Very low-grade metamorphic study in the pre-Late Cretaceous terranes of New Caledonia (southwest Pacific Ocean)

Abstract   Pre-Late Cretaceous terranes from the central part of New Caledonia have been metamorphosed under very low-grade conditions by two high-pressure/low-temperature events. The present study investigates the metamorphic patterns with phyllosilicate crystallinities, electron microprobe analyses and petrography. The first metamorphic event is of Late Jurassic age and is characterized by very low (anchizone) to low-grade (epizone) conditions with a decrease of the illite Kübler Index (KI) and the chlorite Árkai Index (ÁI) values from northeast to southwest. This trend is also confirmed by chlorite thermometry. In the south of the area, un-metamorphosed sediments (diagenetic KI values) are observed in the Senonian 'formation à charbons', post-dating the metamorphism in this region. The second metamorphism is an Eocene high-pressure event, which overprints the Late Jurassic metamorphism in the northern part of the studied area. In this zone, the pattern of KI and ÁI indicates another gradient with increasing metamorphic conditions from southwest to northeast. Temperatures calculated by chlorite thermometry also indicate an evolution from southwest to northeast with slight increase of temperature from 298 ± 8°C to 327 ± 16°C. In both metamorphic zones, the K-white mica b cell dimension calculated on micas analyzed at electron microprobe are in good agreement with high-pressure/low-temperature metamorphic conditions (b₀ > 9.04 Å). A combination of chlorite thermometry and K-white mica b cell dimension allows estimation of a minimum pressure of 1.3 GPa in the Eocene zone (in excellent agreement with the 1.5 GPa registered in the northern part of New Caledonia) and a minimum of 1.1 GPa in the Late Jurassic metamorphic part.