Abstract
The past decade has been a time of unprecedented improvement in our ability to reconstruct the thermal evolution of orogenic belts. Like many instances of rapid advancement in science, this achievement can be traced to the convergence of disparate research directions. The new field of thermochronology (the study of the time-temperature evolution of rocks) derived from the realization by geochronologists that many mineral-iso topic systems could be used to determine the time of cooling of a terrain through a series of predictable temperatures (e.g. Armstrong 1966, Wagner et aI 1977, Harrison & McDougalI 1980, Berger & York 1981). Petrologists have made great progress in their ability to discern the pressure-tem perature history of metamorphic rocks through the improvement of con ventional thermobarometric techniques [see Bohlen & Lindsley (1987) and Essene (1989) for reviews] and the development of important new approaches to relating changes in mineral chemistry to changes in environ mental parameters (Spear & Selvcrstonc 1983, St-Onge 1987). From a theoretical standpoint, several geophysical papers in the midto late-1970s and early 1980s explored heat transfer processes in orogenic belts and the role of these in the development and preservation of metamorphic mineral assemblages (Oxburgh & England 1974, Bickle et a1 1975, Bird et a1 1975, England & Richardson 1977, Toksoz & Bird 1977, England & Thompson 1984, among others). The integration of geochronologic and petrologic techniques alIows us
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