Inclusion-trail geometry of albite porphyroblasts in a fold structure in the Sambagawa Belt, central Shikoku, Japan

The orientation of straight inclusion trails within albite porphyroblasts from basic schists has been measured around a north-closure fold, in the Besshi district of the Sambagawa Belt, central Shikoku, Japan. The porphyroblasts are aligned with their longest dimension parallel to both the subhorizontal, east–west-directed mineral lineation and to the fold axis. There is a systematic variation in inclusion-trail geometry between the upper (northern) and lower (southern) fold limbs. The shear sense deduced from quartz c-axis fabrics is top-to-the-west in the upper limb and top-to-the-east in the lower limb. Based on observed variations in porphyroblast inclusion trails, the structural history can be modelled as follows: (i) shear flow caused east–west stretching and folding of the metamorphic zonation; (ii) east–west ductile shear resulted in opposing senses of shear in the upper and lower limbs as the eclogite body situated in the core of the fold was extruded to the east.     

Reaction textures in scapolite–wollastonite–grossular calc-silicate rock from the Kerala Khondalite Belt, Southern India: evidence for high-temperature metamorphism and initial cooling

Scapolite–wollastonite–grossular bearing calc-silicate rocks from the Vellanad area in the Kerala Khondalite Belt (KKB) of Southern India preserve a number of reaction textures which help to deduce their P–T–fluid history. Textures include calcite+plagioclase±quartz symplectites after scapolite, grossular+quartz coronas between wollastonite and plagioclase, grossular coronas between wollastonite and plagioclase+calcite that replace former scapolite, and grossular blebs replacing anorthite+calcite+quartz pseudomorphs of scapolite. Garnet coronas are also observed between clinopyroxene and wollastonite or scapolite or plagioclase. The reactions, apart from those involving clinopyroxene, can be modelled in the simple CaO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–CO₂ system and interpreted using partial reaction grids constructed for the activities of end-members in the analysed phases. The reaction topologies produced are good approximations for the peak as well as retrograde mineral assemblages and reaction textures. For the compositions of the phases present in this study, the medium pressure calc-silicate assemblages are defined by the stable pseudo-invariant points [Qtz], [Mei] and [Grs]. The textural features interpreted using these activity-corrected grids indicate a phase of isobaric cooling from about 835°C to 750°C at 6 kbar in the Vellanad area. This is inconsistent with earlier studies on other lithologies from the KKB, most of which imply a post-peak P–T path involving near-isothermal decompression. However, as the temperatures obtained for the KKB from the calc-silicates are higher than those previously deduced from metapelites and garnet–orthopyroxene assemblages, the phase of near-isobaric cooling reported here is inferred to have proceeded prior to the onset of the decompression documented from studies of other rock types.     

The effect of heterogeneous stress and strain on metamorphic fluid flow,Mary Kathleen,Australia, and a model for large-scale fluid circulation *

In the Proterozoic Mary Kathleen Fold Belt, northern Australia, infiltration of large volumes of externally derived fluid occurred synchronously with regional amphibolite-facies metamorphism and deformation. This paper develops a model of structurally controlled fluid migration by comparing the distribution of fossil fluid pathways with the inferred stress and strain patterns during the deformation. Intense fluid flow was localized within strong, relatively brittle meta-intrusive bodies, and in discrete, veined, brecciated and altered zones around their margins. In metasediments folded in a ductile manner outside these areas, fluid infiltration was negligible. The direct correlation between structural styles and the magnitude of veining and metasomatism suggests control of permeability enhancement, and hence fluid flow, by deformation. Finite difference modelling of a strong body in a weaker matrix has been used to evaluate the variation of stresses during the deformation, from which it is clear that stress and strain heterogeneities have systematically influenced the development and maintenance of metamorphic fluid pathways. Particular regions in which mean stress may be significantly lower than the average lithostatic pressures include the ‘strain shadow’zones adjacent to the strong bodies, other dilatant zones around the bodies, and the bodies themselves. This geometry is favourable not only for localized brittle deformation under amphilobite facies conditions, but also for focused fluid flow in the low mean stress regions, as evidenced by the abundance of veins. Fluid access through these metamorphic aquifers occurred during tensile failure episodes, with particularly large dilations and decimetre-scale veining in areas of strain incompatibility. It appears likely that fluid circulated many times through the Fold Belt, with flow concentrated in the metamorphic aquifers. A model is developed that explains both the structurally focused fluid flow and the postulated multi-pass recirculation by dilatancy pumping, the ‘pump engines’comprising the low mean stress zones.     

Low-pressure regional metamorphism in the Omeo Metamorphic Complex, Victoria, Australia

The Omeo Metamorphic Complex forms the southern end of the Wagga Metamorphic Belt, which is the main locus of Palaeozoic low-pressure metamorphism in the Lachlan Fold Belt, south-eastern Australia. It comprises metamorphosed Ordovician quartz-rich turbidites originally derived from Precambrian cratonic rocks. Prograde regional metamorphism occurred in the early Silurian, very soon after sedimentation had ceased. The sequence of metamorphic zones, with increasing grade, is: chlorite, biotite, cordierite, andalusite–K-feldspar and sillimanite–K-feldspar. Migmatites occur in the sillimanite–K-feldspar zone, but large bodies of S-type granite were derived from rocks underlying the exposed Ordovician sequence. P and T estimates for the highest grade rocks are T = 700°C and P = 3.5 kbar, indicating a very high P–T gradient of 65°C/km.
The high heat flow during prograde metamorphism probably resulted from a combination of a thermal anomaly persisting from a pre-metamorphic back-arc basin environment, and intrusion of hot, mantle-derived magmas into the lower and middle crust.
Regional retrograde metamorphism coincided with a general reheating of the crust in the Siluro-Devonian, accompanied by intrusion of many I-type plutons and resetting of the K–Ar dates of some earlier plutons. The Omeo Metamorphic Complex was exposed to erosion at this time.     

Unpairing metamorphic belts: P–T paths and a tectonic model for the Ryoke Belt, southwest Japan

Southwest Japan is divided into Outer and Inner Zones by the Median Tectonic Line (MTL), a major transcurrent fault. The Outer Zone is composed of the Sambagawa (high-pressure intermediate or high P/T type metamorphism), Chichibu and Shimanto Belts. In the Inner Zone, the Ryoke Belt (andalusite– sillimanite or low P/T type metamorphism) was developed mainly within a Jurassic accretionary complex. This spatial relationship between high P/T type and low P/T type metamorphic belts led Miyashiro to the idea that metamorphic belts were developed as ‘paired’ systems. Textural relationships and petrogenetically significant mineral assemblages in pelites from the Ryoke Belt imply peak P–T conditions of ≈5 kbar and up to 850 °C in migmatitic garnet–cordierite rocks from the highest-grade metamorphic zone. It is likely that the thermal anomaly responsible for metamorphism of the Ryoke Belt was related to a segment of the Farallon–Izanagi Ridge as it subducted under the eastern margin of the Asian continent during the Cretaceous. The sequence of mineral assemblages developed in pelites implies a metamorphic field gradient with shallow dP/dT slope, inferred to have been generated by a nested set of hairpin-like ‘clockwise’P–T paths. These P–T paths are characterized by limited prograde thickening, minor decompression at peak-T , and near-isobaric cooling, features that may be typical of P–T paths in low P/T type metamorphic belts caused by ridge subduction. A ridge subduction model for the Ryoke Belt implies that juxtaposition of the high-P/T metamorphic rocks of the Sambagawa Belt against it was a result of terrane amalgamation. Belt-parallel ductile stretching, recorded as syn-metamorphic, predominantly constrictional strain in both Ryoke and Sambagawa Belt rocks, and substantial sinistral displacement on the MTL are consistent with left-lateral oblique convergence. Diachroneity in fast cooling of the Ryoke Belt is implied by extant thermochronological data, and is inferred to relate to progressive SW to NE docking of the Sambagawa Belt. Thus, an alternative interpretation of ‘paired’ metamorphic belts in Japan is that they represent laterally contemporaneous terranes, rather than outboard and inboard components of a trench/arc ‘paired’ system. Amalgamation of laterally contemporaneous terranes during large translations of forearcs along continental margins may explain other examples of ‘paired’ metamorphic belts in the geological record.     

P–T–t evolution and textural evidence for decompression of Pan-African high-pressure granulites, Lurio Belt, north-eastern Mozambique

Pan‐African high‐pressure granulites occur as boudins and layers in the Lurio Belt in north‐eastern Mozambique, eastern Africa. Mafic granulites contain the mineral assemblage garnet + clinopyroxene + plagioclase + quartz ± magnesiohastingsite. Garnet porphyroblasts are zoned with increasing almandine and spessartine contents and decreasing grossular and pyrope contents from core (Alm₄₆Prp₃₂Grs₂₁Sps₂) to rim (Alm₅₂Prp₂₆Grs₁₉Sps₃). This pattern is interpreted as a retrograde diffusion zoning with the preserved core chemistry representing the peak metamorphic composition. Mineral reaction textures occur in the form of monomineralic and composite plagioclase ± orthopyroxene ± amphibole ± biotite ± magnetite coronas around garnet porphyroblasts. Thermobarometry indicates peak metamorphic conditions of up to 1.57 ± 0.14 GPa and 949 ± 92 °C (stage I), corresponding to crustal depths of ～55 km. Zircon yielded an U–Pb age of 557 ± 16 Ma, inferred to date crystallization of zircon during peak or immediately post‐peak metamorphism. Formation of plagioclase + orthopyroxene‐bearing coronas surrounding garnet indicates a near‐isothermal decompression of the high‐pressure granulites to lower pressure granulite facies conditions (stage II). Development of plagioclase + amphibole‐coronas enclosing the same garnet porphyroblasts shows subsequent cooling into amphibolite facies conditions (stage III). Symplectitic textures of the corona assemblages indicate rapid decompression. The high‐pressure granulite facies metamorphism of the Lurio Belt, followed by near‐isothermal decompression and subsequent cooling, is in accordance with a long‐lived tectonic history accompanied by high magmatic activity in the Lurio Belt during the late Neoproterozoic–early Palaeozoic East‐African–Antarctic orogeny.     

Pencil-beam surveys for trans-neptunian objects: Limits on distant populations

Two populations of minor bodies in the outer Solar System remain particularly elusive: Scattered Disk Objects and Sedna-like objects. These populations are important dynamical tracers, and understanding the details of their spatial- and size-distributions will enhance our understanding of the formation and on-going evolution of the Solar System. By using newly-derived limits on the maximum heliocentric distances that recent pencil-beam surveys for trans-neptunian objects were sensitive to, we determine new upper limits on the total numbers of distant SDOs and Sedna-like objects. While generally consistent with populations estimated from wide-area surveys, we show that for magnitude-distribution slopes of α ? 0.7-1.0, these pencil-beam surveys provide stronger upper limits than current estimates in literature.     

The Hill stability of inclined small mass binary systems in three-body systems with special application to triple star systems, extrasolar planetary systems and Binary Kuiper Belt systems

The dynamical stability of a bound triple system composed of a small binary or minor planetary system moving on a orbit inclined to a central third body is discussed in terms of Hill stability for the full three-body problem. The situation arises in the determination of stability of triple star systems against disruption and component exchange and the determination of stability of extrasolar planetary systems and minor planetary systems against disruption, component exchange or capture. The Hill stability criterion is applied to triple star systems and extrasolar planetary systems, the Sun-Earth-Moon system and Kuiper Belt binary systems to determine the critical distances for stable orbits. It is found that increasing the inclination of the third body decreases the Hill regions of stability. Increasing the eccentricity of the binary also produces similar effects.These type of changes make exchange or disruption of the component masses more likely. Increasing the eccentricity of the binary orbit relative to the third body substantially decreases stability regions as the eccentricity reaches higher values. The Kuiper Belt binaries were found to be stable if they move on circular orbits. Taking into account the eccentricity, it is less clear that all the systems are stable.