Main Uralian Thrust and Main Uralian Normal Fault: non-extensional Palaeozoic high-P rock exhumation, oblique collision, and normal faulting in the Southern Urals

The crustal architecture of the Southern Urals is dominated by an orogenic wedge thrusted westward upon the subducted East European continental margin. The N–S trending wedge constitutes an antiformal stack composed mainly of the high-P Maksyutov Complex, the overlying Suvanyak Complex and the allochthonous synformal Zilair flysch further west. These tectono-metamorphic units are separated by tectonic contacts and record discontinously decreasing metamorphic conditions from bottom to top. In the east, the E-dipping Main Uralian Normal Fault cross-cuts the metamorphic footwall and juxtaposes the non metamorphic Magnitogorsk island arc. This syncollisional normal fault compensated crustal thickening and exhumation of the high-P rocks. Orogenic shortening was accommodated by the Main Uralian Thrust, a W-vergent crustal-scale shear zone at the base of the wedge. Geological investigations and reflection seismics (URSEIS '95) argue in favour of a geodynamic evolution integrating subduction and basal accretion of high-P rocks during sinistral oblique thrusting along the Main Uralian Thrust and coeval normal-faulting along the Main Uralian Normal Fault.     

The Exhumation of Dabie Ultrahigh‐High Pressure Metamorphic Rocks Shown by the Deformation of Taihu‐Mamiao Shear zone

Since the discovery of high‐pressure metamorphic minerals such as coesite and diamond (Xu et al., 1992), the exhumation mode and process of the Dabie ultrahigh‐high pressure (UHP) rocks had become hot topics. For the exhumation process of UHP rocks, several explanation models had been proposed, and the subduction tunnel mode (Warren et al., 2008) seemed to be recognized by most scholars. A low rheological zone formed along the subduction, and the deep subduction material was rapidly exhumated by buoyancy or tectonic stress. In the tunnel, the exhuming rock moved at the opposite direction of the subduction. Following this model, the Dabie UHP rock exhumation structure would generally tend to NW, and show a top to SE shear sense (Fig 1a, b). However, the existing structural observations indicate that the UHP rocks tend to be S‐SE with the top to NW shear sense (Faure et al., 2003). Therefore, the more detailly analysis of the exhumation structure in the UHP rocks, especially in the exhuming shear zone is very necessary.     

大别山花凉亭-弥陀剪切带与超高压变质岩片的斜向差异折返

超高压变质岩的折返过程是陆陆碰撞边界演化的关键问题。南倾的花凉亭-弥陀剪切带位于南大别低温-超高压变质 带和中大别中温-超高压变质带之间,矿物拉伸线理倾伏向为SE,逆冲和走滑分量大致相等。电子背散射衍射分析表明： 花凉亭-弥陀剪切带大多数样品的石英组构记录了上盘向NW的剪切变形,反映了中大别超高压变质岩向SE的快速折返, 而部分样品的石英具有上盘向SE的剪切指向,与早白垩世花岗岩穹隆发育导致的区域伸展有关。对前人的岩石学和年代学 成果进行总结,发现大别山进变质和超高压变质峰期/退变质的锆石U-Pb年龄从南往北逐渐变新,南大别和中大别在215~ 225 Ma同时经历了高压榴辉岩相退变质作用,在191~195 Ma经历了绿片岩相变质作用。超高压变质岩的白云母和黑云母的 40Ar/39Ar年龄靠近郯庐断裂时偏年轻,可能受到郯庐断裂活动的影响。南大别和中大别变质峰期温压的等值线与花凉亭-弥 陀剪切带的走向斜交,反映了超高压变质岩的斜向折返。因此,南大别低温-超高压变质带在~236 Ma最先开始折返,之后 中大别和北大别依次发生快速折返,具有不同折返速率和折返角度的构造岩片通过韧性剪切带调节相对运动。     

西藏南羌塘增生杂岩中俯冲反向驱动高压变质岩折返:来自猫耳山大型拆离断层的启示

大洋岩石圈俯冲增生过程中可能伴随着复杂的深部板片运动过程。高压变质岩无疑是记录这些深部过程的良好载体。最近的研究提出,在特定情况下,双向俯冲中占主导的俯冲板块拖曳另一侧板块发生反向运动,从而短板片可能被另一侧长板片拖出。该研究提示我们关注俯冲增生过程中这种可能的“不正常”的板片运动方式,从而客观而全面地剖析碰撞造山带。现有高压变质岩折返模式中,除了俯冲隧道流模式,其余模式均强调单次快速折返。然而,俯冲反向运动导致的折返过程有所不同:对单个高压变质岩来说仍是快速折返,但是对整体高压变质岩带来说,整个俯冲反向期间必然都存在高压变质岩折返,从而形成较长的折返过程持续时间。对上地壳层次的折返相关构造变形的研究有助于揭示上述过程。     

大陆俯冲隧道中的应变不均一分布：来自大别山超高压变质岩的记录

俯冲隧道是俯冲板片与上覆板块之间的剪切带,也是高压—超高压变质岩折返和深部流/熔体活动的通道。大别山超高压变质岩分布广泛,变形程度差异很大,是研究大陆俯冲隧道中岩石变质- 变形过程的理想地区。本文系统总结了前人对中大别双河地区超高压变质岩的岩石学和年代学研究成果,在双河地区开展了地质填图、应变分析和三维构造重建。通过将超高压变质岩的变形特征与P- T- t轨迹结合,识别出超高压变质岩折返过程中的三期韧性变形。在双河北部发现了一个上盘向NW剪切的千米尺度的榴辉岩相鞘褶皱,枢纽向SE倾伏,倾伏角约20°,与榴辉岩、片岩和长英质片麻岩的拉伸线理平行,表明超高压变质岩初始折返阶段的流体活动使榴辉岩的强度显著降低,榴辉岩与围岩一起发生韧性变形。该期变形被角闪岩相退变质阶段上盘向NW的剪切叠加,此时应变集中于片麻岩、片岩、大理岩等非能干层,强度较高的榴辉岩成为构造透镜体。而绿片岩相变质阶段上盘向SE方向的剪切与早白垩世北大别花岗片麻岩穹隆的形成有关。对双河南部弱变形花岗片麻岩的锆石U- Pb定年揭示了757±14 Ma的原岩年龄和 240~216 Ma的变质年龄,与双河北部含柯石英强变形花岗片麻岩类似,暗示其也经历了三叠纪超高压变质作用及随后的角闪岩相退变质作用。通过计算长英质片麻岩的有效黏度,发现无水碱长花岗片麻岩的有效黏度高于黑云斜长片麻岩,折返阶段的流体活动使超高压变质岩的强度显著降低,当局部的流体活动不足以弱化碱长花岗岩体时,应变集中于黑云斜长片麻岩。因此,大陆俯冲隧道中的应变分布受矿物组成、流体活动和岩体规模的共同影响。     

Prograde high- to ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism and exhumation of oceanic sediments at Lago di Cignana, Zermatt-Saas Zone, western Alps

Pelagic metasediments and MORB-type metabasalts of the former Tethyan oceanic crust at Cignana, Valtournanche, Italy, experienced UHP metamorphism and subsequent exhumation during the Early to Late Tertiary. Maximum PT conditions attained during UHP metamorphism were 600–630 °C, 2.7–2.9 GPa, which resulted in the formation of coesite-glaucophane-eclogites in the basaltic layer and of garnet-dolomite-aragonite-lawsonite-coesite-phengite-bearing calc-schists and garnet-phengite-coesite-schists with variable amounts of epidote, talc, dolomite, Na-pyroxene and Na-amphibole in the overlying metasediments. During subduction the rocks followed a prograde HP/UHP path which in correspondance with the Jurassic age of the Tethyan crust reflects the thermal influence of relatively old and cold lithosphere and of low to moderate shear heating. Inflections on the prograde metamorphic path may correspond to thermal effects that arise from a decrease in shear heating due to brittle-plastic transition in the quartz-aragonite-dominated rocks, induced convection in the asthenospheric mantle wedge and/or heat consumption by endothermic reactions over a restricted PT segment during subduction. After detachment from the downgoing slab some 50–70 Ma before present, the Cignana crustal slice was first exhumed to ca. 60 km and concomitantly cooled to ca. 550 °C, tracing back the UHP/HP prograde path displaced by 50–80 °C to higher temperatures. Exhumation at this stage is likely to have occurred in the Benioff zone, while the subduction of cool lithosphere was going on. Subsequently, the rocks were near-isothermally exhumed to ca. 30 km, followed by concomitant decompression and cooling to surface conditions (at < 500 °C, < 1 GPa). During this last stage the UHPM slice arrived at its present tectonic position with respect to the overlying greenschist-facies Combin zone. In contrast to the well-preserved HP/UHPM record of the coesite-glaucophane eclogites, the HP/UHP assemblages of the metasediments have been largely obliterated during exhumation. Relics from which the metamorphic evolution of the rocks during prograde HP metamorphism and the UHP stage can be retrieved are restricted to rigid low-diffusion minerals like garnet, dolomite, tourmaline and apatite.     

High- to ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) ductile shear zones in the Sulu UHP metamorphic belt, China: implications for continental subduction and exhumation

High‐ to ultrahigh‐pressure (HP‐UHP) metamorphic rocks that resulted from deep continental subduction and subsequent exhumation in the Sulu orogenic belt, China, have experienced multiphase deformation and metamorphic overprint during its long journey to the mantle and return to the surface. HP‐UHP shear zones are strain‐localized weak zones on which the UHP slab is transported over long distances. HP‐UHP shear zones are well exposed along a 200‐km belt in the Sulu UHP metamorphic belt. The shear zones lie structurally below the UHP rocks and above the non‐UHP rocks, suggesting the early exhumation of the UHP rocks by thrusting. The large area distribution, HP‐UHP nature, high strain and structural association of the shear zones with the UHP rocks suggest that the shear zones are probably a regional detachment developed during the early stage of exhumation of the UHP rocks. Kinematic indicators suggest top‐to‐the N–NW motion of the UHP slab during the exhumation, which, combined with isotope signature in Mesozoic igneous rocks, leads us to the interpretation that the subduction polarity is the North China plate down to the south rather than the Yangtze plate down to the north in the Sulu region.     

The Plankogel detachment of the Eastern Alps: petrological evidence for an orogen‐scale extraction fault

The so‐called Plankogel detachment is an east‐west trending, south‐dipping low‐angle structure that juxtaposes the high‐P rocks of the eclogite type locality of the eastern European Alps against amphibolite facies rocks to the south. It occurs in both the Saualpe and Koralpe Complex in eastern Austria. During Cretaceous intracontinental subduction, the footwall and the hangingwall units of the Plankogel detachment were buried to different crustal levels as inferred by pseudosection modelling and conventional thermobarometry: ~23–24 kbar and 640–690 °C for the eclogite facies units in the footwall of the detachment and ~12–14 kbar and 550–580 °C for the amphibolite facies metapelites in the hangingwall. Despite the different peak metamorphic conditions, both sides of the detachment display a common overprint at conditions of ~10 kbar and 580–650 °C. From this, we infer a two‐stage exhumation process and suggest that this two‐stage process is best interpreted tectonically in terms of slab extraction during Eoalpine subduction. The first stage of exhumation occurred due to the downward (southward) extraction of a lithospheric slab that was localized in the trace of the Plankogel detachment. The later stage, however, is attributed to more regional erosion‐ or extension‐driven processes. Since the Plankogel detachment is geometrically related to a crustal‐scale shear zone further north (the Plattengneiss shear zone), we suggest that both structures are part of the same extraction fault system along which the syn‐collisional exhumation of the Eoalpine high‐P units of the Eastern Alps occurred. The suggested model is consistent with both the mylonitic texture of the Plattengneiss shear zone and the overall ambiguous shear sense indicators present in the entire region.     

P-T paths from high temperature shear zones beneath ophiolites

Abstract Mctamorphic rocks of the St Anthony Complex of north-western Newfoundland are best interpreted in terms of a high-temperature shear zone formed between down-going continental margin rocks and overriding oceanic lithosphere in a subduction zone. High-grade rocks, immediately beneath the oceanic lithosphere peridotite, display retrograde meta-morphism in high-strain zones, whereas lower grade rocks, near the base of the metamorphic complex, display prograde metamorphism in high-strain zones. Mylonite zones in meta-basitcs at all levels in the complex contain the assemblage epidote-hornblende-albite-sodic oligoclase. These observations suggest that the 'inverted metamorphic gradient'within the St Anthony Complex results from the fortuitous preservation of residual metamorphic assemblages from different crustal levels within an epidote amphibolite facies shear zone. The degree of re-equilibration is strongly dependent on the degree of strain, and is best achieved in synmetamorphic mylonite zones. This interpretation of the St Anthony Complex can be extended to other sub-ophiolite metamorphic sheets, which show very similar relationships. It is proposed that most metamorphic sheets beneath ophiolites are high temperature shear zones, the P-T paths of which preserve records of burial and exhumation in subduction zones.     

Mineral isograds and metamorphic zones of the Anglesey blueschist belt, UK: implications for the metamorphic development of a Neoproterozoic subduction–accretion complex

The 560–550 Ma blueschists and associated rocks in Anglesey, UK were derived from a subduction–accretion complex. The blueschist unit is divided into three mineral zones by two newly mapped metamorphic isograds; zone I sub-greenschist facies, (crossite isograd), zone II blueschist facies, (barroisite isograd), zone III epidote-amphibolite facies. The zones and isograds dip gently to the east, and decrease in metamorphic grade from the central high-pressure zone III to lower grade zones II and I to the west and east. The P – T conditions estimated from zoned amphibole indicate an anticlockwise P – T path following adjustment to a cold geotherm. This path is well preserved in the compositional zoning of Na–Ca amphibole that have a core of barroisite surrounded by a rim of crossite, although this is only locally developed. The sense of subduction was to the east and exhumation to the west, as indicated by the metamorphic isograds. The symmetrical arrangement of the metamorphic zones with the deepest high-pressure rocks in the middle suggests an isoclinal antiformal structure that formed by wedge extrusion during exhumation in the subduction zone.     

Exhumation of the Saualpe eclogite unit, Eastern Alps: constraints from 40Ar/39Ar ages and structural investigations

Summary The Cretaceous Eclogite-Gneiss unit and its tectonic overburden (Micaschist, Phyllite and Lower Magdalensberg units) and the underlying Preims subunit of the Saualpe, Eastern Alps, have been investigated in order to constrain the mode of exhumation of the type locality of eclogites. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of white mica from the eclogite-bearing unit suggest rapid, uniform cooling and exhumation between 86 and 78 Ma (Santonian-Campanian). Overlying units show upwards increasingly older ages with an age of 261.7 ± 1.4 Ma in the uppermost, low-grade metamorphic unit (Lower Magdalensberg unit). We consider this Permian age as geologically significant and to record a Permian tectonic event. Rocks of phyllite and micaschist units along western margins of the Saualpe block yield amphibole and white mica ages ranging from 123 to 130 Ma. These are considered to closely date the age of nappe stacking, whereas a single biotite age of 66–68 Ma from a shear zone is interpreted to date retrogression during normal faulting. Biotite and amphibole of Micaschist and Eclogite-Gneiss units show variable contents of extraneous argon. Consequently, their ages are in part geologically meaningless whereas other samples yield meaningful ages. The white mica ages from the Eclogite-Gneiss unit range from 78 to 85 Ma and argue for cooling through ca. 400 °C during the time as the westerly adjacent Upper Cretaceous Krappfeld collapse basin formed. The Preims subunit with paragneiss and marbles is considered to represent a large synmetamorphic shear zone at the base of the overthrusting Eclogite-Gneiss unit. The unit comprises a flat-lying foliation and a SE-trending lineation. This zone is interpreted to represent a zone of top-NW thrusting. A major ductile low-angle normal fault with top to ESE shear has been detected between the Eclogite-Gneiss and overlying units, and between the Micaschist and Phyllite units. The ductile thrust at the base and the low-angle normal fault at the top are considered to confine a NW-ward extruding high-pressure wedge. The new observations argue for rapid exhumation of a subducted high-pressure wedge within a subduction channel. Rapid surface erosion of the exhuming wedge might have facilitated exhumation. Eroded sedimentary rocks are preserved within adjacent Gosau basins, although only pebbles of low-grade metamorphic rocks of the uppermost tectonic unit can be found in these basins.     

用陆块旋转解释藏东南渐新世-中新世伸展作用——来自点苍山及邻区变质核杂岩的证据

沿红河断裂带(RRFZ)分布的点苍山变质核杂岩是一个不完整的变质核杂岩,它由两个特征迥异的单元组成,包括被同构造二长花岗岩侵入角闪岩相构造岩组成的下盘和绿片岩相的拆离断层带。下盘岩石包括具有高温构造组合,具有指示左行走滑剪切运动方向的L型糜棱岩或LS型糜棱岩。拆离断层带是一个上盘向E到SE伸展剪切的低温剪切带,由具有剪应变和压应变的典型S-L糜棱岩构成。低温构造岩也包括发育于下盘的几个糜棱岩化似斑状二长花岗岩侵入体。变质核杂岩与西侧覆盖未变质的中生代沉积岩并置,东部受第四纪断层作用影响为沿洱海分布的更新世-全新世沉积盆地。通过对点苍山变质核杂岩的构造研究,结合邻区变质核杂岩的地质年代学及古地磁学分析,我们认为:位于东南亚红河断裂和实皆断裂带之间的扇形区域内出现的变质核杂岩与渐新世-中新世时期区域性伸展作用有关,而伸展作用是由印支地块的差异性旋转产生的,其原因是由于约33Ma开始斜向俯冲的印度板块的顺时针旋转和回退所致。     

Late-Stage Ductile Deformation in Xiongdian-Suhe HP Metamorphic Unit, North-Western Dabie Shan, Central China

New structural and petrological data unveil a very complicated ductile deformation history of the Xiongdian-Suhe HP metamorphic unit, north-western Dabie Shun, central China. The finegrained symplectic amphibolite-facies assemblage and coronal structure enveloping eclogite-facies garnet,omphacite and phengite etc., representing strain-free decompression and retrogressive metamorphism,are considered as the main criteria to distinguish between the early-stage deformation under HP metamorphic conditions related to the continental deep subduction and collision, and the late-stage deformation under amphibolite to greenschist-facies conditions occurred in the post-eclogite exhumation processes.Two late-stages of widely developed, sequential ductile deformations D3 and D4, are recognized on the basis of penetrative fabrics and mineral aggregates in the Xiongdian-Suhe HP metamorphic unit, which shows clear, regionally, consistent overprinting relationships. D3 fabrics are best preserved in the Suhe tract of low post-D3 deformation intensity and characterized by steeply dipping layered mylonitic amphibolites associated with doubly vergent folds. They are attributed to a phase of tectonism linked to the initial exhumation of the HP rocks and involved crustal shortening with the development of upright structures and the widespread emplacement of garnet-bearing granites and felsic dikes. D4 structures are attributed to the main episode of ductile extension (D^24) with a gently dipping foliation to the north and common intrafolial, recumbent folds in the Xiongdian tract, followed by normal sense top-to-the northductile shearing (D^24) along an important tectonic boundary, the so-called Majiawa-Hexiwan fault (MHF), the westward continuation of the Balifan-Mozitan-Xiaotian fault (BMXF) of the northern Dabie Shan. It is indicated that the two stages of ductile deformation observed in the Xiongdian-Suhe HP metamorphic unit, reflecting the post-eclogite compressional or extrusion wedge formation, the subhorizontal ductile extension and crustal thinning as well as the top-to-the north shearing along the high-angle ductile shear zones responsible for exhumation of the HP unit as a coherent slab, are consistent with those recognized in the Dabie-Sulu UHP and HP metamorphic belts, suggesting that they were closely associated in time and space. The Xiongdian-Suhe HP metamorphic unit thus forms part of the Triassic(250-230 Ma) collision orogenic belt, and can not connect with the South Altun-North Qaidam-North Qinline UHP metamorphic belt formed durin~ the Early Paleozoic (500-400Ma).     

Late Cretaceous exhumation of the Oman blueschists and eclogites: a two-stage extensional mechanism

The continental material of the Saih Hatat window has been affected by a Late Cretaceous, obduction-related, HP-LT metamorphism below the Oman ophiolite. A high-rate exhumation process is witnessed by the Maastrichtian-Palaeocene onlap onto the blueschist-facies rocks. Drastic metamorphic omissions are documented between the lowest, eclogitic units and the overlying, blueschist-facies ones. Widespread late-metamorphic shear structures point to a top-to-the-NNE detachment, in opposition to the sense of the Late Cretaceous obduction. The inversion of the shearing sense occurred under similar, low temperature conditions in both the blueschist and eclogite-facies units. Admitting that these HP-LT metamorphic rocks formed progressively at various depth in the subducting Arabian margin, a two-stage extensional mechanism of exhumation is suggested: (i) early uplift of the eclogitic rocks up to the blueschists depth by ductile thinning or squeezing of a 'blind extensional allochthon'; (ii) exhumation of the whole HP-LT metamorphic core complex by inversion of the obduction sole-thrust and isostatic rebound of the lower plate.     

北祁连加里东期俯冲-增生楔结构及动力学

北祁连加里东朝俯冲-增生楔可分为浅部和深部两个单元。浅部单元主要由蛇绿岩、蛇绿混杂岩及深海复理石所组成,极浅变质或没有变质。深部单元主要由HP/LT蓝片岩、透镜状的蛇纹岩、变辉长岩及绿片岩(主要为退变质产物)所组成。普遍遭受HP/LT变质作用和绿片岩相的退变质作用。两个单元同时形成于不同的构造层次,具有类似的原岩特征。在加里东期,俯冲-增生楔共经历4期变形作用(D₁,D₂,D₃,D₄)和3期变质作用(M₁,M₂,M₃).从D₁→D₄反映了俯冲-增生楔从俯冲作用→深部构造板底垫托作用→折返(构造顶蚀)→剥蚀的动力学演化过程。     

The Liaonan Metamorphic Core Complex： Constitution, Structure and Evolution

The Liaonan metamorphic core complex (mcc) has a three-layer structure and is constituted by five parts, i.e. a detachment fault zone, an allochthonous upper plate and an supradetachment basin above the fault zone, and highly metamorphosed rocks and intrusive rocks in the lower plate. The allochthonous upper plate is mainly of Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic rocks weakly deformed and metamorphosed in pre-Indosinan stage. Above these rocks is a small-scale supradetachment basin of Cretaceous sedimentary and volcanic rocks. The lower plate is dominated by Archean TTG gneisses with minor amount of supracrustal rocks. The Archean rocks are intruded by late Mesozoic synkinematic monzogranitic and granitic plutons. Different types of fault rocks, providing clues to the evolution of the detachment fault zone, are well-preserved in the fault zone, e.g. mylonitic gneiss, mylonites, brecciated mylonites, microbreccias and pseudotachylites. Lineations in lower plate granitic intrusions have consistent orientation that indicate uniform top-to-NW shearing along the main detachment fault zone. This also provides evidence for the synkinematic characteristics of the granitic plutons in the lower plate. Structural analysis of the different parts in the mcc and isotopic dating of plutonic rocks from the lower plate and mylonitic rocks from detachment fault zone suggest that exhumation of the mcc started with regional crustal extension due to crustal block rotation and tangential shearing. The extension triggered magma formation, upwelling and emplacement. This event ended with appearance of pseudotachylite and fault gauges formed at the uppermost crustal level. U-Pb dating of single zircon grains from granitic rocks in the lower plate gives an age of 130±5 Ma, and biotite grains from the mam detachment fault zone have 40Ar-39Ar ages of 108-119 Ma. Several aspects may provide constraints for the exhumation of the Liaonan mcc. These include regional extensional setting, cover/basement contact, temporal and spatial coupling of extension and magmatism, basin development and evolution of fault tectonites along detachment fault zone. We propose that the exhumation of the Liaonan mcc resulted from regional extension and thinning of crust or lithosphere in eastern North China, and accompanied with synkinematic intrusion of granitic plutons, formation of detachment fault zone, uplifting and exhumation of lower-plate rocks, and appearance of supradetachment basin.     

A two-stage fluid history for the Orocopia Schist and associated rocks related to flat subduction and exhumation,southeastern California

ABSTRACT

Stable isotopes combined with pre-existing ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar thermochronology at the Gavilan Hills and Orocopia Mountains in southeastern California record two stages of fluid–rock interaction: (1) Stage 1 is related to prograde metamorphism as Orocopia Schist was accreted to the base of the crust during late Cretaceous–early Cenozoic Laramide flat subduction. (2) Stage 2 affected the Orocopia Schist and is related to middle Cenozoic exhumation along detachment faults. There is no local evidence that schist-derived fluids infiltrated structurally overlying continental rocks. Mineral δ¹⁸O values from Orocopia Schist in the lower plate of the Chocolate Mountains fault and Gatuna normal fault in the Gavilan Hills are in equilibrium at 490–580°C with metamorphic water (δ¹⁸O = 7–11‰). Phengite and biotite δD values from the Orocopia Schist and upper plate suggest metamorphic fluids (δD ~ –40‰). In contrast, final exhumation of the schist along the Orocopia Mountains detachment fault (OMDF) in the Orocopia Mountains was associated with alteration of prograde biotite and amphibole to chlorite (T ~ 350–400°C) and the influx of meteoric-hydrothermal fluids at 24–20 Ma. Phengites from a thin mylonite zone at the top of the Orocopia Schist and alteration chlorites have the lowest fluid δD values, suggesting that these faults were an enhanced zone of meteoric fluid (δD < –70‰) circulation. Variable δD values in Orocopia Schist from structurally lower chlorite and biotite zones indicate a lesser degree of interaction with meteoric-hydrothermal fluids. High fluid δ¹⁸O values (6–12‰) indicate low water–rock ratios for the OMDF. A steep thermal gradient developed across the OMDF at the onset of middle Cenozoic slip likely drove a more vigorous hydrothermal system within the Orocopia Mountains relative to the equivalent age Gatuna fault in the Gavilan Hills.     

大别造山带东段扬子陆块和华北陆块间缝合带的位置

大别山为扬子陆块和华北陆块之间的碰撞造山带.构造-岩石单元的岩石组成、同位素年代学资料和构造关系表明, 大别山东段主要由扬子陆块北缘不同变质程度的变质基底和少量浅变质盖层组成, 没有代表蛇绿混杂岩和华北陆块南缘古生代活动大陆边缘的火山-侵入岩建造.各主要构造-岩石单元间的界线为超高压变质岩折返过程中形成的伸展型剪切带, 大别山北部的伸展-逆冲推覆构造也是超高压变质岩折返过程中伸展构造的一部分, 其中不存在具有缝合带意义的重要构造界线.因此, 在大别山东段, 华北陆块和扬子陆块间的缝合带既不是水吼-五河剪切带, 也不是磨子潭-晓天断裂.根据地球物理资料推测, 南北陆块间的缝合带应分布在信阳-舒城断裂的前缘, 但现在覆于合肥盆地中新生代沉积之下.      

大陆俯冲带超高压变质岩部分熔融与壳幔相互作用研究进展

自20世纪80年代在大陆地壳岩石中发现柯石英和金刚石等超高压变质矿物以来,大陆深俯冲和超高压变质作用就成为了固体地球科学研究的前沿和热点领域之一.经过三十余年的研究,已经在大陆地壳的俯冲深度、深俯冲岩石变质P-T-t轨迹、俯冲地壳岩石的折返机制、深俯冲岩石的原岩性质、大陆碰撞过程中的熔/流体活动与元素活动性、俯冲隧道内...     

The youngest blueschist belt in SW Japan: implication for the exhumation of the Cretaceous Sanbagawa high-P/T metamorphic belt

The tectonic evolution of the Northern Shimanto belt, central Shikoku, Japan, was examined based on petrological and geochronological studies in the Oboke area, where mafic schists of the Kawaguchi Formation contain sodic amphibole (magnesioriebeckite). The peak P–T conditions of metamorphism are estimated as 4–4.5 kbar (15–17 km depth), and 240–270 °C based on available phase equilibria and sodic amphibole compositions. These metamorphic conditions are transitional between blueschist, greenschist and pumpellyite–actinolite facies. Phengite K–Ar ages of 64.8 ± 1.4 and 64.4 ± 1.4 Ma were determined for the mafic schists, and 65.0 ± 1.4, 61.4 ± 1.3 and 63.6 ± 1.4 Ma for the pelitic schists. The metamorphic temperatures in the Oboke area are below the closure temperature of the K–Ar phengite system, so the K–Ar ages date the metamorphic peak in the Northern Shimanto belt. In the broad sense of the definition of blueschist facies, the highest‐grade part of the Northern Shimanto belt belongs to the blueschist facies. Our study and those of others identify the following constraints on the possible mechanism that led to the exhumation of the overlying Sanbagawa belt: (i) the Sanbagawa belt is a thin tectonic slice with a structural thickness of 3–4 km; (ii) within the belt, metamorphic conditions varied from 5 to 25 kbar, and 300 to 800 °C, with the grade of metamorphism decreasing symmetrically upward and downward from a structurally intermediate position; and (iii) the Sanbagawa metamorphic rocks were exhumed from ～60 km depth and emplaced onto the Northern Shimanto metamorphic rocks at 15–17 km depth and 240–270 °C. Integration of these results with those of previous geological studies for the Sanbagawa belt suggests that the most probable exhumation mechanism is wedge extrusion.