Ultrahigh‐temperature metamorphism in the Helanshan complex of the Khondalite Belt, North China Craton: Petrology and phase equilibria of spinel‐bearing pelitic granulites

Abstract

AbstractTo better understand the formation of ultrahigh‐temperature (UHT) metamorphic rocks, we present a detailed petrological study of the recently discovered spinel‐bearing garnet–sillimanite granulites in the Helanshan complex of the Khondalite Belt in the North China Craton. In calculated P–T pseudosections, isopleths of grossular content in the peak assemblage field of garnet+K‐feldspar+sillimanite+spinel+ilmenite+quartz+melt suggest that the metamorphic peak occurred at ∼960–1,030°C and 6.3–7.3 kbar. Using ternary feldspar thermometry, a minimum temperature limit of the peak metamorphic conditions is calculated to be ∼910–955°C at 6.5 kbar, with a weighted mean of ∼940°C. Thus, all these results point to a very steep geothermal gradient well into the UHT field. In addition, a clockwise P–T evolution is determined, which involves pre‐Tmax decompression followed by nearly isobaric cooling. Based on these newly discovered UHT pelitic granulites, which do not contain index minerals typically considered diagnostic of UHT metamorphism, and the high‐P pelitic granulites exposed in the Helanshan and Qianlishan complexes, we propose that the Khondalite Belt is an ultrahot metamorphic orogen formed by collision between the Yinshan and Ordos Terranes. The style of this continental collision was rather different from Phanerozoic collisions, but was similar to the two‐sided hot collision model during the Proterozoic. Two‐sided hot collision involves shallow slab breakoff during collision, which leads to extension and the development of a wide plateau‐like orogen, which is underlain by melt‐bearing mantle that maintains a hot environment at the collision zone.