Ca-rich Garnet-Clinopyroxene Rocks at Hujialin in the Su-Lu Terrane (Eastern China): Deeply Subducted Arc Cumulates?

Layers of Ca-rich garnet–clinopyroxene rocks enclosedin a serpentinite body at Hujialin, in the Su–Lu terraneof eastern China, preserve igneous textures, relict spinel ingarnet, and exsolution lamellae of Ca-rich garnet, ilmenite/magnetite,Fe-rich spinel, and also amphibole in clinopyroxene. In termsof their major and trace element compositions, the studied samplesform a trend from arc cumulates towards Fe–Ti gabbros.Reconstructed augite compositions plot on the trend for clinopyroxenein arc cumulates. These data suggest that the rocks crystallizedfrom mantle-derived magmas differentiated to various extentsbeneath an arc. The Ca-rich garnet + diopside assemblage isinferred to have formed by compressing Ca-rich augite, whereasthe relatively Mg-rich cores of garnet porphyroblasts may haveformed at the expense of spinel. The protolith cumulates weresubducted from near the crust–mantle boundary (c. 1 GPa)deep into the upper mantle (4·8 ± 0·6 GPaand 750 ± 50°C). Negatively sloped P–T pathsfor the garnet–clinopyroxene rocks and the corollary ofcorner flow induced subduction of mantle wedge peridotite arenot supported by the available data. Cooling with, or without,decompression of the cumulates after the igneous stage probablyoccurred prior to deep subduction. KEY WORDS: arc cumulates; Ca-rich garnet; garnet–clinopyroxene rocks; Su–Lu terrane; UHP metamorphism     

中国大陆科学钻探工程主孔榴辉岩的岩石学研究

中国大陆科学钻探工程5000m主孔位于苏鲁超高压变质带南部。该钻孔0～2000m主要由榴辉岩、片麻岩、石榴石橄榄岩和少量片岩和石英岩组成。累积厚度达1000多米的榴辉岩具有不同的矿物组成、不同的矿物含量和不同的全岩化学成分,可划分成富Si的石英榴辉岩、富Ti的金红石榴辉岩、富Al的多硅白云母和蓝晶石榴辉岩、富Mg的双矿物榴辉岩和具有正常玄武岩成分的普通榴辉岩。榴辉岩的原岩包括基性层状侵入岩和变质表壳岩。榴辉岩全岩成分对石榴石和绿辉石中某些化学组分的含量有明显控制,而且直接影响到变质条件估算的准确性。扩散成分环带的广泛发育表明超高压矿物在早期退变质过程中发生了成分再平衡。这一事实以及具有成分生长环带石榴石变斑晶的存在,为榴辉岩形成在更高温度(>940℃)和更高压力(>4.5GPa)条件下提供了有力的证据。     

镇旬矿田泥盆系和志留系铅锌矿的成矿地质条件分析

对镇（安）旬（阳）矿田泥盆系、志留系铅锌矿的成矿地质条件分析表明，本区泥盆系、志留系铅锌矿总体属层控矿床类型。铅锌矿赋存于下志留统悔子垭组、中志留统双河镇组及中泥盆统大枫沟组、上泥盆统南羊山组；控矿构造为断裂、褶皱，容矿构造为顺层断裂带、剪切带，含矿岩石为含碳砂岩、千枚岩及灰岩、生物灰岩、白云岩；沉积环境为浅水陆棚相、台地边缘及泻湖、潮坪、台地浅海。以旬阳泗人沟为代表的志留系铅锌矿属细碎屑岩沉积强改造型铅锌矿床；以旬阳大岭、赵家庄为代表的泥盆系铅锌矿属碳酸盐岩沉积弱改造型铅锌矿床；以镇安锡铜沟、月西为代表的泥盆系铅锌矿属碳酸盐岩沉积强改造型铅锌矿床。     

内蒙古中部苏尼特左旗富钾花岗岩锆石SHRIMP U-Pb年龄

精确的锆石SHRIMP U-Pb年龄测定表明,内蒙古苏尼特左旗富钾花岗岩的结晶年龄分别为423Ma±8Ma和424Ma±10Ma.综合区域资料,认为该年龄代表了内蒙古中部志留纪期间发生弧-陆碰撞事件的时限.     

赣北中元古界双桥山群低变质强变形行为与格林威尔期造山作用

广泛分布于赣北地区的中元古界双桥山群，以低级区域变质作用、强烈构造变形、具陆内造山带构造变形特征；其成果系在华夏古陆与扬子古陆的碰撞拼接过程中，其应力向陆内传递的结果；时间大致在1100－800Ma，与全球格林威尔期造山作用相当。     

Ludlow (Silurian) stromatoporoid biostromes from Gotland, Sweden: facies, depositional models and modern analogues

Stacked stromatoporoid‐dominated biostromes of the Ludlow‐age Hemse Group (Silurian) in eastern Gotland, Sweden, are 0·5–5 m thick and a few tens of metres to >1 km in lateral extent. They form one of the world's richest Palaeozoic stromatoporoid deposits. This study compiles published and new data to provide an overall facies model for these biostromes, which is assessed in relation to possible modern analogues. Some biostromes have predominantly in‐place fossils and are regarded as reefs, but lack rigid frameworks because of abundant low‐profile non‐framebuilding stromatoporoids; other biostromes consist of stromatoporoid‐rich rudstones interpreted here as storm deposits. Variation between these two `end‐members' occurs both between interlayered biostromes and also vertically and laterally within individual biostromes. Such variation produces problems of applying established reef classification terms and demonstrates the need for the development of terminology that recognizes taphonomic destruction of reef fabrics. An approach to such terminology is found in all four categories of a recent biostrome classification scheme that are easily recognized in the Hemse biostrome facies: autobiostromes (>60% in place); autoparabiostromes (a mixture of in‐place and overturned reef‐building organisms, 20–60% in place); parabiostromes (builders are overturned and damaged, <20% in place); and allobiostromes (transported and detrital reef material, nothing in place). These categories provide a broad taphofacies scheme for the Hemse biostromes, which are mostly autoparabiostrome to allobiostrome. The biostromes developed on crinoidal grainstone sheets and expanded laterally across relatively flat substrates in a marine setting of low siliciclastic input. Planar erosion surfaces commonly terminate biostrome tops. Three broadly similar modern analogues are identified, each of which has elements in common with the Hemse biostromes, but none of which is an exact equivalent: (a) laterally expanded and coalesced back‐barrier patch reefs behind the Belize barrier, an area influenced by limited accommodation space; (b) a hurricane‐influenced shelf, interpreted for Grand Cayman, where reef cores consist of rubble and lack substantial framework; the wide distribution of rounded pebbles and cobbles of stromatoporoids in the Hemse biostromes most probably resulted from hurricanes; (c) coral carpets in 5–15 m water depth of the northern Red Sea, where lateral expansion of low‐diversity frames dominated by Porites coral has produced low‐profile biostromes up to 8 m thick and several km long. Such carpets accumulated large amounts of carbonate, with little export, as in the Hemse biostromes, although the latter did not build frameworks because of the nature of growth of the stromatoporoids. The notable lack of algae in the Hemse biostrome facies is also a feature of Red Sea coral carpets; nevertheless, coral carpets are ecologically different. Hemse biostromes lack evidence of a barrier reef system, although this may not be exposed; the facies assemblage is consistent with either a storm/hurricane‐influenced mid‐ to upper ramp or back‐barrier system.     

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.     

Constraints on the application of carbon isotope thermometry in high- to ultrahigh-temperature metamorphic terranes

Nine marble horizons from the granulite facies terrane of southern India were examined in detail for stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in calcite and carbon isotopes in graphite. The marbles in Trivandrum Block show coupled lowering of δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values in calcite and heterogeneous single crystal δ¹³C values (? 1 to ? 10‰) for graphite indicating varying carbon isotope fractionation between calcite and graphite, despite the granulite facies regional metamorphic conditions. The stable isotope patterns suggest alteration of δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values in marbles by infiltration of low δ¹³C–δ¹⁸O‐bearing fluids, the extent of alteration being a direct function of the fluid‐rock ratio. The carbon isotope zonation preserved in graphite suggests that the graphite crystals precipitated/recrystallized in the presence of an externally derived CO₂‐rich fluid, and that the infiltration had occurred under high temperature and low f_O2 conditions during metamorphism. The onset of graphite precipitation resulted in a depletion of the carbon isotope values of the remaining fluid+calcite carbon reservoir, following a Rayleigh‐type distillation process within fluid‐rich pockets/pathways in marbles resulting in the observed zonation. The results suggest that calcite–graphite thermometry cannot be applied in marbles that are affected by external carbonic fluid infiltration. However, marble horizons in the Madurai Block, where the effect of fluid infiltration is not detected, record clear imprints of ultrahigh temperature metamorphism (800–1000 °C), with fractionations reaching <2‰. Zonation studies on graphite show a nominal rimward lowering δ¹³C on the order of 1 to 2‰. The zonation carries the imprint of fluid deficient/absent UHT metamorphism. Commonly, calculated core temperatures are > 1000 °C and would be consistent with UHT metamorphism.     

Mechanisms of coal metamorphism: case studies from Paleozoic coalfields

Controls on coal metamorphism can be complex. In this paper, we examine four Paleozoic coalfields: the western Kentucky portion of the Illinois Basin, the Pennsylvania anthracite fields, the South Wales Coalfield, and the Bowen Basin. An increase in temperature with depth of burial is certainly a factor in coal metamorphism. In many coalfields, however, including the coalfields reviewed here, it has become apparent that such a simple mechanism does not explain the coal rank patterns observed. The flow of hydrothermal fluids through the coals has been proposed as a cause of coal metamorphism. Evidence includes inverted rank gradients, elevated CFL as an indicator of brine fluids, isotopic evidence for hydrothermal fluids, and vein and cleat mineral assemblages. In any case, multiple hypotheses must often be evaluated in the examination of any coalfield since the simple paradigm of coal rank increases with a simple increase in temperature with increasing depth does not fit the evidence observed in many cases.