Petrology and thermobarometry of eclogite rocks in the Krasnaya Guba dike field,belomorian mobile belt

A sequence of mineral associations was examined in eclogitized basites of the Krasnaya Guba dike field in the Belomorian Mobile Belt. Two morphological types of eclogite and eclogite-like rocks were recognized: (1) eclogite rocks that developed after ferrogabbro dikes and completely replaced these dikes from contact to contact and (2) eclogite-like rocks that developed after gabbronorites in zones of ductile deformations and shearing. According to data mineral geothermobaromety, both rock types were formed within temperature and pressure ranges corresponding to high-pressure and high-temperature amphibolite facies at T = 700 ± 40°C and P = 10.0 ± 0.5 kbar. The peak metamorphic parameters of the host gneisses are analogous. The decompressional stage, which is unambiguously identified by reaction textures, occurred at 630–660°C and 7.9–8.2 kbar. As the temperature and, first of all, pressure decreased, the SiO₂ activity in the fluid systematically varied. The eclogitization of the basites took place locally in relation to fluid fluxes, which were restricted to zones of intense deformations, at variable SiO₂ activity. The rocks show evidence of two stages of post-eclogite amphibolization. Older amphibolization 1 was coeval with the late prograde metamorphic stage (T = 650°C, P = 10–11 kbar). Younger amphibolization 2 affected eclogitized basite dikes and unaltered gabbronorites (together with their host gneisses) over large areas. This process coincided with decompression (T = 580°C, P = 7–8 kbar) and was likely accompanied by the exhumation of deep zones of BMB to upper-middle crustal levels.     

Details of the gabbro‐to‐eclogite transition determined from microtextures and calculated chemical potential relationships

Permian‐aged metagabbros from the eclogite type‐locality in the eastern European Alps were partially to completely transformed to eclogite during Eoalpine intracontinental subduction. Microtextures developed along a preserved fluid infiltration and reaction front in the gabbros record the incipient gabbro‐to‐eclogite transition, allowing the details of the eclogitization process to be investigated. Original, anorthite‐rich igneous plagioclase is pervasively replaced by fine‐grained intergrowths of clinozoisite, kyanite and Na‐rich plagioclase. Where plagioclase was in contact with igneous orthopyroxene, 100–200 μm thick bimineralic coronae of symplectic kyanite and diopsidic clinopyroxene form along the edges of the grains. The rims of igneous orthopyroxene develop a complementary bimineralic corona of diopsidic clinopyroxene and garnet. Igneous clinopyroxene does not show any breakdown textures; however, jadeite content gradually increases towards the rims. In addition, exsolution lamellae inherited from the igneous clinopyroxene become progressively more jadeitic as eclogitization proceeds. Given that the igneous plagioclase is pervasively replaced by clinozoisite, kyanite and Na‐rich plagioclase, whereas kyanite–diopside symplectites are confined to narrow rim zones, we suggest that the development of these textures was controlled by the (im)mobility of different elements on different length scales. The presence of hydrous minerals in the core of anhydrous plagioclase indicates that H₂O diffusivity occurred on a mm‐scale. By contrast, the size of the anhydrous diopside–kyanite and diopside–garnet symplectites indicate that Fe–Mg–Ca–Na diffusivity was limited to a 10s of μm scale. Chemical potential relations calculated in the idealized NCASH chemical system show that the clinozoisite–kyanite–albite intergrowths formed due to an increase of μH₂O to plagioclase, whereas all other elements remained effectively immobile on the scale of this texture. Fluid conditions indicated by this texture span from virtually dry conditions (0.15) to H₂O‐saturation, and therefore does not imply that the rocks were ever fluid‐saturated. Calculations in the CMAS and NCFMAS systems show that the gabbro‐to‐eclogite transition is characterized by the growth of garnet, diopsidic clinopyroxene and kyanite due to diffusion of Ca (+ Na) and Mg (+ Fe) along a μCaO (+ Na₂O)–μMgO (+ FeO) chemical potential gradient developed between orthopyroxene and plagioclase compositional domains. The anhydrous nature of the textures indicate that the gabbro‐to‐eclogite transition is not driven by hydration; however, increased μH₂O acts as a catalyst that increases diffusivity of all elements and rates of dissolution–precipitation, allowing the overstepped metamorphic reactions to occur. Our results show that crustal eclogite formation requires low H₂O content, confirming that true eclogites are dry rocks.     

The Effects of Disequilibrium and Deformation on the Mineralogical Evolution of Quartz Diorite During Metamorphism in the Eclogite Facies

In the Sesia Zone, Western Alps, a large volume of orthogneissformed as a result of eclogite fades metamorphism and deformationof quartz diorite during early Alpine underthrusting and subduction.Rare lenses of undeformed metaquartz diorite, preserved withinthe orthogneiss, represent an early stage in the evolution ofthis latter rock type. The metamorphic and microstructural evolutionof the orthogneiss in the eclogite fades has been reconstructedfrom studies of gradational contacts between undeformed andstrongly deformed rocks. High pressure transformations of the original igneous plagioclase+ biotite + quartz assemblage to jadeitic pyroxene (Jd_{0.95 –0.85}+ zoisite + quartz + garnet + 2 muscovites developed prior todeformation. Slow intergranular diffusion resulted in a stateof disequilibrium between small textural domains in the metaquartzdiorite. The compositions of the phases of the undeformed metaquartzdiorite do not reflect the bulk rock composition, but were controlledby their position relative to reactant phases. The jadeiticpyroxenes, for example, formed in localized domains which originallyconsisted of sodic plagioclase whereas omphacite was the equilibriumpyroxene for the bulk rock composition. Mineralogical changes which occurred during subsequent deformationof the metaquartz diorite are interpreted as resulting froma progressive enlargement of equilibrium domains and the partialequilibration of mineral compositions to the bulk rock compositionrather than from changes in pressure and temperature. Initiallyduring high-strain deformation, fine-grained aggregates of jadeiticpyroxene + quartz + zoisite (originally pseudomorphing plagioclase)are inferred to have deformed by a mechanism of grain boundarysliding accommodated by diffusive mass transfer. Muscovite andgarnet compositions homogenized during the deformation but dueto slow intracrystalline diffusion, pyroxene compositions (Jd_0.95–0.80) remained metastable. The coarsening of pyroxeneeventually terminated deformation by grain boundary slidingand this mineral subsequently deformed by intracrystalline plastidty.This latter process was accompanied by and perhaps catalyseda change in pyroxene composition from metastable jadeite towardsomphacite by a reaction involving the resorption of garnet andthe nucleation and growth of paragonite. The resulting orthogneissconsists of quartz + omphadte + garnet + phengite + paragonite+ zoisite. The rock is characterized by a broad range of pyroxenecompositions (Jd_{0.8 –0.5}) due to the incomplete equilibrationof this mineral to the bulk rock composition and a lack of Fe-Mgexchange equilibrium between pyroxene and garnet. However, incontrast to the undeformed metaquartz diorite, there are noobvious textural indications of disequilibrium between phasesin the orthogneiss     

Mesoarchean mafic dykes of the Belomorian eclogite province (Gridino Village Area,Russia)

Archean processes of eclogitization in the Gridino metamorphic association (the Belomorian eclogite province) developed in mafic dykes, boudins, and acidic rocks of the Archean continental crusts. To determine the U-Pb age of the intrusion of the latest dykes, the geochronological samples were taken from the dyke of ferriferious metagabbro that cross-cuts the dyke of eclogitzed and granulitized olivine gabbronorite. The igneous zircons were dated by the SHRIMP II technique. The zircons showed a concordia age of 2846 ± 7 Ma, which is considered as the time of intrusion of a mafic melt. The younger low-thorium zircon rims of 2.78–2.81 Ga age around the igneous cores are typical formations that appeared under metamorphic conditions in equilibrium with a migmatite melt, and may characterize the time of formation of the granite leucosome under metamorphism, probably of eclogite facies.     

Crystallization and very rapid exhumation of the youngest Alpine eclogites (Tauern Window,Eastern Alps) from Rb/Sr mineral assemblage analysis

Multimineral Rb/Sr internal isochrons from eclogite facies rocks of the Eclogite Zone (Tauern Window, Eastern Alps) consistently yield an Early Oligocene age of 31.5±0.7 Ma. This age has been obtained both for late-prograde, dehydration-related eclogitic veins, and for rocks variably deformed and recrystallized under eclogite facies conditions (2.0–2.5 GPa, 600°C). Initial Sr-isotopic equilibria among all phases indicate absence of significant post-eclogitic isotope redistribution processes, therefore the ages date eclogite facies assemblage crystallization. Equilibria also prove that no prolonged pre-eclogite facies history is recorded in the rocks. Instead, subduction, prograde mineral reactions, and eclogitization proceeded rapidly. Fast exhumation immediately after eclogitization, with minimum rates >36 mm/a is inferred from a 31.5±0.5 Ma internal mineral isochron age of a post-eclogitic greenschist facies vein assemblage. Such rates equal typical subduction rates. Late Eocene to Early Oligocene subduction of the European continental margin, with subsequent rapid exhumation of high-pressure nappe complexes has previously been recognized only in the Western Alps. The new data signify synchronous continental collision all along the Alpine belt. Our results demonstrate the unique potential of Rb/Sr assemblage system analysis for precise dating of both eclogite facies and post-eclogitic events, thus for precisely constraining exhumation rates of deep-seated rocks, and for straightforward linkage of petrologic evidence with isotopic ages.     

Fractionation of bulk rock composition due to porphyroblast growth: effects on eclogite facies mineral equilibria, Pam Peninsula, New Caledonia

Chemically zoned porphyroblasts in metamorphic rocks indicate that diffusional processes could not maintain equilibrium conditions on a grain scale during porphyroblast growth or establish it afterwards. An effect of this inability to maintain equilibrium is the progressive removal of elements forming garnet cores from any metamorphic reaction that occurs at the porphyroblast boundaries or in the matrix of the rock. To examine this effect on mineral assemblages, the Bence–Albee matrix correction was applied to X‐ray intensity maps collected using eclogite samples from northern New Caledonia in order to determine the chemical composition of all parts of the sample. The manipulation of these element maps allows a quantitative analysis of the fractionation of the bulk rock composition between garnet cores and the matrix. A series of calculated equilibrium‐volume compositions represents the change in matrix chemistry with progressive elemental fractionation as a consequence of prograde garnet growth under high‐P conditions. Pressure–temperature pseudosections are calculated for these compositions, in the CaO–Na₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O system. Assemblages, modal proportions and mineral textures observed in the New Caledonian eclogites can be closely modelled by progressively ‘removing’ elements forming garnet cores from the bulk rock composition. The pseudosections demonstrate how chemical fractionation effects the peak metamorphic assemblage, prograde textures and the development of retrograde assemblages.     

Geochemical structure of the Yoko-Dovyren layered dunite-troctolite-gabbro-norite massif,northern Baikal area

The application of the principle and algorithm of the cluster analysis of rock compositions in magmatic complexes, which were described elsewhere, made it possible to reveal the spaceless and spatial geochemical structure of the Yoko-Dovyren layered mafic-ultramafic massif. The diversity of rocks composing this intrusion was demonstrated to comprise eleven discrete geochemical types (clusters): dunites, harzburgites, melanotroctolites, troctolites, two types of olivine gabbro, two types of olivine gabbronorites, quartz gabbronorites, and granophyres. These geochemical types of rocks and the corresponding fractionation parameters (the iron atomic fraction f of mafic minerals and the anorthite concentration An of plagioclase) define a succession corresponding to the tendencies in the crystallization of a magma of respective composition. This geochemical succession is in complete agreement with the succession in which rocks were formed in the intrusion (from dunite in its bottom part to quartz gabbronorites and granophyres near its roof) and is complicated by cyclical repetitions. The main tendency revealed in the cyclic layering is as follows: cyclical intercalations consist of rocks corresponding to the neighboring members of the rock succession (plagiodunites and melanotroctolites, melanotroctolites and troctolites, troctolites and olivine gabbro, olivine gabbro and olivine gabbronorites). These tendencies are closely similar to those identified in the Kivakka intrusion, a fact suggesting that these tendencies can be common for all layered complexes of mafic and ultramafic rocks. Original Russian Text ? A.A. Yaroshevskii, S.V. Bolikhovskaya, E.V. Koptev-Dvornikov, 2006, published in Geokhimiya, 2006, No. 10, pp. 1027–1039.     

Prograde transformations of medium-pressure amphibolites during their eclogitization

The paper is devoted to mineral equilibria occurring during the transformation of medium-pressure metabasites into eclogites at geothermal gradients of 11–19°C/km; it presents materials on the evolution of the composition and types of prograde zoning in garnet and clinopyroxene, significance and distinctive features of armored inclusions of earlier metamorphic stages in garnets and the possibility of their application in calculating the P-T path of eclogitization. Results of the analysis of mineral assemblages, data on mineral zoning, and evolution of phase equilibria are used to outline depth subfacies of crustal eclogites and describe in detail equilibria in basic and acid rocks of each subfacies. Conditions under which orthopyroxene is stable in the eclogite facies are analyzed within the temperature range of 630–700°C in correlation with the bulk composition of the eclogites. Published materials on high-pressure mineral transformations in eclogite-facies acid gneisses are analyzed.     

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility of eclogites: Mineralogical origin and correlation with the tectonic fabric (Cabo Ortegal,Spain)

The fabric and the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility of the Cabo Ortegal eclogite (NW Spain) are studied. These mafic rocks were metamorphosed and deformed under high pressures and temperatures between 390 and 370 Ma in a subduction/collision tectonic setting. Massive eclogite slices and deformed eclogite in shear zones have bulk magnetic susceptibilities of 31 to 82 · 10⁻⁵ S.I. and 28 to 75 · 10⁻⁵ S.I., respectively. The paramagnetic mineral fraction is the principal magnetic susceptibility carrier. This fraction includes notably garnet and clinopyroxene as matrix minerals, and ilmenite and rutile as accessory constituents. Though magnetic anisotropy degree varies between 3.1 % and 6.6%, variations of this parameter in each rock type are marked. In the deformed eclogite, magnetic lineation (K_max) and the pole to the magnetic foliation (K_min) are coaxial and coincident with macroscopic petrofabric elements (foliation and lineation). In the massive eclogite, the magnetic fabric is dispersed along the principal structural planes and inversions are associated with samples with small degrees of anisotropy. The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility is interpreted as being due to the crystallographic preferred orientation and spatial organisation of the polymineralic aggregate. Relating the evolution of the symmetry of magnetic fabric to the symmetry of petrofabric or deformation is rather precluded since susceptibility has multiple origins and bulk magnetic fabric is due to minerals of different symmetry.     

Partial eclogitisation of gabbroic rocks in a late Precambrian subduction zone (Zambia): prograde metamorphism triggered by fluid infiltration

Gabbros and eclogites occur closely associated in a 200-km-long and up to 40-km-wide area of the Zambezi Belt in central Zambia. This area is interpreted to represent part of a late Precambrian suture zone, with the mafic rocks being relics of subducted oceanic crust. Gradual stages of prograde transformation from gabbro to eclogite are preserved by disequilibrium textures of incomplete reactions. This resulted in kyanite–omphacite-bearing assemblages for eclogites that have Al-poor bulk compositions. Undeformed eclogites typically preserve features of a former gabbroic texture, reflected by replacements of plagioclase and magmatic pyroxene by eclogite facies minerals. Textures of deformed eclogites range from sheared porphyroclastic to porphyroblastic. Relics of magmatic pyroxene are common and complete eclogitisation occurred only in millimetre to centimetre-scale domains in most of the rocks. No evidence for prograde blueschist or amphibolite facies mineral assemblages was found in eclogites. In contrast, the fine grained intergrowth of omphacite, garnet, kyanite and quartz, which replace former plagioclase or was formed in the pressure shadow of magmatic pyroxene relics, indicates that eclogitisation might have affected the gabbroic protoliths directly without any significant intervening metamorphic reactions. Eclogitisation took place under P–T conditions of 630–690 °C and 26–28 kbar, suggesting a large overstepping (>10 kbar) of reaction boundaries. Eclogitisation was initialised and accompanied by a channelised fluid flow resulting in veins with large, subhedral grains of omphacite, kyanite and garnet. The gabbro-to-eclogite transformation was enhanced by a fluid which allowed the necessary material transport for the dissolution–precipitation mechanism that characterises the metamorphic mineral replacements. The process of eclogitisation was limited by reaction kinetics and dissolution–precipitation rates rather than by the metamorphic P–T conditions. Even though ductile deformation occurred and equilibrium phase boundaries were overstepped, the infiltration of fluids was necessary for triggering the gabbro-to-eclogite transformation.Editorial responsibility: J. Hoefs     

Source of coesite inclusions within inherited magmatic zircon from Sulu UHP rocks, eastern China, and their bearing for fluid–rock interaction and SHRIMP dating

The 5-km deep Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Main Hole penetrated a sequence of ultrahigh pressure (UHP)-metamorphic rocks consisting mainly of eclogite, gneiss and garnet-peridotite with minor schist and quartzite. Zircon separates taken from thin layers of schist and gneiss within eclogite were investigated. Cathodoluminescence images of zircon grains show that they have oscillatory zoned magmatic cores and unzoned to patchy zoned metamorphic rims. Zircon rims contain rare coesite and calcite inclusions whereas cores contain inclusions of both low- P minerals (e.g. feldspar, biotite and quartz) and coesite and other eclogite-facies minerals such as phengite and jadeite. The zircon cores give highly variable ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages ranging from 760 to 431 Ma for schist and from 698 to 285 Ma for gneiss, and relatively high but variable Th/U ratios (0.16–1.91). We suggest that the coesite and other eclogite facies mineral inclusions in zircon cores were not magmatic but formed through metasomatic processes caused by fluids during UHP metamorphism, and that the fluids contain components of SiO₂, Al₂O₃, K₂O, FeO, MgO, Na₂O and H₂O. Metasomatism of the Sulu UHP rocks during continental subduction to mantle depths has partly altered magmatic zircon cores and reset isotopic systems. This study provides key evidence that mineral inclusions within magmatic zircon domains are not unequivocal indicators of the formation conditions of the respective domain. This finding leads us to conclude that the routine procedure for dating of metamorphic events solely based on the occurrence of mineral inclusions in zoned zircon could be misleading and the data should be treated with caution.     

Aragonite and magnesite in eclogites from the Jæren nappe,SW Norway: disequilibrium in the system CaCO3–MgCO3 and petrological implications

Eclogites from the Jæren nappe in the Caledonian orogenic belt of SW Norway contain aragonite, magnesite and dolomite in quartz‐rich layers. The carbonates comprise composite grains that occur interstitially between phases of the eclogite facies assemblage: garnet + omphacite + zoisite + clinozoisite + quartz + apatite + rutile ± dolomite ± kyanite ± phengite. Pressure and temperature conditions for the main eclogite stage are estimated to be 2.3–2.8 GPa and 585–655 °C. Published ultrahigh pressure (UHP) experiments on CaO‐, MgO‐ and CO₂‐bearing systems have shown that equilibrium assemblages of aragonite and magnesite form as a result of dolomite breakdown at pressures >5 GPa. As a result, recognition of magnesite and aragonite in eclogite facies rocks has been used as an indicator for UHP conditions. However, petrological testing showed that the samples studied here have not experienced such conditions. Aragonite and magnesite show disequilibrium textures that indicate replacement of magnesite by aragonite. This process is inferred to have occurred via a coupled dissolution–precipitation reaction. The formation of aragonite is constrained to eclogite facies conditions, which implies that the studied rocks have experienced metasomatic, reactive fluid flow during their residence at high pressure (HP) conditions. During decompression, the bimineralic carbonate aggregates were overgrown by rims of dolomite, which partially reacted with aragonite to form Mg‐calcite. The well‐preserved carbonate assemblages and textures observed in the studied samples provide a detailed record of the reaction series that affected the rocks during and after their residence at P–T conditions near the coesite stability field. Recognition of the HP mechanism of magnesite replacement by aragonite provides new insight into metasomatic processes that occur in subduction zones and illustrates how fluids facilitate HP carbonate reactions that do not occur in dry systems at otherwise identical physiochemical conditions. This study documents that caution is warranted in interpreting aragonite‐magnesite associations in eclogite facies rocks as evidence for UHP metamorphic conditions.     

Petrogenesis of garnet-bearing ultramafic rocks and associated eclogites in the Su-Lu ultrahigh-P metamorphic terrane, eastern China

Ultramafic blocks that themselves contain eclogite lenses in the Triassic Su-Lu ultrahigh-P terrane of eastern China range in size from hundreds of metres to kilometres. The ultramafic blocks are enclosed in quartzofeldspathic gneiss of early Proterozoic age. Ultramafic rocks include garnetiferous lherzolite, wehrlite, pyroxenite, and hornblende peridotite. Garnet lherzolites are relatively depleted in Al₂O₃ (<3.8wt%), CaO (<3.2%) and TiO₂ (<0.11 wt%), and are low in total REE contents (several p.p.m.), suggesting that the rocks are residual mantle material that was subjected to low degrees of partial melting. The eclogite lenses or layers within the ultramafic rocks are characterized by higher MgO and CaO, lower Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ contents, and a higher CaO/Al₂O₃ ratio compared to eclogites enclosed in the quartzofeldspathic gneiss. Scatter in the plots of major and trace elements vs. MgO, REE patterns and La, Sm and Lu contents suggest that some eclogites were derived from melts formed by various degrees (0.05–0.20) of partial melting of peridotite, and that other eclogites formed by accumulation of garnet and clinopyroxene ± trapped melt in the upper mantle. Both ultramafic and eclogitic rocks have experienced a complex metamorphic history. At least six stages of recrystallization occurred in the ultramafic rocks based on an analysis of reaction textures and mineral compositions. Stage I is a high temperature protolith assemblage of Ol + Opx + Cpx + Spl. Stage II consists of the ultrahigh-pressure assemblage Ol + Cpx + Opx + Grt. Stage III is manifested by the appearance of fine-grained garnet after coarse-grained garnet. Stage IV is characterized by formation of kelyphitic rims of fibrous Opx and Cpx around garnet, and replacement of garnet by spinel and pargasitic-hornblende. Stage V is represented by the assemblage Ol + Opx + Prg-Hbl + Spl. The mineral assemblages of stages VI_A and VI_B are Ol + Tr-Amp + Chl and Serp + Chl ± talc, respectively. Garnet and orthopyroxene all show a decrease in MgO with retrogressive recrystallization and Na₂O in clinopyroxene also decreases throughout this history. Eclogites enclosed within ultramafic blocks consist of Grt + Omp + Rt ± Qtz ± Phn. A few quartz-bearing eclogites contain rounded and oval inclusion of polycrystalline quartz aggregates after coesite in garnet and omphacite. Minor retrograde features include thin symplectic rims or secondary amphiboles after Cpx, and ilmenite after rutile. P-T estimates indicate that the ultrahigh-metamorphism (stage II) of ultramafic rocks occurred at 820-900d? C and 36-41 kbar and that peak metamorphism of eclogites occurred at 730-900d? C and >28 kbar. Consonant with earlier plate tectonic models, we suggest that these rocks were underplated at the base of the continental crust. The rocks then underwent ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism and were tectonically emplaced into thickened continental crust during the Triassic collision between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons.     

Partial transformation of gabbro to coesite-bearing eclogite from Yangkou, the Sulu terrane, eastern China

An ultra-high-pressure (UHP) metamorphic slab at Yangkou Beach near Qingdao in the Sulu region of China consists of blocks of eclogite facies metagabbro, metagranitoid, ultramafic rock and mylonitic orthogneisses enclosed in granitic gneiss. A gradational sequence from incipiently metamorphosed gabbro to completely recrystallized coesite eclogite formed at ultra-high-pressures was identified in a single 30 m block; metagabbro is preserved in the core whereas coesite eclogite occurs along the block margins. The metagabbro contains an igneous assemblage of Pl+Aug+Opx+Qtz+Bt+Ilm/Ti-Mag; it shows relict magmatic textures and reaction coronas. Fine-grained garnet developed along boundaries between plagioclase and other phases; primary plagioclase broke down to Ab+Ky+Ms+Zo±Grt±Amp. Augite is rimmed by sodic augite or omphacite, whereas orthopyroxene is rimmed by a corona of Cum±Act and Omp+Qtz layers or only Omp+Qtz. In transitional rocks, augite and orthopyroxene are totally replaced by omphacite, and the lower-pressure assemblage Ab+Ky+Phn+Zo+Grt coexists with domains of Omp (Jd_70–73)+Ky±Phn in pseudomorphs after plagioclase. Both massive and weakly deformed coesite-bearing eclogites contain Omp+Ky+Grt+Phn+Coe/Qtz+Rt, and preserve a faint gabbroic texture. Coesite inclusions in garnet and omphacite exhibit limited conversion to palisade quartz; some intergranular coesite and quartz pseudomorphs after coesite also occur. Assemblages of the coronal stage, transitional and UHP peak occurred at about 540±50 °C at c. 13 kbar, 600–800 °C at ≥15–25 kbar and 800–850 °C at >30 kbar, respectively. Garnet from the coronal- through the transitional- to the eclogite-stage rocks show a decrease in almandine and an increase in grossular±pyrope components; garnet in low-grade rocks contains higher MnO and lower pyrope components. The growth textures of garnet within pseudomorphs after plagioclase or along grain boundaries between plagioclase and other phases are complex; the application of garnet zoning to estimate P–T should be carried out with caution. Some garnet enclosing quartz aggregates as inclusions shows radial growth boundaries; these quartz aggregates, as well as other primary and low-P phases, persisted metastably at UHP conditions due to sluggish reactions resulting from the lack of fluid during prograde and retrograde P–T evolution.     

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility of eclogites: mineralogical origin and correlation with the tectonic fabric (Cabo Ortegal,Spain)

Abstract

The fabric and the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility of the Cabo Ortegal eclogite (NW Spain) are studied. These mafic rocks were metamorphosed and deformed under high pressures and temperatures between 390 and 370 Ma in a subduction/collision tectonic setting. Massive eclogite slices and deformed eclogite in shear zones have bulk magnetic susceptibilities of 31 to 82·10^?5 S.I. and 28 to 75·10^?5 S.I., respectively. The paramagnetic mineral fraction is the principal magnetic susceptibility carrier. This fraction includes notably garnet and clinopyroxene as matrix minerals, and ilmenite and rutile as accessory constituents. Though magnetic anisotropy degree varies between 3.1 % and 6.6 %, variations of this parameter in each rock type are marked. In the deformed eclogite, magnetic lineation (K_max) and the pole to the magnetic foliation (K_min) are coaxial and coincident with macroscopic petrofabric elements (foliation and lineation). In the massive eclogite, the magnetic fabric is dispersed along the principal structural planes and inversions are associated with samples with small degrees of anisotropy. The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility is interpreted as being due to the crystallographic preferred orientation and spatial organisation of the polymineralic aggregate. Relating the evolution of the symmetry of magnetic fabric to the symmetry of petrofabric or deformation is rather precluded since susceptibility has multiple origins and bulk magnetic fabric is due to minerals of different symmetry. © Elsevier, Paris     

Paleoproterozoic eclogites in the salma area,Northwestern Belomorian Mobile Belt: Composition and isotopic geochronologic characteristics of minerals and metamorphic age

The paper represents results of a comprehensive geochemical and isotopic-geochemical (SIMS) study of eclogites from the northwestern part of the Belomorian Belt (Salma eclogites). A detailed fieldwork was carried out at the quarry of the Kuru-Vaara deposit of ceramic pegmatite in the northwestern part of the study area, in which tonalite-trondhjemite gneisses include bodies and blocks of eclogite and Grt-Aug eclogite-like clinopyroxenite and are cut across by numerous pegmatite veins. The least altered types of the Grt-Cpx rocks selected for our further research included: (1) widespread massive homogeneous fine-grained Grt-Omp eclogite that replaced gabbro and contained symplectites of Pl + low-Na-Cpx around omphacite and Pl-Hbl kelyphite rims around Grt; and (2) coarse-grained eclogite-like Grt-Hbl-Aug clinopyroxenite beds up to 20 cm thick in the central parts of high-Mg metaultrabasites, which are mostly tremolite-actinolite schists. The REE patterns of garnet, clinopyroxene, and amphibole from the eclogites confirm that they crystallized simultaneously, under a high pressure, and in the absence of plagioclase. Local U-Pb dates of the zircons and their geochemistry are at variance with the earlier hypothesis that the eclogite metamorphism occurred in the Archean. The eclogites and Grt-Hbl-Aug clinopyroxenite were determined to contain zircons of Svecofennian age (approximately 1900 Ma), which show all geochemical characteristics of classic eclogitic zircons and occur either as individual crystals or as rims around Archean magmatic zircons from the primary gabbroids.     

Fluid controlled eclogitization of granulites in deep crustal shear zones,Bergen arcs,Western Norway

During the Caledonian orogeny large parts of the western margin of the Baltic shield were disrupted, sliced and stacked. Caledonian deformation resulted in a massif thickening of the continental crust. Mafic granulites and granulite facies meta-anorthosites build up a large portion of the Bergen Arcs terrane in southwestern Norway. The rocks represent typical Precambrian continental lower crust. These rocks experienced extensive eclogitization in response to stacking and crustal thickening during the Caledonian orogenic cycle. Eclogite formation resulted from shear deformation and associated infiltration of H₂O-rich fluids (X _H2O0.75). During an early stage, eclogite facies mineralogy formed in extension fractures (veins). The veins are probably related to hydraulic fracture systems which transported the inferred fluid phase. During the main stage, eclogitization occurred along shear zones ranging from centimeters to tens of meters in thickness. Eclogite forming reactions are shown to consume H₂O, alkalies and to release SiO₂. Much of the SiO₂ released by the eclogitization process can be found in late quartz vein systems. The eclogitization took place at a temperature of about 700°C and a pressure between 18 and 21 kbar. Fluid infiltration was supported by a decrease in rock volume during reaction (V _solids<0). The negative volume change of reaction occurs despite that the process of eclogitization involves hydration reactions. The formation of eclogite from granulite produces approximately 15 KJ heat per 100 cm³ original granulite. Numerical modeling of the regional temperature effects associated with partial hydration of the lower crust suggests that these processes may not cause large perturbations on the geotherm. Both, transport of heat and matter by advection of the fluid phase is negligible on a regional scale.     

P–T evolution of glaucophane–omphacite bearing HP–LT rocks in the western Tianshan Orogen, NW China:new evidence for 'Alpine-type' tectonics

The late Palaeozoic western Tianshan high‐pressure /low‐temperature belt extends for about 200 km along the south‐central Tianshan suture zone and is composed mainly of blueschist, eclogite and epidote amphibolite/greenschist facies rocks. P–T conditions of mafic garnet omphacite and garnet–omphacite blueschist, which are interlayered with eclogite, were investigated in order to establish an exhumation path for these high‐pressure rocks. Maximum pressure conditions are represented by the assemblage garnet–omphacite–paragonite–phengite–glaucophane–quartz–rutile. Estimated maximum pressures range between 18 and 21 kbar at temperatures between 490 and 570 °C. Decompression caused the destabilization of omphacite, garnet and glaucophane to albite, Ca‐amphibole and chlorite. The post‐eclogite facies metamorphic conditions between 9 and 14 kbar at 480–570 °C suggest an almost isothermal decompression from eclogite to epidote–amphibolite facies conditions. Prograde growth zoning and mineral inclusions in garnet as well as post‐eclogite facies conditions are evidence for a clockwise P–T path. Analysis of phase diagrams constrains the P–T path to more or less isothermal cooling which is well corroborated by the results of geothermobarometry and mineral textures. This implies that the high‐pressure rocks from the western Tianshan Orogen formed in a tectonic regime similar to ‘Alpine‐type’ tectonics. This contradicts previous models which favour ‘Franciscan‐type’ tectonics for the southern Tianshan high‐pressure rocks.     

Does continental crust transform during eclogite facies metamorphism?

Eclogites within exhumed continental collision zones indicate regional burial to depths of at least 60 km, and often more than 100 km in the coesite‐stable, ultra‐high pressure (UHP) eclogite facies. Garnet, omphacitic pyroxene, high‐Si mica, kyanite ± coesite should grow at the expense of low‐P minerals in most felsic compositions, if equilibrium obtained at these conditions. The quartzofeldspathic rocks that comprise the bulk of eclogite facies terranes, however, contain mainly amphibolite facies, plagioclase‐bearing assemblages. To what extent these lower‐P minerals persisted metastably during (U)HP metamorphism, or whether they grew afterwards, reflects closely upon crustal parameters such as density, strength and seismic character. The Nordfjord area in western Norway offers a detailed view into a large crustal section that was subducted into the eclogite facies. The degree of transformation in typical pelite, paragneiss, granitic and granodioritic gneiss was assessed by modelling the equilibrium assemblage, comparing it with existing parageneses in these rocks and using U/Th–Pb zircon geochronology from laser ablation ICPMS to establish the history of mineral growth. U–Pb dates define a period of zircon recrystallization and new growth accompanying burial and metamorphism lasting from 430 to 400 Ma. Eclogite facies mafic rock (~2 vol.% of crust) is the most transformed composition and records the ambient peak conditions. Rare garnet‐bearing pelitic rocks (<10 vol.% of crust) preserve a mostly prograde mineral evolution to near‐peak conditions; REE concentrations in zircon indicate that garnet was present after 425 Ma and feldspar broke down after 410 Ma. Felsic gneiss – by far the most abundant rock type – is dominated by quartz + biotite + feldspar, but minor zoisite/epidote, phengitic white mica, garnet and rutile point to a prograde HP overprint. Relict textures indicate that much of the microstructural framework of plagioclase, K‐feldspar, and perhaps biotite, persisted through at least 25 Ma of burial, and ultimately UHP metamorphism. The signature reaction of the eclogite facies in felsic rocks – jadeite/omphacite growth from plagioclase – cannot be deduced from the presence of pyroxene or its breakdown products. We conclude that prograde dehydration in orthogneiss leads to fluid absent conditions, impeding equilibration beyond ~high‐P amphibolite facies.     

Diffusion versus recrystallization processes in Rb-Sr geochronology: Isotopic relics in eclogite facies rocks, Western Gneiss Region, Norway

Rb-Sr and U-Pb isotopic data for granulite facies rocks, forming textural relics with respect to eclogite facies metamorphism in the Western Gneiss Region (WGR) of Norway, highlight the importance of textures and mineral reaction kinetics for the interpretation of geochronological data. Studied rocks from Bårdsholmen, southern WGR, were subjected to granulite facies metamorphism at 955 ± 3 Ma (U-Pb, zircon). Later on, they experienced a subduction-related, kinetically stranded eclogitization (T > 650 °C at ∼20 kbar) at 404 ± 2 Ma (Rb-Sr multimineral internal isochron data), followed by exhumation through amphibolite facies conditions. Full conversion of granulite to eclogite was restricted to zones of fluid infiltration and deformation. Despite the fact that metamorphic temperatures vastly exceeded the commonly assumed ‘closure temperature’ for Rb-Sr in submillimeter-sized biotite for several Ma during eclogite facies overprint, Sr-isotopic signatures of relic biotite have not been fully reset. Large biotite crystals nearly record their Sveconorwegian (Grenvillian) crystallization age. Sr signatures of other granulite facies phases (feldspar, pyroxenes, amphibole) remained unchanged, with the exception of apatite. The results imply that isotopic signatures much closer correspond to the P, T conditions of formation recorded by a dated phase and its paragenesis, than to a temperature history. In texturally well-equilibrated high-grade rocks which experienced no mineral reactions and remained devoid of free fluids during exhumation, like granulites or eclogites, isotopic resetting during cooling is either kinetically locked, or restricted to sluggish intermineral diffusion which demonstrably does not lead to full isotopic homogenization. In texturally unequilibrated rocks, textural relics are likely to represent isotopic relics. It is shown that for both high-grade rocks and for rocks with textural disequilibria, geologically meaningful isotopic ages based on isochron methods can only be derived from sub-assemblages in isotopic equilibrium, which have to be defined by analysis of all rock-forming minerals. Conventional two-point ‘mica ages’ for such rocks are a priori geochronologically uninterpretable, and valid multimineral isochron ages a priori do not record cooling but instead date recrystallization-inducing processes like fluid-rock interaction.