Oriented growth of garnet by topotactic reactions and epitaxy in high‐pressure,mafic garnet granulite formed by dehydration melting of metastable hornblende‐gabbronorite (Jijal Complex,Kohistan Complex,north Pakistan)

Garnet growth in high‐pressure, mafic garnet granulites formed by dehydration melting of hornblende‐gabbronorite protoliths in the Jijal complex (Kohistan palaeo‐island arc complex, north Pakistan) was investigated through a microstructural EBSD‐SEM and HRTEM study. Composite samples preserve a sharp transition in which the low‐pressure precursor is replaced by garnet through a millimetre‐sized reaction front. A magmatic foliation in the gabbronorite is defined by mafic‐rich layering, with an associated magmatic lineation defined by the shape‐preferred orientation (SPO) of mafic clusters composed of orthopyroxene (Opx), clinopyroxene (Cpx), amphibole (Amp) and oxides. The shape of the reaction front is convoluted and oblique to the magmatic layering. Opx, Amp and, to a lesser extent, Cpx show a strong lattice‐preferred orientation (LPO) characterized by an alignment of [001] axes parallel to the magmatic lineation in the precursor hornblende‐gabbronorite. Product garnet (Grt) also displays a strong LPO. Two of the four 〈111〉 axes are within the magmatic foliation plane and the density maximum is subparallel to the precursor magmatic lineation. The crystallographic relationship 〈111〉_Grt // [001]_Opx,Cpx,Amp deduced from the LPO was confirmed by TEM observations. The sharp and discontinuous modal and compositional variations observed at the reaction front attest to the kinetic inhibition of prograde solid‐state reactions predicted by equilibrium‐phase diagrams. The P–T field for the equilibration of Jijal garnet granulites shows that the reaction affinities are 5–10 kJ mol.^?1 for the Grt‐in reaction and 0–5 kJ mol.^?1 for the Opx‐out reaction. Petrographic and textural observations indicate that garnet first nucleated on amphibole at the rims of mafic clusters; this topotactic replacement resulted in a strong LPO of garnet. Once the amphibole was consumed in the reaction, the parallelism of [001] axes of the mafic‐phase reactants favoured the growth of garnet crystals with similar orientations over a pyroxene substrate. These aggregates eventually sintered into single‐crystal garnet. In the absence of deformation, the orientation of mafic precursor phases conditioned the nucleation site and the crystallographic orientation of garnet because of topotaxial transformation reactions and homoepitaxial growth of garnet during the formation of high‐pressure, mafic garnet‐granulite after low‐pressure mafic protoliths.     

The Recrystallization Front of the Ronda Peridotite: Evidence for Melting and Thermal Erosion of Subcontinental Lithospheric Mantle beneath the Alboran Basin

Evidence for a major heating event accompanied by decompressionwas recently reported from crustal rocks drilled in the Alboranbasin. The metamorphic evolution recorded by these rocks impliescomplete removal of lithospheric mantle during the Cenozoic,a process that is confirmed by geophysical modelling indicatingthin lithosphere beneath the Alboran domain. In this region,the Ronda lherzolite massif (Betic Cordillera, southern Spain)provides a unique opportunity for the observation of mantleprocesses associated with lithospheric thinning. A strikingfeature of the Ronda peridotite is a narrow recrystallizationfront, which has been ascribed to kilometre-scale porous meltflow through the massif. The front separates the spinel tectonitedomain, interpreted as old, veined lithospheric mantle, fromthe granular domain where the lithospheric microstructures,mineralogical assemblages and geochemical signatures were obliteratedby grain growth coeval with pervasive infiltration of basalticmelts. On the basis of trace-element abundances in peridotitescollected over a distance of 12 km along the recrystallizationfront, our study confirms that the front is a relatively sharp(     

Petrogenesis of Mafic Garnet Granulite in the Lower Crust of the Kohistan Paleo-arc Complex (Northern Pakistan): Implications for Intra-crustal Differentiation of Island Arcs and Generation of Continental Crust

We report the results of a geochemical study of the Jijal andSarangar complexes, which constitute the lower crust of theMesozoic Kohistan paleo-island arc (Northern Pakistan). TheJijal complex is composed of basal peridotites topped by a gabbroicsection made up of mafic garnet granulite with minor lensesof garnet hornblendite and granite, grading up-section to hornblendegabbronorite. The Sarangar complex is composed of metagabbro.The Sarangar gabbro and Jijal hornblende gabbronorite have melt-like,light rare earth element (LREE)-enriched REE patterns similarto those of island arc basalts. Together with the Jijal garnetgranulite, they define negative covariations of La_N, Yb_N and(La/Sm)_N with Eu^* [Eu^* = 2 x Eu_N/(Sm_N + Gd_N), where N indicateschondrite normalized], and positive covariations of (Yb/Gd)_Nwith Eu^*. REE modeling indicates that these covariations cannotbe accounted for by high-pressure crystal fractionation of hydrousprimitive or derivative andesites. They are consistent withformation of the garnet granulites as plagioclase–garnetassemblages with variable trapped melt fractions via eitherhigh-pressure crystallization of primitive island arc basaltsor dehydration-melting of hornblende gabbronorite, providedthat the amount of segregated or restitic garnet was low (<5wt %). Field, petrographic, geochemical and experimental evidenceis more consistent with formation of the Jijal garnet granuliteby dehydration-melting of Jijal hornblende gabbronorite. Similarly,the Jijal garnet-bearing hornblendite lenses were probably generatedby coeval dehydration-melting of hornblendites. Melting modelsand geochronological data point to intrusive leucogranites inthe overlying metaplutonic complex as the melts generated bydehydration-melting of the plutonic protoliths of the Jijalgarnet-bearing restites. Consistent with the metamorphic evolutionof the Kohistan lower arc crust, dehydration-melting occurredat the mature stage of this island arc when shallower hornblende-bearingplutonic rocks were buried to depths exceeding 25–30 kmand heated to temperatures above c. 900°C. Available experimentaldata on dehydration-melting of amphibolitic sources imply thatthickening of oceanic arcs to depths >30 km (equivalent toc. 1·0 GPa), together with the hot geotherms now postulatedfor lower island arc crust, should cause dehydration-meltingof amphibole-bearing plutonic rocks generating dense garnetgranulitic roots in island arcs. Dehydration-melting of hornblende-bearingplutonic rocks may, hence, be a common intracrustal chemicaland physical differentiation process in island arcs and a naturalconsequence of their maturation, leading to the addition ofgranitic partial melts to the middle–upper arc crust andformation of dense, unstable garnet granulite roots in the lowerarc crust. Addition of LREE-enriched granitic melts producedby this process to the middle–upper island arc crust maydrive its basaltic composition toward that of andesite, affordinga plausible solution to the ‘arc paradox’ of formationof andesitic continental-like crust in island arc settings. KEY WORDS: island arc crust; Kohistan complex; Jijal complex; amphibole dehydration-melting; garnet granulite; continental crustal growth