Diagenesis and very low-grade metamorphism of volcaniclastic sandstones from contrasting geodynamic environments, North Island, New Zealand: the Murihiku and Waipapa terranes

Abstract The Mesozoic Murihiku and Waipapa terranes are two accretionary wedges of linked forearc and trench sediments, respectively, that were juxtaposed in the early Cretaceous.
Late Triassic to late Jurassic Murihiku terrane volcaniclastic sediments are folded into a regional syncline and have been diagenetically altered. There is a general relationship between zeolite occurrence, clay mineralogy, vitrinite reflectance and stratigraphic position. Youngest Jurassic sediments contain heulandite, analcime and stilbite, whereas late Triassic to mid-Jurassic sediments have laumontite and heulandite (in detail the zeolite distribution is complicated). Tuffaceous horizons on the eastern limb of the syncline are calcitized rather than zeolitized. Post-diagenetic fractures associated with uplift are laumontite-filled. The inferred geothermal gradient is c. 15° C km⁻¹.
The Waipapa terrane is an accretionary complex dominated by imbricated terrigenous sediments of Triassic and Jurassic age with enclosed Permian to Jurassic pelagic sediments and basalts. Late Jurassic sediments are massive volaniclastic sandstones. The sediments are non-foliated, and metamorphic minerals in the massive sandstones have crystallized in specific domains. The observed metamorphic succession of prehnite-pumpellyite and pumpellyite-actinolite facies assemblages was overprinted in the imbricated rocks during a thermal event that was late in the deformation sequence and broadly coincident with hydraulic fracturing and veining.
The metamorphic successions in the two terranes and their relationships to structural features are in excellent accord with accretionary complex models.     

Metamorphism of a Late Jurassic volcano-plutonic arc, northern California, USA

Abstract The metamorphic history of the Middle to Upper Jurassic volcanic and hypabyssal rocks exposed in the Klamath Mountains and Sierra Nevada of California is related, in part, to the rifting of a volcano-plutonic arc. The Callovian to Kimmeridgian rocks exposed in the region consist of, from north-west to south-east, a back-arc ophiolite, a rifted volcanic arc and a volcanic arc complex. All of these units have been metamorphosed and contain various combinations of the phases chlorite, amphibole, epidote, prehnite and pumpellyite. Projection of coexisting phases onto the composition plane MgO/(MgO + FeO) and Al₂O₃+ Fe₂O₃ - 0.75 CaO - Na₂O through quartz, water, albite and epidote results in consistent mineralogical compatibilities within each region, but crossing tie-lines between regions. This suggests that the volcanic and hypabyssal rocks from each region have equilibrated under different intensive conditions. The back-arc ophiolite in the north has suffered subseafloor high-T/P hydrothermal metamorphism with geothermal gradients on the order of 100° C km^?1. The rifted volcanic arc has undergone synchronous burial, hydrothermal and contact metamorphism. Metamorphic field gradients in the region pass through the prehnite-pumpellyite and greenschist facies suggesting geothermal gradients on the order of 30° C km^?1. The southernmost volcanic arc complexes contain metavolcanics of the pumpellyiteactinolite and greenschist facies suggesting moderate- to high-P/T metamorphism and geothermal gradients on the order of 20° C km^?1. The apparent increase in rifting and calculated geothermal gradients from south-east to north-west suggest that the observed very low- and low-grade metamorphism may be a response to enhanced thermal gradients during extension of the volcanic arc. This correlation between the extent of rifting and metamorphism is consistent with a model of diastathermal metamorphism of a propagating rift along the western margin of North America during the Late Jurassic. The plate tectonic setting may be analogous to the present-day Andaman Sea region.     

矿物共生分析在很低级变质作用研究中的应用——以松潘—阿坝地区红参1井为例

自1967年Kübler用X射线衍射(XRD)法测量伊利石结晶度以划分极低级变质带以来,伊利石结晶度一直是划分极低级变质带的主要指标。但是不同的人用伊利石结晶度Kübler指数划分变质级的方案不同。因此,尚需要结合岩石学分析方法判定变质级。作为一种尝试,对川西北松潘—阿坝地区红参1井5975m深度内的变泥质岩进行了矿物共生分析。结果表明,钻遇地层遭受了高级近变质作用,只是由于岩石化学成分原因,未能出现泥质岩近变质指示矿物黑硬绿泥石,并未达到浅变质级别,不至于破坏油气的保存。Kisch(1990)提出的变质级划分方案比较符合研究区的实际情况。在极低级变质研究中应用矿物共生分析,一方面可以解决类似的结晶度研究的分歧,另一方面对于指导薄片观察以及X衍射物相分析十分有益。     

Low-grade regional metamorphism in the Mesozoic-Cenozoic volcanic sequences of the Central Andes

ABSTRACT All the Mesozoic and Cenozoic volcanic rocks of the Central Andes (from southern Ecuador to central Chile), except Recent ones, have been affected by episodes of regional metamorphism, without change in texture and structure. The metamorphism, which ranges from low zeolite to greenschist facies, can be classified as burial metamorphism because there is an overall increase in metamorphic grade with stratigraphic depth in the individual volcanic sequences separated by regional unconformities. Some sequences display metamorphic patterns transitional to ocean-floor and to geothermal field types, reflecting variations along and across the Andes in tectonic setting and thermal gradients. Volcanism was closely followed by metamorphism during each cycle characterizing the geological history of the Central Andes. The episodic nature of the metamorphism has led to breaks in metamorphic grade at regional unconformities and repetition of facies series, where strata of higher grade may even overlie those of lower grade. The existence of permeability-controlled distribution patterns of secondary minerals within individual flows shows that gradients of chemical activity, rate of reaction and P_fluid were acting, in addition to temperature and P,_tot overall gradients, during the regional metamorphism. The alteration is accompanied by chemical changes and disturbances of the K-Ar and Rb-Sr isotope systems. Similarities between Mesozoic facies series in the western and eastern flanks of the Andes are consistent with a mechanism of ensialic spreading-subsidence.     

Very Low-Grade Metamorphism of Clastic Rocks from the Meso-Neoproterozoic and the Paleozoic along the Profile Yueyang-Linxiang in Northeastern Hunan Province and Its Geological Implications

This study uses illite crystallinity,chlorite crystallinity,illite polytypes,the b_0 cell-dimension of K-white mica,clay mineral assemblages and mineral geothermo-geobarometers to investigate the overprint of diagenesis and metamorphism on the Meso-Neoproterozoic and the Lower Paleozoic along the profile Yueyang-Linxiang in northeastern Hunan Province,China.Illite crystallinity Kbler index(KI) of the 2μm fractions ranges from 0.225 to 0.485°Δ2θ while chlorite crystallinity Arkai index(AI) ranges from 0.244 to 1.500°Δ2θ.This indicates that the Meso-Neoproterozoic and the Lower Paleozoic along the profile Yueyang-Linxiang were overprinted with diagenesis and anchi- to epimetamorphism.Peak metamorphic temperature is estimated with the IV site chlorite geothermometer roughly at 360℃.The b_0 cell dimension values of illites(K-mica) range from 0.9002 to 0.9054 nm and,on average,at 0.9030 nm for the Meso-Neoproterozoic.Based on cumulative frequency curves of illite(K-mica) b_0 cell dimension,the peak metamorphic pressure of the MesoNeoproterozoic along the profile Yueyang-Linxiang is derived of an intermediate pressure type.Most illites occur in the 2M_1 polytype and some of them in a mixture of 2M1+1M types especially those in the Paleozoic.This result partly agrees with the conclusion of the lower greenschist and greenschist facies of the Lengjiaxi and Banxi Groups.However,it is not agreed with the sedimentary cover from the Sinian to the Lower Paleozoic or from the Banxi Group to the Lower Paleozoic.Crustal thickening due to "collision" between the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks led to an increase in the thickness of the Meso-Neoproterozoic to ca.14 km and resulted in a temperature increase in those rocks due to burial.The very low grade to low grade metamorphism overprinting the Meso-Neoproterozoic implies that the so called "Chiangnania or Jiangnan orogen" was no relative with the "Grenvillian orogeney;instead,it might be a continuous amalgamation product between the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks.     

Very low-grade metamorphism of the Taveyanne greywacke, Glarus Alps, Switzerland

Detailed textural and chemical data for mineral assemblages on a regional scale are presented for the metaandesitic Eocene-Oligocene Taveyanne greywacke of the Glarus Alps, Eastern Switzerland. Presented data indicate an increase of metamorphic grade from zeolite facies to prehnite-pumpellyite and pumpellyite-actinolite facies. Low-grade outcrops contain laumontite, minor corrensite and pumpellyite (assemblage type 1), whereas outcrops of higher metamorphic grade contain prehnite and two populations of pumpellyite (type 2), prehnite—pumpellyite-(Al)—white mica (type 3), a single outcrop shows pumpellyite-actinolite facies (type 4). From the zeolite to prehnite-pumpellyite/pumpellyite-actinolite facies there are indications for an increase of the chemical equilibrium domain size for the critical paragenesis from a single detrital grain ≤1 mm) in type 1, to a few millimetres in type 2, and to a whole thin section in type 3. Metamorphic P - T conditions were determined by a combination of chlorite thermometry, fluid inclusion and vitrinite reflectance data. Peak temperatures range from 170-190 C for zeolite facies to 270-310 C for prehnite-pumpellyite and pumpellyite-actinolite facies. For the higher temperature range, pressures of 2-3 kbar are derived indicating a geothermal gradient of 24-32 C km^-1. The well-constrained temperature estimations derived for the assemblages provide a useful test of the different empirical calibrations of chlorite thermometers recently proposed. The best correspondence to the temperatures determined here is for the Cathelineau calibration. In addition, in the lower grade samples differences in textures and calculated temperatures provide a mean to distinguish between detrital and newly formed chlorites.     

桐柏杂岩中印支期变质岩包体的变质作用

桐柏杂岩位于桐柏地区两条印支期高压变质带之间,长期以来被认为是一个前寒武纪变质杂岩体。由于岩石学和年代学研究资料的缺乏,对其构造属性和变质演化过程一直存在着模糊的认识。通过详细的野外地质调查,在桐柏杂岩中发现了含有石榴石的斜长角闪岩和片麻岩包体。对这些包体的变质作用研究发现,其主要矿物虽然受到晚期低温扩散的影响,但变质反应结构并不发育。变质作用温压估算结果显示,这些包体的峰期变质条件达到了高角闪岩相,其T＝560～670℃,p＝0.57～0.90 GPa。年代学资料表明,桐柏杂岩的主体为强烈变形的燕山期花岗岩体,其中变质岩包体的变质时代为印支期。然而,由于在这些变质岩包体中尚未找到高压或超高压变质的证据,它们是印支期高压/超高压岩石的退变产物,还是只经历了中下地壳变质作用影响的中压岩石,尚需今后进一步的探索。     

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.     

Compositional controls on coexisting prehnite-actinolite and prehnite-pumpellyite facies assemblages in the Tal y Fan metabasite intrusion, North Wales: implications for Caledonian metamorphic field gradients

Abstract The Tal y Fan Intrusion is a 110 m thick sub-concordant metabasite sheet intruded into volcaniclastic and pyroclastic rocks of Ordovician age in North Wales. Despite low grade metamorphism, primary textural zones resulting from initial cooling of the sheet are preserved and retain primary mineralogical and chemical variations which influenced the nature and extent of metamorphic recrystallization. This has resulted in a vertical sequence of secondary mineral assemblages through the intrusion. During early hydrothermal alteration K-feldspar replaced plagioclase micropheno-crysts in the marginal and contact zones, and olivine in the central zone was replaced by saponite. Subsequent regional metamorphism resulted in the development of (metastable) prehnite-pumpellyite-epidote assemblages in two sub-zones characterized by high Fe₂O₃. Elsewhere the assemblage prehnite-actinolite-epidote developed except in the contact and marginal zones where activity of CO₂ suppressed both prehnite and pumpellyite. Both assemblages contain excess albite, quartz and chlorite and, on the basis of uniform mineral compositions over the area of an individual thin section, are considered to represent buffered equilibrium assemblages indicative of prehnite-pumpellyite and prehnite-actinolite facies conditions. A metamorphic temperature of 310° C at 1.85 kbar is obtained using the P-T-X grid of Liou, Maruyama & Cho (1985), which implies a field gradient of ～ 44° C km^-1. Assuming that metamorphism relates to burial, an overburden thickness of ～ 7 km is indicated. Total maximum thicknesses, however, of Ordovician, Silurian and Lower Devonian strata, in the area, do not exceed 6 km indicating a field gradient of 52° C km^-1. These relatively high gradients may possibly be related to concealed late Caledonian intrusions, or alternatively may result from high heat flow as a consequence of crustal thinning, rapid sedimentation and intense magmatic activity in a marginal basin setting.     

The pumpellyite-actinolite and contiguous facies in part of the Phyllite-Quartzite Series, central Northern Peloponnesus, Greece

Variations in assemblage and composition of the constituent minerals in basic and intermediate metavolcanics encountered in the Zarouchla Group of the Phyllite-Quartzite Series are consistent with a progressive sequence, corresponding to temperature conditions estimated at 290-380°C (minimum values) under a total pressure greater than 3°5kbar and possibly as high as 5 kbar. In the absence of more critical evidence, the parageneses recorded in the metavolcanic rocks are interpreted as belonging to a prograde facies series from the lawsonite-albitechlorite facies through the pumpellyite-actinolite facies to the greenschist facies. The present distribution of mineral assemblages does not show a simple increase of metamorphic grade in a given direction but is apparently related to the tectonic evolution of the metamorphic sequence.     

Metamorphic evolution of the Susunai metabasites in southern Sakhalin, Russian Republic

The Susunai Complex of southeast Sakhalin represents a subduction-related accretionary complex of pelitic and basic rocks. Two stages of metamorphism are recognized: (1) a local, low- P / T  event characterized by Si-poor calcic amphiboles; (2) a regional, high- P / T  event characterized by pumpellyite, actinolite, epidote, sodic amphibole, sodic pyroxene, stilpnomelane and aragonite. The major mineral assemblages of the high- P / T  Susunai metabasites contain pumpellyite+epidote+actinolite+chlorite, epidote+actinolite+chlorite, epidote+Na-amphibole+Na-pyroxene+chlorite+haematite. The Na- amphibole is commonly magnesioriebeckite. The Na-pyroxene is jadeite-poor aegirine to aegirine-augite. Application of empirically and experimentally based thermobarometers suggests peak conditions of T  =250–300 °C, P= 4.7–6 kbar. Textural relationships in Susunai metabasite samples and a petrogenetic grid calculated for the Fe³⁺-rich basaltic system suggest that pressure and temperature increased during prograde metamorphism.     

Metamorphism in the New England Orogen,eastern Australia: a review

Abstract

This paper summarises current knowledge on metamorphism within the entire New England Orogen (NEO) of eastern Australia. Rocks recording metamorphic assemblages characteristic of each of the three metamorphic facies series (high, medium and low P/T) have been identified within the orogen. These include high P/T blueschists and eclogites, mid P/T orogenic metamorphism and low P/T contact aureoles and sub-regional high-temperature–low-pressure (HTLP) metamorphism (regional aureoles). Metamorphism is described as it relates to six tectonic phases of development of the NEO that together comprise two major cycles of compression–extension. Medium–high-grade contact metamorphism spans all six tectonic phases while low-grade burial and/or orogenic metamorphism has been identified for four of the six phases. In contrast, exposure of high P/T eclogites and blueschists, and generation of sub-regional low P/T metamorphism is restricted to extensional phases of the orogen. Hallmarks of the orogen are two newly identified zones of HTLP metamorphism, the older of which extends for almost the entire length of the orogen.

1. KEY POINTS

2. The orogen is dominated by low-temperature rocks while high-temperature amphibolite to granulite facies rocks are restricted to small exposures in HTLP complexes and contact aureoles.

3. Blueschist metamorphism falls into two categories; that associated with subduction during the Currabubula-Connors continental arc phase occurring at depths of ～13–30?km; and the other of Cambrian–Ordovician age, exposed within a serpentinite melange and associated with blocks of eclogite. The eclogite, initially from depths of ～75–90?km, appears to have been entrained in the deep crust for an extended period of geological time.

4. A comprehensive review of contact metamorphism in the orogen is lacking and as studies on low-grade metamorphism are more extensive in the southern part of the orogen than the north, this highlights a second research gap.

     

吉林延边开山屯地区蓝片岩相变质作用——来自硬绿泥石＋纤锰柱石＋多硅白云母组合的证据

吉林延边开山屯低级变质作用发育于兴凯地块西南晚古生代活动大陆边缘,这里产出二叠纪末的消减增生杂岩。低级变质作用矿物除冻蓝闪石、阳起石、玉髓、黝帘石、多硅白云母、绿泥石、钠长石外,还在灰黑色变泥质岩中发现硬绿泥石 纤锰柱石 多硅白云母组合。这是国内首次报道的以泥质岩为原岩并具有硬绿泥石 纤锰柱石标志矿物组合的蓝片岩相岩石。研究表明,该组合的形成温度290．14(或370．8)℃,具明显的低温特征。     

内蒙古中部地区晚古生代地层接触变质作用研究初探

内蒙古中部晚古生代地层由于中生代岩浆的侵入,部分发生接触变质,变质程度多处于沸石相或葡萄石绿纤石相。通过对典型剖面的泥质岩石中的粘土矿物、伊利石结晶度以及镜质体反射率的分析,得出以下结论：（1）粘土矿物以伊利石和绿泥石为主,只在极少数样品中有伊蒙混层和蒙脱石,多数缺乏伊绿混层;（2）伊利石结晶度为022~040;（3）镜质体反射率Ro值为15~40。其结果表明：在岩浆侵入地区有小规模的接触变质,为极低级变质带,并未发生大规模的低绿片岩相的区域变质,而且这种变质只影响到晚二叠世以前沉积的地层和油气,分布范围有限。     

陕西汉阴北部梅子垭组变质作用研究

梅子垭组是汉阴北部地区出露面积最大的地层,岩性主要为白云母石英片岩、含碳白云母石英片岩、含石榴子石黑云母变斑晶白云母石英片岩等,石榴子石和黑云母变斑晶在该岩层中普遍发育。该岩组构造变形复杂,经历了多期构造活动和变质变形过程。笔者在野外调查的基础上,通过分析研究区石榴子石、黑云母变斑晶的关系,采用石榴子石-黑云母地质温度计,对该区广泛出露的含石榴子石黑云母变斑晶白云母石英片岩进行研究,得到如下结论:研究区存在3期黑云母和石榴子石,石榴子石变斑晶具有明显的生长环带,而黑云母变斑晶没有环带;研究区变质作用的变质温度范围为介于511~572℃,主要为530~560℃;变质压力范围为0.16~0.84GPa,变质相属高绿片岩相。     

Trace and minor element geochemistry of the rhyolitic volcanic rocks,Central North Island,New Zealand

Analytical data are presented for the following elements: Cs, Rb, Ba, K, Sr, Ca, Na, Fe, Mg, Cu, Co, Ni, Li, Sc, V, Cr, Ga, Al, Si, La, Y, and Zr. Eight samples were analysed by the spark source method for rare earths, Tl, Pb, Hf, Sn, Nb, Mo, Bi, and In. In addition to data on rhyolitic volcanics, a small number of intermediate volcanics and eugeosynclinal sediments were analysed for comparative purposes. The following features are shown by the trace element data:

1. The rhyolitic rocks have consistently lower concentrations of most trace and minor elements when compared with recent estimates of average concentrations in granites. None of the criteria for strong fractionation (e.g. low K/Rb, Ba/Rb and K/Cs ratios) are present.
2. The data do not indicate any systematic differences between the rhyolitic lavas and ignimbrites, although the very young rhyolitic pumices are consistently more “basic” in their element concentrations compared to the other rhyolitic analyses.
3. The residual glasses (and devitrified matrices) are depleted, relative to the total rock compositions, in Fe, Mg, Ca, Sr, V, Sc, and Al, and enriched in Cs, Rb, K, Ba, and Si. Zr is depleted in the residual glasses separated from rhyolites, but not in the andesitic residual matrices.
4. The rare earth fractionation patterns of the rhyolitic and andesitic extrusives are very similar, being intermediate between chondritic and sedimentary patterns i.e., there is no evidence of strong fractionation. The rhyolitic patterns also indicate a slight Eu depletion.
5. Comparable trace and minor element behaviour (with the possible exception of Zr) seems to exist through the rhyolite-andesite compositional range. This is supported by the whole rock-residual liquid trends for the various elements studied, which broadly coincide with the observed whole rock trends, both through the rhyolitic-andesitic compositonal range, and within the rhyolitic compositional range.

The data are finally discussed in the light of the possible origin of the rhyolitic magmas. It is believed that the analytical data presented are qualitatively consistent with the recently proposed idea that the magmas are derived by partial fusion of the associated Triassic-Jurassic eugeosynclinal greywacke-argillite sedimentary sequence.     

Metamorphism of the Scourian Complex, NW Scotland

The rocks of the Scourian Complex have been intensively studied, but there is still no consensus as to the conditions of the granulite-facies metamorphism preserved in these rocks. Recent estimates of these conditions fall into two groups, one at 820-920°C and ca. 11 kbar and the second at ca. 1000°C and >12 kbar. Investigation of a variety of rocks shows that the recorded conditions vary with grain-size, with higher-grade conditions recorded by the cores of coarser ( ca. 10 mm) crystals, and lower-grade conditions recorded by the rims of coarser grains and by finer grains. This observation suggests that re-equilibration during recovery of these rocks to the surface has been important which may account for the discrepancy in estimated P-T conditions. Revised estimates of the equilibration conditions of the Scourian Complex of T > 1000°C and P > 8.5 kbar are presented. The conditions suggested for the peak of metamorphism mean that the role of anatexis in the genesis of these rocks must be considered and the nature of the fluid phase thoroughly investigated.     

Controls on the first appearance of jadeitic pyroxene, northern Diablo Range, California

A reaction producing jadeitic pyroxene in metagreywackes of the northern Diablo Range has been identified on the basis of mineral distribution, isograd patterns and composition of coexisting minerals. The appearance of jadeitic pyroxene (∼Jd₈₀) is closely followed by the disappearance of pumpellyite, which indicates that pumpellyite plays a major role in the pyroxene-producing reaction. A new projection from hematite, lawsonite, chlorite, quartz and H₂O on to the NaAlO₂-FeO-MgO ternary confirms the role of pumpellyite in pyroxene production and suggests a reaction of the form: 1.00 pumpellyite + 0.31 chlorite + 8.71 albite + 0.70 hematite + 2.00 H₂O = 8.54 jadeite + 0.57 glaucophane + 3.09 lawsonite + 5.26 quartz. Metagreywackes of the northern Diablo Range were metamorphosed under conditions of P _H2O= P _total at 200-300 °C and 7.5-10.0 kbar. Despite the low temperatures attained during metamorphism, the assumption of equilibrium yields results consistent with field observations and phase relations.     

Diagenesis and Very Low‐grade Metamorphism of the Upper Permian Yangjiagou Formation in Eastern Changchun,China: Evidence from Clay Mineral Geothermobarometers

The metamorphic conditions of the Upper Permian Yangjiagou Formation in eastern Changchun, China, were evaluated based on the mineral assemblage, illite crystallinity, illite polytypism,the b dimension of illite, and the chemical composition of chlorite. The pelitic rocks in the Yangjiagou Formation are characterized by illite + kaolinite + chlorite ± mixed-layer chlorite/smectite and detrital quartz + plagioclase. Illite in the formation has a crystallinity of 0.38-0.55 and comprises mixed 2 M_1 and1 M_d polytypes, indicating a metamorphic temperature of 200℃. Based on the chemical composition of chlorite and the chlorite geothermometer, we estimated diagenetic to very low-grade metamorphic conditions with temperatures of 185℃～204℃. The b dimension of illite varies from 8.992 A to 9.005 A.We used a mathematical algorithm to extend Guidotti and Sassi's(1986) diagram relating illite b dimension with temperature and pressure, and used this diagram, together with illite crystallinity and chlorite chemical composition, to semi-quantitatively estimate the formation pressure at1.2 kbar. These reveal that the Yangjiagou Formation has experienced very low-grade metamorphism.