Microdiamond on Åreskutan confirms regional UHP metamorphism in the Seve Nappe Complex of the Scandinavian Caledonides

Metamorphic diamond in crustal rocks provides important information on the deep subduction of continental crust. Here, we present a new occurrence of diamond within the Seve Nappe Complex (SNC) of the Scandinavian Caledonides, on Åreskutan in Jämtland County, Sweden. Microdiamond is found in situ as single and composite (diamond+carbonate) inclusions within garnet, in kyanite‐bearing paragneisses. The rocks preserve the primary peak pressure assemblage of Ca,Mg‐rich garnet+phengite+kyanite+rutile, with polycrystalline quartz surrounded by radial cracks indicating breakdown of coesite. Calculated P–T conditions for this stage are 830–840 °C and 4.1–4.2 GPa, in the diamond stability field. The ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) assemblage has been variably overprinted under granulite facies conditions of 850–860 °C and 1.0–1.1 GPa, leading to formation of Ca,Mg‐poor garnet+biotite+plagioclase+K‐feldspar+sillimanite+ilmenite+quartz. This overprint was the result of nearly isothermal decompression, which is corroborated by Ti‐in‐quartz thermometry. Chemical Th–U–Pb dating of monazite yields ages between 445 and 435 Ma, which are interpreted to record post‐UHP exhumation of the diamond‐bearing rocks. The new discovery of microdiamond on Åreskutan, together with other evidence of ultrahigh‐pressure metamorphism (UHPM) within gneisses, eclogites and peridotites elsewhere in the SNC, provide compelling arguments for regional (at least 200 km along strike of the unit) UHPM of substantial parts of this far‐travelled allochthon. The occurrence of UHPM in both rheologically weak (gneisses) and strong lithologies (eclogites, peridotites) speaks against the presence of large tectonic overpressure during metamorphism.     

Metamorphic evolution of diamond-bearing and associated rocks from the Kokchetav Massif, northern Kazakhstan

Representative diamond-bearing gneisses and dolomitic marble, eclogite and Ti-clinohumite-bearing garnet peridotite from Unit I at Kumdy Kol and whiteschist from Unit II at Kulet, eastern Kokchetav Massif, northern Kazakhstan, were studied. Diamond-bearing gneisses contain variable assemblages, including Grt+Bt+Qtz±Pl±Kfs±Zo±Chl±Tur±Cal and minor Ap, Rt and Zrn; abundant inclusions of diamond, graphite+chlorite (or calcite), phengite, clinopyroxene, K-feldspar, biotite, rutile, titanite, calcite and zircon occur in garnet. Diamond-bearing dolomitic marbles consist of Dol+Di±Grt+Phl; inclusions of diamond, dolomite±graphite, biotite, and clinopyroxene were identified in garnet. Whiteschists carry the assemblage Ky+Tlc+Grt+Rt; garnet shows compositional zoning, and contains abundant inclusions of talc, kyanite and rutile with minor phlogopite, chlorite, margarite and zoisite. Inclusions and zoning patterns of garnet delineate the prograde P–T path. Inclusions of quartz pseudomorphs after coesite were identified in garnet from both eclogite and gneiss. Other ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) indicators include Na-bearing garnet (up to 0.14 wt% Na₂O) with omphacitic Cpx in eclogite, occurrence of high-K diopside (up to 1.56 wt% K₂O) and phlogopite in diamond-bearing dolomitic marble, and Cr-bearing kyanite in whiteschist. These UHP rocks exhibit at least three stages of metamorphic recrystallization. The Fe-Mg partitioning between clinopyroxene and garnet yields a peak temperature of 800–1000 °C at P >40 kbar for diamond-bearing rocks, and about 740–780 °C at >28–35 kbar for eclogite, whiteschist and Ti-bearing garnet peridotite. The formation of symplectitic plagioclase+amphibole after clinopyroxene, and replacement of garnet by biotite, amphibole, or plagioclase mark retrograde amphibolite facies recrystallization at 650–680 °C and pressure less than about 10 kbar. The exsolution of calcite from dolomite, and development of matrix chlorite and actinolite imply an even lower grade greenschist facies overprint at c. 420 °C and 2–3 kbar. A clockwise P–T path suggests that supracrustal sediments together with basaltic and ultramafic lenses apparently were subjected to UHP subduction-zone metamorphism within the diamond stability field. Tectonic mixing may have occurred prior to UHP metamorphism at mantle depths. During subsequent exhumation and juxtaposition of many other tectonic units, intense deformation chaotically mixed and mylonitized these lithotectonic assemblages.     

Metamorphic evolution of a newly identified Mesoproterozoic oceanic slice in the Yuka terrane and its implications for a multi‐cyclic orogenic history of the North Qaidam UHPM belt

The North Qaidam Orogenic Belt (NQOB), lying at the northern margin of the Tibet Plateau, records two orogenic cycles: A Proterozoic cycle related to the amalgamation and breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia, and an Early Palaeozoic cycle including oceanic subduction and continental deep subduction. At present, the only information about the Proterozoic cycle is the concurrent c. 1,000–900 Ma magmatic and metamorphic events, which limited the understanding of the Proterozoic evolution of NQOB and the relationship between the Qaidam Block and other Rodinia fragments. In this study, a kyanite‐bearing eclogite was identified in Yuka terrane. It has positive‐slope chondrite‐normalized rare earth element distribution patterns, similar to present‐day N‐MORB. LA–ICP–MS zircon U–Pb dating obtained a protolith age of 1,273 Ma and an eclogite facies metamorphic age of 437 Ma, which is similar to the continental deep subduction age of the Yuka terrane. Zircon Lu–Hf analysis show that the magmatic zircon cores have high εHf(t) of 8.36–15.98 and T_DM1 of 1,450–1,131 Ma (M = 1,303 ± 55 Ma, consistent with its protolith age within error), indicating a juvenile crust protolith of the eclogite. The MORB‐like whole‐rock composition and zircon U–Pb and Lu–Hf analysis indicate that the protolith of the kyanite‐bearing eclogite was a Mesoproterozoic oceanic slice. P–T pseudosection analysis shows that the kyanite‐bearing eclogite experienced four metamorphic stages: (1) a prograde stage with the assemblage garnet+omphacite+talc+lawsonite+phengite+quartz at 22.4–23.2 kbar and 585°C; (2) a peak stage with the assemblage garnet+omphacite+lawsonite+phengite+coesite at 32.5 kbar and 670°C; (3) an early retrograde stage with the assemblage garnet+omphacite+kyanite+phengite+coesite/quartz±lawsonite at 27.1–30.0 kbar and 670–690°C; and (4) a late retrograde stage with the assemblage garnet+omphacite+epidote+hornblende+phengite+quartz at <18.0 kbar. The established clockwise P–T path is similar with other continental‐type eclogites in this area. On the basis of the geochemical and geochronological data, as well as the P–T path, we suggest that the protolith of the kyanite‐bearing eclogite was emplaced in the active margin of the Qaidam Block during the assembly of Rodinia and underwent continental deep subduction in the Early Palaeozoic. We conclude that (1) the Qaidam Block participated in the assembly of the Rodinia supercontinent. It was situated at or proximal to the margin of the supercontinent and probably close to India, east Antarctica and Tarim; and (2) both Mesoproterozoic and Early Palaeozoic oceanic crust slices occur in the NQOB. Thus, special caution is needed when using the metamorphic ages of oceanic affinity eclogites without protolith ages to constrain the evolution history of the North Qaidam UHPM belt.     

Petrogenesis and implications of jadeite‐bearing kyanite eclogite from the Sanbagawa belt (SW Japan)

Jadeite‐bearing kyanite eclogite has been discovered in the Iratsu body of the Sanbagawa belt, SW Japan. The jadeite + kyanite assemblage is stable at higher pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions or lower H₂O activity [a(H₂O)] than paragonite, although paragonite‐bearing eclogite is common in the Sanbagawa belt. The newly discovered eclogite is a massive metagabbro with the peak‐P assemblage garnet + omphacite + jadeite + kyanite + phengite + quartz + rutile. Impure jadeite is exclusively present as inclusions in garnet. The compositional gap between the coexisting omphacite (P2/n) and impure jadeite (C2/c) suggests relatively low metamorphic temperatures of 510–620 °C. Multi‐equilibrium thermobarometry for the assemblage garnet + omphacite + kyanite + phengite + quartz gives peak‐P conditions of ~2.5 GPa, 570 °C. Crystallization of jadeite in the metagabbro is attributed to Na‐ and Al‐rich effective bulk composition due to the persistence of relict Ca‐rich clinopyroxene at the peak‐P stage. By subtracting relict clinopyroxene from the whole‐rock composition, pseudosection modelling satisfactorily reproduces the observed jadeite‐bearing assemblage and mineral compositions at ~2.4–2.5 GPa, 570–610 °C and a(H₂O) >0.6. The relatively high pressure conditions derived from the jadeite‐bearing kyanite eclogite are further supported by high residual pressures of quartz inclusions in garnet. The maximum depth of exhumation in the Sanbagawa belt (~80 km) suggests decoupling of the slab–mantle wedge interface at this depth.     

Borosilicate- and phengite-bearing veins from the Grenville Province of Labrador: evidence for rapid uplift

Quartzo‐feldspathic veins emplaced within a migmatite terrane near Wilson Lake in the Grenville Province of central Labrador record a metamorphic event not evident in the host rocks. The discordant veins are undeformed and have undisturbed primary igneous/hydrothermal textures. Most of the veins contain euhedral kyanite, as well as aggregates of kyanite, K‐feldspar, phlogopite and minor dumortierite which are likely pseudomorphs after primary phengite. The reconstructed phengite compositions range from 3.1 to 3.2 Si per 11 oxygen formula unit. The pseudomorph assemblage is interpreted as the product of phengite + quartz melting under H₂O‐undersaturated conditions, which brackets P–T conditions of formation to about 9–16 kbar and 775–875 °C. A parallel vein that is likely of the same generation contains the borosilicate phases, dumortierite, prismatine and grandidierite, but no kyanite. The borosilicate assemblages constrain the P–T conditions of vein crystallization to ≥10 kbar and c. 750–850 °C. Vein emplacement is constrained to T ≤ 875 °C at the same pressures, which is well within the kyanite zone. Because the host rocks and veins must have experienced the same P–T history following vein emplacement, the presence of unreacted sillimanite in the host migmatites implies insufficient time for host rock equilibration. Slow reaction rates because of anhydrous conditions are not a likely explanation given the abundance of biotite and hornblende in the host rocks. The ductility implied by the breakdown of a hydrous phase (phengite) and the production of an H₂O‐undersaturated melt in the veins contrasts with the apparently brittle behaviour of the host rocks. The absence of deformation since the time of vein emplacement, even at temperatures above 750 °C, suggests that the deep crust in this part of Labrador had a very short residence time under conditions of the kyanite zone. Rapid decompression from those conditions is consistent with quartz + phengite melting and accounts for the relatively brittle behaviour of the terrane as it was uplifted.     

Mixing properties of phengitic micas and revised garnet-phengite thermobarometers

Mixing properties for muscovite–celadonite–ferroceladonite solid solutions are derived from combining available experimental phase equilibrium data with tabulated thermodynamic data for mineral end‐members. When a partially ordered solution model is assumed, the enthalpy of mixing among the end‐members muscovite–celadonite–ferroceladonite is nearly ideal, although the Gibbs energies of muscovite–celadonite and muscovite–ferroceladonite solutions are asymmetric due to an asymmetry in the entropy of mixing. Thermodynamic consistency is achieved for data on phengite compositions inassemblages with (a) pyrope+kyanite+quartz/coesite (b) almandine+kyanite+quartz/coesite (c)talc+kyanite+quartz/coesite and (d) garnet–phengite pairs equilibrated both experimentally at high temperatures and natural pairs from low‐grade schists. The muscovite–paragonite solvus has been reanalysed using the asymmetric van Laar model, and the effects of the phengite substitution into muscovite have been quantitatively addressed in order to complete the simple thermodynamic mixing model for the solid solution among the mica end‐members. Results are applied to a natural pyrope–coesite–phengite–talc rock from the Western Alps, and to investigate the conditions under which biotite‐bearing mica schists transform to whiteschist‐like biotite‐absent assemblages for average pelite bulk compositions.     

Metamorphic evolution and geochemistry of kyanite eclogites in central Rhodope,northern Greece

In central Rhodope of northern Greece, kyanite eclogites were discovered in the area of Thermes. They are strongly overprinted and exhibit a multi-stage development of minerals and mineral assemblages formed during successive stages of the exhumation. The initial high-pressure assemblage was garnet+omphacite+kyanite+zoisite+phengite+rutile+quartz. Corundum, Fe-Mg-spinel, sapphirine and högbomite occur as products of a first, high-temperature overprint, still at high pressures, whereas various symplectites [corundum-plagioclase (pl), spinel-pl, sapphirine-pl, clinopyroxene-pl, biotite-pl, amphibole-pl] grew during subsequent stages of the exhumation. Diablastic amphibole+plagioclase formed as end-products of the amphibolitization. According to geochemical data, the protoliths of the kyanite eclogites were basalts to basaltic andesites with “volcanic arc” affinities. For the high-pressure stage of metamorphism, minimum PT conditions were around 19 kbar, 700°C, while for the initial stages of the overprint, high-pressure granulite-facies conditions prevailed (T>800°C, at P>15 kbar). The PT conditions of the amphibolite facies were 8–11 kbar, 580–690°C. The kyanite eclogites of Thermes record the highest temperatures of metamorphism within the whole of Rhodope.     

The pyrope-coesite rocks and their country rocks at Parigi,Dora Maira Massif,Western Alps: detailed petrography,mineral chemistry and PT-path

Both the coarse- and fine-grained varieties of the partly coesite-bearing pyrope-quartzites, their interlayered jadeite-kyanite rocks, and the biotite-phengite gneiss country rock common to all of them were subjected to detailed petrographic and textural studies in order to determine the sequence of crystallisation of their mineral constituents, which were also studied analytically by microprobe. Prior to pyrope and coesite growth, the Mg-rich metapelites were talc-kyanite-chlorite-rutile-ellenbergerite schists which — upon continued prograde metamorphism — developed first pyrope megacrysts in silica-deficient local environments at the expense of chlorite + talc + kyanite, and subsequently the smaller pyrope crystals with coesite inclusions from reacting talc + kyanite. Based on geobarometrically useful mineral inclusions as well as on experimentally determined phase relations, a prograde PT-path — simplified for water activity = 1 — is constructed which passes through the approximate PT-conditions 16 kbar and 560° C, 29 kbar and 720° C, and finally up to 37 kbar at about 800° C, where the Mg-rich metapelite was a pyrope-coesite rock with phengite, kyanite, and talc still present. During the retrograde path, pyrope was altered metasomatically either into phlogopite + kyanite + quartz or, at a later stage, to chlorite + muscovite + quartz. Both assemblages yield PT-constraints, the latter about 7–9 kbar, 500–600° C. The country rock gneisses have also endured high-pressures of at least 15 kbar, but they provide mostly constraints on the lowest portion of the uplift conditions within the greenschist facies (about 5 kbar, 450° C). Microprobe data are presented for the following minerals: pyrope, ellenbergerite, dumortierite (unusually MgTi-rich), jadeite, vermiculite (formed after Na-phlogopite?), paragonite, and for several generations of phengite, chlorite, talc, phlogopite, dravite, and glaucophane in the high-pressure rocks, as well as for biotite, chlorite, phengites, epidote, garnet, albite, and K-feldspar in the country rock gneisses. An outstanding open problem identified in this study is the preservation of minerals as inclusions within kyanite and pyrope beyond their PT-stability limits.     

A counter-clockwise P–T path for the Voltri Massif eclogites (Ligurian Alps, Italy)

Integrated petrological and structural investigations of eclogites from the eclogite zone of the Voltri Massif (Ligurian Alps) have been used to reconstruct a complete Alpine P–T deformation path from burial by subduction to subsequent exhumation. The early metamorphic evolution of the eclogites has been unravelled by correlating garnet zonation trends with the chemical variations in inclusions found in the different garnet domains. Garnet in massive eclogites displays typical growth zoning, whereas garnet in foliated eclogites shows rim‐ward resorption, likely related to re‐equilibration during retrogressive evolution. Garnet inclusions are distinctly different from core to rim, consisting primarily of Ca‐, Na/Ca‐amphibole, epidote, paragonite and talc in garnet cores and of clinopyroxene ± talc in the outer garnet domains. Quantitative thermobarometry on the inclusion assemblages in the garnet cores defines an initial greenschist‐to‐amphibolite facies metamorphic stage (M1 stage) at c. 450–500 °C and 5–8 kbar. Coexistence of omphacite + talc + katophorite inclusion assemblage in the outer garnet domains indicate c. 550 °C and 20 kbar, conditions which were considered as minimum P–T estimates for the M2 eclogitic stage. The early phase of retrograde reactions is polyphase and equilibrated under epidote–blueschist facies (M3 stage), characterized by the development of composite reaction textures (garnet necklaces and fluid‐assisted Na‐amphibole‐bearing symplectites) produced at the expense of the primary M2 garnet‐clinopyroxene assemblage. The blueschist retrogression is contemporaneous with the development of a penetrative deformation (D3) that resulted in a non‐coaxial fabric, with dominant top‐to‐the‐N sense of shear during rock exhumation. All of that is overprinted by a texturally late amphibolite/greenschist facies assemblages (M4 & M5 stages), which are not associated with a penetrative structural fabric. The combined P–T deformation data are consistent with an overall counter‐clockwise path, from the greenschist/amphibolite, through the eclogite, the blueschist to the greenschist facies. These new results provide insights into the dynamic evolution of the Tertiary oceanic subduction processes leading to the building up of the Alpine orogen and the mechanisms involved in the exhumation of its high‐pressure roots.     

Exhumation mechanisms of melt‐bearing ultrahigh pressure crustal rocks during collision of spontaneously moving plates

A series of 2D petrological–thermomechanical numerical experiments was conducted to: (i) characterize the variability of exhumation mechanisms of ultrahigh pressure metamorphic (UHPM) rocks during collision of spontaneously moving plates and (ii) study the possible geodynamic effects of melting at ultrahigh pressure conditions for the exhumation of high‐temperature–ultrahigh pressure metamorphic (HT–UHPM) rocks. To this end, the models include fluid‐ and melt‐induced weakening of rocks. Five distinct modes of exhumation of (U)HPM rocks associated with changes in several parameters in the models of plate collision and continent subduction are identified as follows: vertical crustal extrusion, large‐scale crustal stacking, shallow crustal delamination, trans‐lithospheric diapirism, and channel flow. The variation in exhumation mechanisms for (U)HPM rocks in numerical models of collision driven by spontaneously moving plates contrasts with the domination of the channel flow mode of exhumation in a majority of the published results from numerical models of collision that used a prescribed plate convergence velocity and/or did not include fluid‐ and melt‐induced weakening of rocks. This difference in the range of exhumation mechanisms suggests that the prescribed convergence velocity condition and the neglect of fluid‐ and melt‐related weakening effects in the earlier models may inhibit development of several important collisional processes found in our experiments, such as slab breakoff, vertical crustal extrusion, large‐scale stacking, shallow crustal delamination and relamination, and eduction of the continental plate. Consequently, the significance of channel flow for the exhumation of UHPM rocks may have been overstated based on the results of the earlier numerical experiments. In addition, the results from this study extend over a larger proportion of the high‐temperature range of P–T conditions documented from UHPM rocks, including those retrieved from HT–UHPM rocks, than the results of experiments from previous numerical models. In particular, the highest peak metamorphic temperatures (up to 1000 °C) are recorded in the case of the vertical crustal extrusion model in which subducted continental crust is subjected to a period of prolonged heating by asthenospheric mantle abutting the continental side of the vertically hanging slab. Nonetheless, some extreme temperature conditions which have been suggested for the Kokchetav and Bohemian massifs, perhaps up to 1100–1200 °C, are still to be achieved in experiments using numerical models.     

Partial melting of metapelites at ultrahigh-pressure conditions, Greenland Caledonides

Eclogite, orthogneiss and, by association, metapelite from an island at 78°N in North‐East Greenland experienced ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) metamorphism at approximately 970 °C and 3.6 GPa, at the end of the Caledonian collision, 360–350 Ma. Hydrous metapelites contain abundant leucocratic layers and lenses composed of medium‐grained, anhedral, equigranular quartz, antiperthitic plagioclase and K‐feldspar with minor small garnet and kyanite crystals. Leucosomes are generally parallel to the matrix foliation, are interlayered with residual quartz bands, anastomose around residual garnet and commonly cross‐cut micaceous segregations. Textures suggest that the leucosomes crystallized from a syntectonic melt, but crystallized at the end of local high‐grade deformation. The metapelite outcrop is < 1.5 km from kyanite eclogites with confirmed coesite, but the metapelites lack coesite and palisade textures diagnostic of coesite pseudomorphs. They do contain highly fractured garnet megacrysts with polycrystalline quartz inclusions (some surrounded by radial fractures) and Ti‐rich phengite inclusions that suggest the former presence of coesite. Polyphase inclusions in garnet contain reactants and products of the inferred dehydration melting reaction: Phe + Qtz = Ky + Kfs + Rt + melt. The reactants are thought to have been early inclusions of hydrous phases within garnet that melted and then crystallized new phases. Garnet surrounding these inclusions has patchy zoning with elevated Ca, consistent with experiments that produced similar patchy microstructures in garnet around inclusions with an unequivocal melt origin. The peak UHP metamorphic assemblage in these rocks is inferred to have been phengite, coesite, garnet, kyanite, rutile, fluid ± omphacite ± epidote. Phase diagrams indicate that dehydration melting of phengite in this assemblage would have occurred after decompression from peak pressure, but still above the coesite to quartz transition. Unusual crown‐ and moat‐like textures in garnet around some polycrystalline quartz inclusions are also consistent with the inference that melting took place at UHP conditions.     

Coesite inclusions and prograde compositional zonation of garnet in whiteschist of the HP-UHPM Kokchetav massif, Kazakhstan: a record of progressive UHP metamorphism

Coarse-grained whiteschist, containing the assemblage: garnet+kyanite+phengite+talc+quartz/coesite, is an abundant constituent of the ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic (UHPM) belt in the Kulet region of the Kokchetav massif of Kazakhstan.

Garnet displays prograde compositional zonation, with decreasing spessartine and increasing pyrope components, from core to rim. Cores were recrystallized at T=380°C (inner) to 580°C (outer) at P<10 kbar (garnet–ilmenite geothermometry, margarite+quartz stability), and mantles at T=720–760°C and P_H20=34–36 kbar (coesite+graphite stability, phengite geobarometer, KFMASH system reaction equilibria). Textural evidence indicates that rims grew during decompression and cooling, within the Qtz-stability field.

Silica inclusions (quartz and/or coesite) of various textural types within garnets display a systematic zonal distribution. Cores contain abundant inclusions of euhedral quartz (type 1 inclusions). Inner mantle regions contain inclusions of polycrystalline quartz pseudomorphs after coesite (type 2), with minute dusty micro-inclusions of chlorite, and more rarely, talc and kyanite in their cores; intense radial and concentric fractures are well developed in the garnet. Intermediate mantle regions contain bimineralic inclusions with coesite cores and palisade quartz rims (type 3), which are also surrounded by radial fractures. Subhedral inclusions of pure coesite without quartz overgrowths or radial fractures (type 4) occur in the outer part of the mantle. Garnet rims are silica-inclusion-free.

Type 1 inclusions in garnet cores represent the low-P, low-T precursor stage to UHPM recrystallization, and attest to the persistence of low-P assemblages in the coesite-stability field. Coesites in inclusion types 2, 3, and 4 are interpreted to have sequentially crystallized by net transfer reaction (kyanite+talc=garnet+coesite+H₂O), and were sequestered within the garnet with progressively decreasing amounts of intragranular aqueous fluid.

During the retrograde evolution of the rock, all three inclusion types diverged from the host garnet P–T path at the coesite–quartz equilibrium, and followed a trajectory parallel to the equilibrium boundary resulting in inclusion overpressure. Coesite in type 2 inclusions suffered rapid intragranular H₂O-catalysed transformation to quartz, and ruptured the host garnet at about 600°C (when inclusion P27 kbar, garnet host P9 kbar). Instantaneous decompression to the host garnet P–T path, passed through the kyanite+talc=chlorite+quartz reaction equilibrium, resulting in the dusty micro-assemblage in inclusion cores. Type 3 inclusions suffered a lower volumetric proportion transformation to quartz at the coesite–quartz equilibrium, and finally underwent rupture and decompression when T<400°C, facilitating coesite preservation. Type 4 coesite inclusions are interpreted to have suffered minimal transformation to quartz and proceeded to surface temperature conditions along or near the coesite–quartz equilibrium boundary.     

P–T evolution of kyanite eclogite from the Pirin Mountains (SW Bulgaria): implications for the Rhodope UHP Metamorphic Complex

A new occurrence of kyanite eclogite in the Pirin Mountains of southwestern Bulgaria within the rocks belonging to the Obidim Unit of the Rhodope Metamorphic Complex is presented. This eclogite provides important information about the peak–pressure conditions despite strong thermal overprint at low pressure. Textural relationships, phase equilibrium modelling and conventional geothermobarometry were used to constrain the metamorphic evolution. Garnet porphyroblasts with inclusions of omphacite (up to 43 mol.% Jd), phengite (up to 3.5 Si p.f.u.), kyanite, polycrystalline quartz, pargasitic amphibole, zoisite and rutile in the Mg‐rich cores (X_Mg = 0.44–0.46) record a prograde increase in P–T conditions from ～2.5 GPa and 650 °C to ～3 GPa and 700–750 °C. Maximum pressure values fall within the stability field of coesite. During exhumation, the peak–pressure assemblage garnet + omphacite + phengite + kyanite was variably overprinted by a lower pressure one forming symplectitic textures, such as diopside + plagioclase after omphacite and biotite + plagioclase after phengite. The development of spinel (X_Mg = 0.4–0.45) + corundum + anorthite assemblage in the kyanite‐bearing domains at ～1.1 GPa and 800–850 °C suggests a thermal overprint in the high‐pressure granulite facies stability field. This thermal event was followed by cooling at ～0.8 GPa under amphibolite facies conditions; retrograde kelyphite texture involving plagioclase and amphibole was developed around garnet. Our results add to the already existing evidence for ultra high pressure (UHP) metamorphism in the Upper Allochthon of the Rhodope Metamorphic Complex as in the Kimi Unit and show that it is more widespread than previously known. Published age data and field structural relations suggest that the Obidim Unit represents Variscan continental crust involved into the Alpine nappe edifice of the Rhodopes and that eclogite facies metamorphism was Palaeozoic, in contrast to the Kimi Unit where age determinations suggest a Jurassic or Cretaceous age for UHP metamorphism. This implies that UHP metamorphism in the Upper Allochthon of the Rhodopes may have occurred twice, during Alpine and pre‐Alpine orogenic events, and that two independent HP/UHP provinces of different age overlap in this area.     

Phase relations in high-pressure metapelites in the system KFMASH (K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O) with application to natural rocks

Using a previously published, internally consistent thermodynamic dataset and updated models of activity–composition relations for solid solutions, petrogenetic grids in the model system KFMASH (K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O) and the subsystems KMASH and KFASH have been calculated with the software THERMOCALC 3.1 in the P–T range 5–36 kbar and 400–810 °C, involving garnet, chloritoid, biotite, carpholite, talc, chlorite, staurolite and kyanite/sillimanite with phengite, quartz/coesite and H₂O in excess. These grids, together with calculated AFM compatibility diagrams and pseudosections, are shown to be powerful tools for delineating the phase equilibria and P–T conditions of pelitic high-P assemblages for a variety of bulk compositions. The calculated equilibria and mineral compositions are in good agreement with petrological observation. The calculation indicates that the typical whiteschist assemblage kyanite–talc is restricted to the rocks with extremely high X_Mg values, decreasing X_Mg in a bulk composition favoring the stability of chloritoid and garnet. Also, the chloritoid–talc paragenesis is stable over 19–20 kbar in a temperature range of ca. 520–620 °C, being more petrologically important than the previously highlighted assemblage talc–phengite. Moreover, contours of the calculated Si isopleths in phengite in P–T and P–X pseudosections for different bulk compositions extend the experimentally derived phengite geobarometers to various KFMASH assemblages.     

Exhumation of the Main Central Thrust from Lower Crustal Depths, Eastern Bhutan Himalaya

Geothermometry and mineral assemblages show an increase of temperature structurally upwards across the Main Central Thrust (MCT); however, peak metamorphic pressures are similar across the boundary, and correspond to depths of 35–45 km. Garnet‐bearing samples from the uppermost Lesser Himalayan sequence (LHS) yield metamorphic conditions of 650–675 °C and 9–13 kbar. Staurolite‐kyanite schists, about 30 m above the MCT, yield P‐T conditions near 650 °C, 8–10 kbar. Kyanite‐bearing migmatites from the Greater Himalayan sequence (GHS) yield pressures of 10–14 kbar at 750–800 °C. Top‐to‐the‐south shearing is synchronous with, and postdates peak metamorphic mineral growth. Metamorphic monazite from a deformed and metamorphosed Proterozoic gneiss within the upper LHS yield U/Pb ages of 20–18 Ma. Staurolite‐kyanite schists within the GHS, a few metres above the MCT, yield monazite ages of c. 22 ± 1 Ma. We interpret these ages to reflect that prograde metamorphism and deformation within the Main Central Thrust Zone (MCTZ) was underway by c. 23 Ma. U/Pb crystallization ages of monazite and xenotime in a deformed kyanite‐bearing leucogranite and kyanite‐garnet migmatites about 2 km above the MCT suggest crystallization of partial melts at 18–16 Ma. Higher in the hanging wall, south‐verging shear bands filled with leucogranite and pegmatite yield U/Pb crystallization ages for monazite and xenotime of 14–15 Ma, and a 1–2 km thick leucogranite sill is 13.4 ± 0.2 Ma. Thus, metamorphism, plutonism and deformation within the GHS continued until at least 13 Ma. P‐T conditions at this time are estimated to be 500–600 °C and near 5 kbar. From these data we infer that the exhumation of the MCT zone from 35 to 45 km to around 18 km, occurred from 18 to 16 to c. 13 Ma, yielding an average exhumation rate of 3–9 mm year^?1. This process of exhumation may reflect the ductile extrusion (by channel flow) of the MCTZ from between the overlying Tibetan Plateau and the underthrusting Indian plate, coupled with rapid erosion.     

Partial melting due to breakdown of an epidote‐group mineral during exhumation of ultrahigh‐pressure eclogite: An example from the North‐East Greenland Caledonides

In the North‐East Greenland Caledonides, P–T conditions and textures are consistent with partial melting of ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) eclogite during exhumation. The eclogite contains a peak assemblage of garnet, omphacite, kyanite, coesite, rutile, and clinozoisite; in addition, phengite is inferred to have been present at peak conditions. An isochemical phase equilibrium diagram, along with garnet isopleths, constrains peak P–T conditions to be subsolidus at 3.4 GPa and 940°C. Zr‐in‐rutile thermometry on inclusions in garnet yields values of ~820°C at 3.4 GPa. In the eclogite, plagioclase may exhibit cuspate textures against surrounding omphacite and has low dihedral angles in plagioclase–clinopyroxene–garnet aggregates, features that are consistent with former melt–solid–solid boundaries and crystallized melt pockets. Graphic intergrowths of plagioclase and amphibole are present in the matrix. Small euhedral neoblasts of garnet against plagioclase are interpreted as formed from a peritectic reaction during partial melting. Polymineralic inclusions of albite+K‐feldspar and clinopyroxene+quartz±kyanite±plagioclase in large anhedral garnet display plagioclase cusps pointing into the host, which are interpreted as crystallized melt pockets. These textures, along with the mineral composition, suggest partial melting of the eclogite by reactions involving phengite and, to a large extent, an epidote‐group mineral. Calculated and experimentally determined phase relations from the literature reveal that partial melting occurred on the exhumation path, at pressures below the coesite to quartz transition. A calculated P–T phase diagram for a former melt‐bearing domain shows that the formation of the peritectic garnet rim occurred at 1.4 GPa and 900°C, with an assemblage of clinopyroxene, amphibole, and plagioclase equilibrated at 1.3 GPa and 720°C. Isochemical phase equilibrium modelling of a symplectite of clinopyroxene, plagioclase, and amphibole after omphacite, combined with the mineral composition, yields a P–T range at 1.0–1. 6 GPa, 680–1,000°C. The assemblage of amphibole and plagioclase is estimated to reach equilibrium at 717–732°C, calculated by amphibole–plagioclase thermometry for the former melt‐bearing domain and symplectite respectively. The results of this study demonstrate that partial melt formed in the UHP eclogite through breakdown of an epidote‐group mineral with minor involvement of phengite during exhumation from peak pressure; melt was subsequently crystallized on the cooling path.     

Metamorphism of pelites in NKFMASH – a new petrogenetic grid with implications for the preservation of high-pressure mineral assemblages during exhumation

A petrogenetic grid for metapelites in the system NKFMASH is presented. The P–T range is investigated in three sections: (1) The high‐ and ultrahigh‐pressure range is discussed in the system NFMASH because phengite is the only stable potassic phase. (2) The transition region is characterised by four NKFMASH‐invariant points that separate high‐pressure glaucophane‐bearing from medium‐pressure biotite‐bearing metapelites. (3) The medium‐pressure range contains the fifth NKFMASH‐invariant point. The univariant reactions of this point terminate the stability range of paragonite, which breaks down to form staurolite or kyanite and plagioclase during decompression and/or heating. As the growth of albitic plagioclase by decomposition of paragonite via continuous reactions may be conspicuous already before these staurolite‐ or kyanite‐producing reactions are reached, such albite porphyroblast schists are typical indicators of a former high‐pressure metamorphic history. Considering the preservation of high‐pressure metapelitic assemblages, those crossing the NKFMASH‐transition region during exhumation commonly dehydrate and preservation is unlikely. Three types of metapelites have a fairly good survival potential: (1) low‐temperature metapelites (up to c. 540 °C) with an exhumation path back into the chlorite + albite stability field, (2) assemblages with chloritoid + glaucophane, and (3) the relatively high‐temperature glaucophane + kyanite and jadeite + kyanite bearing parageneses, that are relatively dry at the onset of exhumation. A comparison with data from the literature shows that these rock types are the most abundant in nature.     

K-rich fluid metasomatism at high-pressure metamorphic conditions: Lawsonite decomposition in rodingitized ultramafite of the Maksyutovo Complex, Southern Urals (Russia)

Fine grained rodingite‐like rocks containing epidote, clinozoisite, garnet, chlorite, phengite and titanite occur within antigorite serpentinite boudins from the high‐pressure metamorphic Maksyutovo Complex in the Southern Urals. Pseudomorphs after lawsonite, resorption of garnet by chlorite and phengite and stoichiometry suggest the reaction lawsonite + garnet + K‐bearing fluid → clinozoisite + chlorite + phengite, and define a relic assemblage of lawsonite + garnet + chlorite + titanite ± epidote as well as a later post‐lawsonite assemblage of clinozoisite + phengite + chlorite + titanite. The reaction lawsonite + titanite → clinozoisite + rutile + pyrophyllite + H₂O delimits the maximum stability of former lawsonite + titanite to pressures >13 kbar. P–T conditions of 18–21 kbar/520–540 °C result, if the average chlorite, Mg‐rich garnet rim and average epidote compositions are used as equilibrium compositions of the former lawsonite assemblage. These estimates indicate a similar depth of formation but lower temperatures to those recorded in nearby eclogites. The metamorphic conditions of the lawsonite assemblage are considerably higher than previously suggested and, together with published structural data, support a model in which a normal fault within the Maksyutovo complex acted as the major transport plane of eclogite exhumation. The maximum Si content of phengite and minimum Fe content in clinozoisite constrain the metamorphic conditions of the later pseudomorph assemblage to be >4.5 kbar and <440 °C. Rb–Sr isotopic dating of the pseudomorph assemblage results in a formation age of 339 ± 6 and 338 ± 5 Ma, respectively. These results support the recent exhumation models for this complex.     

Experimental constraints on phase relations in subducted continental crust

. Synthesis piston cylinder experiments were carried out in the range 2.0-4.5 GPa and 680-1,050 °C to investigate phase relations in subducted continental crust. A model composition (KCMASH) has been used because all major ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) minerals of the whole range of rock types typical for continental crust can be reproduced within this system. The combination of experimental results with phase petrologic constraints permits construction of a UHP petrogenetic grid. The phase relations demonstrate that the most important UHP paragenesis consists of coesite, kyanite, phengite, clinopyroxene, and garnet in subducted continental crust. Below 700 °C talc is stable instead of garnet. As most of these minerals are also stable at much lower pressure and temperature conditions it is thus not easy to recognize UHP metamorphism in subducted crust. A general feature, however, is the absence of feldspars at H₂O-saturated conditions. Plagioclase is never stable at UHP conditions, but K-feldspar can occur in H₂O-undersaturated rocks. Mineral compositions in the experiments are fully buffered by coexisting phases. The Si content of phengite and biotite increase with increasing pressure. At 4.0 GPa, 780 °C, biotite contains 3.28 Si per formula unit, which is most probably caused by solid solution of biotite with talc. Above 800 °C, the CaAl₂SiO₆ component in clinopyroxene buffered with kyanite, coesite and a Mg-phase increases with increasing temperature, providing a tool to distinguish between 'cold' and 'hot' eclogites. Up to 10% Ca-eskolaite (Ca_0.5[]_0.5AlSi₂O₆) in clinopyroxene has been found at the highest temperature and pressure investigated (>900 °C, 4.5 GPa). Garnet buffered with coesite, kyanite and clinopyroxene displays an increase of grossular component with increasing pressure for a given temperature. Although the investigated system represents a simplification with respect to natural rocks, it helps to constrain general features of subducted continental crust. The observed phase relations and phase compositions demonstrate that at pressures >3.0 GPa and temperatures >800 °C continental crust can retain significant amounts of H₂O (>1 wt%), whereas K-free mafic or ultramafic rocks are dry at these conditions. UHP parageneses are only preserved if the whole exhumation path is situated within the stability field of phengite, i.e. if there is cooling during exhumation or if the whole exhumation occurred at T <700 °C. In contrast, break down of phengite and concomitant partial melting in terranes that show isothermal decompression may lead to a complete recrystallization of the subducted crust during exhumation. The density of UHP rocks can be estimated on the basis of the established phase relations. Pelitic rocks are likely to have a density close to mantle rocks (3.3 g/cm³) because of significant amounts of dense garnet and kyanite whereas granitic rocks are less dense (3.0 g/cm³). Hence, subducted average continental crust is most probably buoyant with respect to mantle rocks and tends to get exhumed as soon as it is detached from the down-going slab. Electronic supplementary material to this paper can be obtained by using the Springer LINK server located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00410-001-0336-3.     

Evolution of Caledonian deformation fabrics under eclogite and amphibolite facies at Vårdalsneset, Western Gneiss Region, Norway

The Vårdalsneset eclogite situated in the Western Gneiss Region, SW Norway, is a well preserved tectonite giving information about the deformation regimes active in the lower crust during crustal thickening and subsequent exhumation. The eclogite constitutes layers and lenses variably retrograded to amphibolite and is composed of garnet and omphacite with varying amounts of barroisite, actinolite, clinozoisite, kyanite, quartz, paragonite, phengite and rutile. The rocks record a five‐stage evolution connected to Caledonian burial and subsequent exhumation. (1) A prograde evolution through amphibolite facies (T =490±63 °C) is inferred from garnet cores with amphibole inclusions and bell‐shaped Mn profile. (2) Formation of L>S‐tectonite eclogite (T =680±20 °C, P=16±2 kbar) related to the subduction of continental crust during the Caledonian orogeny. Lack of asymmetrical fabrics and orientation of eclogite facies extensional veins indicate that the deformation regime during formation of the L>S fabric was coaxial. (3) Formation of sub‐horizontal eclogite facies foliation in which the finite stretching direction had changed by approximately 90°. Disruption of eclogite lenses and layers between symmetric shear zones characterizes the dominantly coaxial deformation regime of stage 3. Locally occurring mylonitic eclogites (T =690±20 °C, P=15±1.5 kbar) with top‐W kinematics may indicate, however, that non‐coaxial deformation was also active at eclogite facies conditions. (4) Development of a widespread regional amphibolite facies foliation (T =564±44 °C, P<10.3–8.1 kbar), quartz veins and development of conjugate shear zones indicate that coaxial vertical shortening and sub‐horizontal stretching were active during exhumation from eclogite to amphibolite facies conditions. (5) Amphibolite facies mylonites mainly formed under non‐coaxial top‐W movement are related to large‐scale movement on the extensional detachments active during the late‐orogenic extension of the Caledonides. The structural and metamorphic evolution of the Vårdalsneset eclogite and related areas support the exhumation model, including an extensional detachment in the upper crust and overall coaxial deformation in the lower crust.