Pressure-induced incipient amorphization of α-quartz and transition to coesite in an eclogite from Antarctica: a first record and some consequences

Monocrystalline quartz inclusions in garnet and omphacite from various eclogite samples from the Lanterman Range (Northern Victoria Land, Antarctica) have been investigated by cathodoluminescence (CL), Raman spectroscopy and imaging, and in situ X‐ray (XR) microdiffraction using the synchrotron. A few inclusions, with a clear‐to‐opalescent lustre, show ‘anomalous’ Raman spectra characterized by weak α‐quartz modes, the broadening of the main α‐quartz peak at 465 cm^?1, and additional vibrations at 480–485, 520–523 and 608 cm^?1. CL and Raman imaging indicate that this ‘anomalous’α‐quartz occurs as relicts within ordinary α‐quartz, and that it was preserved in the internal parts of small quartz inclusions. XR diffraction circular patterns display irregular and broad α‐quartz spots, some of which show an anomalous d‐spacing tightening of ～2%. They also show some very weak, hazy clouds that have d‐spacing compatible with coesite but not with α‐quartz. Raman spectrometry and XR microdiffraction characterize the anomalies with respect to α‐quartz as (i) a pressure‐induced disordering and incipient amorphization, mainly revealed by the 480–485 and 608‐cm^?1 Raman bands, together with (ii) a lattice densification, evidenced by d‐spacing tightening; (iii) the cryptic development of coesite, 520–523 cm^?1 being the main Raman peak of coesite and (iv) Brazil micro‐twinning. This ‘anomalous’α‐quartz represents the first example of pressure‐induced incipient amorphization of a metastable phase in a crustal rock. This issue is really surprising because pressure‐induced amorphization of metastable α‐quartz, observed in impactites and known to occur between 15 and 32 GPa during ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) experiments at room temperature, is in principle irrelevant under normal geological P–T conditions. A shock (due to a seism?) or a local overpressure at the inclusion scale (due to expansion mismatch between quartz and its host mineral) seem the only geological mechanisms that can produce such incipient amorphization in crustal rocks. This discovery throws new light on the modality of the quartz‐coesite transition and on the pressure regimes (non‐lithostatic v. lithostatic) during high‐pressure/UHP metamorphism. In particular, incipient amorphization of quartz could favour the quartz‐coesite transition, or allow the growth of metastable coesite, as already experimentally observed.     

High-pressure eclogites in northern Jiangsu – southern Shandong province, eastern China

Abstract Eclogites are distributed for more than 500 km along a major tectonic boundary between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons in central and eastern China. These eclogites usually have high-P assemblages including omphacite + kyanite and/or coesite (or its pseudomorph), and form a high-P eclogite terrane. They occur as isolated lenses or blocks 10 cm to 300 m long in gneisses (Type I), serpentinized garnet peridotites (Type II) and marbles (Type III). Type I eclogites were formed by prograde metamorphism, and their primary metamorphic mineral assemblage consists mainly of garnet [pyrope (Prp) = 15–40 mol%], omphacite [jadeite (Jd) = 34–64 mol%], pargasitic amphibole, kyanite, phengitic muscovite, zoisite, an SiO₂ phase, apatite, rutile and zircon. Type II eclogites characteristically contain no SiO₂ phase, and are divided into prograde eclogites and mantle-derived eclogites. The prograde eclogites of Type II are petrographically similar to Type I eclogites. The mantle-derived eclogites have high MgO/(FeO + Fe₂O₃) and Cr₂O₃ compositions in bulk rock and minerals, and consist mainly of pyrope-rich garnet (Prp = 48–60 mol%), sodic augite (Jd = 10–27 mol%) and rutile. Type III eclogites have an unusual mineral assemblage of grossular-rich (Grs = 57 mol%) garnet + omphacite (Jd = 30–34 mol%) + pargasite + rutile. Pargasitic and taramitic amphiboles, calcic plagioclase (An₆₈), epidote, zoisite, K-feldspar and paragonite occur as inclusions in garnet and omphacite in the prograde eclogites. This suggests that the prograde eclogites were formed by recrystallization of epidote amphibolite and/or amphibolite facies rocks with near-isothermal compression reflecting crustal thickening during continent–continent collision of late Proterozoic age. Equilibrium conditions of the prograde eclogites range from P > 26 kbar and T= 500–750°C in the western part to P > 28 kbar and T= 810–880°C in the eastern part of the high-P eclogite terrane. The prograde eclogites in the eastern part are considered to have been derived from a deeper position than those in the western part. Subsequent reactions, manifested by (1) narrow rims of sodic plagioclase or paragonite on kyanite and (2) symplectites between omphacite and quartz are interpreted as an effect of near-isothermal decompression during the retrograde stage. The conditions at which symplectites re-equilibrated tend to increase from west (P < 10 kbar and T < 580°C) to east (P > 9 kbar and T > 680°C). Equilibrium temperatures of Type II mantle-derived eclogites and Type III eclogite are 730–750°C and 680°C, respectively.     

榴辉岩中石英出溶体的拉曼光谱学研究及其构造意义

利用拉曼光谱学和费氏台方法对若干地区超高压榴辉岩中柯石英和榴辉岩中石英出溶体的超显微构造特征进行了研究.研究结果表明, 石榴石(或绿辉石) 中柯石英向石英相变是一个连续变化过程.绿辉石中石英出溶体和主晶具有一定的晶体学拓扑关系, 即石英出溶体长轴有两个展布方向: 平行于绿辉石(10 0) 裂理面和平行于绿辉石(- 10 1) 面.目前, 部分学者推断榴辉岩绿辉石中石英出溶体可作为超高压变质作用的标志.笔者认为, 棒状定向石英在绿辉石中出溶的温压条件和出溶机理尚未查明.因此, 需加强过量二氧化硅单斜辉石出溶机理的超高压实验研究, 从而为证实石英出溶体作为超高压标志提供实验定量约束.      

Pressure State in Deep Crust and Formation Depth of UHP Metamorphic Rocks

INTRODUCTIONSincethediscoveryofeclogiteswithcoesiteanddia mondinclusionsrelatedtothecontinent continentcollision orogenyenvironment,theultrahigh pressuremetamorphism(UHPM )intheDabie Suluhasarousedgreatinterestinmanygeologists (Liouetal .,1994 ;Xuetal.,1992 ) .Experimentalstudieshaveprovedthatsuchmineralsasdia mond ,coesiteandomphaciteoccurredat 2 - 5GPa (andatthecorrespondingtemperatures) (Stevenetal.,1982 ;MirwaldandMasonne ,1980 ) .However,itdoesnotmeanthatthemetamorphicrockscanbe…     

A New Formation Mechanism of Coesite without the Plate Deeply-Subduction and Fast-Exhumation——Comment on the Article “Discussion on Some Problems of Quartz-Coesite Phase Transition”

本文分析评论了嵇少丞等(2010)发表的“石英—柯石英相变研究中若干问题讨论”一文.指出他们对柯石英非俯冲折返新机制的一些误解,对某些热力学、物理学概念,及其在地学问题中的解释理解的不同.分析了机械球磨的作用机制;论证了机械球磨作用本质与构造挤压剪切作用本质的同一性.分析了岩石糜棱岩化过程的两个阶段;讨论了地震波形成柯石英机制的可能性.围绕比较标准问题,论证了高能机械球磨(预处理)能大大降低α-石英转变成柯石英的压力、温度和合成时间,促进柯石英的形成.用小尺度不均匀局域高压微区模型解释了人工合成柯石英的规律性、南极洲天然矿物的行为,柯石英的寄生矿物、岩石——锆石、榴辉岩包裹体、非包裹体的形成.列举事例澄清了“球磨引进的Fe杂质提高柯石英形成压力迟缓合成”的说法;讨论了第二相存在对石英—柯石英转变的影响和“应变禁区”边界区的应力梯度相变驱动力可以形成柯石英问题.指出了机械球磨石英原料预处理和静高压合成柯石英后处理两步法,是一种实验室研究柯石英形成规律的有效物理方法;小尺度不均匀局域高压微区模型和无需板块深俯冲快折返的柯石英形成机制,是一种有希望的柯石英形成新机制.     

Prograde pressure–temperature records from inclusions in zircons from ultrahigh-pressure–high-pressure rocks of the Kokchetav Massif, northern Kazakhstan

Abstract In the first extensive, systematic study of inclusions in zircons from ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) and high-pressure (HP) metamorphic rocks of the Kokchetav Massif of Kazakhstan (separated from 232 rock samples from all representative lithologies and geographic regions), we identified graphite, quartz, garnet, phengite, phlogopite, rutile, albite, K-feldspar, amphibole, zoisite, kyanite, calcite, dolomite, apatite, monazite, omphacite and jadeite, as well as the diagnostic UHP metamorphic minerals (i.e. microdiamond and coesite) by laser Raman spectroscopy. In some instances, coesite + quartz and diamond + graphite occur together in a single rock sample, and inclusion aggregates also comprise polycrystalline diamond crystals overgrowing graphite. Secondary electron microscope and cathodoluminescence studies reveal that many zircons display distinct zonation textures, which comprise core and wide mantle, each with distinctive inclusion microassemblages. Pre-UHP metamorphic minerals such as graphite, quartz, phengite and apatite are common in the core, whereas diamond, coesite, garnet and jadeite occupy the mantle. The inclusions in core are irrelevant to the UHP metamorphism. The zircon core is of detrital or relatively low-grade metamorphic origin, whereas the mantle is of HP to UHP metamorphic origin. The zonal arrangement of inclusions and the presence of coesite and diamond without back-reaction imply that aqueous fluids were low to absent within the zircons during both prograde and retrograde metamorphism, and that the zircon preserves a prograde pressure–temperature record of the Kokchetav metamorphism which, elsewhere, has been more or less obliterated in the host rock.     

Overview of the geology, petrology and tectonic framework of the high-pressure–ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic belt of the Kokchetav Massif, Kazakhstan

Abstract High‐ to ultrahigh‐pressure metamorphic (HP–UHPM) rocks crop out over 150 km along an east–west axis in the Kokchetav Massif of northern Kazakhstan. They are disposed within the Massif as a 2 km thick, subhorizontal pile of sheet‐like nappes, predominantly composed of interlayered pelitic and psammitic schists and gneisses, amphibolite and orthogneiss, with discontinuous boudins and lenses of eclogite, dolomitic marble, whiteschist and garnet pyroxenite. On the basis of predominating lithologies, we subdivided the nappe group into four north‐dipping, fault‐bounded orogen‐parallel units (I–IV, from base to top). Constituent metabasic rocks exhibit a systematic progression of metamorphic grades, from high‐pressure amphibolite through quartz–eclogite and coesite–eclogite to diamond–eclogite facies. Coesite, diamond and other mineral inclusions within zircon offer the best means by which to clarify the regional extent of UHPM, as they are effectively sequestered from the effects of fluids during retrogression. Inclusion distribution and conventional geothermobarometric determinations demonstrate that the highest grade metamorphic rocks (Unit II: T = 780–1000°C, P = 37–60 kbar) are restricted to a medial position within the nappe group, and metamorphic grade decreases towards both the top (Unit III: T = 730–750°C, P = 11–14 kbar; Unit IV: T = 530°C, P = 7.5–9 kbar) and bottom (Unit I: T = 570–680°C; P = 7–13.5 kbar). Metamorphic zonal boundaries and internal structural fabrics are subhorizontal, and the latter exhibit opposing senses of shear at the bottom (top‐to‐the‐north) and top (top‐to‐the‐south) of the pile. The orogen‐scale architecture of the massif is sandwich‐like, with the HP–UHPM nappe group juxtaposed across large‐scale subhorizontal faults, against underlying low P–T metapelites (Daulet Suite) at the base, and overlying feebly metamorphosed clastic and carbonate rocks (Unit V). The available structural and petrologic data strongly suggest that the HP–UHPM rocks were extruded as a sequence of thin sheets, from a root zone in the south toward the foreland in the north, and juxtaposed into the adjacent lower‐grade units at shallow crustal levels of around 10 km. The nappe pile suffered considerable differential internal displacements, as the 2 km thick sequence contains rocks exhumed from depths of up to 200 km in the core, and around 30–40 km at the margins. Consequently, wedge extrusion, perhaps triggered by slab‐breakoff, is the most likely tectonic mechanism to exhume the Kokchetav HP–UHPM rocks.     

Subduction of Continental Crust in the Early Palaeozoic North Qaidam Ultrahigh-Pressure Metamorphic Belt, NW China:Evidence from the Discovery of Coesite in the Belt

Coesite was discovered as inclusions in zircon separates from pelitic gneiss associated with a large eclogite body in the North Qaidam ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terrane. Some graphite inclusions were also found. This finding suggested the occurrence of in-situ UHP metamorphism and that the terrane was most likely recrystallized at pressures below the diamond stability field. It supported other previous indirect UHP evidence, such as polycrystalline quartz inclusions in eclogitic garnet, quartz lamellae in omphacite and P-T estimates for both eclogite and garnet peridotite. The U-Pb and Sm-Nd ages of the North Qaidam eclogite indicated that subduction of continental crust occurred in the Early Palaeozoic, which probably recorded a collision between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze plates.     

北秦岭官坡地区高压—超高压榴辉岩岩相学及变质作用研究

北秦岭官坡地区的榴辉岩及含柯石英榴辉岩产在帮岭岩群的北侧，主要由绿辉石和石榴石组成，部分石榴石和绿辉石中含柯石英包体。此外还含有退变质的多硅白云母、角闪石、黝帘石和纳长石等矿物，根据变质矿物之间的替代关系及共生组合规律，榴辉岩退变质作用可划分为四个阶段，各阶段代表性矿物组合依次为：柯石英＋绿辉石＋石榴石；石英＋绿辉石＋石榴石；多硅白云母＋绿辉石＋石榴石＋石英；角闪石＋斜长石＋白云母＋黑云母。这四个     

一种非板块深俯冲快折返的柯石英形成新机制——评析“石英—柯石英相变研究中若干问题讨论”一文

本文分析评论了嵇少丞等(2010)发表的"石英—柯石英相变研究中若干问题讨论"一文。指出他们对柯石英非俯冲折返新机制的一些误解,对某些热力学、物理学概念,及其在地学问题中的解释理解的不同。分析了机械球磨的作用机制;论证了机械球磨作用本质与构造挤压剪切作用本质的同一性。分析了岩石糜棱岩化过程的两个阶段;讨论了地震波形成柯石英机制的可能性。围绕比较标准问题,论证了高能机械球磨(预处理)能大大降低α-石英转变成柯石英的压力、温度和合成时间,促进柯石英的形成。用小尺度不均匀局域高压微区模型解释了人工合成柯石英的规律性、南极洲天然矿物的行为,柯石英的寄生矿物、岩石——锆石、榴辉岩包裹体、非包裹体的形成。列举事例澄清了"球磨引进的Fe杂质提高柯石英形成压力迟缓合成"的说法;讨论了第二相存在对石英—柯石英转变的影响和"应变禁区"边界区的应力梯度相变驱动力可以形成柯石英问题。指出了机械球磨石英原料预处理和静高压合成柯石英后处理两步法,是一种实验室研究柯石英形成规律的有效物理方法;小尺度不均匀局域高压微区模型和无需板块深俯冲快折返的柯石英形成机制,是一种有希望的柯石英形成新机制。