High-pressure mafic granulites in the Trans-North China Orogen: Tectonic significance and age

High-pressure mafic granulites (including retrograded eclogites) have been reported from the Trans-North China Orogen, a Paleoproterozoic orogenic belt along which two discrete continental blocks, referred to as the Eastern and Western Blocks, were amalgamated to form the North China Craton. Extensive metamorphic investigations and geochronology carried out over the last few years provide important insights into the age and significance of these high-pressure granulites, which are critical in understanding of the timing and tectonic processes involved in the assembly of the North China Craton.Most high-pressure mafic granulites in the Trans-North China Orogen preserve the high-pressure granulite facies assemblage garnet + plagioclase + clinopyroxene + quartz, the medium-pressure granulite facies assemblage garnet + plagioclase + clinopyroxene + orthopyroxene ± quartz, the low-pressure granulite facies assemblage orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + plagioclase ± quartz, and the amphibolite facies assemblage hornblende + plagioclase. Minor high-pressure granulites preserve the early eclogite facies mineral assemblage of garnet + quartz + omphacite pseudomorph (clinopyroxene + Na-rich plagioclase), indicating that they are retrograded eclogites. These mineral assemblages and their P–T estimates define a clockwise P–T path involving near-isothermal decompression and cooling following the peak high-pressure metamorphism, which suggests that they formed during continent–continent collision. Field mapping and geochronology indicate that the precursors of these high-pressure granulites were mafic dykes which were emplaced at 1915 Ma and underwent high-pressure granulite facies metamorphism at 1.85 Ga. Taken together, the high-pressure granulites in the Trans-North China are considered to have resulted from final collision between the Eastern and Western Blocks to form the North China Craton at 1.85 Ga, not at 2.5 Ga as recently proposed by some authors.     

安徽女山麻粒岩包体的地球化学特征:下地壳组成及其构造属性初探

女山麻粒岩包体的Mg#值总体较低（28－51），在化学成分上主要表现为偏中性，没有明显的辉石、石榴子石或Fe-Ti氧化物的堆晶作用，但部分有斜长石的堆晶作用，略具Eu,Sr正异常，部分则有斜长石的分离结晶，略具Eu,Sr负异常。另外，女山麻粒岩包体亏损Rb,Th,Nb,Ta,富集Ba,LREE,Zr,Hf等，具较高的Nb/Ta,Zr/Hf比值，麻粒岩相变质作用过程造成了Rb的强烈亏损，但对Nb,Ta,U,Th的影响较弱。女山麻粒岩包体的形成过程中存在岩浆的结晶分异作用，通过分离结晶混染作用模型（AFC）模拟，表明华北克拉通太古宙基性火山岩和中必一麻粒岩分别为较可能的初始岩浆和混合源，初始岩浆经过10％－40％的AFC可以形成女山麻粒岩包体的微量元素组成。总体上，女山麻粒岩包体的主元素、微量元素特征均相似于华北克拉通太古宙中性麻粒岩、华北克拉通下地壳平均值，而与扬子克拉通下地壳平均值得明显差别。因此女山地区下地壳可能仍属华北克拉通的一部分，因而支持Li(1994)的碰撞拆离模式。     

Geochronological and petrological constraints on Palaeoproterozoic granulite facies metamorphism in southeastern margin of the North China Craton

In the southeastern margin of the North China Craton, high-pressure (HP) granulite facies meta-basic rocks exposed as bands or lenses in the Precambrian metamorphic basement (e.g. Bengbu) and as xenoliths in Mesozoic intrusions (e.g. Jiagou) are characterized by the assemblage garnet + clinopyroxene + plagioclase + quartz + rutile ± Ti-rich hornblende. Cathodoluminescence imaging and mineral inclusions reveal that most zircon from the three dated samples displays distinct core-mantle-rim structures. The cores show typical igneous zircon characteristics and give ages of 2.5–2.4 Ga, thus dating the protolith of the metabasites. The mantles formed at granulite facies conditions as evidenced by inclusions of the HP granulite mineral assemblage garnet + clinopyroxene + rutile + plagioclase + quartz ± hornblende and Ti-rich biotite and yield ages of 1839 ± 31, 1811 ± 19 and 1800 ± 15 Ma. An inclusion-free rim yields an age of 176 ± 2 Ma with the lower Th/U ratio of 0.02. The geochronological and preliminary petrological data of this study suggest that the lower crust beneath the southeastern margin of the North China Craton formed at 2.5–2.4 Ga and underwent HP granulite facies metamorphism at c. 1.8 Ga. This HT-HP metamorphic event may be ascribed to large-scale crustal heating and thickening related to mantle-derived magma underplating at the base of the lower crust, as evidenced by widespread extension, rifting and related mafic magma emplacement in the North China Craton during this period. The age of 176 ± 2 Ma most likely records the late amphibolite facies retrogression occurring during exhumation.     

新疆东天山尾亚地区低压麻粒岩相的特征

东天山尾亚火车站以西太古宙高级变质区亚西岭片麻岩套中赋存有高级变质岩—麻粒岩，它是新疆发现阿尔金山麻粒岩后的又一次重大发现，首次证实“天山中间隆起带”有古老地块的存在，这对研究新疆大地构造具有重大的地质意义。     

The formation of foliated (garnet-bearing) granites in the Tongbai-Dabie orogenic belt: partial melting of subducted continental crust during exhumation

Foliated (garnet-bearing) (FGB) granites are associated closely with and are usually the major wall rocks of the high-pressure (HP) and ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic rocks in the Tongbai-Dabie region, the mid segment of the Qinling-Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt in central China. These granites appear either as small plutons or as veins, which commonly intrude into or surround the HP and UHP metamorphic eclogites or gneisses. The veins of FGB granites usually penetrate into the retrograded eclogites or gneisses along the foliations. Condensation rims can occasionally be found along the margins of granite veins. These granites are rich in Si and alkali with high Ga/Al ratios, and depleted in Ca, Mg, Al, Ti, Sc, V, Ni, Co, Cr and Sr, which are similar to A-type granites. In a chondrite normalized diagram, the samples are light rare earth elements enriched with different extent of negative Eu anomaly. Moreover, Rb, Nb, Ta, Sr, P and Ti show different degrees of negative anomalies, whereas Ba, K, La, Zr and Hf show positive anomalies in the primitive mantle normalized diagram. Negative anomalies of Eu and Sr indicate strong influence of plagioclase. In conventional discrimination diagrams, these FGB granites belong to the A-type granite, with geochemical characteristics affinitive to post-collisional granites. The εNd (230 Ma) values (−15.80 to −2.52) and T _DM values (1.02–2.07 Ga) suggest that magma for the FGB granites were derived from a heterogeneous crustal source. Therefore, the FGB granites may provide clues for deciphering the formation of post-collisional granites. It is proposed that the magma of the FGB granites both in the HP and UHP units was formed in an extensional tectonic setting slightly post-dating the HP and UHP metamorphism, most likely as a result of decompressional partial melting of UHP retrograded eclogites during exhumation.     

Deep in the Heart of Dixie: Pre-Alleghanian Eclogite and HP Granulite Metamorphism in the Carolina Terrane, South Carolina, USA

The central part of the Carolina terrane in western South Carolina comprises a 30 to 40 km wide zone of high grade gneisses that are distinct from greenschist facies metavolcanic rocks of the Carolina slate belt (to the SE) and amphibolite facies metavolcanic and metaplutonic rocks of the Charlotte belt (to the NW). This region, termed the Silverstreet domain, is characterized by penetratively deformed felsic gneisses, granitic gneisses, and amphibolites. Mineral assemblages and textures suggest that these rocks formed under high‐pressure metamorphic conditions, ranging from eclogite facies through high‐P granulite to upper amphibolite facies. Mafic rocks occur as amphibolite dykes, as metre‐scale blocks of coarse‐grained garnet‐clinopyroxene amphibolite in felsic gneiss, and as residual boulders in deeply weathered felsic gneiss. Inferred omphacite has been replaced by a vermicular symplectite of sodic plagioclase in diopside, consistent with decompression at moderate to high temperatures and a change from eclogite to granulite facies conditions. All samples have been partially or wholly retrograded to amphibolite assemblages. We infer the following P‐T‐t history: (1) eclogite facies P‐T conditions at ≥ 1.4 GPa, 650–730 °C (2) high‐P granulite facies P‐T conditions at 1.2–1.5 GPa, 700–800 °C (3) retrograde amphibolite facies P‐T conditions at 0.9–1.2 GPa and 720–660 °C. This metamorphic evolution must predate intrusion of the 415 Ma Newberry granite and must postdate formation of the Charlotte belt and Slate belt arcs (620 to 550 Ma). Comparison with other medium temperature eclogites and high pressure granulites suggests that these assemblages are most likely to form during collisional orogenesis. Eclogite and high‐P granulite facies metamorphism in the Silverstreet domain may coincide with a ≈570–535 Ma event documented in the western Charlotte belt or to a late Ordovician‐early Silurian event. The occurrence of these high‐P assemblages within the Carolina terrane implies that, prior to this event, the western Carolina terrane (Charlotte belt) and the eastern Carolina terrane (Carolina Slate belt) formed separate terranes. The collisional event represented by these high‐pressure assemblages implies amalgamation of these formerly separate terranes into a single composite terrane prior to its accretion to Laurentia.     

胶东莱西-平度一带早元古代麻粒岩相岩石的成因矿物学

本文研究胶东地区早元古代麻粒岩相岩石的辉石、角闪石、斜长石、方柱石、榍石、磁铁矿、钛铁矿等矿物及共生组合特征,以及与形成条件的关系。采用二辉石、角闪石-斜长石、斜方辉石-角闪石、单斜辉石-角闪石、铁-钛氧化物等地质温度计,估测了变质作用的温度和氧逸度。用单矿物(单斜辉石和角闪石)的成分特点及方柱石-斜长石共生关系估测了压力。综合分析确定,本区主期变质作用的温度为720—810℃,压力5kbar左右,氧逸度为10~(-15·5),则地热梯度为41—46℃/km,属于较低温的低压麻粒岩相。     

P–T–t–D records of Early Palaeozoic Andean-type shortening of a hot active margin: The Dunhuang block in NW China

High-pressure (HP) granulites form either in the domain of the subducted plate during continental collision or in supra-subduction systems where the thermally softened upper plate is shortened and thickened. Such a discrepancy in tectonic setting can be evaluated by metamorphic pressure–temperature–time-deformation (P–T–t–D) paths. In the current study, P–T–t–D paths of Early Palaeozoic HP granulite facies rocks, in the form of metabasic lenses enclosed in migmatitic metapelite, from the Dunhuang block, NW China, are investigated in order to constrain the nature of the HP rocks and shed light on the geodynamic evolution of a modern hot orogenic system in an active margin setting. The rocks show a polyphase evolution characterized by (1) relics of horizontal or gently dipping fabric (S1) preserved in cores of granulite lenses and in garnet porphyroblasts, (2) a N-S trending sub-vertical fabric (S2) preserved in low-strain domains and (3) upright folds (F3) associated with a ubiquitous steep E-W striking axial planar foliation (S3). Garnet in the granulites preserves relics of a prograde mineral assemblage M1a equilibrated at ~11.5 kbar and ~770–780°C, whereas the matrix granulite assemblage (M1b) from the S1 fabric attained peak pressure at ~13.5 kbar and ~850°C. The granulites were overprinted at ~8–11 kbar and ~850–900°C during crustal melting (M2) followed by partial re-equilibration (M3) at ~8 kbar and ~625°C. A garnet Lu–Hf age of 421.6 ± 1.2 Ma dates metamorphism M1, while a garnet Sm–Nd age of 385.3 ± 4.0 Ma reflects M3 cooling of the granulites. The mineral assemblage, M1, of the host migmatitic metapelite formed at ~9–12.5 kbar and ~760–810°C, partial melting and migmatization (M2) occurred at ~7 kbar and ~760°C and re-equilibration (M3) at ~5–6 kbar and ~675°C. A garnet Lu–Hf age of 409.7 ± 2.3 Ma dates thermal climax (M2) and a garnet Sm–Nd age of 356 ± 11 Ma constrains M3 for the migmatitic metapelites. The timing of this late phase is also bracketed by an emplacement age of syntectonic granite dated at c. 360 Ma. Decoupling of M1 and M2 P–T evolutions between the mafic granulites and migmatitic metapelites indicates their different positions in the crustal column, while the shared pressure–temperature (P–T) evolution M3 suggests formation of a mélange-like association during the late stages of orogeny. The high-pressure event D1-M1 is interpreted as a result of Late Silurian–Early Devonian moderate crustal thickening of a thermally softened and thinned pre-orogenic crust. The high-temperature (HT) re-equilibration D2-M2 is interpreted as a result of Mid-Devonian shortening of the previously thickened crust, possibly due to ‘Andean-type’ underthrusting. The D3-M3 event reflects Late Devonian supra-subduction shortening and continuous erosion of the sub-crustal lithosphere. This tectono-metamorphic sequence of events is explained by polyphased Andean-type deformation of a ‘Cascadia-type’ active margin, which corresponds to a supra-subduction tectonic switching paradigm.