The geological characteristics of oceanic-type UHP metamorphic belts and their tectonic implications: Case studies from Southwest Tianshan and North Qaidam in NW China

Abstract

The geological characteristics of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic belts formed by deep subduction of oceanic crust are summarized in this paper. Oceanic-type UHP metamorphic belt is characterized by its protolithic assemblage of typical oceanic crust, the peak metamorphic temperature <600°, P-T path undergoing blueschist facies during prograde and retrograde metamorphic evolution, respectively, with low geothermal gradient of cold subduction. The further study of oceanic-type UHP metamorphic belt is very significant for constructing metamorphic reaction series of cold subduction zone, for understanding how aqueous fluids were transported into deep mantle and for classifying the types of UHP metamorphism in cold subduction zone. The uplift and exhumation mechanism of oceanic UHP metamorphic rocks is one of the most challenging problems in the study of UHP metamorphism, which is very important for understanding the geodynamic mechanism of solid Earth. As a traveler subducted into the mantle depth and then uplifted to the surface, oceanic-type UHP metamorphic belts witness the bulk process from the subduction to exhumation and is an ideal target to study the geochemical behavior and cycling of elements in subduction zones. The tectonic evolution of one convergent orogenic belt can be usually divided into two stages of oceanic subduction and followed continental subduction and collision, and the two best-established examples of orogenic belts are Alps and Himalaya. Therefore, the study of oceanic-type UHP metamorphic belt is the frontier of the current plate tectonic theory. As two case studies, the current status and existing problems of oceanic-type UHP metamorphic belts in Southwest Tianshan and North Qaidam, NW China, are reviewed in this paper.