Metamorphic evolution of oceanic gabbros: recrystallization from subsolidus to hydrothermal conditions in the MARK area (ODP Leg 153)

The 117.38 m of gabbroic core drilled during the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 153 at Sites 921 to 924 in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) between 23 °N and the Kane Fracture Zone, exhibits a remarkable primary compositional heterogeneity, such as magmatic layering, intrusive contacts and late magmatic veining, which express a succession of magmatic events. Textural indicators suggest that the cooling of the crystal mush occurred in a dynamic environment, with infiltration of progressively evolved liquids. Magmatic features include random shape fabric and magmatic lamination; the subsequent deformational overprint occurred in subsolidus conditions. The ductile deformation, generally concentrated in discrete domains of the gabbro, is associated with continuous re-equilibration of the metamorphic assemblages of (1) olivine + clinopyroxene + orthopyroxene + plagioclase + ilmenite + Ti-magnetite, (2) olivine + clinopyroxene + plagioclase + ilmenite + Ti-magnetite + red hornblende. At lower temperatures brittle deformation prevails and subsequent fractures control the development of metamorphic assemblages: (3) clinopyroxene + plagioclase + red brown hornblende + Ti-magnetite + magnetite (?) + ilmenite, (4) plagioclase + brown hornblende + Ti-magnetite + magnetite + hematite + titanite ± Ti-oxide, (5) plagioclase + green hornblende + magnetite + titanite, (6) plagioclase + actinolite + chlorite + titanite + magnetite, (7) albite + actinolite + chlorite + prehnite ± epidote ± titanite and (8) albite + prehnite + chlorite ± smectite. Assemblages 1 to 8 express increasing water/rock ratios and decreasing degrees of recrystallization.

During the ductile phase, red hornblende is stable and its abundance increases with deformation intensity, possibly as an effect of the introduction of hydrous fluids. During the brittle phase, water diffusion controls the development of the fracture-filling mineral assemblages and re-equilibration of the adjacent rock; temperatures decrease further, as demonstrated by mineral zoning and incompletely re-equilibrated assemblages. The lowest temperatures correspond to the development of hydrothermal assemblages.

Compared with oceanic gabbros from fast-spreading transform environments, high-temperature ductile phases (granulite and amphibolite) are well developed, whereas brittle phases are widespread, as microcracks, prevalent on fracturing associated with discrete veins.     

Illite/smectite transformation in detrital glaucony during burial diagenesis of sandstone: A study from Siri Canyon – Danish North Sea

Detrital glaucony in the Palaeogene glauconitic sandstones in Siri Canyon, Danish North Sea, has been analysed from 15 exploration wells by X‐ray diffraction, electron microprobe and scanning electron microscopy. These sandstones consist of mixed‐layer illite/smectite and have a large variability in chemical composition and structure. In the most shallow wells (ca 1700 m), the glaucony is rich in Fe and consists of mixed‐layer illite/smectite with random‐interstratification (R = 0). In the depth interval from 1700 to 2000 m, the composition changes as Si is incorporated. The structure changes to ordered R = 1. Further increase in burial leads to the loss of Fe. Ordered R = 3 mixed‐layer illite/smectite is recognized from burial depths of 2200 m. The proportion of illite in illite/smectite mixed layers increases only slightly with depth and temperature. Although the structural changes generally are associated with chemical changes, they can also take place isochemically when the detrital glaucony is tightly embedded in earlier cement, which prevented chemical exchange. The glaucony transformation in the Siri Canyon sandstones partly reflects a supply of Si and partly significant loss of Fe. Thus, the glaucony transformation relates to the general diagenesis of the host sandstone. These sandstones are cemented by microquartz at an early stage, followed by precipitation of Fe‐rich grain‐coating berthierine or chlorite.     

福建东山坑北复式岩体的地质特征及其变质变形作用

在平潭—东山构造带南段深变质的东亚带和浅变质的西亚带的过渡带．出露一套变质变形特征极其复杂的动力变质岩系。其主体是一个由早侏罗世、晚侏罗世及晚侏罗世—早白垩世石英闪长岩、花岗闪长岩、二长花岗岩、正长花岗岩等组成的坑北复式岩体。该岩体可划分6个基本单元，并与区域上同时代侵入岩的谱系单位划分进行对比，归并为东山序列、古美山、漳浦超单元。该区发育三期韧-(脆)性变形及动力变质作用。据R1-R2图解及巴尔巴林岩浆构造分类．坑北复式岩体中各超单元(单元)侵入岩分别形成于不同的构造环境。     

Adaminaby Group west of Batemans Bay: Deformation and metamorphism of the Narooma accretionary complex,NSW

This study provides new structural data that show that the Adaminaby Group is part of the Narooma accretionary complex and has been overprinted by HT/LP metamorphism associated with Middle Devonian Moruya Suite intrusions. The grade of metamorphism based on Kübler Indices is the same in the Wagonga and Adaminaby Groups at Batemans Bay inferring that these rocks were involved in the same accretionary event. White micas in slates of the Adaminaby Group record apparent K–Ar ages of 384.6 ± 7.9 Ma and 395.8 ± 8.1 Ma. These ages are believed to represent the age of Middle to Upper Devonian Buckenbowra Granodiorite. Kübler Index values indicate lower epizonal (greenschist facies) metamorphic conditions and are not influenced by heating in metamorphic aureoles of the plutons. All b cell lattice parameter values are characteristic of intermediate pressure facies conditions although they are lower in the metamorphic aureole of the Buckenbowra Granodiorite than in the country rock, defining two areas with dissimilar baric conditions. East of the Buckenbowra Granodiorite, b cell lattice parameter values outside the contact aureole (x = 9.033 Å; n = 8) indicate P = 4 kb, and assuming a temperature of 300°C, infer a depth of burial of approximately 15 km for these rocks with a geothermal gradient of 20°C/km. In the metamorphic aureole of the Buckenbowra Granodiorite, b cell lattice parameter values (x = 9.021 Å; n = 41) indicate P = 3.1 kb inferring exhumation of the Adaminaby Group rocks to a depth of approximately 11 km prior to intrusion. A geothermal gradient of 36°C/km operated in the aureole during intrusion. An extensional back-arc environment prevailed in the Adaminaby Group during the Middle to Upper Devonian.     

中国西部元古代蓝片岩带——世界上保存最好的前寒武纪蓝片岩

阿克苏附近所发现的元古界阿克苏群为一完整的蓝片岩-绿片岩系列,我们通过野外调查肯定了这一认识,并认为它是高压-温相的变质块体,长40km,宽约2.5km.该变质岩由强烈片理化的绿泥石-黑硬绿泥石石墨片岩、黑硬绿泥石-多硅白云母片岩、绿片岩、蓝片岩及少量石英岩、变铁质岩组成.原岩包活泥质岩、砂岩、基性玻屑凝灰岩、块状熔岩、枕状熔岩及少量深海沉积物.蓝片岩的矿物组合:青铝闪石-绿帘石-绿泥石-钠长石-石英-阳起石.阿克苏群为世界上真正的前震旦纪蓝片岩之一,其变质年龄至少有800Ma.     

阿尔泰造山带构造演化研究中的几个关键问题剖析

对阿尔泰山地区的构造格局、构造变质、岩浆岩时代、动力热事件和构造区类型归属等几个地学基础问题进行深入细致研究的基础上，反演了阿尔泰地槽造山带形成和演化的递进历程。     

拉萨地块松多榴辉岩的变质演化过程:NCKMnFMASHTO体系中的相平衡关系

拉萨地块松多榴辉岩主要矿物组合为石榴子石、绿辉石、角闪石、多硅白云母、绿帘石、金红石。石榴子石环带不明显,核部成分均一,从核部到边部,镁铝榴石和钙铝榴石含量降低,可能分别记录了榴辉岩峰期及退变质过程信息。绿辉石显示微弱的成分环带,硬玉含量从核部到边部略有升高,部分绿辉石边部发育韭闪石退变质边,反映了在减压过程中外来流体进入体系的过程。多硅白云母具有高的Si含量(3.5~3.6),其中石榴石包体中的多硅白云母相对基质中的白云母有更高的Si值。本文利用Thermocalc变质相平衡模拟软件,结合详细岩相学观察,在NCKMn FMASHTO体系下,模拟松多含多硅白云母榴辉岩的变质演化过程。其中,榴辉岩峰期矿物组合为g+o+law+phn+ru,石榴石核部最大镁铝榴石值和石榴子石包体中多硅白云母最大Si值确定的榴辉岩峰期温压条件约为620℃,32×105Pa,榴辉岩经历了近等温降压的退变质过程。相平衡模拟结果表明拉萨地块松多榴辉岩经历了超高压变质作用过程,并经历了相对快速的折返过程到中部地壳层次。     

华北克拉通南缘豫西下汤地区2.3 Ga岩浆作用和1.94 Ga变质作用

本文报道了华北克拉通南缘豫西鲁山下汤地区古元古代片麻状花岗岩和黑云角闪斜长片麻岩的全岩地球化学和锆石SHRIMP U-Pb年龄和Hf同位素组成。岩石呈包体形式存在于中元古代花岗岩中。片麻状花岗岩具深熔特征,岩浆锆石年龄为2.30Ga;岩石高SiO2和K2O,低ΣFeO、MgO和CaO,具稀土总量较高(ΣREE=165.8×10-6)、轻重稀土分离较强[(La/Yb)n=37.8]及弱负铕异常(Eu/Eu*=0.76)的稀土模式;εNd(t)(t=2.30Ga)=-0.75;tDM(Nd)=2.66Ga。黑云角闪斜长片麻岩变质原岩为辉长闪长岩,捕获锆石年龄为2.25Ga;岩石低SiO2和MgO,高Al2O3和P2O5,具稀土总量高(ΣREE=373.4×10-6)、轻重稀土分离不强[(La/Yb)n=9.4]及较强负铕异常(Eu/Eu*=0.44)的稀土模式;εNd(t)(t=2.25Ga)=-1.21;tDM(Nd)=2.75Ga。片麻状花岗岩和黑云角闪斜长片麻岩都记录了1.94Ga变质锆石年龄。片麻状花岗岩的岩浆锆石组成域的εHf(t)(t=2.30Ga)=-6.71～0.38,tDM1(Hf)=2627～2910Ma,tDM2(CC)(Hf)=2823～3255Ma。黑云角闪斜长片麻岩的捕获锆石组成域的εHf(t)(t=2.25Ga)=-19.58～-1.73,tDM1(Hf)=2664～3360Ma,tDM2(CC)(Hf)=2968～4011Ma。结合前人资料,得出如下结论:华北克拉通南缘豫陕晋结合部地区存在一规模较大的约2.3Ga地质体分布区;华北克拉通南缘很可能存在规模巨大的>2.7Ga基底;中部造山带与孔兹岩带具有类似的古元古代晚期构造热事件演化历史。     

Petrological evidence for shock‐induced high‐P metamorphism in a gabbro

Microlites (minute spherulitic, dendritic, skeletal, acicular and poikilitic crystals) diagnostic of crystallization in quenched melt or glass in fault rocks have been used to infer fossil earthquakes. High‐P microlites and crystallites are described here in a variably eclogitized gabbro, the wallrock to the coesite‐bearing eclogite breccia at Yangkou in the Chinese Su‐Lu high‐P metamorphic belt. The studied hand specimens are free of discernible shear deformation, although microfractures are not uncommon under the microscope. In the least eclogitized gabbro, the metagabbro, stellate growths of high‐P minerals on the relict igneous minerals are common. Dendritic garnet crystals (<1?5 μm) grew around rutile and/or phengite replacing ilmenite and biotite, respectively. Skeletal garnet also rims broken flakes of igneous biotite and mechanically twinned augite. Radial intergrowths of omphacite and quartz developed around relict igneous orthopyroxene and are rimmed by skeletal or poikilitic garnet where a Ti‐bearing mineral relict is present. Acicular epidote, kyanite and phengite crystallites are randomly distributed in a matrix of Na‐rich plagioclase, forming the pseudomorphs after igneous plagioclase. In the more eclogitized gabbro, the coronitic eclogite located closer to the eclogite breccia, all the igneous minerals broke down into high‐P assemblages. Thick coronas of poikilitic garnet grew between the pseudomorphs after igneous plagioclase and ferromagnesian minerals. The igneous plagioclase is replaced by omphacite crystallites, with minor amounts of phengite and kyanite. Thermodynamic modelling of the plagioclase pseudomorphs shows an increase in P–T in the wallrock from the metagabbro to the coronitic eclogite, and the P–T variation is unrelated to H₂O content. The fluid‐poor pressure overstepping scenario is unsupported both by phase diagram modelling and by whole‐rock chemical data, which show that the various types of eclogitized gabbro are all fairly dry. A large pressure difference of >2 GPa between the metagabbro and the coesite‐bearing eclogites ~20 m apart cannot be explained by the subduction hypothesis because this would require a depth difference of >60 km. The microlites and crystallites are evidence for dynamic crystallization due to rapid cooling because constitutional supercooling was unlikely for the plagioclase pseudomorphs. The lack of annealing of the broken biotite and augite overgrown by strain free skeletal garnet is consistent with a transient high‐P–T event at a low ambient temperature (<300 °C), probably in the crust. Therefore, the eclogitization of the wallrock to the eclogite breccia was also coseismic, as proposed earlier for the eclogite facies fault rocks. The outcrop‐scale P–T variation and the transient nature of the high‐P–T event are inconsistent with the other existing tectonic models for high‐P metamorphism. The fact that the less refractory but denser biotite is largely preserved while the more refractory but less dense plagioclase broke down completely into high‐P microlite assemblages in the metagabbro indicates a significant rise in pressure rather than temperature. Given that the metamorphic temperatures are far below the melting temperatures of most of the gabbroic minerals under fluid‐absent conditions, stress‐induced amorphization appears to be the more likely mechanism of the coseismic high‐P metamorphism.     

High-T, low-P metamorphism in the Palaeoproterozoic Halls Creek Orogen, northern Australia: the middle crustal response to a mantle-related transient thermal pulse

High‐T, low‐P metamorphic rocks of the Palaeoproterozoic central Halls Creek Orogen in northern Australia are characterised by low radiogenic heat production, high upper crustal thermal gradients (locally exceeding 40 °C km^?1) sustained for over 30 Myr, and a large number of layered mafic‐ultramafic intrusions with mantle‐related geochemical signatures. In order to account for this combination of geological and thermal characteristics, we model the middle crustal response to a transient mantle‐related heat pulse resulting from a temporary reduction in the thickness of the mantle lithosphere. This mechanism has the potential to raise mid‐crustal temperatures by 150–400 °C within 10–20 Myr following initiation of the mantle temperature anomaly, via conductive dissipation through the crust. The magnitude and timing of maximum temperatures attained depend strongly on the proximity, duration and lateral extent of the thermal anomaly in the mantle lithosphere, and decrease sharply in response to anomalies that are seated deeper than 50–60 km, maintained for <5 Myr in duration and/or have half‐widths <100 km. Maximum temperatures are also intimately linked to the thermal properties of the model crust, primarily due to their influence on the steady‐state (background) thermal gradient. The amplitudes of temperature increases in the crust are principally a function of depth, and are broadly independent of crustal thermal parameters. Mid‐crustal felsic and mafic plutonism is a predictable consequence of perturbed thermal regimes in the mantle and the lowermost crust, and the advection of voluminous magmas has the potential to raise temperatures in the middle crust very quickly. Although pluton‐related thermal signatures significantly dissipate within <10 Myr (even for very large, high‐temperature intrusive bodies), the interaction of pluton‐ and mantle‐related thermal effects has the potential to maintain host rock temperatures in excess of 400–450 °C for up to 30 Myr in some parts of the mid‐crust. The numerical models presented here support the notion that transient mantle‐related heat sources have the capacity to contribute significantly to the thermal budget of metamorphism in high‐T, low‐P metamorphic belts, especially in those characterised by low surface heat flow, very high peak metamorphic geothermal gradients and abundant mafic intrusions.