Extreme crustal metamorphism during Columbia supercontinent assembly: Evidence from North China Craton

A vast supracrustal belt of khondalites (granulite facies metapelites) occur along the northern margin of the North China Craton. We report here for the first time spinel + quartz equilibrium assemblage from these rocks in two textural settings: (1) high ZnO (up to 14.47 wt.%) spinel with quartz as inclusions within garnet porphyroblasts defining pressure above 12 kbar and temperature of 900 °C; and (2) low ZnO (down to 1.2 wt.%) spinel in association with quartz in the matrix assemblage formed during peak ultrahigh-temperature conditions (ca. 975 °C and 9 kbar). We present a unique case of decompression where the metamorphic conditions of the rocks traversed mostly through the spinel + quartz (extended) stability field. Monazite grains in textural association with both types of spinel + quartz textures were analysed for age determination, and the data define two age peaks at 1927 ± 11 Ma and 1819 ± 11 Ma. Since the peak thermal regime of the khondalites was close to or exceeded the theoretical closure temperature of Pb in monazite, we infer the 1819 ± 11 Ma age as the timing of ultrahigh-temperature event in this craton. Our data lend support to the idea of ca. 1.9–1.8 Ga E–W collisional orogen at the northern margin of the North China Craton. We correlate the extreme crustal metamorphism with tectonics associated with the assembly of the North China Craton within the Columbia supercontinent.     

Prograde P–T path of medium-pressure granulite facies calc-silicate rocks, Higo metamorphic terrane, central Kyushu, Japan

This paper reports an occurrence of medium-pressure granulite facies calc-silicate rocks intercalated with pelitic gneisses in the Higo metamorphic terrane, central Kyushu, Japan, which is classified as a low- P /high- T (andalusite-sillimanite type) metamorphic belt. Three equilibrium stages are recognized in the calc-silicate rock based on reaction textures: M1 stage characterized by an assemblage of porphyroblastic garnet + coarse-grained clinopyroxene + plagioclase included in the clinopyroxene; M2 stage by two kinds of breakdown products of garnet, one is plagioclase + coronitic clinopyroxene within garnet and the other is plagioclase + vermicular clinopyroxene surrounding garnet; and M3 stage by amphibole replacing clinopyroxene. The key assemblage in the calc-silicate rock common to M1 and M2 stages is Grt + Cpx + Pl ± Qtz, which constrains the pressure and temperature ( P – T ) conditions for these stages by Fe–Mg exchange reaction and the two univariant net-transfer reactions: 2Grs + Alm + 3Qtz = 3Hd + 3An or 2Grs + Prp + 3Qtz = 3Di + 3An. The P – T conditions for M1 and M2 stages were estimated to be about 8.4 ± 1.9 kbar and 680 ± 122 °C, and 6.7 ± 1.9 to 8.9 ± 2.2 kbar and 700 ± 130 to 820 ± 160 °C, respectively. Estimates are consistent with an isobaric heating P – T path. The high peak temperature conditions at normal crustal depths and the prograde isobaric heating path probably require heat advection due to melt migration during the high- T metamorphism.     

Spinel granulite in Odesan area, South Korea: Tectonic implications for the collision between the North and South China blocks

Spinel granulite formed in the Fe–Al-rich layers in migmatitic gneiss adjacent to a late Paleozoic collision-related mangerite intrusion in the Odesan area, eastern Gyeonggi Massif, South Korea, contains the high-temperature (HT) assemblage Crd + Spl + Crn. Spinel and cordierite compositions indicate peak metamorphic conditions of 914–1157 °C. Retrograde metamorphism reached amphibolite facies where garnet and cordierite broke down to biotite, sillimanite and quartz. These conditions, and the reactions inferred from mineral textures, are consistent with a clockwise P–T path. Metamorphic zircon overgrowths in the spinel granulite and enclosing migmatitic gneiss, dated by SHRIMP U–Pb, yield Permo-Triassic ages of 245 ± 10 and 248 ± 18 Ma respectively, consistent with the metamorphism being a product of the late Paleozoic collision between the North and South China blocks within South Korea. The zircon core ages and textures suggest that the ultimate source of the spinel granulite was a Paleoproterozoic (1852 ± 14 Ma) igneous rock. The protolith of the host migmatitic gneiss was a sediment derived principally from 2.49, 2.16 and 1.86 Ga sources. The age and conditions of spinel granulite metamorphism are similar to those of spinel-bearing granulite in the Higo terrane in west-central Kyushu (250 Ma, > 950 °C at 8–9 kbar), consistent with a continuation of the Dabie-Sulu collision zone into Japan through the Odesan area.     

Spinel–sapphirine–quartz bearing composite inclusion within garnet from an ultrahigh-temperature pelitic granulite: Implications for metamorphic history and P–T path

We report here a multiphase mineral inclusion composed of quartz, plagioclase, K-feldspar, sapphirine, spinel, orthopyroxene, and biotite, in porphyroblastic garnet within a pelitic granulite from Rajapalaiyam in the Madurai Granulite Block, southern India. In this unique textural association, hitherto unreported in previous studies, sapphirine shows four occurrences: (1) as anhedral mineral between spinel and quartz (Spr-1), (2) subhedral to euhedral needles mantled by quartz (Spr-2), (3) subhedral to anhedral mineral in orthopyroxene, and (4) isolated inclusion with quartz (Spr-4). Spr-1, Spr-2, and Spr-4 show direct grain contact with quartz, providing evidence for ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism at temperatures exceeding 1000 °C. Associated orthopyroxene shows high Mg/(Fe + Mg) ratio ( 0.75) and Al₂O₃ content (up to 9.6 wt.%), also suggesting T > 1050 °C and P > 10 kbar during peak metamorphism.

Coarse spinel (Spl-1) with irregular grain morphology and adjacent quartz grains are separated by thin films of Spr-1 and K-feldspar, suggesting that Spl-1 and quartz were in equilibrium before the stability of Spr-1 + quartz. This texture implies that the P–T conditions of the rock shifted from the stability field of spinel + quartz to sapphirine + quartz. Petrogenetic grid considerations based on available data from the FMAS system favour exhumation along a counterclockwise P–T trajectory. The irregular shape of the inclusion and chemistry of the inclusion minerals are markedly different from the matrix phases suggesting the possibility that the inclusion minerals could have equilibrated from cordierite-bearing silicate-melt pockets during the garnet growth at extreme UHT conditions.     

Kyanite eclogite xenolith from the orthogneiss terrane of the Tisza Megaunit, Jánoshalma area, crystalline basement of southern Hungary

New evidence for high-pressure, eclogite facies metamorphism in the crystalline basement of the Tisza Megaunit (southern Hungary) is reported. The retrogressed mafic eclogite forms a small lens in the orthogneiss and it was found in the borehole near Jánoshalma. The carbonated eclogite contains the peak metamorphic assemblage omphacite + garnet + phengite + kyanite + clinozoizite + rutile + K-feldspar + quartz. Omphacite (Xjd_0.40–0.41Xdio_0.52–0.53Xhd_0.05Xaug_1.55–2.85) occurs in the matrix and as inclusions in garnet (Xpy_0.37–0.38Xgrs_0.21–0.22Xalm_0.39–0.40Xsps_0–0.01Xadr_0–0.01) and kyanite. Thermobarometry based on net-transfer reactions between garnet, omphacite, kyanite and phengite yields P–T conditions of 710 ± 10 °C and 2.6 ± 0.75 GPa. Retrogression during decompression is manifested by formation of symplectites; the most typical are diopside + plagioclase after omphacite, corundum + spinel + plagioclase after kyanite and biotite + plagioclase after phengite. Carbonatization along the veins of the retrogressed eclogite was probably coeval with formation of these symplectites. At places where carbonate is absent the rock was completely hydrated and retrogressed down to the greenschist facies with the development of actinolite. Similar eclogites together with abundant orthogneisses occur mainly in the eastern parts of the Tisza Megaunit, suggesting the existence of an ancient (possibly Variscan) subduction/accretionary complex.     

Experimental study of the joins forsterite–diopside–leucite– and forsterite–leucite–åkermanite up to 2.3 GPa [P(H2O) = P(Total)] and variable temperatures: Its petrological significance

We conducted a series of melting experiments in the join forsterite–diopside–leucite under 0.1 and 2.3 GPa and in the join forsterite–leucite–åkermanite under 2.3 GPa to understand paragenetic relationships amongst different types of lamproitic and lamprophyric magmas with K-rich mafic and ultramafic volcanic (kamafugitic) rocks. Both the joins were studied in the presence of excess water. The experimental results of the join forsterite–diopside–leucite at 0.1 GPa show that the five-phase point of forsterite (Fo)_ss + diopside (Di)_ss + leucite (Lc)_ss + liquid (Liq) + vapour (V) (equivalent to ugandite lava) occurs at Fo₂Di₅₀Lc₄₈ at 880 ± 5 °C. Phlogopite appears as the last phase at 830 ± 15 °C. The final crystalline assemblage of forsterite_ss + diopside_ss + leucite_ss + phlogopite is similar to the phenocryst assemblage of missourite lava. Present study suggests that an olivine leucitite (ugandite) can be derived from an olivine italite, a slightly potassic peridotite and a leucitite magma.

A study of the join Fo–Di–Lc [P(H₂O) = P(Total)] at 2.3 GPa shows that liquid compositions penetrate the primary phase volumes of forsterite_ss, phlogopite_ss, kalsilitess, K-feldspar_ss and diopside_ss. It has the following three five-phase points: 1) one occurring at Fo₉Di₄₉Lc₄₂ and 1005 ± 5 °C, where liquid and vapour coexists with forsterite_ss, phlogopite_ss and diopside_ss (phlogopite-bearing madupite), 2) the second one at Fo₄Di₅₀Lc₄₆ and 990 ± 10 °C, where diopside_ss, K-feldspar_ss and phlogopite_ss coexist with liquid and vapour (pyroxene-bearing minette), and 3) the third one at Fo₃Di₂₁Lc₇₆ and 775 ± 5 °C, where phlogopite_ss, kalsilite_ss and K-feldspar_ss are in equilibrium with liquid plus vapour (kalsilite-bearing minette).

The experimental results of the join Fo–Lc–åkermanite (Ak) show that the join 40 penetrates the primary phase volumes of forsterite_ss, phlogopite_ss, kalsilite, K-feldspar_ss, diopside_ss and merwinite_ss. The data indicate the presence of four five-phase points: 1) one occurring at Fo₇Lc₄₂Ak₅₁ and 1165 ± 5 °C, where phlogopite_ss, forsterite_ss, diopside_ss coexists with liquid and vapour (olivine-bearing madupite), 2) the second one at Fo₃Lc₄₉Ak₄₈ and 1140 ± 10 °C, where a liquid is in equilibrium with phlogopite_ss, K-feldspar_ss, diopside_ss and vapour (pyroxene-bearing minette), 3) the third one at Fo₁₈Lc₂₁Ak₆₁ and 1255 ± 10 °C, where merwinite_ss, forsterite_ss and diopside_ss are in equilibrium with liquid and vapour (merwinite-bearing wherlite), and 4) the fourth one at Fo₅Lc_73.5Ak_21.5 and 770 ± 5 °C, where kalsilite_ss, phlogopite_ss and K-feldspar coexist with liquid and vapour (kalsilite-bearing minette). The present data suggest that high pressure heteromorphic equivalent of a katungite magma is represented by a kalsilite-bearing minette, a pyroxene-bearing minette, or an olivine-bearing madupite.     

Petrogenesis of basalts and gabbros from an ancient continent–ocean transition (External Liguride ophiolites, Northern Italy)

Remnants of a fossil continent–ocean transition similar to that of the modern non-volcanic continental margins are preserved in the Jurassic External Liguride units. They consist of fertile lherzolites of subcontinental origin, MOR-type basalts and rare gabbroic intrusives, together with continental crust bodies exhumed during the rifting phases preceding the oceanization. The gabbroic rocks include troctolites, (olivine) gabbros, Fe–Ti oxide-bearing gabbros and diorites. Trace element and Nd isotope compositions indicate that these rocks were derived from N-MORB melts variably evolved through fractional crystallisation. In the gabbroic rocks, high-temperature ( 900 °C) shearing along ductile shear zones is locally overprinted by amphibolite-facies recrystallization (T  650 °C), which was most likely assisted by seawater-derived fluids. Basalts crop out as lava flows and as dykes crosscutting mantle lherzolites and gabbroic rocks. They display nearly flat REE patterns and high Y/Nb values (5–14), similar to modern N-MORB. Basalts are also characterised by weak Zr enrichment relative to neighbouring REE (Zr/Zr = 1.1–1.7) and high (Sm/Yb)_DM ratios (1.5–1.8). Their Nd isotope compositions are close to typical depleted mantle (initial _Nd = +7.6 to + 9.4). The geochemical features of parental melts of basaltic and gabbroic rocks may be attributed to melting of a MORB-type asthenospheric source. Trace element modelling shows that low-degree (≤ 6%) fractional melting of a depleted spinel peridotite cannot account for the elevated Sm/Yb ratios of basalts. Low-degree melting of a mixed source of spinel peridotite with small amounts of garnet pyroxenite has been proposed to explain the trace element signature of basalts.     

Cretaceous isochron ages from K–Ar and Ar / Ar dating of eclogitic rocks in the Tso Morari Complex, western Himalaya, India

The Tso Morari Complex, which is thought to be originally the margin of the Indian continent, is composed of pelitic gneisses and schists including mafic rock lenses (eclogites and basic schists). Eclogites studied here have the mineral assemblage Grt + Omp + Ca-Amp + Zo + Phn + Pg + Qtz + Rt. They also have coesite pseudomorph in garnet and quartz rods in omphacite, suggesting a record of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism. They occur only in the cores of meter-scale mafic rock lenses intercalated with the pelitic schists. Small mafic lenses and the rim parts of large lenses have been strongly deformed to form the foliation parallel to that of the pelitic schists and show the mineral assemblages of upper greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphism. The garnet–omphacite thermometry and the univariant reaction relations for jadeite formation give 13–21 kbar at 600 °C and 16–18 kbar at 750 °C for the eclogite formation using the jadeite content of clinopyroxene (X_Jd = 0.48).

Phengites in pelitic schists show variable Si / Al and Na / K ratios among grains as well as within single grains, and give K–Ar ages of 50–87 Ma. The pelitic schist with paragonite and phengite yielded K–Ar ages of 83.5 Ma (K = 4.9 wt.%) for paragonite–phengite mixture and 85.3 Ma (K = 7.8 wt.%) for phengite and an isochron age of 91 ± 13 Ma from the two dataset. The eclogite gives a plateau age of 132 Ma in Ar/Ar step-heating analyses using single phengite grain and an inverse isochron age of 130 ± 39 Ma with an initial ⁴⁰Ar / ³⁶Ar ratio of 434 ± 90 in Ar/Ar spot analyses of phengites and paragonites. The Cretaceous isochron ages are interpreted to represent the timing of early stage of exhumation of the eclogitic rocks assuming revised high closure temperature (500 °C) for phengite K–Ar system. The phengites in pelitic schists have experienced retrograde reaction which modified their chemistry during intense deformation associated with the exhumation of these rocks with the release of significant radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar from the crystals. The argon release took place in the schists that experienced the retrogression to upper greenschist facies metamorphisms from the eclogite facies conditions.     

Microstructures of olivine-plagioclase corona in meta-ultramafic rocks from Sefuri Mountains, NW Kyushu, Japan

Two types of reaction rims occur between olivine and plagioclase in ultramafic rocks from the Sefuri Mountains, NW Kyushu, Japan, which were metamorphosed under granulite-facies conditions. One occurs as a thin film of orthopyroxene along the boundary between olivine and plagioclase (orthopyroxene zone). The other is composed of two zones: symplectite of calcic amphibole and spinel on the plagioclase-side (symplectite zone) and calcic amphibole with sporadic orthopyroxene on the olivine-side (tremolite zone). In the tremolite zone, calcic amphibole shows a systematic decrease in Al content and increase in Mg/(Fe +Mg) with decreasing distance from olivine. Local equilibria maintained during the diffusion-controlled corona-forming reaction enable us to apply equilibrium thermodynamics to calcic amphibole and adjacent orthopyroxene. An integrated formulation of the Gibbs method for an Fe–Mg exchange reaction constrains the equilibrium temperature recorded in the tremolite zone to be 600–710 °C. It is significantly lower than the temperature of the granulite-facies metamorphism (800–900 °C) estimated using conventional geothermobarometry. Except for H₂O, the association of calcic amphibole and spinel in the symplectite zone is chemically equivalent to the association of olivine, plagioclase and orthopyroxene that was stable before the corona formation. This suggests that the following orthopyroxene-consuming reaction describes the paragenetic change taking place between 800–900 °C and 600–710 °C, olivine + plagioclase + orthopyroxene + aqueous fluid = calcic amphibole + spinel. In contrast, the overall reaction inferred from microstructures produces orthopyroxene as well as calcic amphibole and spinel at the expense of olivine and plagioclase. This reaction requires removal mainly of MgO that is also responsible for destabilizing the local association of olivine and plagioclase. These features suggest that the presence of orthopyroxene as a product in the corona is not always indicative of an orthopyroxene-producing reaction being responsible for the change of paragenetic relation. Microstructural features should be carefully applied to infer the reaction describing paragenetic change by which we argue the P–T path of the rocks.     

Prograde metamorphic evolution and development of chloritoid-bearing eclogitic assemblages in subcontinental metagabbro (Sesia–Lanzo zone, Italy)

In the coronitic metagabbroic rocks of the Corio and Monastero metagabbro bodies in the continental Sesia–Lanzo zone of the western Italian Alps, a variety of mineral reactions that testify to prograde conditions from greenschist to eclogite-facies can be recognised. A microstructural and microchemical study of a series of samples characterized by coronitic textures and pseudomorphic replacement of the original igneous minerals has allowed the prograde reactions undergone by the rocks to be established.

In completely eclogitized coronitic samples, paragonite, blue amphibole, garnet, epidote, fine grained jadeite and chloritoid occur in plagioclase microdomains (former igneous plagioclase). The mafic mineral microdomains consist of glaucophane and garnet. Complexly-zoned amphiboles constrain changing metamorphic conditions: cores of pre-Alpine brown hornblende and/or tremolite are preserved inside rims of a sodic–calcic amphibole that are in turn surrounded by a sodic amphibole. The main high-pressure mineral assemblage, as seen in mylonites, involves glaucophane, chloritoid, epidote, garnet ± phengite, ± paragonite. Some layers within the gabbro contain garnet, omphacite, ± glaucophane, and acid dykes crosscutting the gabbro body contain jadeite, quartz, garnet, epidote and paragonite.

The presence of chloritoid-bearing high-pressure assemblages reflects hydration of the gabbros during their pre-Alpine exhumation prior to subduction, as well as the composition of the microdomains operating during subduction. The pressure and temperature conditions of gabbro transformation during subduction are inferred to be 450–550 °C at up to 2 GPa on the basis of the chloritoid-bearing assemblages. The factors controlling the reaction pathway to form chloritoid-bearing high-pressure assemblages in mafic rocks are inferred from these observations.     

Petrology and mineralogy of granulite-facies mafic xenoliths (Sardinia, Italy): Evidence for KCl metasomatism in the lower crust

Here new mineralogical data is presented on the occurrence of K-feldspar in granulite-facies metagabbronorite xenoliths found in recent alkaline lavas from Western Sardinia, Italy. The xenoliths originated from the underplating of variably evolved subduction-related basaltic liquids, which underwent cooling and recrystallisation in the deep crust (T = 850–900 °C, P = 0.8–1.0 GPa). They consist of orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + plagioclase porphyroclasts (An = 50–66 mol%) in a granoblastic, recrystallised, quartz-free matrix composed of pyroxene + plagioclase (An = 56–72 mol%) + Fe–Ti oxides ± K-feldspar ± biotite ± fluorapatite ± Ti-biotite. Texturally, the K-feldspar occurs in a variety of different modes. These include: (1) rods, blebs, and irregular patches in a random scattering of plagioclase grains in the form of antiperthite; (2) micro-veins along plagioclase–plagioclase and plagioclase–pyroxene grain rims; (3) myrmekite-like intergrowths with Ca-rich plagioclase along plagioclase–plagioclase grain boundaries; and (4) discrete anhedral grains (sometimes microperthitic). The composition of each type of K-feldspar is characterized by relatively high albite contents (16–33 mol%). An increasing anorthite content in the plagioclase towards the contact with the K-feldspar micro-vein and myrmekite-like intergrowths into the K-feldspar along the plagioclase–K-feldspar grain boundary are also observed. Small amounts of biotite (TiO₂ = 4.7–6.5 wt.%; F = 0.24–1.19 wt.%; Cl = 0.04–0.20 wt.%) in textural equilibrium with the granulite-facies assemblage is present in both K-feldspar-bearing and K-feldspar-free xenoliths. These K-feldspar textures suggest a likely metasomatic origin due to solid-state infiltration of KCl-rich fluids/melts. The presence of such fluids is supported by the fluorapatite in these xenoliths, which is enriched in Cl (Cl = 6–50% of the total F + Cl + OH). These lines of evidence suggest that formation of K-feldspar in the mafic xenoliths reflects metasomatic processes, requiring an external K-rich fluid source, which operated in the lower crust during and after in-situ high-T recrystallisation of relatively dry rocks.     

Geologic and metamorphic evolution of the basement complexes in the Kontum Massif, central Vietnam

This paper presents a regional scale observation of metamorphic geology and mineral assemblage variations of Kontum Massif, central Vietnam, supplemented by pressure–temperature estimates and reconnaissance geochronological results. The mineral assemblage variations and thermobarometric results classify the massif into a low- to medium-temperature and relatively high-pressure northern part characterised by kyanite-bearing rocks (570–700 °C at 0.79–0.86 GPa) and a more complex southern part. The southern part can be subdivided into western and eastern regions. The western region shows very high-temperature (> 900 °C) and -pressure conditions characterised by the presence of garnet and orthopyroxene in both mafic and pelitic granulites (900–980 °C at 1.0–1.5 GPa). The eastern region contains widespread medium- to high-temperature and low-pressure rocks, with metamorphic grade increasing from north to south; epidote- or muscovite-bearing gneisses in the north (< 700–740 °C at < 0.50 GPa) to garnet-free mafic and orthopyroxene-free pelitic granulites in the south (790–920 °C at 0.63–0.84 GPa). The Permo-Triassic Sm–Nd ages (247–240 Ma) from high-temperature and -pressure granulites and recent geochronological studies suggest that the south-eastern part of Kontum Massif is composed of a Siluro-Ordovician continental fragment probably showing a low-pressure/temperature continental geothermal gradient derived from the Gondwana era with subsequent Permo-Triassic collision-related high-pressure reactivation zones.     

Impure marbles from the UHP Brossasco-Isasca Unit (Dora-Maira Massif, western Alps): evidence for Alpine equilibration in the diamond stability field and evaluation of the X(CO2) fluid evolution

Two impure ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) marbles, a calcite marble with the peak assemblage Grt + Phe + Cpx + Rt + (Arg) and a dolomite marble with the peak assemblage Crn + Chl + Rt + Dol (±Arg), from the same lens from the polymetamorphic complex of the Brossasco-Isasca Unit (BIU) (southern Dora-Maira Massif) have been petrologically investigated and modelled by calculating P – T phase-diagram projections for H₂O–CO₂ mixed-volatile systems. Thermobarometric data obtained from the calcite marble suggest Alpine peak conditions in the diamond stability field (4.0 GPa at 730 °C), and allow reconstruction of the earlier portion of the Alpine retrograde P – T path, which is characterized by a significant decompression coupled with a moderate and continuous cooling to 650 °C at 2.50 GPa. The modelled fluid compositions at peak conditions point to 0.025 ≤  X (CO₂) ≤ 0.10 and X (CO₂) ≤ 0.0012 in the calcite marble and dolomite marble, respectively, suggesting fluid heterogeneity at the local scale and an internally buffered fluid evolution of the studied impure marbles. The lack of micro-diamond in the BIU marbles is explained by the very-low X (CO₂) values, which favoured relatively high f O₂-conditions, preventing the formation of diamond at the UHP peak metamorphic conditions.     

Corundum + quartz and Mg-staurolite bearing granulite from the Limpopo Belt, southern Africa: Implications for a P–T path

A new occurrence of the rare corundum + quartz assemblage and magnesian staurolite has been found in a gedrite–garnet rock from the Central Zone of the Neoarchean Limpopo Belt in Zimbabwe. Poikiloblastic garnet in the sample contains numerous inclusions of corundum + quartz ± sillimanite, magnesian staurolite + sapphirine ± orthopyroxene, and sapphirine + sillimanite assemblages, as well as monophase inclusions. Corundum, often containing subhedral to rounded quartz, occurs as subhedral to euhedral inclusions in the garnet. Quartz and corundum occur in direct grain contact with no evidence of a reaction texture. The textures and Fe–Mg ratios of staurolite inclusions and the host garnet suggest a prograde dehydration reaction of St → Grt + Crn + Qtz + H₂O to give the corundum + quartz assemblage. Peak conditions of 890–930 °C at 9–10 kbar are obtained from orthopyroxene + sapphirine and garnet + staurolite assemblages. A clockwise P–T path is inferred, with peak conditions being followed by retrograde conditions of 4–6 kbar and 500–570 °C. The presence of unusually magnesian staurolite (Mg / [Fe + Mg] = 0.47–0.53) and corundum + garnet assemblages provides evidence for early high-pressure metamorphism in the Central Zone, possibly close to eclogite facies. The prograde high-pressure event followed by high- to ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism and rapid uplifting of the Limpopo Belt could have occurred as a result of Neoarchean collisional orogeny involving the Zimbabwe and Kaapvaal Cratons.     

Excess Ar-free phengite in ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks from the Lago di Cignana area, Western Alps

Ar/Ar analyses of phengites and paragonites from the ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks (zoisite–clinozoisite schist, garnet–phengite schist and piemontite schist) in the Lago di Cignana area, Western Alps were carried out with a laser probe step-heating method using single crystals and a spot dating method on thin sections. Eight phengite and two paragonite crystals give the plateau ages of 37–42 Ma with 96–100% of ³⁹Ar released. Each rock type also contains mica crystals showing discordant age spectra with age fractions (20–35 Ma) significantly younger than the plateau ages. Phengite inclusions in garnet give ages of 43.2 ± 1.1 Ma and 44.4 ± 1.5 Ma, which are significantly older than the spot age (36.4 ± 1.4 Ma) from the matrix phengites, and the plateau ages from the step-heating analyses. Inclusion ages (43 and 44 Ma) are consistent with a zircon SHRIMP age (44 ± 1 Ma) in this area. These results suggest that the oceanic materials that underwent a simple subduction related UHPM, form excess ⁴⁰Ar-free phengite and that the peak metamorphism is ca. 44 Ma or little older. We suggest that matrix phengites experienced a retrogression reaction changing their chemistry contemporaneously with deformation related to the exhumation of rocks releasing significant radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar from the crystals. This has lead to the apparent ages of the matrix phengites that are significantly younger than the inclusion age.     

Partial melting and P–T evolution of the Kodaikanal Metapelite Belt, southern India

The Kodaikanal region of the Madurai Block in southern India exposes a segment of high-grade metamorphic rocks dominated by an aluminous garnet–cordierite–spinel–sillimanite–quartz migmatite suite, designated herein as the Kodaikanal Metapelite Belt (KMB). These rocks were subjected to extreme crustal metamorphism during the Late Neoproterozoic despite the lack of diagnostic ultrahigh-temperature assemblages. The rocks preserve microstructural evidence demonstrating initial-heating, dehydration melting to generate the peak metamorphic assemblage and later retrogression of the residual assemblages with remaining melt. The peak metamorphic assemblage is interpreted to be garnet + sillimanite + K-feldspar + spinel + Fe–Ti oxide + quartz + melt, which indicates pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions around 950–1000 °C and 7–8 kbar based on calculated phase diagrams. A clockwise P–T path is proposed by integrating microstructural information with pseudosections. We show that evidence for extreme crustal metamorphism at ultrahigh-temperature conditions can be extracted even in the cases where the rocks lack diagnostic ultrahigh-temperature mineral assemblages. Our approach confirms the widespread regional occurrence of UHT metamorphism in the Madurai Block during Gondwana assembly and point out the need for similar studies on adjacent continental fragments.     

A zircon study from the Rhodope metamorphic complex, N-Greece: Time record of a multistage evolution

Zircons from an eclogite and a diamond-bearing metapelite near the Kimi village (north-eastern Rhodope Metamorphic Complex, Greece) have been investigated by Micro Raman Spectroscopy, SEM, SHRIMP and LA-ICPMS to define their inclusion mineralogy, ages and trace element contents. In addition, the host rocks metamorphic evolution was reconstructed and linked to the zircon growth domains.

The eclogite contains relicts of a high pressure stage (ca. 700 °C and > 17.5 kbar) characterised by matrix omphacite with Jd_40–35. This assemblage was overprinted by a lower pressure, higher temperature metamorphic event (ca. 820 °C and 15.5–17.5 kbar), as indicated by the presence of clinopyroxene (Jd_35–20) and plagioclase. Biotite and pargasitic amphibole represent a later stage, probably related to an influx of fluids. Zircons separated from the eclogite contain magmatic relicts indicating Permian crystallization of a quartz-bearing gabbroic protolith. Inclusions diagnostic of the high temperature, post-eclogitic overprint are found in metamorphic zircon domain Z2 which ages spread over a long period (160 – 95 Ma). Based on zircon textures, zoning and chemistry, we suggest that the high-temperature peak occurred at or before ca. 160 Ma and the zircons were disturbed by a later event possibly at around 115 Ma. Small metamorphic zircon overgrowths with a different composition yield an age of 79 ± 3 Ma, which is related to a distinct amphibolite-facies metamorphic event.

The metapelitic host rock consists of a mesosome with garnet, mica and kyanite, and a quartz- and plagioclase-bearing leucosome, which formed at granulite-facies conditions. Based on previously reported micro-diamond inclusions in garnet, the mesosome is assumed to have experienced UHP conditions. Nevertheless, (U)HP mineral inclusions were not found in the zircons separated from the diamond-bearing metapelite. Inclusions of melt, kyanite and high-Ti biotite in a first metamorphic zircon domain suggest that zircon formation occurred during pervasive granulite-facies metamorphism. An age of 171 ± 1 Ma measured on this zircon domain constrains the high-temperature metamorphic event. A second, inclusion-free metamorphic domain yielded an age of 160 ± 1 Ma that is related to decompression and melt crystallization.

The similar age data obtained from the samples indicate that both rock types recorded a high-T metamorphic overprint at granulite-facies conditions at ca. 170 – 160 Ma. This age implies that any high pressure or even ultra-high pressure metamorphism in the Kimi Complex occurred before that time. Our findings define new constraints for the geodynamic evolution for the Alpine orogenic cycle within the northernmost Greek part of the Rhodope Metamorphic Complex. It is proposed that the rocks of the Kimi Complex belong to a suture zone squeezed between two continental blocks and result from a Paleo-ocean basin, which should be located further north of the Jurassic Vardar Ocean.     

Lu–Hf geochronology and trace element distribution in garnet: Implications for uplift and exhumation of ultra-high pressure granulites in the Sudetes, SW Poland

Combining Lu–Hf garnet geochronology with in situ trace element analyses in garnet allowed us to gain new insight into the metamorphic evolution of UHP–UHT rocks in the Stary Gierałtów region, in the Polish Sudetes. Prograde garnet growth recorded by Rayleigh-type heavy REE (HREE) zoning in the felsic granulites indicates that the obtained 386.6 ± 4.9 Ma Lu–Hf age represents the time of garnet crystallization on a prograde UHP metamorphic path. The surrounding rocks were metamorphosed at the same time as indicated by 381.2 ± 6.7 Ma Sm–Nd garnet age obtained for the mid-crustal metapelites. The second metamorphic episode, which affected most of the lower crust in the Orlica–Śnieżnik Massif (OSM) occurred at ca. 340 Ma as determined by U–Pb zircon and Sm–Nd garnet dating of granulites in this and previous studies is interpreted as a high temperature event, which took place on a retrograde path.

Trace element distribution in garnets from the layered granulites showed significant differences in distribution of medium and HREE in garnets from mafic and felsic protoliths over the course of the metamorphic evolution. This had strong impact on the isotopic dating results and led to “decoupling” of the Sm–Nd and Lu–Hf clocks, which recorded timing of the two different metamorphic episodes separated by as much as 40 Ma. Moreover, the preservation of the HREE growth zonation profile in garnets from the felsic granulites whose minimum metamorphic temperature was established at 900 °C implies that the Lu–Hf system under relatively dry conditions does not undergo significant diffusional re-equilibration even at such extreme temperatures and therefore it sill provides the age of prograde garnet growth. Under hydrous conditions, at least some resetting will take place, as documented by the partially relaxed HREE zonation profile in the amphibolitised mafic granulite, which yielded a 10 Ma younger age. The HREE distribution study appeared to be a particularly valuable and essential tool, which allowed us to distinguish garnet growth from post-growth complexities and hence, provide improved age interpretation. Medium REE, on the other hand, did not show any obvious correlation with the isotopic signature of garnet.

Two distinct metamorphic episodes recorded in the Stary Gierałtów region show that buoyancy-driven uplift of UHP rocks can be arrested at the base of a continental crust if not supported by any additional force. In our case study, the UHP rocks would have never reached the surface if their uplift had not been resumed after a long pause under a different tectonic regime. The multistage, discontinuous uplift revealed by the UHP rocks of the OSM provides a new scenario for the exhumation of continental crust from mantle depths distinct from the fast-track exhumation histories recognized in UHP terranes elsewhere.     

Derivation of potassic (shoshonitic) magmas by decompression melting of phlogopite+pargasite lherzolite

A model metasomatized lherzolite composition contains phlogopite and pargasite, together with olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and spinel or garnet as subsolidus phases to 3 GPa. Previous works established that at ≥1.5 GPa, phlogopite is stable above the dehydration solidus, determined by the melting behaviour of pargasite and coexisting phases. At 2.8 GPa, melts with residual phlogopite+garnet lherzolite mineralogy at 1195 °C and with garnet lherzolite mineralogy at 1250 °C are both olivine nephelinite with K/Na (atomic)=0.51 and K/Na=0.65, respectively. Recent work shows that melting along the dehydration (fluid-absent) solidus of the phlogopite+pargasite lherzolite at pressures <1.5 GPa is very different with the presence of phlogopite, decreasing the solidus below that of pargasite lherzolite. At 1.0 GPa, both phlogopite and pargasite disappear at temperatures at or slightly above the solidus. The compositions of two melts at 1.0 GPa, 1075 °C (with different water contents), in equilibrium with residual spinel lherzolite mineralogy are silica-saturated trachyandesite (5% melt fraction, 3% H₂O) to silica-oversaturated basaltic andesite (8% melt fraction, 4.5% H₂O). Both compositions may be classified as ‘shoshonites’ on the basis of normative compositions, silica-saturation, and K/Na ratio. Decompression melting of metasomatized lithospheric lherzolite with minor phlogopite and pargasite may produce primary ‘shoshonitic’ magmas by dehydration melting at 1 GPa, 1050–1150 °C. Such magmas may be parental to Proterozoic batholithic syenites occurring in Brazil.     

Geochemistry and petrology of Tertiary volcanic rocks and related ultramafic xenoliths from the central and eastern Oman Mountains

The Tertiary volcanic rocks of the central and the eastern parts of the Oman Mountains consist mainly of basanites with abundant upper mantle ultramafic xenoliths. The lavas are alkaline (42–43 wt.% SiO₂; 3.5–5.5 wt.% Na₂O + K₂O). They include primitive (11–14 wt.% MgO) features with strong OIB-like geochemical signatures. Trace element and Sr–Nd isotope data for the basanites suggest mixing of melts derived from variable degrees of melting of both garnet- and spinel lherzolite-facies mantle source. The associated xenolith suite consists mainly of spinel and Cr-bearing diopside wehrlite, lherzolite and dunite with predominantly granuloblastic textures. No significant difference in chemistry was found between the basanites and xenoliths from the central and eastern Oman Mountains, which indicate a similar mantle source. Calculated oxygen fugacity indicates equilibration of the xenoliths at − 0.43 to − 2.2 log units above the fayalite–magnetite–quartz (FMQ) buffer. Mantle xenolith equilibration temperatures range from 910–1045 + 50 °C at weakly constrained pressures between 13 and 21 kbar. Xenolith data and geophysical studies indicate that the Moho is located at a depth of  40 km. A geotherm substantially hotter (90 mW m^− 2) than the crust–mantle boundary (45 mW m^− 2) is indicated and probably relates to tectonothermal events associated with the local and regional Tertiary magmatism. The petrogenesis of the Omani Tertiary basanites is explained by partial melting of an asthenospheric mantle protolith during an extension phase predating opening of the Gulf of Aden and plume-related alkaline volcanic rocks.