Significant cooling during exhumation of UHP eclogite from the Taohang area in the Sulu region of eastern China and its tectonic significance

The decompressional pressure–temperature (P–T) path was estimated for ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) eclogite from the Sulu region of eastern China by applying geo‐thermobarometers to well‐preserved equilibrium mineral pairs. The sample studied is a kyanite‐bearing eclogite that was collected from the Taohang area of the Sulu region. Garnet is relatively homogeneous in chemical composition, but omphacite has a clear chemical zoning with decreasing jadeite content from core to rim. Assuming that peak‐P equilibrium compositions are preserved in the cores of garnet (Grt) and omphacite (Omp), P–T conditions were calculated to be about 700°C and 3.4 GPa. On the other hand, the jadeite content of omphacite rims varies from 0.35 to 0.46 mol.%. Nevertheless, the variation in Fe/Mg ratios of omphacite rims is very small. Temperatures of 566 ± 54°C were obtained at 1.5 GPa for garnet rim and omphacite rim pairs. These petrological considerations indicate that temperatures should have significantly declined during the early decompression stage of this eclogite. In other areas of the Sulu region, isothermal decompression paths were proposed, and it was concluded that the UHP rocks were exhumed as a large mass tens of kilometers in thickness to avoid thermal effects from the surrounding materials. However, the newly identified decompression path accompanying the significant cooling may indicate that the Taohang outcrop was located at the margin of the Sulu UHP terrane. Thus, the decompressional P–T path is not unique in the Sulu region and varies depending on the location.