Is exhumation of UHP terranes limited to low latitudes?

Abstract

How the ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terranes are exhumed to shallow levels but preserving intact relics of the UHP phase assemblages is among the most interesting but challenging topics in geosciences. We investigate all the paleolatitudes where the UHP terranes were exhumed. Our results show that all the UHP terranes in continental collision zones or oceanic accretionary wedges were exhumed within low latitudes (0°–30°), and the average paleolatitude for exhumations of the investigated 43 UHP terranes is ˜5.1° N. In contrast, those UHP xenoliths in mantle-derived igneous rocks could be brought to surface at higher paleolatitudes. Furthermore, the pattern of frequency for the UHP terranes exhumed at convergent boundaries is consistent with that of interglacial stages throughout the Earth history, indicating that the UHP exhumation is controlled by the climate and thus suggesting that the exhumed UHP terranes may be useful paleoclimate indicators.