Anti-clockwise P–T paths in the lower crust: an example from a kyanite-bearing regional aureole, George Sound, New Zealand |
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Authors: | G. L. CLARKE,J. A. FITZHERBERT ,L. A. MILAN,N. R. DACZKO, H. S. DEGELING &dagger |
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Affiliation: | Earthbyte, School of Geosciences F09, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia (); GEMOC ARC National Key Centre, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia |
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Abstract: | The George Sound Paragneiss (GSP) represents a rare Permo-Triassic unit in Fiordland that occurs as a km-scale pillar to gabbroic and dioritic gneiss of c . 120 Ma Western Fiordland Orthogneiss (WFO). It is distinguished from Palaeozoic paragneiss common in western Fiordland (Deep Cove Gneiss) by SHRIMP and laser-ablation U–Pb ages as young as c . 190 Ma and 176Hf/177Lu >0.2828 for detrital zircon grains. The Mesozoic age of the GSP circumvents common ambiguity in the interpretation of Cretaceous v. Palaeozoic metamorphic assemblages in the Deep Cove Gneiss. A shallowly dipping S1 foliation is preserved in the GSP distal to the WFO, cut by 100 m scale migmatite contact zones. All units preserve a steeply dipping S2 foliation. S1 staurolite and sillimanite inclusions in the cores of metapelitic garnet grains distal to the WFO preserve evidence for prograde conditions of T < 650 °C and P < 8 kbar. Contact aureole and S2 assemblages include Mg-rich, Ca-poor cores to garnet grains in metapelitic schist that reflect WFO emplacement at ≈760 °C and ≈6.5 kbar. S2 kyanite-bearing matrix assemblages and Ca-enriched garnet rims reflect ≈650 °C and ≈11 kbar. Poorly oriented muscovite–biotite intergrowths and rare paragonite reflect post-S2 high- P retrogression and cooling. Pseudosection modelling in NCKFMASH defines a high- P anti-clockwise P–T history for the GSP involving: (i) mid- P amphibolite facies conditions; preceding (ii) thermal metamorphism adjacent to the WFO; followed by (iii) burial to high- P and (iv) high- P cooling induced by tectonic juxtaposition of cooler country rock. |
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Keywords: | Fiordland George Sound high-P amphibolite facies P–T path regional aureole Western Fiordland Orthogneiss |
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