Archean Regional Metamorphism of the Isua Supracrustal Belt,Southern West Greenland: Implications for a Driving Force for Archean Plate Tectonics

The Isua supracrustal belt (～3.8 Ga) constitutes the oldest accretionary complex in the world. Petrochemical and geothermobarometric studies of more than 1500 rock samples of the Isua belt have enabled us to estimate the extent of regional metamorphism, the petrotectonic environment, and the subduction-zone geothermal gradient in the Archean. The following line of evidence indicates progressive, prograde metamorphism from greenschist (Zone A) through albite-epidote-amphibolite (Zone B) to amphibolite facies (Zones C and D) in the northeastern part of the Isua supracrustal belt: (1) the systematic change of mineral paragenesis in metabasites and metapelites; (2) progressive change of the composition of major metamorphic minerals, including plagioclase, amphibole, chlorite, epidote, and garnet; (3) normal zoning of amphibole and garnet; and (4) the absence of relict minerals of high-grade amphibolitic metamorphism even in the lowest metamorphic zone. Metabasites of the Isua belt vary extremely in Mg#, causing a complex mineral paragenesis throughout the area. For example, a high FeO content of metabasites expands the stability field of hornblende to both lower and higher grades. The compositional and mineralogical characteristics above also indicate that the Isua supracrustal belt underwent a single regional metamorphic event, involving minor contact metamorphism and mylonitization; however, weak ocean-floor metamorphism and low-grade regional metamorphism during accretion cannot be ruled out.

Metamorphic pressures and temperatures are estimated to be 5–7 kbar from garnet-hornblende-plagioclase-quartz geobarometry and 380–550°C from garnet-biotite geothermometry in Zones B to D. These P-T estimates indicate an intermediate P/T ratio metamorphic facies series. Geological investigations and chronological constraints of the Isua metamorphic belt indicate that the regional metamorphism was related to the subduction of Archean lithosphere, and records a geothermal gradient for the Archean subduction zone that is much higher than geotherms for Phanerozoic subduction zones. The high geothermal gradient may have resulted from the young age of subducted lithosphere and high potential temperature of the mantle. The Archean high geothermal gradient led to melting of thick oceanic crust in a thin, descending oceanic plate, creating many huge granitic (tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite [TTG]) batholiths. Slab melting changed the oceanic crust (density = 3.07) to denser garnet-bearing assemblages (density = 3.55), implying that TTG melt extraction provided a potential driving force for Archean plate tectonics.     

Accretion and post-accretion metamorphism in subduction complex terranes of the New England Fold Belt, eastern Australia

Abstract Regional metamorphic rocks that form Late Palaeozoic subduction complexes in central Queensland, Australia, are products of two metamorphic episodes. Synaccretion metamorphism (M1) gave rise to prehnite-pumpellyite and greenschist facies rocks, whereas a subsequent episode (M2) at about 250 Ma formed upper greenschist to upper amphibolite facies rocks of both intermediate- and low-pressure type, probably in a compressive arc or back-arc setting. A similar pattern can be recognized for 1000 km along the New England Fold Belt, although at several localities, where higher grade rocks are exposed, metamorphism was essentially continuous over the M1-M2 interval, with a rapid rise in geothermal gradient at the end of accretion. Where out-stepping of tectonic elements has occurred at long-lived convergent margins elsewhere, similar overprinting of high- by lower-pressure facies series is anticipated, complicating the tectonic interpretation of metamorphism. The discrete character of metamorphic events may be blurred where conditions giving rise to a major episode of accretion and out-stepping are followed by the subduction of a major heat source.     

中、低压变质作用与大陆造山——兼论四川丹巴的变质带

巴罗型中压变质带与巴肯型低压高温变质带的成因与大陆板块边缘的碰撞造山及陆内造山作用之间有着紧密的联系。根据变质带的空间时间配置关系、压力类型、变质作用pTt轨迹、伴生的岩浆岩等等,可以区分出3种类型的大陆造山模式:弧-陆拼贴型、陆-陆碰撞型(可进一步分为中高压型碰撞造山带和双变质型山带型(paired metamorphic mountain belt)陆-陆碰撞带)、陆内造山地壳加厚-伸展型。巴罗型中压变质带普遍出现于地壳加厚-热弛豫的构造环境,但巴肯型低压变质带形成的构造背景及物理化学条件在不同的造山带有不同的表现形式,其热源至少有:壳内岩浆侵入或岩浆板底垫托、沉降盆地放射性同位素的衰变热、构造热穹隆、变质核杂岩、地下热流体传热等。大陆边缘造山带中巴罗型变质带的倒转以及板内造山带中变质带问断等现象与造山动力学过程密切相关,记录了造山过程中的重要的地质事件,也是探讨造山历史的理想场所。由于四川丹巴地区松潘—甘孜造山带形成于很独特的3个板块双极性构造环境,表现出与世界上典型造山带诸多相似的地方,如巴罗型中压变质带、巴肯型低压高温带同时在一系列变质穹隆中发育,但又有其特殊性和复杂性,如通常只发育在大陆边缘的倒转的巴罗带和陆内造山过程中的变质相间断同时出现,显然这与本?     

Metamorphic response within different subduction–obduction settings preserved on the NE Arabian margin

Metamorphic rocks form a minor component of the NE Arabian margin in Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Conditions span almost the entire range of crustal metamorphism from very high-P/low-T eclogite and blueschist to high-P/moderate-T epidote- to upper-amphibolite and low-P/high-T granulite facies. The NE Arabian margin experienced at least six metamorphic events, each characterized by distinct peak metamorphic temperature, depth of burial, average thermal gradient and timing. Synthesis of the available metamorphic data defines five different tectonic settings that evolved during the middle Cretaceous: [1] The Saih Hatat window exposes former continental margin crust that was buried and metamorphosed in a SW-dipping subduction system. Lower-plate units in the window include relict oceanic crust with eclogite (M1–M2) parageneses that recrystallized at pressures of ~14–23 kbar under very low thermal gradients of 7–10 °C/km. Peak metamorphism occurred at ~110 Ma. Peak assemblages were overprinted by garnet–glaucophane-blueschist foliations (M3) at about ~104–94 Ma that formed at ~10–15 kbar and 10–15 °C/km during the first-stage of isothermal exhumation. [2] Metamorphic soles in the footwall of the Semail ophiolite experienced a two-stage history of deep burial and peak metamorphism at ~96–94 Ma, followed by retrogression during obduction onto the continental margin between ~93 and 84 Ma. Peak metamorphic garnet–clinopyroxene–hornblende–plagioclase assemblages (M4s), exposed at highest structural levels, formed at 743 ± 13 °C and 10.7 ± 0.4 kbar, indicating Barrovian thermal regimes of 20.0 ± 2.2 °C/km. Burial of seafloor sediments and oceanic crust to ~38 km depth, was attained within a short-lived, NE-dipping intra-oceanic subduction system. The relatively high average thermal gradient during the peak of metamorphism was the result of heating after subcretion onto the base of hanging-wall oceanic lithosphere. [3] The Bani Hamid terrane consists of seafloor cherts and calcareous turbidites, metamorphosed to low-P/high-T granulite condition at ~96–94 Ma. Diagnostic assemblages (M4b) such as orthopyroxene–cordierite–quartz–plagioclase and orthopyroxene–sapphirine–hercynite–quartz–plagioclase, formed at conditions averaging ~915 ± 35 °C, ~6.1 ± 0.9 kbar and ~42.9 ± 6.5 °C/km. The elevated average thermal gradient, combined with significant depths of burial, is anomalous for typical oceanic settings. This suggests that these sea-floor sediments were buried to ~22 km depths within the intra-oceanic subduction system, accreted onto the hanging-wall, and metamorphosed at high-T during subduction of a recently active spreading ridge. [4] A plausible plate tectonic arrangement that can account for the different metamorphic elements on the Arabian margin is one composed of divergent subduction systems: a relatively long-lived SW-dipping subduction zone at the continental margin, and a short-lived, NE-dipping intra-oceanic subduction system. Consumption of the intervening oceanic crust led to obduction of the Semail ophiolite and accreted metamorphic soles from the upper-plate of the floundered outboard subduction system. SW-directed obduction was initiated between 93.7 and 93.2 Ma and continued until ~84 Ma, producing lower-amphibolite to sub-greenschist facies retrograde fabrics in the metamorphic soles (M5) and sub-metamorphic melange in the footwall. [5] The lower-plate of the Saih Hatat window was reworked by top-to-NE extensional shear at epidote-greenschist facies grades (M6) between ~84 and 76 Ma. Crustal-scale structures were reactivated as extensional detachments that telescoped the continental margin, leading to isothermal decompression and development of an asymmetric core complex that segmented the Semail ophiolite and formed the Saih Hatat domal window.     

Thermomechanical evolution of the high‐grade core in the nappe zone of Variscan Sardinia,Italy: the role of shear deformation and granite emplacement

In the nappe zone of the Sardinian Variscan chain, the deformation and metamorphic grade increase throughout the tectonic nappe stack from lower greenschist to upper amphibolite facies conditions in the deepest nappe, the Monte Grighini Unit. A synthesis of petrological, structural and radiometric data is presented that allows us to constrain the thermal and mechanical evolution of this unit. Carboniferous subduction under a low geothermal gradient (~490–570 °C GPa^?1) was followed by exhumation accompanied by heating and Late Carboniferous magma emplacement at a high apparent geothermal gradient (~1200–1450 °C GPa^?1). Exhumation coeval with nappe stacking was closely followed by activity on a ductile strike‐slip shear zone that accommodated magma intrusion and enabled the final exhumation of the Monte Grighini Unit to upper crustal levels. The reconstructed thermo‐mechanical evolution allows a more complete understanding of the Variscan orogenic wedge in central Sardinia. As a result we are able to confirm a diachronous evolution of metamorphic and tectonic events from the inner axial zone to the outer nappe zone, with the Late Variscan low‐P/high‐T metamorphism and crustal anatexis as a common feature across the Sardinian portion of the Variscan orogen.     

Contribution of magmatism,partial melting buffering and localized crustal thinning on the late Variscan thermal structure of the Agly massif (French Pyrenees)

Low pressure-high temperature (LPHT) metamorphism, with geothermal gradients in the order of 50–100°C/km, is a common feature of the late evolution of collisional orogens. These abnormal thermal conditions may be the results of complex interactions between magmatism, metamorphism and deformation. The Agly massif, in the French Pyrenees, preserves the metamorphic footprints of the late Variscan thermal structure of an almost continuous section from the upper and middle continental crust. The upper crust is characterized by a very high geothermal gradient of ~55°C/km, evolving from greenschist to amphibolite facies, while the middle crust, exposed in a gneissic core, exhibits granulite facies conditions with a near isothermal geothermal gradient (<8°C/km) between 740 and 790°C. The abnormal and discontinuous crustal geothermal gradient, dated at c. 305 Ma on syn-granulitic monazite by LA-ICP-MS, is interpreted to be the result of magmatic intrusions at different structural levels in the crust: the Ansignan charnockite (c. 305 Ma) in the deepest part of the gneissic core, the Tournefort granodiorite (c. 308 Ma) at the interface between the gneissic core and the upper crust and the Saint-Arnac granite (c. 304 Ma) in the upper section of the massif. The heat input from these magmas combined with the thermal buffering effect of the biotite dehydration-melting reaction resulted in the near isothermal geothermal gradient in the gneissic core (melt-enhanced geotherm). The higher geothermal gradient (>50°C/km) in the upper crust is only due to conduction between the hot middle crust and the Earth's surface. The estimated maximum finite pressure range suggests that ~10 to 12 km of crust are exposed in the Agly massif while the present-day thickness does not exceed 5–6 km. This pressure/depth gap is consistent with the presence of several normal mylonitic shear zones that could have contributed to the subtraction of ~5 km of the rock pile. Monazite U–Th–Pb ages carried out on monazite overgrowths from a highly mylonitized sample suggest that this vertical thinning of the massif occurred at c. 296–300 Ma. This later Variscan extension might have slightly perturbed the 305 Ma geothermal gradient, resulting in an apparent higher conductive geothermal gradient in the upper crust. Although the Agly massif has been affected by Cretaceous extension and Eocene Alpine compression, we suggest that most of the present-day thickness of the column rock was acquired by the end of the Palaeozoic.     

极端条件下的变质作用——变质地质学研究的前沿

在简单回顾变质地质学形成和发展的不同历程的基础上,扼要地总结了近年来有关极端条件下的超高压变质作用、超高温变质作用和很低温变质作用研究的现状和存在的问题。根据峰期变质温度的不同,结合其矿物组合和地质产状特征,进一步提出将超高压变质作用划分为低温超高压变质作用(峰期变质温度低于600℃)、中温超高压变质作用(峰期变质温度介于600~900℃)和高温超高压变质作用(峰期变质温度大于900℃)。低温超高压变质作用与大洋板块的冷俯冲作用有关,其研究对于探讨俯冲带水流体的循环和地幔水流体的成因具有重要意义;中、高温超高压变质作用与大陆深俯冲作用相关,是目前超高压变质作用研究的热点领域;高温超高压变质作用的研究与探讨地球内(深)部组成和结构相关,一直是地质学家关注的前沿问题。超高温变质作用研究正在向深入发展,中国有关超高温变质作用的研究才刚刚起步;很低温变质作用的研究长期以来没有得到应有的重视,随着研究手段和方法的不断完善和提高,将会有大的发展。极端条件下的变质作用是近年来固体地球科学研究取得的重要进展,是目前变质地质学研究的前沿领域。     

Blueschist metamorphism and P-T regimes in active subduction zones

Blueschist-type metamorphism involves the progressive development of some of the following minerals: at low grades, zeolites, pumpellyite, lawsonite + quartz, aragonite, jadeitic pyroxene + quartz; then at higher grades, zoisite-epidote, kyanite, omphacite, garnet and blue-green hornblende. Comparisons of natural assemblages with experimentally determined phase equilibria and oxygen isotopic analyses yield apparent physical conditions in the range 150–500° C at fluid (≈ lithostatic) pressures on the order of 3–8 + kbar. The unusually low metamorphic geothermal gradient indicated is on the order of 10–15°C/km.Blueschist belts seem to be confined to oceanic trench-type environments where they are hypothesized to represent subducted material which has buoyantly returned to the surface since recrystallization. Calculated downward deflections of the isotherms in the subducted lithospheric slabs yield similar or even lower geothermal gradients than deduced from the mineral parageneses. The disposition of relatively high-pressure isogradic surfaces in the upper portions of a model subduction zone demonstrates that the observed sequence of metamorphic facies reflects the direction of lithospheric plate descent.The approximate magnitude of inferred underflow can be gauged by the presence or absence of a contemporaneous high-temperature volcanic + plutonic + metamorphic complex in the non-subducted lithospheric plate. Greater amounts of underflow evidently are required to build up larger, relatively high-temperature, low-pressure terranes.Blueschist belts tend to be associated in time and space, indicating that since Late Paleozoic time, many convergent plate junctions have remained in approximately the same positions relative to the stable lithospheric slabs. The fact that, where preserved, older blueschistic belts, hence plate sutures, are located farther inland suggests that in some cases the subduction zones have stepped seaward with time, allowing, for the episodic return towards the surface of old trench melanges, hence growth of the non-subducted plates.     

Exhumation process of the Nago subduction-related metamorphic rocks, Okinawa, Ryukyu island arc

The Kunigami zone in Okinawa is an extension of the Shimanto zone, Japan. The rocks make up the main part of the Nago metamorphic rocks, and such metamorphic rocks are exceptional in the Shimanto zone. The Anne complex, in the older Motobu zone, is also metamorphosed. The reason for why and how this kind of the metamorphism occurred, and especially why and how the metamorphic rocks were exhumed, is yet uncertain and unresolved. To understand the metamorphic and exhumation process in Okinawa, a structural study is undertaken, and its relation to the Eocene ridge subduction is discussed. We believe exhumation was performed by formation of a D2 extrusion wedge, made up of the Nago metamorphic rocks. The base for this wedge is a subduction thrust, and the roof is a detachment fault. Internally, there exists another Kijoka detachment fault, which is a brittle low-angle fault with top to the northwest shear sense, and the D2 major recumbent folds and thrusts show top to the southeast opposite shear sense in the Kunigami zone. This is the first report that finds detachment faults from the typical and ancient accretionary complex. M2 is mostly retrograde related to exhumation, but its medium P/T-type prograde metamorphism, abnormal at subduction zones, represents a high thermal gradient during ridge subduction. As a result, this ridge subduction is responsible for exhumation. At the time of accretion of the Kunigami zone, D1 ductile contraction and constriction exhibited top to the southeast shear sense, but an opposite and extensional shear sense is recognized in the proto-wedge. During D1, the wedge had already been active and begun to exhume. M1 of the Miyagi complex is accretion related and also of medium P/T-type metamorphism, and is a consequence of Cretaceous ridge subduction without any ability to cause much exhumation.     

Paired and unpaired metamorphic belts

Paired metamorphic belts occur in many parts of the circum-Pacific regions. A pair is composed of two contrasting belts running parallel: a high-pressure metamorphic belt which probably formed beneath a trench zone, and a low-pressure metamorphic belt which probably formed beneath a volcanic chain in the adjacent island arc or continental margin. The former and the latter belt are accompanied by basic-ultrabasic rocks and by granitic-andesitic-rhyolitic rocks, respectively.The rapid descent of a thick, cold oceanic plate along a convergent plate juncture should create an unusually low geothermal gradient to cause high-pressure metamorphism. If the rate of plate descent is relatively slow, or if the descending oceanic lithosphere is too thin or too hot, the resultant geothermal gradient will not be low enough to cause high-pressure, but may cause medium-pressure metamorphism. In this case, the contrast between the two associated metamorphic belts will be obscure. The heat transfer by the rise of magmas and mantle materials appears to be a necessary condition for the formation of low-pressure metamorphic belts.Presumably, paired and unpaired (single) metamorphic belts form by the same mechanism, and an unpaired belt represents paired belts in which the contrast between the two belts is obscure, or in which one of the two belts is undeveloped or lost.Progress in experimental petrology enables us to estimate the pressure and temperature during metamorphism, and to know the relations between the conditions of partial melting and the composition of the resultant magmas. This sets limits to our ideas about the relevant tectonic processes in plate junctures.     

大别地区的变质作用及与碰撞造山过程的关系

大别造山带从南到北可分为５个变质构造单元：扬子北缘蓝片岩带、突松变质杂岩带、南大虽碰撞杂岩带、北大别变质杂岩带和北淮阳变质带。各个变质构造单元中不同岩石的变质作用可划分为３种类型：（１）超高压型。以含柯石英（及金刚石）的榴辉岩为代表,仅见于南大别碰撞杂岩带中,这类岩石的ＰＴ轨迹反映洋壳Ｂ型俯冲的特点。（２）高压型。见于大别山南部的蓝片岩带、宿松变质杂岩带和南大别杂岩中的变质沉积岩及部分片麻岩中,与     

Possible depth limit for underplating by a seamount

The Cazadero metabasite allochthon is located within the central melange belt of the northern California Coast Ranges, U.S.A. It composed mainly of pillowed and massive mafic flows, hyaloclastite and minor pelagic sediments. It is about 3 × 15 km² in extent, and is in fault contact with Late Mesozoic fore-arc flysch deposits of the Great Valley sequence. Three metamorphic zones were mapped in the allochthon, as follows-in order of increasing metamorphic grade: the lawsonite, the pumpellyite and the epidote zone. Ca---Na pyroxenes are ubiquitous; they were used to estimate the P-T path, together with the oxygen isotope geothermometry of Taylor and Coleman. The result shows a bending point in the P-T path for blueschist facies metamorphism of the Cazadero allochthon. At shallow depths, lower grade metamorphism proceeded under predominant pressure-increase from 4 to 7 kbar at nearly constant T of about 150–200 °C, whereas after passing the bending point higher-grade metamorphism occurred with increasing temperature from 200 to 350 °C at nearly constant P of about 7–8 kbar.

The bending point reflects the depth of transfer of underplating materials from the oceanic lithosphere and its overlying sediments to the hanging wall plate. Either seamount volcanics and pelagic sediments, or mixed packages of fragmented oceanic crust with trench-fill turbidites, were subducted beneath the North American plate. They were subjected to early lawsonite- and pumpellyite-zone metamorphism with very low geothermal gradient. We infer that when they reached about 20 km depth, underplating occurred and the metamorphosed rocks became part of the hanging wall. Heat conduction from the overlying hydrated mantle wedge caused a temperature increase at nearly constant depth. The earlier recrystallized seamount volcanics and pelagic sediments were then metamorphosed at a much higher geothermal gradient. The Cazadero allochthon has suffered extremely high P/T subduction zone metamorphism and it preserves very well the record of Cretaceous subduction-underplating processes.     

柴北缘前寒武纪岩体（地层）变质年龄及其对早古生代造山作用的指示

柴北缘前寒武纪岩体（地层）分布广泛。为确定柴北缘地区前寒武纪岩体（地层）受早古生代碰撞造山作用的影响,采用LA—ICP—MS技术．对大柴旦地区前寒武纪黑云斜长片麻岩、斜长角闪岩及石榴子石斜长角闪岩中的锆石进行了u—Pb同位素定年。黑云斜长片麻岩获得479-472Ma的变质年龄,斜长角闪岩获得440Ma和470Ma2个变质年龄,石榴子石斜长角闪岩获得418．8Ma±3．0Ma的变质年龄。初步确定,柴北缘早古生代造山作用对前寒武纪岩体构成了3次强度不等的变质作用叠加,分别为大洋俯7中末期阶段（495-467Ma）岛弧花岗岩弱热烘烤变质作用、大陆碰撞造山阶段（467-423Ma）区域变质作用、S型花岗岩热动力变质作用和大陆后碰撞造山阶段（423-371Ma）I型花岗岩强烈接触热变质作用。     

柴北缘前寒武纪岩体（地层）变质年龄 及其对早古生代造山作用的指示

柴北缘前寒武纪岩体（地层）分布广泛。为确定柴北缘地区前寒武纪岩体（地层）受早古生代碰撞造山作用的影响,采用LA-ICP-MS技术,对大柴旦地区前寒武纪黑云斜长片麻岩、斜长角闪岩及石榴子石斜长角闪岩中的锆石进行了U-Pb同位素定年。黑云斜长片麻岩获得479~472Ma的变质年龄,斜长角闪岩获得440Ma和470Ma 2个变质年龄,石榴子石斜长角闪岩获得418.8Ma±3.0Ma的变质年龄。初步确定,柴北缘早古生代造山作用对前寒武纪岩体构成了3次强度不等的变质作用叠加,分别为大洋俯冲末期阶段(495~467Ma)岛弧花岗岩弱热烘烤变质作用、大陆碰撞造山阶段(467~423Ma)区域变质作用、S型花岗岩热动力变质作用和大陆后碰撞造山阶段(423~371Ma) I型花岗岩强烈接触热变质作用。     

大别山朱家冲高压榴辉岩变质演化特征分析

研究表明大别山朱家冲榴辉岩属于典型的高压榴辉岩,其具有复杂的变质演化历史。根据岩相学、矿物成份化学和热力学分析表明,该类榴辉岩记录了6期变质过程,具有“顺时针”的P?T演化轨迹。由Ⅰ?阶段、Ⅱ?阶段至Ⅲ?阶段显示了近于等温增压进变质特征,并在 Ⅲ?阶段压力值最高达到P＝2.53 GPa; Ⅳ?阶段和Ⅴ?阶段则表现为增温降压退变过程,温度在 Ⅴ?阶段最高达到T＝627 ℃; 到Ⅵ?阶段则为降温降压过程。该过程暗示了高压板片在俯冲和折返过程中可能处于一个非匀速的状态。推测朱家冲榴辉岩后期增温退变的过程可能是源于受扰动的地温线恢复、超高压榴辉岩退变过程的“散热”以及该类榴辉岩对温度变化极为敏感所致。     

Evolution of a reworked orogenic zone: The boundary between the delamerian and lachlan fold belts,southeastern Australia *

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age data from the boundary between the Delamerian and Lachlan Fold Belts identify the Moornambool Metamorphic Complex as a Cambrian metamorphic belt in the western Stawell Zone of the Palaeozoic Tasmanide System of southeastern Australia. A reworked orogenic zone exists between the Lachlan and Delamerian Fold Belts that contains the eastern section of the Cambrian Delamerian Fold Belt and the western limit of orogenesis associated with the formation of an Ordovician to Silurian accretionary wedge (Lachlan Fold Belt). Delamerian thrusting is craton-verging and occurred at the same time as the final consolidation of Gondwana. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age data indicate rapid cooling of the Moornambool Metamorphic Complex at about 500 Ma at a rate of 20 – 30°C per million years, temporally associated with calc-alkaline volcanism followed by clastic sedimentation. Extension in the overriding plate of a subduction zone is interpreted to have exhumed the metamorphic rocks within the Moornambool Metamorphic Complex. The Delamerian system varies from a high geothermal gradient with syntectonic plutonism in the west to lower geothermal gradients in the east (no syntectonic plutonism). This metamorphic zonation is consistent with a west-dipping subduction zone. Contrary to some previous models involving a reversal in subduction polarity, the Ross and Delamerian systems of Antarctica and Australia are inferred to reflect deformation processes associated with a Cambrian subduction zone that dipped towards the Gondwana supercontinent. Western Lachlan Fold Belt orogenesis occurred about 40 million years after the Delamerian Orogeny and deformed older, colder, and denser oceanic crust, with metamorphism indicative of a low geothermal gradient. This orogenesis closed a marginal ocean basin by west-directed underthrusting of oceanic crust that produced an accretionary wedge with west-dipping faults that verge away from the major craton. The western Lachlan Fold Belt was not associated with arc-related volcanism and plutonism occurred 40 – 60 million years after initial deformation. The revised orogenic boundaries have implications for the location of world-class 440 Ma orogenic gold deposits. The structural complexity of the 440 Ma Stawell gold deposit reflects its location in a reworked part of the Cambrian Delamerian Fold Belt, while the structurally simpler 440 Ma Bendigo deposit is hosted by younger Ordovician turbidites solely deformed by Lachlan orogenesis.     

Effect of the chemical composition of the crust on the metamorphic evolution of orogenic wedges

Petrological data provide a good record of the thermal structure of deeply eroded orogens, and, in principle, might be used to relate the metamorphic structure of an orogen to its deformational history. In this paper, we present two‐dimensional thermal modelling of various subduction models taking into account varying wedge geometry as well as variation of density and topography with metamorphic reactions. The models clearly show that rock type accreted in the wedge has important effects on the thermal regime of orogenic wedges. The thermal regime is dominated by radiogenic heat production. Material having high radioactive heat production, like the granodioritic upper crust, produces high temperature metamorphism (amphibolitic conditions). Material with low radioactive heat production results in low temperature metamorphism of greenschist or blueschist types depending on the thickness of the wedge. Application of this model to seemingly unrelated areas of the Central Alps (Lepontine Dome, Grisons) and Eastern Alps (Tauern Window) explains the coexistence and succession of distinct Barrovian and blueschist facies metamorphic conditions as the result of a single, continuous tectonic process in which the main difference is the composition of the incoming material in the orogenic wedge. Accretion of the European upper continental crust in the Lepontine and Tauern Domes produces Barrovian type metamorphism while accretion of oceanic sediments results in blueschist facies metamorphism in the Valaisan domain.     

大别山太湖地区宿松变质杂岩中石榴斜长角闪岩的P-T轨迹及反映的俯冲过程

依据对大别山太湖地区宿松变质杂岩中的石榴斜长角闪岩的岩相学、矿物成份分析和P-T条件评价,将变质作用分为Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ和Ⅳ4个阶段,其中Ⅰ、Ⅱ阶段经历了绿帘角闪岩相的变质;Ⅲ阶段为峰期变质,变质条件为T=580℃,P=1.31GPa,为角闪石—榴辉岩相变质;Ⅳ阶段为绿片岩相变质。构建的P-T轨迹显示了顺时针的演化特征,反映了宿松变质杂岩分阶段的、不等速的俯冲和折返过程:早期短暂的迅速俯冲→峰期缓慢俯冲→晚期可能的相对缓慢抬升。研究表明宿松变质杂岩的峰期变质条件偏离“俯冲梯度”线,显示了大幅增温、压力变化轻微的特征,这一增温可能是由于受到扰动的热结构恢复所致。结合前人对高压榴辉岩的峰期变质条件的研究,认为宿松变质杂岩与高压-超高压榴辉岩单元至少有0.5GPa的压力差,约15km厚的地壳损失,两者为太湖—马庙断层(F₂)所分隔。     

Numerical modeling of thermal structure, circulation of H2O, and magmatism–metamorphism in subduction zones: Implications for evolution of arcs

Numerical models on thermal structure, convective flow of solid, generation and transportation of H₂O-rich fluid in subduction zones are consolidated to have a comprehensive view of the subduction zone processes: heat balance, circulation of H₂O magmatism–metamorphism, growth of arcs and continental margins. A large scale convection model with steady subduction of a cold old slab (130 Myr old) predicts rapid ( 100 Myr) cooling of subduction zones, resulting in cessation of magmatism. The model also predicts that the mantle temperature beneath arcs and continental margins is greatly affected by the effective temperature of the subducting slab, i.e., the age of the subducting slab. If subduction of a young hot slab, including ridge subduction, occurs every 60 to 120 Myr as is suggested for eastern Asia, the average temperature beneath arcs is increased by about 300 °C, which may explain the long-lasting magmatism in eastern Asia. Associated with subduction of young slabs and ridges, thermal structure and circulation of H₂O are greatly modified to cause a transition from (1) normal arc magmatism, (2) forearc mantle melting, to (3) slab melting to produce a significant amount (100 km³) of granitic melts, associated with both high-P/T and low-P/T type metamorphism. The last stage of (3) can result in formation of a granitic batholith belt and a paired metamorphic belts. Synthesis of the numerical models and observations suggest that episodic subduction of young slabs and ridges can explain heat source for generating a large amount of granitic magmas of batholiths, synchronous formation of batholith and regional metamorphic belts, and P–T conditions of the paired metamorphism. Even the high-P/T metamorphism requires an elevated geothermal structure in the forearc region, associated with ridge subduction. Although the emplacement of the batholiths and the regional metamorphic belts, and the mass balance in subduction zones are not well constrained at present, the episodic event associated with ridge subduction is thought to be essential for net growth of arcs and continental margins, as well as for the long-term heat balance in subduction zones.     

长枪穹隆体变质岩岩石矿物学特征及其变质作用

长枪穹隆体是扬子地台西缘四川丹巴—木里一带具有代表性的穹隆状变形变质体之一.通过对该穹隆体变质岩主要变质矿物及变质特征的研究,可将其划分四个变质作用阶段.根据穹隆核部出现点状锰铁铝榴石带、递增变质带分布与穹隆构造分带不完全重合、主期变质地热梯度较高等特征,认为长枪穹隆体具有构造-热穹隆性质