The Okavango giant mafic dyke swarm (NE Botswana): its structural significance within the Karoo Large Igneous Province

The structural organization of a giant mafic dyke swarm, the Okavango complex, in the northern Karoo Large Igneous Province (LIP) of NE Botswana is detailed. This N110°E-oriented dyke swarm extends for 1500 km with a maximum width of 100 km through Archaean basement terranes and Permo-Jurassic sedimentary sequences. The cornerstone of the study is the quantitative analysis of N>170 (exposed) and N>420 (detected by ground magnetics) dykes evidenced on a ca. 80-km-long section lying in crystalline host-rocks, at high-angle to the densest zone of the swarm (Shashe area). Individual dykes are generally sub-vertical and parallel to the entire swarm. Statistical analysis of width data indicates anomalous dyke frequency (few data <5.0 m) and mean dyke thickness (high value of 17 m) with respect to values classically obtained from other giant swarms. Variations of mean dyke thicknesses from 17 (N110°E swarm) to 27 m (adjoining and coeval N70°E giant swarm) are assigned to the conditions hosting fracture networks dilated as either shear or pure extensional structures, respectively, in response to an inferred NNW–SSE extension. Both fracture patterns are regarded as inherited brittle basement fabrics associated with a previous (Proterozoic) dyking event. The Okavango N110°E dyke swarm is thus a polyphase intrusive system in which total dilation caused by Karoo dykes (estimated frequency of 87%) is 12.2% (6315 m of cumulative dyke width) throughout the 52-km-long projected Shashe section. Assuming that Karoo mafic dyke swarms in NE Botswana follow inherited Proterozoic fractures, as similarly applied for most of the nearly synchronous giant dyke complexes converging towards the Nuanetsi area, leads us to consider that the resulting triple junction-like dyke/fracture pattern is not a definitive proof for a deep mantle plume in the Karoo LIP.     

Fluid generation and evolution during exhumation of deeply subducted UHP continental crust: Petrogenesis of composite granite–quartz veins in the Sulu belt,China

Composite granite–quartz veins occur in retrogressed ultrahigh pressure (UHP) eclogite enclosed in gneiss at General's Hill in the central Sulu belt, eastern China. The granite in the veins has a high‐pressure (HP) mineral assemblage of dominantly quartz+phengite+allanite/epidote+garnet that yields pressures of 2.5–2.1 GPa (Si‐in‐phengite barometry) and temperatures of 850–780°C (Ti‐in‐zircon thermometry) at 2.5 GPa (~20°C lower at 2.1 GPa). Zircon overgrowths on inherited cores and new grains of zircon from both components of the composite veins crystallized at c. 221 Ma. This age overlaps the timing of HP retrograde recrystallization dated at 225–215 Ma from multiple localities in the Sulu belt, consistent with the HP conditions retrieved from the granite. The ε_Hf(t) values of new zircon from both components of the composite veins and the Sr–Nd isotope compositions of the granite consistently lie between values for gneiss and eclogite, whereas δ¹⁸O values of new zircon are similar in the veins and the crustal rocks. These data are consistent with zircon growth from a blended fluid generated internally within the gneiss and the eclogite, without any ingress of fluid from an external source. However, at the peak metamorphic pressure, which could have reached 7 GPa, the rocks were likely fluid absent. During initial exhumation under UHP conditions, exsolution of H₂O from nominally anhydrous minerals generated a grain boundary supercritical fluid in both gneiss and eclogite. As exhumation progressed, the volume of fluid increased allowing it to migrate by diffusing porous flow from grain boundaries into channels and drain from the dominant gneiss through the subordinate eclogite. This produced a blended fluid intermediate in its isotope composition between the two end‐members, as recorded by the composite veins. During exhumation from UHP (coesite) eclogite to HP (quartz) eclogite facies conditions, the supercritical fluid evolved by dissolution of the silicate mineral matrix, becoming increasingly solute‐rich, more ‘granitic’ and more viscous until it became trapped. As crystallization began by diffusive loss of H₂O to the host eclogite concomitant with ongoing exhumation of the crust, the trapped supercritical fluid intersected the solvus for the granite–H₂O system, allowing phase separation and formation of the composite granite–quartz veins. Subsequently, during the transition from HP eclogite to amphibolite facies conditions, minor phengite breakdown melting is recorded in both the granite and the gneiss by K‐feldspar+plagioclase+biotite aggregates located around phengite and by K‐feldspar veinlets along grain boundaries. Phase equilibria modelling of the granite indicates that this late‐stage melting records P–T conditions towards the end of the exhumation, with the subsolidus assemblage yielding 0.7–1.1 GPa at <670°C. Thus, the composite granite–quartz veins represent a rare example of a natural system recording how the fluid phase evolved during exhumation of continental crust. The successive availability of different fluid phases attending retrograde metamorphism from UHP eclogite to amphibolite facies conditions will affect the transport of trace elements through the continental crust and the role of these fluids as metasomatic agents interacting with the mantle wedge in the subduction channel.     

High‐grade metamorphism and partial melting in Archean composite grey gneiss complexes

Much of the exposed Archean crust is composed of composite gneiss which includes a large proportion of intermediate to tonalitic material. These gneiss terranes were typically metamorphosed to amphibolite to granulite facies conditions, with evidence for substantial partial melting at higher grade. Recently published activity–composition (a?x) models for partial melting of metabasic to intermediate compositions allows calculation of the stable metamorphic minerals, melt production and melt composition in such rocks for the first time. Calculated P?T pseudosections are presented for six bulk rock compositions taken from the literature, comprising two metabasic compositions, two intermediate/dioritic compositions and two tonalitic compositions. This range of bulk compositions captures much of the diversity of rock types found in Archean banded gneiss terranes, enabling us to present an overview of metamorphism and partial melting in such terranes. If such rocks are fluid saturated at the solidus, they first begin to melt in the upper amphibolite facies. However, at such conditions, very little (< 5%) melt is produced and this melt is granitic in composition for all rocks. The production of greater proportions of melt requires temperatures ～800–850 °C and is associated with the first appearance of orthopyroxene at pressures below 8–9 kbar or with the appearance and growth of garnet at higher pressures. The temperature at which orthopyroxene appears varies little with composition providing a robust estimate of the amphibolite–granulite facies boundary. Across this boundary, melt production is coincident with the breakdown of hornblende and/or biotite. Melts produced at granulite facies range from tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite for the metabasic protoliths, granodiorite to granite for the intermediate protoliths and granite for the tonalitic protoliths. Under fluid‐absent conditions the melt fertility of the different protoliths is largely controlled by the relative proportions of hornblende and quartz at high grade, with the intermediate compositions being the most fertile. The least fertile rocks are the most leucocratic tonalites due to their relatively small proportions of hydrous mafic phases such as hornblende or biotite. In the metabasic rocks, melt production becomes limited by the complete consumption of quartz to higher temperatures. The use of phase equilibrium forward‐modelling provides a thermodynamic framework for understanding melt production, melt loss and intracrustal differentiation during the Archean.     

Constraints on the timing and conditions of high‐grade metamorphism,charnockite formation and fluid–rock interaction in the Trivandrum Block,southern India

Incipient charnockites have been widely used as evidence for the infiltration of CO₂‐rich fluids driving dehydration of the lower crust. Rocks exposed at Kakkod quarry in the Trivandrum Block of southern India allow for a thorough investigation of the metamorphic evolution by preserving not only orthopyroxene‐bearing charnockite patches in a host garnet–biotite felsic gneiss, but also layers of garnet–sillimanite metapelite gneiss. Thermodynamic phase equilibria modelling of all three bulk compositions indicates consistent peak‐metamorphic conditions of 830–925 °C and 6–9 kbar with retrograde evolution involving suprasolidus decompression at high temperature. These models suggest that orthopyroxene was most likely stabilized close to the metamorphic peak as a result of small compositional heterogeneities in the host garnet–biotite gneiss. There is insufficient evidence to determine whether the heterogeneities were inherited from the protolith or introduced during syn‐metamorphic fluid flow. U–Pb geochronology of monazite and zircon from all three rock types constrains the peak of metamorphism and orthopyroxene growth to have occurred between the onset of high‐grade metamorphism at c. 590 Ma and the onset of melt crystallization at c. 540 Ma. The majority of metamorphic zircon growth occurred during protracted melt crystallization between c. 540 and 510 Ma. Melt crystallization was followed by the influx of aqueous, alkali‐rich fluids likely derived from melts crystallizing at depth. This late fluid flow led to retrogression of orthopyroxene, the observed outcrop pattern and to the textural and isotopic modification of monazite grains at c. 525–490 Ma.     

Geochronological and petrological constraints from the evolution in the Saxon Granulite Massif,Germany, on the Variscan continental collision orogeny

Controversy over the plate tectonic affinity and evolution of the Saxon granulites in a two‐ or multi‐plate setting during inter‐ or intracontinental collision makes the Saxon Granulite Massif a key area for the understanding of the Palaeozoic Variscan orogeny. The massif is a large dome structure in which tectonic slivers of metapelite and metaophiolite units occur along a shear zone separating a diapir‐like body of high‐P granulite below from low‐P metasedimentary rocks above. Each of the upper structural units records a different metamorphic evolution until its assembly with the exhuming granulite body. New age and petrologic data suggest that the metaophiolites developed from early Cambrian protoliths during high‐P amphibolite facies metamorphism in the mid‐ to late‐Devonian and thermal overprinting by the exhuming hot granulite body in the early Carboniferous. A correlation of new Ar–Ar biotite ages with published P–T–t data for the granulites implies that exhumation and cooling of the granulite body occurred at average rates of ~8 mm/year and ~80°C/Ma, with a drop in exhumation rate from ~20 to ~2.5 mm/year and a slight rise in cooling rate between early and late stages of exhumation. A time lag of c. 2 Ma between cooling through the closure temperatures for argon diffusion in hornblende and biotite indicates a cooling rate of 90°C/Ma when all units had assembled into the massif. A two‐plate model of the Variscan orogeny in which the above evolution is related to a short‐lived intra‐Gondwana subduction zone conflicts with the oceanic affinity of the metaophiolites and the timescale of c. 50 Ma for the metamorphism. Alternative models focusing on the internal Variscan belt assume distinctly different material paths through the lower or upper crust for strikingly similar granulite massifs. An earlier proposed model of bilateral subduction below the internal Variscan belt may solve this problem.     

Carboniferous eclogite and garnet–omphacite granulite from northeastern Hainan Island,South China: Implications for the evolution of the eastern Palaeo‐Tethys

High‐P (HP) eclogite and associated garnet–omphacite granulite have recently been discovered in the Mulantou area, northeastern Hainan Island, South China. These rocks consist mainly of garnet, omphacite, hornblende, quartz and rutile/ilmenite, with or without zoisite and plagioclase. Textural relationships, mineral compositions and thermobarometric calculations demonstrate that the eclogite and garnet–omphacite granulite share the same three‐stage metamorphic evolution, with prograde, peak and retrograde P?T conditions of 620–680°C and 8.7–11.1 kbar, 820–860°C and 17.0–18.2 kbar, and 700–730°C and 7.1–8.5 kbar respectively. Sensitive high‐resolution ion microprobe U–Pb zircon dating, coupled with the identification of mineral inclusions in zircon, reveals the formation of mafic protoliths before 355 Ma, prograde metamorphism at c. 340–330 Ma, peak to retrograde metamorphism at c. 310–300 Ma, and subsequent pegmatite intrusion at 295 Ma. Trace element geochemistry shows that most of the rocks have a MORB affinity, with initial ε_Nd values of +2.4 to +6.7. As with similar transitional eclogite–HP granulite facies rocks in the thickened root in the European Variscan orogen, the occurrence of relatively high P?T metamorphic rocks of oceanic origin in northeastern Hainan Island suggests Carboniferous oceanic subduction leading to collision of the Hainan continental block, or at least part of it, with the South China Block in the eastern Palaeo‐Tethyan tectonic domain.     

东天山哈密地区早二叠世花岗岩体及镁铁质包体的年代学, 岩石地球化学特征及其构造意义

花岗岩中包体是区域构造与深部过程研究结合的良好窗口,对研究花岗岩的成因和壳-幔相互作用有非常重要的意义。东天山南山口黑云母二长花岗岩中广泛发育镁铁质包体。主量元素组成上,寄主花岗岩岩具有中酸性、准铝质、富碱、富钾等特征;镁铁质包体则偏基性、贫钾。微量和稀土元素组成上,富集Rb、K、Th、U,贫Sr、P、Nb、Ta、Ti,且Zr、Hf含量相对较高,具中-强的铕负异常(0.46~0.57)。镁铁质包体与寄主岩具有相似的微量元素特征,但相对富集Sr、P,贫Zr、Hf,铕负异常中等或不明显(0.80~0.93)。闪长质包体属于同源包体,为寄主花岗岩同源母岩浆经结晶分异形成的早期产物。运用LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb定年技术,该南山口岩体暗色镁铁质微粒包体与寄主黑云母二长花岗岩的锆石U-Pb年龄分别为298.2±2.0Ma和294.0±2.7Ma,包体与寄主岩样品具有相似的Hf同位素组成,暗示其母岩浆来自新元古代晚期和早古生代亏损地幔中分离的新生地壳。该高钾钙碱性的花岗岩及其包体可能形成于东天山后碰撞背景下的板片断离后引起软流圈上涌,底侵体带来的热能使得新元古代晚期和早古生代的新生地壳发生部分熔融。     

华北克拉通的组成及其变质演化

华北克拉通早前寒武纪变质基底主要由五套不同类型的变质岩系组成。克拉通在形成过程中经历了多期构造活动、多期岩浆侵位、多期变质作用以及不同程度的混合岩化和深熔作用,岩石已遭受多次不同地质作用的叠加改造,因此华北克拉通具有复杂的演化历史。从太古宙到古元古代末的克拉通形成,华北克拉通主要经历了五期区域变质作用。鞍山地区的古—中太古代经历了角闪岩相变质作用改造,尚未获得变质年龄数据。但在TTG岩系中已获得3 560 Ma和3 000~3 300 Ma早期的变质年龄。河南鲁山太华杂岩的中太古代斜长角闪岩中获得2 776~2 792 Ma和2 671~2 651 Ma两期变质作用年龄信息,代表了新太古代早期的变质作用。新太古代麻粒岩-TTG岩系和新太古代花岗-绿岩系都经历了新太古代晚期—古元古代初的变质作用改造。在古元古代阶段,在华北克拉通北缘在1 965~1 900 Ma期间发生了中低压/高压麻粒岩相变质,局部发生超高温变质,这期变质作用与陆块间的俯冲碰撞及其后的地幔上涌有关。在古元古代晚期(1 890~1 800 Ma)在华北克拉通的中部及东部的胶—辽—吉带发生了高压麻粒岩相-角闪岩相的区域变质,代表了陆块间的碰撞拼合过程。不同变质岩系类型经历的变质作用反映了不同的构造背景。太古宙晚期大量的TTG岩系及呈面状分布的中/低压麻粒岩主要出露在华北克拉通的中北部,普遍具有逆时针的p-T轨迹,反映了地幔柱底板垫托的构造环境。新太古代的花岗-绿岩系在新太古代晚期—古元古代早期经历的变质作用多为顺时针的p-T演化轨迹,反映其发生可能与弧后+地幔柱联合作用的构造背景。古元古代晚期的两期变质作用多表现为高压麻粒岩相的顺时针p-T演化轨迹,反映了不同陆块(地块)之间碰撞拼合的过程,意味着类似显生宙的板块构造体制已经出现。     

阴山陆块武川石榴基性麻粒岩P-T条件及其变质时代:来自相平衡模拟与锆石U-Pb定年的约束

武川高级片麻岩地体中石榴基性麻粒岩的变质用与同位素年代学研究对于揭示阴山陆块新太古代构造演化过程具有十分重要的研究意义。它们主要以不规则透镜体或变形岩墙/岩脉群的形式赋存于新太古代晚期英云闪长质片麻岩或变质表壳岩系之中,并切割近南-北向的区域性片麻理。岩相学观察、矿物相转变分析与矿物化学研究表明,武川石榴基性麻粒岩保留了十分典型的高压麻粒岩相矿物:石榴石+单斜辉石+斜长石+角闪石+石英+铁-钛氧化物。其中,粗粒石榴石边部常发育微弱的扩散环带,表现为从幔部至边部,镁铝榴石组分不断减少,相应地铁铝榴石组分不断增加,而钙铝榴石与锰铝榴石组分基本不变,指示晚期冷却降温作用对石榴石成分产生一定影响。斜长石具有细粒包体型与粗粒基质型两种不同的类型,它们具有十分相似化学成分,均为An=35~45的中长石。在NCFMASHTO(Na_2O-CaO-FeO-MgO-Al_2O_3-SiO_2-H_2O-TiO_2-Fe_2O_3)体系下,利用THERM OCA LC 3.33软件,对两件石榴基性麻粒岩样品进行了相平衡模拟,模拟的峰期矿物组合为:石榴石+单斜辉石+斜长石+角闪石+石英+铁-钛氧化物,与岩相学观察十分一致。采用石榴石中最小x(g)Fe~(2 +)/(Fe~(2 +)+Mg))与斜长石是中最小ca(pl)(Ca/(Ca+Na))等值线,将本区石榴基性麻粒岩峰期高压麻粒岩相的温压条件限定在P=1.31~1.40GPa,T=770~840℃的范围内。LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb定年结果表明,两件石榴基性麻粒岩麻粒岩中发育的变质锆石分别记录了2517±6Ma(BT58-1,MSWD=0.66,n=21)与2512±16Ma(LH66-1,MSWD=0.26,n=42)的加权平均年龄,与阴山陆块其它新太古代岩石记录的约2500Ma变质年龄一致,被解释为本区石榴基性麻粒岩遭受高压麻粒岩相变质时代。结合本区其它新的研究资料,本文认为武川石榴基性麻粒岩形成可能与区内新太古代晚期造山作用有关。