Eclogite-like Rocks Research Articles

HIGH-PRESSURE METAMORPHIC ROCKS OF THE CHARA OPHIOLITE BELT (CAOB): AGE AND EXHUMATION CONDITIONS

A critical element in the construction of tectonic models of exhumation of basalts that have undergone high-pressure metamorphism is the diagnosis of synchronicity and the genetic relationship between deformations and high-pressure metamorphic changes. In this report, these issues are discussed on the example of the metabasalts of the Chara ophiolite belt. In the bottom of the basalt block with the separation of pillow lavas near the Burshabulak farm, crack-vein systems with high-pressure mineral associations were discovered and analyzed, which directly indicates their tectonic origin. It is shown that the conditions for the formation of such vein mineral associations correspond to eclogite-like rocks (P=18.5 kbar temperatures of no more than 520 °C). The age of the high-pressure metamorphism basalts of the synchronous type with deformations according to 40Ar/39Ar isotope dating of amphiboles cannot be younger than the boundary of 452±14 million years.

Rutile From the Zelenyi Yar Titanium-Zirconium Placer and Its Possible Primary Sources

Rutile of the Neogene-aged Zelenyi Yar titanium-zirconium placer was studied. The average size of the rutile grains is 0.25 mm that are elliptical, rounded, short-prismatic, isometric, and elongated-prismatic crystals in shape. On the surface of the crystals, elements of physical abrasion of varying degrees, as well as chemical dissolution, are observed. The color of the rutile crystals ranges from black to yellow with black and brown being the most common. A relationship between the concentration of various impurity elements and their variations with the color of the crystals is present. The highest average content of impurity elements is recorded in green rutiles and the lowest in light brown crystals. About 61% of the rutiles contain V2O5 (30% of all crystals; average content 1.28%), Nb2O5 (25%; 1.38%), FeO (24%; 1.10%), WO3 (9%; 0.91%), ZrO2 (9%; 0.85%), Al2O3 (2%; 0.70%), Cr2O3 (5%; 0.60%), SiO2 (7%; 0.57%). The temperature of primary rutile crystallization was calculated using Zr-in-rutile thermometry and corresponds to granulite and eclogite metamorphic conditions. Cluster analysis of 284 microprobe analyses of rutile allows at least five groups of crystals to be identified. According to the chemical composition of various rutiles, it can be concluded that they originated from metapelitic rocks, enderbites, and eclogite-like rocks located in the Dniester-Bug megablock of the Ukrainian Shield.

Eclogite-like rocks from Southern Pirin Mountains – preliminary results about petrology and time of formation

North-northeast of the village of Ilinden (Southern Pirin Mnt.) three eclogite boudins were separated on the geological map in scale 1:50 000 (Sarov, 2010). The rocks belong to the Slasten lithotectonic unit. The mineral assemblage and mineral chemistry do not allow these rocks to be classified as eclogites. They can be considered as eclogite-like ones, formed by postmagmatic-metasomatic alteration of the host rocks. Based on LA-ICP-MS sphene U-Pb dating, eclogite-like rocks yield a Late Jurassic age (160±19 Ma).

About Diamonds of the Ingul-Ingulets Domain (the Ukrainian Shield)

Three finds of diamonds on the Ingul-Ingulets domain of the Ukrainian Shield are considered: in breccia-like rocks of the Gruzke area, in eclogite-like rocks in the basin of the Ingul River and the Zeleny Gayi meteorite crater. A brief description of these diamonds is made, which represent their different geological and genetic types. Тhe veracity of these diamond findings and the origin of their crystals are appreciated. It is shown that 8 diamonds of the Gruzke area differ in size (0.2-1.4 mm), shape, colour, set of nitrogen centres and degree of preservation. According to infrared spectroscopy, all the studied crystals can be attributed to natural diamonds of the mantle type and distinguish them into separate groups, as they belong to several spectral types: IIa, IaAB, Iab and Ib. However, there are several doubts about the veracity of this finding: 1. Finding in small samples of the core wells of such a high concentration of diamonds. 2. A large variety of crystals in these samples by spectral types of physical classification. 3. Signs of mechanical wear on all crystals, which does not exclude the version of their origin from a diamond drill bit (a mixture of crystals of the natural and possibly synthetic diamond). The question of whether the found diamonds belong to the breccia-like rocks of the Gruzke area remains open. Small diamonds (up to 0.3 mm), which are found in eclogite-like rocks in the basin of the Ingul River on several grounds (mainly cubo-octahedral habit, manifestations of skeletal forms of growth, flat surface of the cube faces, yellow-green colour, inclusions) are very similar to crystals of synthetic HPHT diamond. However, the same small diamonds are found in the rocks of the Euro-Asian Alpine and the Ural and Central-Asian Caledonian ophiolite belts and the eruptions of modern volcanoes in Kamchatka. Such diamonds are also found in lamproite-like rocks of the Mriya pipe in the Azov Sea region, and they are found in weathering crusts and terrigenous deposits of Ukraine. It is necessary to find out the true nature of these findings. Therefore, it is necessary to audit all finds of such diamonds in Ukraine. It is shown that diamonds from the Zeleny Gayi meteorite crater are typical impact apographitic crystals - diamond paramorphoses on graphite. The conclusions of some researchers about the mantle nature of these diamonds from this crater are denied.

Eclogite-Like Metagabbro of the Olkhon Terrane, West Baikal Area

Eclogite-like rocks of the Olkhon terrane correspond to two types according to the mode of occurrence and mineral compositions, although both types developed after the same type of gabbro of a single complex. The rocks of the first type are composed of garnet, clinopyroxene, pargasite (± scapolite, ± anorthite, ± spinel) and occur as thin veins or patches in the marginal parts of several small gabbro massifs of the Tonta Zone. The garnet is of almandine–pyrope–grossular composition and contains up to 40% of the pyrope end member. The rocks of the second type have been found in the Zamogoi Island in the Maloe More Strait. The island is composed of metasomatically altered gabbro cut by numerous granite and syenite veins. Carbonate and carbonate–silicate rocks compose dismembered veins and veinlets, as well as matrix embedding variably sized fragments of metasomatized gabbro and eclogite-like rocks in the southern part of the island. Based on the mode of occurrence and the presence of calcite–anorthite symplectite in some of the rocks, we suggest that the gabbro was penetrated by carbonate fluid or fluid–melt in a tectonic zone. The zone contains veins of garnet–clinopyroxene composition (varying from monomineralic garnetite to monomineralic pyroxenite) with minor pargasite, zoisite, anorthite, scapolite, and titanite. The garnet of Zamogoi Island has a grossular–almandine composition with a minor andradite concentration (about 10%). The compositions of minerals of the Zamogoi massif differ from the compositions of minerals in Tonta Zone, and the former are much more similar to skarn minerals.

Верхняя мантия Прибайкалья и Забайкалья по данным площадных сейсмологических исследований

According to the areal interpretation of seismological data from sufficiently strong earth-quakes, new information on the velocity structure of the upper mantle of the Baikal and Trans-Baikal regions is presented. Based on the results of a tomographic interpretation of the travel times of P and S waves from the Mokhorovichich border, maps of the boundary velocities of longitudinal and transverse waves in the Baikal and Transbaikalia, the ratios of the velocities of the P and S waves (Vp/Vs), and the distribution of the Poisson's ratio (σ) are constructed. The boundary velocity in the northwestern, northern, and northeastern parts of the research area (within the Baikal rift zone) according to longitudinal and transversal waves has lower values of 7.80-7.95 km/s and 4.45-4.55 km/s, respectively. In the upper mantle of the southeastern part of the area, the mantle block is about 600x600 km in size with high longitudinal and transversal wave’s velocities of 8.40-8.45 km/s and 4.80-4.85 km/s, respectively, and increased values of Vp/Vs and σ. The assumption of its nature as a plate of eclogites (or eclogite-like rocks) in the region of the Mongol-Okhotsk orogenic belt is justified. The results were compared with materials from other research.

Interaction of a Spreading Mantle Plume Head and the Ancient Lithosphere: Studying Mantle Xenoliths in Basalts and Lamprophyre Diatremes of Western Syria

Abstract —Our study of mantle xenoliths in the Cretaceous lamprophyre diatremes and late Cenozoic plateau basalts of western Syria has shown that the ancient lower crust that existed in the Cretaceous and was composed of garnet granulites and eclogite-like rocks was replaced by mantle peridotites in the late Cenozoic. We conclude that the heads of the local (secondary) plumes of the present-day Afro-Arabian thermochemical mantle plume responsible for the regional basaltic magmatism reached the basement of the ancient upper sialic crust, where they spread, leading to a displacement of the mafic lower crust.

Age and geochemistry of zircon from the oldest metamorphic rocks of the Omolon Massif (Northeast Russia)

This study provides SHRIMP-RG data on zircons from garnet gedritites, the products of retrograde metamorphism of eclogite-like rocks constituting belonging to the basement of the Omolon Massif. The earliest episode recorded by oscillatory-zoned cores having high HREE and Ti contents occurred at 3.25–3.22 Ga (Paleoarchean) and is interpreted to represent an upper age limit of a metamorphic or magmatic protolith. One zircon core with a pronounced negative Eu anomaly yielded a concordant age of 2.6 Ga, which is interpreted to mark a Neoarchean episode of granite formation. The studied population of zircons provides the most distinct record of a Paleoproterozoic (1.9 Ga) event, which is marked by formation of garnet gedritites under amphibolite-facies conditions. This event is recorded by transparent recrystallization rims of preexisting large zircon grains and small newly-formed grains, which are characterized, compared with their cores, by lower crystallization temperatures and one order of magnitude lower concentrations of U, Th, and HREE, and the presence of garnet micro-inclusions.

Geochemical evolution of amphibolites and gneisses of the Belomorian mobile belt during Paleoproterozoic metamorphism

We present the results of a comparative study of the geochemical changes of amphibolites and gneisses from the Belomorian mobile belt in response to plagiomigmatization, high-pressure metamorphism, two-feldspar migmatization, and secondary amphibolization during Paleoproterozoic (Svecofennian) tectonometamorphic activation. It is established that most of the Paleoproterozoic metamorphic processes are nonisochemical for major and trace elements, which is possibly caused by the interaction of protolithic rocks with metamorphic fluids. The finds of eclogites within the Belomorian mobile belt are spatially and genetically related to the large fields of apoamphibolite and apogneiss plagiomigmatites. Apoamphibolite eclogites, Grt–Aug eclogite-like rocks, apoamphibolite and apogneiss plagiomigmatites were formed by a single process initiated by the influence of an alkaline fluid on the amphibolite–gneiss complex. This was accompanied by the depletion of the rocks in HREE, enrichment in LREE, disappearance of the negative and formation of the positive europium anomaly. The formation of later two-feldspar migmatites was related to the reworking of the gneiss–migmatite–amphibolite complex by more acid fluids, which led to the depletion of microclinized rocks in LREE. Secondary amphibolization and epidotization of the basites and metabasites did not affect their REE distribution pattern.

Prograde transformations of amphibolites into eclogites and eclogite-like rocks in the low-pressure field of the eclogite facies (by the example of the Belomorian Mobile Belt)

Plagioclase-bearing garnet-omphacite (Grt-Omp) eclogites and garnet-augite eclogite-like (Grt-Aug) schists from the amphibolite and gneiss beds of the Belomorian Mobile Belt have been studied. They are spread over a large area. In most of the studied objects, these rocks have preserved primary concordant relations with the host amphibolite and gneiss strata; they are not disturbed by late tectonic processes and are not genetically related to tectonic-melange zones. Their protoliths were amphibolite lenses in gneisses or large mafic zones composed of amphibolites. The Grt-Omp eclogites formed in the low-pressure field of the eclogite facies (P = 12.5-13.0 kbar, T = 600-630 °C), and the eclogite-like Grt-Aug rocks, at the boundary between the amphibolite and eclogite facies (P = 9.6-11.1 kbar, T = 630-700 °C), under the intense impact of metamorphic fluid on the amphibolites. The compositional evolution of the rock-forming minerals during the formation of Grt-Omp eclogites and eclogite-like Grt-Aug rocks followed the same scheme. The petrographic diversity of apoamphibolite rocks (Grt-Omp eclogites and Grt-Aug schists) might be due to the difference both in the bulk composition of the metabasic protolith and in the ratios of CaO and Na2O activities in the metamorphic fluid. The relatively low content of CaO leads to the formation of Grt-Omp paragenesis in eclogites. Higher CaO contents give rise to eclogite-like Grt-Aug rocks containing jadeite-poor clinopyroxene.

Eclogite-like apogabbro rocks in Sidorov and Bolshaya Ileika islands, Keret Archipelago, White Sea: Compositional characteristics, metamorphic age and conditions

The paper reports the first data obtained by state-of-the-art analytical techniques on the composition of minerals and the metamorphic age and metamorphic parameters of eclogite-like rocks from Sidorov and Ileiki islands, Keret Archipelago, White Sea. The U-Pb zircon magmatic age of the metabasites lies within the range of 2400–2480 Ma. The rocks were subjected to eclogite metamorphism at 1870–1890 Ma, with this age estimate consistent with analogous estimates for eclogite metamorphism elsewhere within BMB. Simultaneously garnetite zones were produced. The metabasites were eclogitized at 12 kbar and 700°C, i.e., near the boundary between the eclogite and amphibolite facies of relatively high pressure, because of a local pressure increase during rock cooling in the presence of fluid. The retrograde metamorphic episode proceeded under pressures from 12 to 6.5 kbar at temperatures from 700 to 600°C. The contact amphibolization of the metabasites at a temperature close to 620°C and pressures of 2–2.5 kbar (low-pressure amphibolite facies) occurred at 1870 Ma and is pronounced in the form of an amphibolite rim around a boudin of eclogitized basite and in significant changes in the trace-element and REE composition of the eclogite zircon.

New data on the age (U-Pb, Sm-Nd) of metamorphism and a protolith of eclogite-like rocks from the Krasnaya Guba area, Belomorian belt

New data on the age (U-Pb, Sm-Nd) of metamorphism and a protolith of eclogite-like rocks from the Krasnaya Guba area, Belomorian belt

Granulite facies metamorphism and metasomatism in the gabbro-anorthosites of the Kolvitsa massif, Kola Peninsula

The investigation of the Kolvitsa gabbro-anorthosite massif showed that its melanocratic layers conformable with metamorphic banding are mafic differentiates transformed into eclogite-like rocks during prograde metamorphism. During the peak and retrograde stage of the Svecofennian metamorphism in the White Sea region at t = 910–750°C and P = 14-7 kbar, the infiltration of Fe-, CO2-, Si-, and Na-bearing fluids with \(X_{H_2 O} < 0.4\) resulted in metasomatic alterations of the melanocratic gabbro-anorthosite interlayers, dissolution of a number of elements, and their reprecipitation with the formation of cross-cutting zoned metasomatic veins with abundant magnetite and ilmenite. The high content of hematite in the ilmenite suggests that the veins were formed at an increase in oxygen fugacity from \(\log f_{O_2 } = - 14.5\) to \(\log f_{O_2 } = - 11\), which caused the Fe2+ → Fe3+ transition and iron precipitation. The increase in at the conditions corresponding to the metamorphic peak was probably related to the neutralization of solutions during their infiltration through the gabbro-anorthosites. The reprecipitation of components and the formation of cross-cutting veins occurred owing to interaction between the melanocratic layers in the gabbro-anorthosites and a fluid phase and, contrary to previous models, did not involve the fluid transport of components from the zones of charnockite formation and granitization located far away from the sites of reprecipitation. This is demonstrated by the similarity of mineral compositions and major component contents in the melanocratic gabbro-anorthosite layers and cross-cutting metasomatic veins and regular distribution of trace elements.

Metasomatic replacements and isotope relationships in zircon crystals and crystallogenetic models

Secondary textures formed in natural zircon crystals under the influence of hydrothermal solutions are interpreted as products of metasomatic substitution. Such textures are clearly seen in metamict zircons and zircons enriched in radioactive elements, which are often found in potassic granites, pegmatites, and other rocks with high U and Th contents. Specific secondary textures in zircons contained in microcline granites, metasedimentary and eclogite-like rocks of the Kola Peninsula are reviewed. Detailed mineralogical and geochemical studies of zircons (CL, BSE, microprobe analysis of incompatible elements) have been carried out with the subsequent U-Pb dating of different zircon zones. The mechanism of secondary texture formation is considered in terms of metasomatic isomorphic substitution. Analogy between natural structure of zircon and products of experimental isomorphic substitution makes it possible to obtain additional information on conditions of the natural zircon growth important for interpreting geochronological data. When metamict zircons are substituted without gaining new material and with a decrease in volume, the U-Pb age of initial zircon remains unchanged and the lower intercept of discordia and concordia corresponds to the time of fluid impact. Substitution with a gain in matter is accompanied by excess volume. In this case, the timing of zones of transitional composition is devoid of geological sense.

Metamorphic evolution of the archean eclogite-like rocks of the Shirokaya and Uzkaya Salma area (Kola Peninsula): Geochemical features of zircon, composition of inclusions, and age

Zircon from the eclogite-like rocks of the Shirokaya and Uzkaya Salma area (Kola Peninsula) was studied using a complex of mineralogical and geochemical methods (CL, BSE, microprobe, and REE distribution). Different zones distinguished within zircon crystals were dated on a SHRIMP-II mass spectrometer. Mineral and chemical compositions of inclusions in the zircons were analyzed. Based on these studies, the following stages of the formation and transformation of the rocks were determined: (1) formation of basic protolith of the eclogite-like rocks of the Shirokaya and Uzkaya Salma area 2.94–2.93 Ga ago; (2) the granulite-facies metamorphism of the eclogite-like rocks of the Shirokaya Salma 2.72 Ga ago; (3) the onset of decompressional cooling with formation of Cpx-Pl symplectites at 2.70 Ga ago; and (4) final metamorphic reworking together with surrounding TTG under the amphibolite-facies conditions at 1.89 Ga ago. The studied rocks and minerals revealed no isotope-geochemical or geochronological signs of eclogite metamorphism. Geochemistry of the primary magmatic zircons showed that the protolith of eclogite-like rocks was gabbro rather than MOR basalts. The formation of garnet in the rocks of the Uzkaya and Shirokaya Salma area is dated at 2.70 and 1.89 Ga ago, which is consistent with petrological observations of later formation of garnet relative to omphacite. Obtained data led us to prefer a magmatogenic model, which suggests that omphacite in the rocks of the Shirokaya and Uzkaya Salma was presumably formed during crystallization from basic melt, rather than during eclogite-facies metamorphism.

Petrology and thermobarometry of eclogite rocks in the Krasnaya Guba dike field, belomorian mobile belt

A sequence of mineral associations was examined in eclogitized basites of the Krasnaya Guba dike field in the Belomorian Mobile Belt. Two morphological types of eclogite and eclogite-like rocks were recognized: (1) eclogite rocks that developed after ferrogabbro dikes and completely replaced these dikes from contact to contact and (2) eclogite-like rocks that developed after gabbronorites in zones of ductile deformations and shearing. According to data mineral geothermobaromety, both rock types were formed within temperature and pressure ranges corresponding to high-pressure and high-temperature amphibolite facies at T = 700 ± 40°C and P = 10.0 ± 0.5 kbar. The peak metamorphic parameters of the host gneisses are analogous. The decompressional stage, which is unambiguously identified by reaction textures, occurred at 630–660°C and 7.9–8.2 kbar. As the temperature and, first of all, pressure decreased, the SiO2 activity in the fluid systematically varied. The eclogitization of the basites took place locally in relation to fluid fluxes, which were restricted to zones of intense deformations, at variable SiO2 activity. The rocks show evidence of two stages of post-eclogite amphibolization. Older amphibolization 1 was coeval with the late prograde metamorphic stage (T = 650°C, P = 10–11 kbar). Younger amphibolization 2 affected eclogitized basite dikes and unaltered gabbronorites (together with their host gneisses) over large areas. This process coincided with decompression (T = 580°C, P = 7–8 kbar) and was likely accompanied by the exhumation of deep zones of BMB to upper-middle crustal levels.

Thermodynamic regime of Svecofennian (1.9 Ga) metamorphism of the Umba nappe of the Lapland collisional orogen

Thermodynamic regime of culmination phase of high-grade metamorphism of the Umba nappe (Lapland allochthon) was studied, and peak metamorphic monazite was dated. Based on calculation of end member reactions, the metamorphic assemblages of aluminous gneisses from the upper and lower parts of the nappe are close to equilibrium. The metamorphic conditions of the rocks are estimated to be about 800°C and 7 kbar in its upper part and 9 kbar in its lower part. The formation of orthopyroxene-sillimanite aggregates points to increasing pressure and temperature at the prograde stage of PT path, whereas cordierite rims mark the onset of decompression and cooling. The pressure difference of 2–2.5 kbar identified by thermobarometric methods between aluminous gneisses from the upper and lower parts of the Umba nappe corresponds to a depth gradient about 7.5 km, which agrees with approximate thickness of the Umba nappe. The study of the eclogitelike rocks developed after the rocks of the Paleoproterozoic Kolvitsa gabbronorite massif made it possible to trace the P-T evolution of metamorphsim: the temperature peak of granulite stage (11 kbar, 860°C) was followed by pressure increase (up to 14 kbar and more), and then decompressional cooling due to the exhumation of the Por’ya Guba nappe together with the Kolvitsa Massif. The U-Pb monazite age of 1904 ± 3 Ma obtained for aluminous gneisses from the upper part of the Umba nappe corresponds within error to the timing of metamorphic events determined from metamorphic zircon in the anorthosites of the Kolvitsa Massif (1907 ± 2 Ma) and zircon from aluminous gneisses in the melange zone (1906 ± 3 Ma). These isotopic data confirm the conclusion of simultaneous high-pressure granulite metamorphism in the upper and lower portions of the Umba nappe.

Composition, P-T parameters, and metasomatic transformations of mafic schists of the Svyatoi Nos Peninsula, Eastern Baikal Area

The paper reports data on rock and mineral compositions from the Svyatonosskaya Formation, which is a continuation of the Ol’khon Series in the northern part of the Svyatoi Nos Peninsula, eastern shore of Lake Baikal. The pyroxene-amphibole-plagioclase schists (metagabbro) are replaced there by the garnet-biotite-quartz assemblage, which was formed, according to the data of various geothermometers and calculations by the THERMOCALC computer program, under conditions corresponding to the transition from the granulite (848–811°C) to high grades of the amphibolite (715–670°C) facies under high pressures (8.7 ±1.6 kbar). In petrogenetic grids, these conditions fall onto the line of the onset of eclogitization. In nature these rocks are a continuation of the Chernorudskaya-Barakchinskaya zone of elevated pressures in the Ol’khon area. The metasomatic rocks were formed simultaneously with strike-slip faulting, when coupled zones of relatively high-(eclogite-like) and low-pressure (quartzite-marble melange) developed at the inflow of SiO2 and K2O and the removal of MgO and CaO. Analogous compositional changes in gneisses and schists in tectonic extension zones in Ol’khon Island and neighboring areas occurred during the development of migmatites. The migmatization of the gneisses was likely coupled with the garnetization of mafic schists in high-pressure zones and the formation of eclogite-like rocks replacing marbles. The accompanying graphitization of this block suggests that the metasomatic fluid had a hydrocarbon-hydrogen composition.

Optical spectroscopy study of natural Fe, Ti-bearing calcic amphiboles

Over thirty samples of natural Ti-bearing amphiboles with Ti- and Fe-contents ranging from 0.111 to 0.729 atom per formula unit (a.p.f.u.) and from 0.479 to 2.045 a.p.f.u., respectively, were studied by means of optical absorption spectroscopy and microprobe analysis. Thirteen samples were also studied by Mossbauer spectroscopy. A strong pleochroic absorption edge, causing the dark brown colours of Ti-bearing amphiboles, is attributed to ligand-metal and metal-metal charge transfer transitions involving both iron and titanium ions (O2−→ Fe3+, Fe2+, O2−→ Ti4+ and Fe2+ + Ti4+→ Fe3+ + Ti3+). A broad intense Y-polarized band ∼22 000 cm−1 (ν1/2 ≈ 3700 cm−1) in spectra of two low iron amphiboles with a relatively low Fe3+/Fetotal ratio, both from eclogite-like rocks in kimberlite xenoliths, was attributed to electronic Fe2+(M3) + Ti4+(M2)→Fe3+(M3)+Ti3+(M2) IVCT transitions. The IVCT bands of other possible ion pairs, involving Ti4+ and Fe2+ in M2 and M1, M4 sites, respectively, are presumed to be at higher energies, being obscured by the absorption edge.

Crustal structure from P and S seismic waves and petrological models of the Ukrainian shield

Presented are the results of reinterpretation of data from deep seismic sounding profiles VIII and XXIV, located in the central part of the Ukrainian shield. Seismic models of the crustal structure were determined by 1-D and 2-D modelling using refracted and reflected P and S waves. Velocities of the uppermost crystalline basement vary between 5.8–6.0 km/s at the surface and 6.3–6.4 km/s at a depth of 5–8 km, underlain by a 4–9 km thick low-velocity layer. The boundary below the low-velocity layer is situated at a depth of 10–16 km, and characterized by a velocity of 6.25–6.4 km/s, which increase towards the lower crust reaching up to 6.8–7.3 km/s with a gradient of 0.015–0.025 s −1. The Moho depth varies greatly, from 30 to 56 km and the velocity below Moho is 8.1–8.35 km/s. These results show that the crustal structure is heterogeneous and differentiated. Apart from a distinct division into the upper and lower crust, crustal blocks are observed. The deep fracture zones correlate on the surface with faults which are well known from geology. A large range in the velocity ratio k = ν P ν S is observed. In the upper crust k is usually from 1.65 to 1.71. The lower crust is characterized by a low gradient and a relatively low value of the S-wave velocity with k reaching 1.8. Petrologically, we interpret the uppermost part of the crust as represented by rocks cropping out at the surface — migmatites, granitoids, gneisses and granites. The middle and lower parts of the crust consist of enderbites and metamorphic rocks of granulite facies (charnockites). The rocks of the lower crust with velocities of 7.2 km/s and higher are interpreted as a subfacies of eclogitelike rocks.