Metapelite from the high‐ to ultrahigh‐pressure terrane of the Eastern Alps (Pohorje Mountains, Slovenia)—New pressure, temperature and time constraints on a polymetamorphic rock

Abstract

AbstractThe Austroalpine nappe stack of the Pohorje Mountains (Mts.) in northeastern Slovenia comprises a suite of eclogite facies metamorphic rocks that were partially assigned to Eo‐Alpine ultrahigh‐pressure metamorphism (UHPM). We selected a micaschist, which was previously related to this metamorphism, for a detailed study including the chemical zonation of garnet and potassic white mica, the identification of mineral inclusion assemblages, pseudosection modelling with PERPLE_X, and monazite in‐situ dating with the electron microprobe. Polymetamorphism was revealed by (at least) two generations of garnet and phengite and four populations of monazite yielding ages of 283.6 ± 6.1 (2σ), 94.1 ± 3.7, 47.9 ± 10.8 and 26.2 ± 2.8 Ma. The Permian monazite population is characterized by relatively high Y contents (~1.15 wt% Y) and low La/Gd mass ratios (8.7) indicating its formation before the growth of porphyroblastic garnet. The Eo‐Alpine population, however, grew synchronously with garnet based on low Y contents (~0.05 wt%) and high La/Gd ratios (21.4). The older Tertiary population (48 Ma) shows also high Y contents (1.1 wt%) and low La/Gd ratios (10.6) whereas the younger Tertiary population is characterized by low Y contents. The Permian P–T conditions of 7.5–10 kbar at 600–650°C were obtained using the inclusion assemblage of staurolite+rutile+biotite in porphyroblastic garnet. High pressure (HP) but no UHPM was reconstructed for both Eo‐Alpine coarse phengite (Si = 3.22 per formula unit = pfu) and small Tertiary garnet+fine‐grained phengite (Si = 3.27 pfu) at peak pressures ~16 kbar and 18.5–23 kbar respectively. Maximum temperatures close to 650°C were likely reached during the Eo‐Alpine HP event, whereas those of the Tertiary HP event were probably ~580°C. These HP metamorphic events suggest that the Pohorje Mts. experienced both an Eo‐Alpine and a Tertiary subduction–exhumation history, the latter of which was mainly reported for underlying Penninic nappes so far.