On the roles of deformation and fluid during rejuvenation of a polymetamorphic terrane: inferences on the geodynamic evolution of the Ruker Province, East Antarctica

Abstract

AbstractEvaluating pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions through mineral equilibria modelling within an amphibolite facies polymetamorphic terrane requires knowledge of the fluid content of the rocks. The Archean‐Palaeoproterozoic basement rocks of the Ruker Province, East Antarctica, preserve evidence of three metamorphic events (M1–M3). Of particular interest is the M3 event, which is constrained to the early Palaeozoic (c. 550–480 Ma). Evaluation of the tectonic setting during this time is important because the Ruker Province is located within a critical region with respect to models of Gondwana assembly. Structural evidence of the early Palaeozoic event is preserved as large (up to ∼500 m wide) high strain zones that cut the orthogneiss‐metasedimentary basement (Tingey Complex) of the Ruker Province. Rocks within these zones have been thoroughly recrystallized and preserve a dominant shear fabric and M3 mineral assemblages that formed at P–T conditions of 4.0–5.2 kbar and 565–640 °C. Distal to these zones, rocks preserve more complex petrographic relationships with S1 and S2 foliations, being incompletely overgrown by M3 retrograde assemblages. We show that the mineral assemblages preserved during the M3 event are highly dependent on the availability of fluid H2O, which is strongly influenced by the structural setting (i.e. proximity to the high‐strain zones). P–T structural and fluid flow constraints support a model of basin inversion during early Palaeozoic crustal rejuvenation in the Ruker Province.