Retrograde evolution of quartz segregations from the Dos Picos shear zone in the Nevado-Filabride Complex (Betic chains,Spain). Evidence from fluid inclusions and quartz c-axis fabrics

Synkinematic quartz veins are ubiquitous in the shear zone separating the Veleta unit from the Calar Alto unit in the internal part of the Betic Cordilleras. They have been studied with respect to quartz c-axis fabrics, microstructures and fluid inclusions. Veins were probably generated during syn-metamorphic stacking of the units at P = 500 – 600 MPa and T = 400 – 500°C. Quartz displays two groups of microstructures in the shear zone: (1) older coarse-grained mosaics (CGM) resulting from exaggerated grain growth; and (2) younger fine-grained mosaics (FGM) developed at the expense of the former. The fine-grained mosaics show polygonal granoblastic and elongate mosaic microstructures in general, with ribbon microstructures often found near the boundary of the units. Fluids contained in secondary inclusions vary from high salinity brines to different types of CO₂—brine mixtures and low density CO₂ fluids. Differences in composition and P-T trapping conditions are indicated for the different types of inclusions. Some fluid inclusions are older than the FGM, whereas others are younger, thus constraining the P- T conditions at which the two microstructural events took place. Fluid inclusion evidence suggests conditions of P_fluid > 170 MPa and T 370–430°C for the CGM and P_fluid 20–80 MPa and T > 340°C for the FGM.The quartz c-axis fabrics dealt with here correspond to the second recrystallization event, as little evidence of older fabrics is preserved in the shear zone. C-axis patterns vary across the shear zone from slightly asymmetrical type I crossed girdles in the hanging wall and footwall to more asymmetrical crossed girdles at the boundary of the units. This indicates a correlative increase in the magnitude of the heterogeneous shear strain in the same direction. Most of the deformation is concentrated at the top of the Veleta unit. The sense of movement is top to the west, in agreement with other kinematic markers.The quartz c-axis fabrics resulted from dynamic recrystallization during simple shear. The retrograde P-T path inferred from fluid inclusion analysis, along with other geological and geochronological evidence, indicates that this deformation is coeval with a reduction in the crustal overburden.Geochronological and stratigraphic data show that the proposed Dos Picos extensional detachment, separating the Calar Alto and Veleta units, took place during the early Miocene, synchronous with the intense thinning of the Nevado-Filábride Complex and of the whole continental crust underlying the Alborán Basin.     

Fluid entrapment and reequilibration during subduction and exhumation: A case study from the high-grade Nestos shear zone, Central Rhodope, Greece

A fluid inclusion study on metamorphic minerals of successive growth stages was performed on highly deformed paragneisses from the Nestos Shear Zone at Xanthi (Central Rhodope), in which microdiamonds provide unequivocal evidence for ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism. The correlation of fluid inclusion density isochores and fluid inclusion reequilibration textures with geothermobarometric data and the relative chronology of micro- and macro-scale deformation stages allow a better understanding of both the fluid and metamorphic evolution along the P–T–d path. Textural evidence for subduction towards the NE is recorded by the orientation of intragranular NE-oriented fluid inclusion planes and the presence of single, annular fluid inclusion decrepitation textures. These textures occur within quartz “foam” structures enclosed in an earlier generation of garnets with prolate geometries and rarely within recrystallized matrix quartz, and reequilibrated both in composition and density during later stages of exhumation. No fluid inclusions pertaining to the postulated ultrahigh-pressure stage for microdiamond-bearing garnet–kyanite–gneisses have yet been found. The prolate shape of garnets developed during the earliest stages of exhumation that is recorded structurally by (L  S) tectonites, which subsequently accommodated progressive ductile SW shearing and folding up to shallow crustal levels. The majority of matrix kyanite and a later generation of garnet were formed during SW-directed shear under plane-strain conditions. Fluid inclusions entrapped in quartz during this stage of deformation underwent density loss and transformed to almost pure CO₂ inclusions by preferential loss of H₂O. Those inclusions armoured within garnet retained their primary 3-phase H₂O–CO₂ compositions. Reequilibration of fluid inclusions in quartz aggregates is most likely the result of recrystallization along with stress-induced, preferential H₂O leakage along dislocations and planar lattice defects which results in the predominance of CO₂ inclusions with supercritical densities. Carbonic fluid inclusions from adjacent kyanite–corundum-bearing pegmatoids and, the presence of shear-plane-parallel fluid inclusion planes within late quartz boudin structures consisting of pure CO₂-fluid inclusions with negative crystal shapes, bear witness of the latest stage of deformation by NE-directed extensional shear.This study shows that the textures of early fluid inclusions that formed already during the prograde metamorphic path can be preserved and used to derive information about the kinematics of subduction that is difficult to obtain from other sources. The textures of early inclusions, together with later generations of unaltered primary and secondary inclusions in metamorphic index minerals that can be linked to specific deformation stages and even P–T conditions, are a welcome supplement for the reconstruction of a rather detailed P–T–d path.     

Progressive deformation across a ductile shear zone: an example from the Singhbhum Shear Zone,eastern India

Structural investigations in the Precambrian Singhbhum Shear Zone of eastern India document an intimate relationship between micro- to meso-scale structures and the deformation history. Shear zone rocks are characterized by composite foliation, a well-developed stretching lineation, folds, shear planes, and quartz veins. These structures reflect thrusting of the Proterozoic north Singhbhum hanging wall block over the Archaean south Singhbhum footwall block. Microstructural analysis of multiple foliation and mylonitic rocks within the shear zone helps to define its progressive evolution. During progressive deformation, overprinting of microstructures resulted in incomplete transposition or complete erasing of previously formed structures and mineral assemblages, allowing room for new dynamic equilibrium structures to form. The dominant deformation mechanism was dissolution–recrystallization, with locally important fluid circulation responsible for transformation of the quartzo-feldspathic mass into phyllonite, and quartzites and schists into mylonite. Textural features suggest that the bulk deformation was non-coaxial, evolving from dominant pure shear in the early stage followed by simple shear in a single progressive strain history of the Singhbhum Shear Zone.     

As–(Ag) sulphide veins in the Spanish Central System: further evidence for a hydrothermal event of Permian age

The Spanish Central System (SCS) has been subjected to repeated deformation and fluid flow events which have produced both sulphide-bearing and barren vein systems. Although several hydrothermal episodes took place between 300 and 100 Ma, fluid circulation during the Permian was especially important, giving rise to a range of different types of deposits. This study presents a multidisciplinary approach leading to the characterisation of the chemistry and age of the hydrothermal fluids that produced the As–(Ag) mineralised stockwork of Mónica mine (Bustaviejo, Madrid). Fluid inclusion data indicate the presence of two different fluids. An initial ore stage (I) formed from a low- to moderate salinity (3–8 wt.% eq. NaCl) H₂O–NaCl–CO₂–CH₄ fluid, at minimum trapping temperature of 350±15 °C and 0.3 kbar. A second H₂O–NaCl fluid is found in three types of fluid inclusions: a high temperature and low salinity type (340±20 °C; 0.8–3.1 wt.% eq. NaCl) also associated to ore stage I, a moderate temperature and very low salinity type (160–255 °C; 0–1.5 wt.% eq. NaCl) represented in ore stage III, and a very low temperature and hypersaline type (60–70 °C; 30–35 wt.% NaCl), unrelated to the mineralising stages and clearly postdating the previous types. ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar dating on muscovite from the early As–Fe stage (I) has provided an age of 286±4 Ma, synchronous with the late emplacement phases of La Cabrera plutonic massif (288±5 Ma) and with other Permian hydrothermal events like Sn–W skarns and W–(Sn) sulphide veins. δ¹⁸O of water in equilibrium with stage I quartz (5.3–7.7‰), δD of water in equilibrium with coexisting muscovite (−16.0‰ to −2.0‰), and sulphide δ³⁴S (1.5–3.6‰) values are compatible with waters that leached metamorphic rocks. The dominant mechanism of the As–(Ag) deposition was mixing and dilution processes between aqueous–carbonic and aqueous fluids for stage I (As–Fe), and nearly isobaric cooling processes for stages II (Zn–Cu–Sn) and III (Pb–Ag). The origin and hydrothermal evolution of As–(Ag) veins is comparable to other hydrothermal Permian events in the Spanish Central System.     

Dissolution and precipitation processes in deformed amphibolites: an example from the ductile shear zone of the Ryoke metamorphic belt, SW Japan

The granitic mylonite zone in the Cretaceous Ryoke metamorphic belt contains deformed amphibolites as thin layers. The amphibolite layers do not exhibit pinch‐and‐swell or boudinage structures, even when contained in a high‐strain granitic mylonite. This mode of occurrence suggests that they were deformed as much as the surrounding granite mylonite. In the highly deformed zone, strongly foliated amphibolites contain Ti‐rich brown amphibole porphyroclasts rimmed by Ti‐poor green amphibole, titanite and chlorite. These porphyroclasts are elongated, forming shear surfaces defined by preferential distribution of the chlorite and titanite. Porphyroclastic plagioclase in the strongly foliated amphibolites consists of two components: an anorthite‐rich core and an anorthite‐poor rim. Based on these observations, the mass‐balanced reaction occurring during deformation is defined as As the reaction products form a weak interconnected matrix, the strain rate of the amphibolites may be controlled by the rate of dissolution–precipitation through fluids. Weakly foliated amphibolites in the low‐strain zone exhibit cataclastic microstructures, whereas the strongly foliated amphibolites do not exhibit such features. These microstructural and chemical changes suggest that high‐strain amphibolites were initially deformed by cataclasis, followed by deformation through metamorphic reactions. During the metamorphism/deformation, old plagioclase grains with high X_an were not stable and dissolved, and new plagioclase grains with low X_an crystallized at the old plagioclase rim. Dissolution of old plagioclase and precipitation of new plagioclase occurred normal to and parallel to the foliation, respectively, reflecting incongruent pressure solution due to differential stress and changes in P–T–H₂O conditions. The development of incongruent pressure solution is attributed to increased fluid flux in the strongly foliated amphibolites, as evidenced by the greater abundance of hydration‐reaction products in the strongly foliated amphibolites than in the weakly foliated ones.     

统一应力场中基底断裂对盖层复杂断块变形的影响——来自砂箱实验的启示

基底先存断裂的活动会对其盖层岩层的变形起到较大的影响,尤其当应力直接作用于基底时更是对变形起到了控制作用。通过一系列的砂箱实验模拟分析了在统一的构造应力场中,当深部的基底断裂作平移滑动时盖层断块的被动变形情况:当其具有伸展分量时,会形成一个近对称的走滑 伸展裂谷形态,当具有挤压分量时,会形成以逆冲走滑断裂为边界的对称的局部挠曲隆起;同时在剖面上会形成典型的走滑构造特征,变形区域的大小与伸展或挤压分量的大小有关。先存的盖层断块受到基底作用力时,除内部变形本身还会发生旋转,形成局部的拉伸和挤压区;当一个地区的基底断裂多次活动甚至发生反转时,就会使地表形成特别复杂的构造现象;郯庐断裂带中段的埕岛-垦东潜山构造带的变形是一个典型的走滑基底控制的情况,实验结果证明基底的走滑反转变形造成这些断块的旋扭,盖层的非完全反转形成了剖面上的“复式花状构造”。     

Carbonatite melt–CO2 fluid inclusions in mantle xenoliths from Tenerife, Canary Islands: a story of trapping, immiscibility and fluid–rock interaction in the upper mantle

Three types of fluid inclusions have been identified in olivine porphyroclasts in the spinel harzburgite and lherzolite xenoliths from Tenerife: pure CO₂ (Type A); carbonate-rich CO₂–SO₂ mixtures (Type B); and polyphase inclusions dominated by silicate glass±fluid±sp±silicate±sulfide±carbonate (Type C). Type A inclusions commonly exhibit a “coating” (a few microns thick) consisting of an aggregate of a platy, hydrous Mg–Fe–Si phase, most likely talc, together with very small amounts of halite, dolomite and other phases. Larger crystals (e.g. (Na,K)Cl, dolomite, spinel, sulfide and phlogopite) may be found on either side of the “coating”, towards the wall of the host mineral or towards the inclusion center. These different fluids were formed through the immiscible separations and fluid–wall-rock reactions from a common, volatile-rich, siliceous, alkaline carbonatite melt infiltrating the upper mantle beneath the Tenerife. First, the original siliceous carbonatite melt is separated from a mixed CO₂–H₂O–NaCl fluid and a silicate/silicocarbonatite melt (preserved in Type A inclusions). The reaction of the carbonaceous silicate melt with the wall-rock minerals gave rise to large poikilitic orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene grains, and smaller neoblasts. During the metasomatic processes, the consumption of the silicate part of the melt produced carbonate-enriched Type B CO₂–SO₂ fluids which were trapped in exsolved orthopyroxene porphyroclasts. At the later stages, the interstitial silicate/silicocarbonatite fluids were trapped as Type C inclusions. At a temperature above 650 °C, the mixed CO₂–H₂O–NaCl fluid inside the Type A inclusions were separated into CO₂-rich fluid and H₂O–NaCl brine. At T<650 °C, the residual silicate melt reacted with the host olivine, forming a reaction rim or “coating” along the inclusion walls consisting of talc (or possibly serpentine) together with minute crystals of NaCl, KCl, carbonates and sulfides, leaving a residual CO₂ fluid. The homogenization temperatures of +2 to +25 °C obtained from the Type A CO₂ inclusions reflect the densities of the residual CO₂ after its reactions with the olivine host, and are unrelated to the initial fluid density or the external pressure at the time of trapping. The latter are restricted by the estimated crystallization temperatures of 1000–1200 °C, and the spinel lherzolite phase assemblage of the xenolith, which is 0.7–1.7 GPa.     

P–T conditions for the Arendal granulites, southern Norway: implications for the roles of P, T and CO2 in deep crustal LILE-depletion

Abstract The orthopyroxene-clinopyroxene, garnet-orthopyroxene and garnet-clinopyroxene geothermometers, and the garnet-orthopyroxene-plagioclase, garnet-clinopyroxene-plagioclase and anorthite-ferrosilite-grossular-almandine-quartz geobarometers are applied to metabasites and the garnetplagioclase-sillimanite-quartz geobarometer is applied to a metapelite from the Proterozoic Arendal granulite terrain, Bamble sector, Norway. P–T conditions of metamorphism were 7.3 ± 0.5 kbar and 800 ± 60°C.
This terrain shows a regional gradation from the amphibolite facies, into normal LILE content granulite facies rocks and finally strongly LILE deficient granulite facies gneisses. Neither P nor T vary significantly across the entire transition zone. The change in 'grade'parallels the increasing dominance of CO₂ over H₂O in the fluid phase.
LILE-depletion is not a pre-condition of granulite facies metamorphism: granulites may have either 'depleted'or 'normal'chemistries. The results presented herein show that LILE-deficiency in granulite facies orthogneisses is not necessarily related to variations in either P or T . The important mechanisms in the Arendal terrain were (a) direct synmetamorphic crystallization from magma, with primary LILE-poor mineralogies imposed by the prevailing fluid regime, and (b) metamorphic depletion, involving scavenging of LILEs during flushing by mantle-derived CO₂-rich fluids. The latter process is constrained by U–Pb and Rb–Sr isotopic work to have occurred no later than 50 Ma after intrusion of the acid-intermediate gneisses, and was probably associated with contemporary basic magmatism in a tectonic environment similar to a present day cordilleran continental margin.     

Progressive metamorphism in a crustal-scale shear zone: an example from the Léon region, north-west Brittany, France

This paper describes the progressive metamorphism and deformation of a series of metasediments, Le Conquet Schists and their higher grade equivalents, which occur as tectonically emplaced screens within a sequence of foliated gneisses, the Gneiss de Brest and Gneiss de Lesneven. The sequence exhibits a steep south to north increase in metamorphic grade from garnet-staurolite schist to sillimanite gneiss and sillimanite-K-feldspar migmatite. The relationship of mineral growth to foliation development has been established for individual screens. At least five phases of deformation (D1-D5) are preserved. Analysis of porphyroblast inclusion trails is used to demonstrate sequential mineral growth during the successive development of orthogonal foliations S1-S4. Porphyroblasts continued to grow during the subsequent development of C-S mylonite fabrics and extensional crenulation cleavages which are genetically related to a series of high-strain zones (D5). Mineral assemblages, phase relations and mineral chemistry are consistent with porphyroblast growth being the result of continuous reactions. Microstructure-porphyroblast relations are used to show that although mineral growth proceeded during continuous reactions, these only operated episodically. Phase relations, mineral chemistry and P-T estimates are used to constrain P-T trajectories and these are linked to the deformation histories within individual screens. A comparison between the resulting pressure-temperature-deformation paths is used to demonstrate that the metamorphic peak occurred progressively later and at successively lower pressures with increasing metamorphic grade. It is suggested that the early evolution of the belt is the result of crustal thickening by overthrusting. The subsequent history is one of progressive heating and unroofing of the higher grade rocks in a dextral strike-slip transtensional shear zone.     

The strain‐dependent spatial evolution of garnet in a high‐P ductile shear zone from the Western Gneiss Region (Norway): a synchrotron X‐ray microtomography study

Reaction and deformation microfabrics provide key information to understand the thermodynamic and kinetic controls of tectono‐metamorphic processes, however, they are usually analysed in two dimensions, omitting important information regarding the third spatial dimension. We applied synchrotron‐based X‐ray microtomography to document the evolution of a pristine olivine gabbro into a deformed omphacite–garnet eclogite in four dimensions, where the 4^th dimension is represented by the degree of strain. In the investigated samples, which cover a strain gradient into a shear zone from the Western Gneiss Region (Norway), we focused on the spatial transformation of garnet coronas into elongated garnet clusters with increasing strain. The microtomographic data allowed quantification of garnet volume, shape and spatial arrangement evolution with increasing strain. The microtomographic observations were combined with light microscope and backscatter electron images as well as electron microprobe (EMPA) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis to correlate mineral composition and orientation data with the X‐ray absorption signal of the same mineral grains. With increasing deformation, the garnet volume almost triples. In the low‐strain domain, garnet grains form a well interconnected large garnet aggregate that develops throughout the entire sample. We also observed that garnet coronas in the gabbros never completely encapsulate olivine grains. In the most highly deformed eclogites, the oblate shapes of garnet clusters reflect a deformational origin of the microfabrics. We interpret the aligned garnet aggregates to direct synkinematic fluid flow, and consequently influence the transport of dissolved chemical components. EBSD analyses reveal that garnet shows a near‐random crystal preferred orientation that testifies no evidence for crystal plasticity. There is, however evidence for minor fracturing, neo‐nucleation and overgrowth. Microprobe chemical analysis revealed that garnet compositions progressively equilibrate to eclogite facies, becoming more almandine‐rich. We interpret these observations as pointing to a mechanical disintegration of the garnet coronas during strain localization, and their rearrangement into individual garnet clusters through a combination of garnet coalescence and overgrowth while the rock was deforming.     

Evidence for a Variscan suture zone in the Vendée, France: a petrological study of blueschist facies rocks from Bois de Cené

Abstract In the Bois de Cené area, blueschist facies rocks, characterized by glaucophane and/ or chloritoid, provide evidence for a suture zone in the Variscan. This terrain is considered to be the eastern equivalent of the Ile de Groix high-pressure metamorphic terrain. Petrological study of the two characteristic types of rocks found in the area shows that the primary high-pressure paragenesis was modified during a retrogression which followed substantial decompression, probably at constant or decreasing temperature. The simplest interpretation is that this retrogression followed tectonic emplacement within a nappe pile.