage occurs in widespread vein systems. The brittle deformation of the peridotite resulting in the development of these vein systems is closely related to ductile deformation of metagabbroic dykes in the peridotite. Although early metasomatism resulted in extensive rodingitization of the gabbros, some dykes show an eclogitic assemblage of Na-clinopyroxene + garnet + chloritoid + chlorite ± talc. These observations, the microstructures and the mineral chemistry all suggest that the assemblages in the ultramafic rocks and metagabbros developed during a prograde evolution towards high pressures (>13–16 kbar, 450–550° C), and during subsequent decompression. This metamorphic evolution is considered to be related to Late Cretaceous intraoceanic subduction in the Alps-Apennine system and closure of the Piedmont-Ligurian basin.