Pressure--Temperature--Time Paths of Regional Metamorphism I. Heat Transfer during the Evolution of Regions of Thickened Continental Crust

The development of regional metamorphism in areas of thickenedcontinental crust is investigated in terms of the major controlson regional-scale thermal regimes. These are: the total radiogenicheat supply within the thickened crust, the supply of heat fromthe mantle, the thermal conductivity of the medium and the lengthand time scales of erosion of the continental crust. The orogenicepisode is regarded as consisting of a relatively rapid phaseof crustal thickening, during which little temperature changeoccurs in individual rocks, followed by a lengthier phase oferosion, at the end of which the crust is at its original thickness.The principal features of pressure—temperature—time(PTt) paths followed by rocks in this environment are a periodof thermal relaxation, during which the temperature rises towardsthe higher geotherm that would be supported by the thickenedcrust, followed by a period of cooling as the rock approachesthe cold land surface. The temperature increase that occursis governed by the degree of thickening of the crust, its conductivityand the time that elapses before the rock is exhumed sufficientlyto be affected by the proximity of the cold upper boundary.For much of the parameter range considered, the heating phaseencompasses a considerable portion of the exhumation (decompression)part of the PTt path. In addition to the detailed calculationof PTt paths we present an idealized model of the thickeningand exhumation process, which may be used to make simple calculationsof the amount of heating to be expected during a given thickeningand exhumation episode and of the depth at which a rock willstart to cool on its ascent path. An important feature of thesePTt paths is that most of them lie within 50 °C of the maximumtemperature attained for one third or more of the total durationof their burial and uplift, and for a geologically plausiblerange of erosion rates the rocks do not begin to cool untilthey have completed 20 to 40 per cent of the total uplift theyexperience. Considerable melting of the continental crust isa likely consequence of thickening of crust with an averagecontinental geotherm. A companion paper discusses these resultsin the context of attempts to use metamorphic petrology datato give information on tectonic processes.