Abstract
AbstractRare ultrahigh‐temperature–(near)ultrahigh‐pressure (UHT–near‐UHP) crustal xenoliths erupted at 11 Ma in the Pamir Mountains, southeastern Tajikistan, preserve a compositional and thermal record at mantle depths of crustal material subducted beneath the largest collisional orogen on Earth. A combination of oxygen‐isotope thermometry, major‐element thermobarometry and pseudosection analysis reveals that, prior to eruption, the xenoliths partially equilibrated at conditions ranging from 815 °C at 19 kbar to 1100 °C at 27 kbar for eclogites and granulites, and 884 °C at 20 kbar to 1012 °C at 33 kbar for garnet–phlogopite websterites. To reach these conditions, the eclogites and granulites must have undergone mica‐dehydration melting. The extraction depths exceed the present‐day Pamir Moho at ∼65 km depth and suggest an average thermal gradient of ∼12–13 °C km−1. The relatively cold geotherm implies the introduction of these rocks to mantle depths by subduction or gravitational foundering (transient crustal drip). The xenoliths provide a window into a part of the orogenic history in which crustal material reached UHT–(U)HP conditions, partially melted, and then decompressed, without being overprinted by the later post‐thermal relaxation history.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.