Ultrahigh-Pressure Mineral Assemblages in Zircons from the Surface to 5158 m Depth in Cores of the Main Drill Hole, Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Project, Southwestern Sulu Belt, China

Abstract

The 5158 m deep main hole of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Project (CCSD-MH) at Maobei, southwestern Sulu Belt, penetrated five major lithologic units: eclogite, amphibolite ± retrograde eclogite, ultramafic rock, paragneiss, and orthogneiss. All analyzed samples are overprinted to various extents by amphibolite-facies retrograde metamorphism. Ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) index minerals are preserved as inclusions in zircons separated from 137 core samples. These index assemblages include: Coe + Phe + Grt from Grt-Ep-Bt paragneiss; Coe + Jd + Grt + Ap, Coe + Jd + Phe + Ap and Coe + Grt + Jd + Phe from Grt-Ep-Hbl paragneiss; Coe + Phe, Coe + Ky + Ap, and Coe + Ky + Ttn from orthogneiss; and Coe + Grt + Omp, Coe + Grt + Phe, Coe + Omp + Rt, and Coe + Grt + Omp + Phe from Bt-Ep amphibolite and other retrograde eclogites. The common occurrences of these UHP assemblages throughout the section indicate that the drill hole did not penetrate through the UHP tectonic slice. All of the UHP mineral assemblages, whether from retrograde ecologites or from the surrounding gneisses, record similar metamorphic conditions of 773-843°C and 3.2-4.0 GPa. Zircons separated from surface samples and cores from other shallow holes in the area also contain similar coesite-bearing UHP mineral inclusions. This widespread occurrence of UHP assemblages in the southwestern Sulu area suggests that voluminous continental materials were subducted and metamorphosed at mantle depths > 100 km, and then were rapidly exhumed to crustal levels.