Na2O CaO K2O FeO MgO Al2O3 SiO2 H2O TiO2 Fe2O3 Research Articles

Neoarchean ultrahigh-temperature sapphirine granulites from the Karimnagar Granulite Terrane, Southern India: Implications for hot orogen along the Eastern Dharwar Craton margin

We have uncovered evidence of Neoarchean ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism in the Karimnagar Granulite Terrane (KGT), southern India, based on new petrological and mineralogical data of sapphirine-bearing and related granulites. We investigated their petrogenesis and implications of a hot orogen along the north-eastern margin of the Eastern Dharwar Craton (EDC). We found various reaction textures, such as spinel mantled by sapphirine and hydration of orthopyroxene, indicating a peak mineral assemblage of cordierite + sapphirine + spinel + orthopyroxene + biotite + rutile + K-feldspar. Phase-equilibria modelling in the Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 system indicates peak metamorphic conditions of 905 °C–910 °C and 4.5–4.6 kbar. The peak stage was followed by a retrograde metamorphic stage represented by increasing modal abundance of biotite and consumption of rutile and spinel at ~730 °C and ~ 4 kbar, suggesting near-isobaric cooling. Using the chemical Th–U-Pbtotal isochron method, we dated monazites in textural association with sapphirines and cordierites in a sapphirine–spinel–orthopyroxene–cordierite granulite. The resulting Neoarchean age (2638 ± 44 Ma) probably represents the timing of peak UHT metamorphism. We infer that Neoarchean UHT metamorphism and post-peak near-isobaric cooling took place in the terrane during the terminal stage of complex accretion–collision tectonic processes related to amalgamation of microcontinents and/or magmatic arcs that occurred during 2.70–2.62 Ga, one of the major episodic crust-forming events in the EDC. Our findings and regional distribution of lithologies overturn the existing tectonic model of the KGT as a collisional suture zone between the EDC and the Bastar Craton. Moreover, we propose that the KGT is a discrete tectonic block composed of ~2.7–2.6-Ga granulites and younger granite representing the mid-crustal segment of the EDC, which was uplifted as a tilted tectonic block along the southern flank of the Kadam outlier.

The Conlara Metamorphic Complex: Lithology, provenance, metamorphic constraints on the metabasic rocks, and chime monazite dating

The Conlara Metamorphic Complex, the easternmost complex of the Sierra de San Luis, is a key unit to understand the relationship between the late Proterozoic-Early Cambrian Pampean and the Upper Cambrian-Middle Ordovician Famatinian orogenies of the Eastern Sierras Pampeanas. The Conlara Metamorphic Complex extends to the east to the foothills of the Sierra de Comechingones and to the west up the Río Guzmán shear zone. The main rock types of the CMC are metaclastic and metaigneous rocks that are intruded by Ordovician and Devonian granitoids. The metaclastic units comprise fine to medium-grained metagreywackes and scarce metapelites with lesser amounts of tourmaline schists and tourmalinites whereas the metaigneous rocks encompass basic and granitoids rocks. The former occur as rare amphibolite interlayered within the metasedimentary rocks. The granitic component corresponds to a series of orthogneisses and migmatites (stromatite and diatexite). The CMC is divided in four groups based on the dominant lithological associations: San Martin and La Cocha correspond mainly to schists and some gneisses and Santa Rosa and San Felipe encompass mainly paragneisses, migmatites and orthogneisses. The Conlara Metamoprphic Complex underwent a polyphase metamorphic evolution. The penetrative D2-S2 foliation was affected by upright, generally isoclinal, N-NE trending D3 folds that control the NNE outcrop patterns of the different groups. An earlier, relic S1 is preserved in microlithons. Discontinuous high-T shear zones within the schists and migmatites are related with D4 whereas some fine-grained discontinuous shear bands attest for a D5 deformation phase. Geochemistry of both non-migmatitic metaclastic units and amphibolites suggest that the Conlara Metamorphic Complex represents an arc related basin. Maximun depositional ages indicate a pre- 570 Ma deposition of the sediments. An ample interval between sedimentation and granite emplacement in the already metamorphic complex is indicated by the 497 ± 8 Ma age of El Peñon granite. D1-D2 history took place at 564 ± 21 Ma as indicated by one PbSL age calculated for the M2 garnet of La Cocha Group. D3 is constrained by the pervasively solid-state deformed Early Ordovician granitoids which exhibits folded xenoliths of the D1-D2 deformed metaclastic rocks. Pressure-temperature pseudosections were calculated for one amphibolite using the geologically realistic system MnNCKFMASHTO (MnO–Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3). Peak metamophic conditions (M2) indicate 6 kbar and 620 °C. Late chlorite on the rims and in cracks of garnet, along with titanite rims on ilmenite and matrix plagioclase breaking down to albite suggests that the P-T path moved back down. Monazite analyses yield isochron Th–U–Pb ages ranging from 446 to 418 Ma. The oldest age of 446 ± 5 Ma correspond to a migmatite from the Santa Rosa Group. Monazites in samples from the La Cocha and the San Martin group crystallized at decreasing temperatures, followed by the 418 ± 10 Ma low-Y2O3 monazites in one sample of the la Cocha Group that was also obtained from a migmatite, and would likely mark a later stage of a retrograde metamorphism New CHIME monazite ages presented here likely represent post-peak fluid assisted recrystallization that are similar to amphibole and muscovite cooling ages. Therefore the monazite ages may represent a re-equilibration of the monazite on the cooling path of the basement complex.

Anatexis and metamorphic history of Permian pelitic granulites from the southern Chinese Altai: Constraints from petrology, melt inclusions and phase equilibria modelling

Pelitic granulites from the southern Chinese Altai record a prominent Permian high–temperature reworking event. The lack of solid constraints on anatexis and metamorphic P–T path of these rocks has hindered our understanding of the thermo–tectonic history of Chinese Altai orogen. Here, we present a detailed field and petrological study of the pelitic granulites cropping out at Wuqiagou area, Fuyun county. They occur as lenses or interlayers hosted within biotite–plagioclase gneisses, with a rutile–bearing assemblage composed of garnet ± orthopyroxene + cordierite + biotite ± K–feldspar + plagioclase + quartz ± spinel ± sillimanite + ilmenite. These pelitic granulites preserve diagnostic features of anatexis, such as small patches of leucosomes at macroscopic scale, melt inclusions in garnet porphyroblasts and highly cuspate quartz at microscopic scale. Melt inclusions (up to ~40 μm) are now crystallized into a cryptocrystalline aggregate of feldspars, quartz and biotite (i.e. they are nanogranitoids). Phase equilibria modelling in the NCKFMASHTO (Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3) 10–compositional model system suggests a possible clockwise P–T path involving a post–peak isobaric cooling (IBC) process from 800 to 850 °C to near solidus conditions (700–720 °C) at 5.0–6.0 kbar. SIMS zircon UPb geochronology indicates that the granulite–facies metamorphism took place at 284.1 ± 2.6 Ma, which is coeval with spatially associated mantle–derived mafic intrusions. Therefore, we propose that the Permian granulite–facies metamorphic event occurred in a post–orogenic extensional tectonic setting, which was associated with the input of external heat, related to underplating and intruding of mantle–derived magmas possibly as a result of the Tarim mantle plume activity.

Retrieval of P–T–t–d paths in a syn-metamorphic shear zone: Implications for P-T calculations and the Permian–Triassic orogeny on the Korean Peninsula

Crustal-scale shear zones developed on the boundaries of the Precambrian Gyeonggi Massif (GM) can play key role on understanding collisional orogeny during the Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic in the Korean Peninsula. Garnet schist formed on the boundary between the GM and Okcheon Metamorphic Belt (OMB) experienced contractional (Dn) and extensional (Dn+1) shearing combined with a clockwise pressure–temperature–deformation (P–T–d) path. Two distinct mineral assemblages were found in the schists, (1) garnet (pre- and/or syn-Dn) + staurolite (syn-Dn and/or inter Dn and Dn+1, and syn-Dn+1) + andalusite (syn-Dn+1)-bearing and (2) garnet (pre- and/or syn-Dn) + epidote-bearing assemblages, depending on bulk-rock compositions. Various compositions (An10–40 in the former assemblage and An45–70 in the latter one) and texture of plagioclase resulted from bulk-rock compositions, heterogeneous strain and dissolution and precipitation during the multiple shearing. The P–T conditions estimated for the early contractional shearing (top-to-the-north reverse shear) are 560 °C–600 °C and 5.5–7.0 kbar based on the intersections between compositional isopleths for pre- and/or syn-Dn garnet and plagioclase (An30–40 & An45–55) calculated in the MnO–Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O and MnO–Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 systems. Subsequent extensional shearing (top-to-the-south normal shear) was characterized by recrystallization of fine-grained syn-Dn+1 staurolite with growth of syn-Dn+1 andalusite porphyroblasts during cooling and decompression to 560 °C and 3.5 kbar. The contractional and extensional shearing probably occurred at the Permian and the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic, respectively, based on the previous geochronological data. Consequently, inferred P–T–t–d paths on the GM–OMB boundary probably suggest not only crustal thickening followed by thinning, but also multiple amalgamations of several terranes.

Neoarchean arc magmatism and Paleoproterozoic granulite‐facies metamorphism in the Bhavani Suture Zone, South India

The Bhavani Suture Zone in the Southern Granulite Terrane marks the zone of amalgamation of the Neoarchean Nilgiri Block and the northwestern Madurai Block in southern India. Here, we report detailed petrological, geochemical, and geochronological data on the Mettupalayam mafic–ultramafic complex within this suture zone with a view to evaluate the tectonothermal history of the Bhavani Suture Zone and adjoining crustal blocks. The metamorphosed complex includes charnockite, hornblende‐biotite gneiss, mafic granulite, amphibolite, garnet‐bearing mafic granulite, and dioritic gneiss along with metamorphosed banded iron formation. The mafic granulite and the dioritic gneiss occur as concordant layers of varying thickness within the hornblende‐biotite gneiss. The salient geochemical features of the mafic granulite and the dioritic gneiss including the enrichment of large‐ion lithophile elements and depletion of high‐field‐strength elements suggest a subduction‐related arc magmatic setting. However, the amphibolites show MORB‐related affinity, suggesting its formation from a N‐MORB‐related source and their accretion together with the overlying banded iron formation. The peak metamorphic conditions of the garnet‐bearing mafic granulite were estimated using conventional geothermobarometers as 800–820 °C/8.5–9.2 kbar, which we further confirm through phase equilibrium modelling in the Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 (NCKFMASHTO) system. Magmatic zircons with high Th/U ratio from the amphibolite display a well‐defined discordia with an upper intercept age of 2,600 ± 38 Ma. Zircon grains from the dioritic gneiss show weighted mean 206Pb/207Pb age of 2,524 ± 6 Ma from concordant zircon spots and a comparable upper intercept age of 2,562 ± 34 Ma from discordant zircon spots, indicating protolith emplacement related to Neoarchean arc magmatism as inferred from our geochemical data. The thin overgrowth rims around the magmatic zircon grains in the amphibolite yielded an upper intercept age of 2,520 ± 20 Ma, which is comparable with the protolith crystallization age of the dioritic gneiss. Slightly younger weighted mean 207Pb/208Pb ages of 2,463 ± 27 Ma (from dioritic gneiss) and 2,422 ± 30 Ma (from amphibolite) are also obtained from the metamorphic zircon rims. These ages are correlated to the timing of high‐grade metamorphism associated with final collision of the Nilgiri Block and the northwestern Madurai Block. Similar Neoarchean–Paleoproterozoic magmatism and high‐grade metamorphism were reported from many localities south of the Dharwar Craton. Our study further confirms the previous tectonic model that envisages multiple subduction and collision of magmatic arcs and continental fragments towards the Dharwar Craton during the Archean–Paleoproterozoic transition.

Cordierite-bearing granulites from Ihosy, southern Madagascar: Petrology, geochronology and regional correlation of suture zones in Madagascar and India

Madagascar, a major fragment of Gondwana, is mainly composed of Precambrian basement rocks formed by Mesoarchean to Neoproterozoic tectono-thermal events and recording a Pan-African metamorphic overprint. The Ranotsara Shear Zone in southern Madagascar has been correlated with shear zones in southern India and eastern Africa in the reconstruction of the Gondwana supercontinent. Here we present detailed petrology, mineral chemistry, metamorphic P–T constraints using phase equilibrium modelling and zircon U-Pb geochronological data on high-grade metamorphic rocks from Ihosy within the Ranotsara Shear Zone. Garnet-cordierite gneiss from Ihosy experienced two stages of metamorphism. The peak mineral assemblage is interpreted as garnet + sillimanite + cordierite + quartz + plagioclase + K-feldspar + magnetite + spinel + ilmenite, which is overprinted by a retrograde mineral assemblage of biotite + garnet + cordierite + quartz + plagioclase + K-feldspar + magnetite + spinel + ilmenite. Phase equilibria modelling in the system Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 (NCKFMASHTO) indicates peak metamorphic conditions of 850–960 °C and 6.9–7.7 kbar, and retrograde P–T conditions of <740 °C and <4.8 kbar, that define a clockwise P–T path. Near-concordant ages of detrital zircon grains in the garnet-cordierite gneiss dominantly exhibit ages between 2030 Ma and 1784 Ma, indicating dominantly Paleoproterozoic sources. The lower intercept age of 514 ± 33 Ma probably indicates the timing of high-grade metamorphism, which coincides with the assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent. The comparable rock types, zircon ages and metamorphic P–T paths between the Ranotsara Shear Zone and the Achankovil Suture Zone in southern India support an interpretation that the Ranotsara Shear Zone is a continuation of the Achankovil Suture Zone.

UHT metamorphism on Seram, eastern Indonesia: reaction microstructures and P–T evolution of spinel‐bearing garnet–sillimanite granulites from the Kobipoto Complex

AbstractThe island of Seram, part of the northern limb of the Banda Arc in eastern Indonesia, exposes an extensive Mio‐Pliocene granulite facies migmatite complex (the Kobipoto Complex) comprising voluminous leucosome‐rich diatexites and scarcer Al–Fe‐rich residual granulites. The migmatites are intimately associated with ultramafic rocks of predominantly lherzolitic composition that were exhumed by substantial lithospheric extension beneath low‐angle detachment faults; heat supplied by the lherzolites was evidently a major driver for the granulite facies metamorphism and accompanying anatexis. Residual garnet–sillimanite granulites sampled from the Kobipoto Mountains, central Seram, contain scarce garnet‐hosted inclusions of hercynite spinel (~1.5 wt% ZnO) + quartz (± ilmenite) in direct grain‐boundary contact – an assemblage potentially indicative of metamorphism under ultrahigh‐temperature (UHT) conditions. thermocalc ‘Average P–T’ reactions and melanosome‐specific thermocalc , T–MO, and P–T pseudosections in the Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 (NCKFMASHTO) chemical system, supported by Ti‐in‐garnet thermobarometry, are permissive of the rock having experienced a clockwise P–T path peaking at 925 °C and 9 kbar – thus narrowly reaching UHT conditions – before undergoing near‐isothermal decompression to ~750 °C and ~4 kbar. Spinel + quartz assemblages are interpreted to have formed at or just after the metamorphic peak from localized reactions between sillimanite, ilmenite and surrounding garnet. Further decompression of the rock resulted in the formation of complex reaction microstructures comprising cordierite ± plagioclase coronae around garnet, and symplectic intergrowths of cordierite + spinel + ilmenite around sillimanite. Small grains of sapphirine + corundum developed subsequently within spinel by localized quartz‐absent reactions. The post‐peak evolution of the granulites may be related to previously published U–Pb zircon and 40Ar/39Ar ages of c. 16 Ma, further substantiating the claim for the Kobipoto Complex granulites having recorded Earth's youngest‐identified episode of UHT metamorphism, albeit at slightly lower temperature and higher pressure than previously inferred. The Kobipoto Complex granulites demonstrate how UHT conditions may be achieved in the ‘modern’ Earth by extreme lithospheric extension, which, in this instance, was driven by slab rollback of the Banda Arc.

Monazite as a monitor of melting, garnet growth and feldspar recrystallization in continental lower crust

AbstractMonazite is a common accessory phase in felsic granulite ribbon mylonites exposed in the Upper Deck domain of the Athabasca granulite terrane, western Canadian Shield. Field relationships, bulk rock geochemistry and phase equilibria modelling in the Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 system are consistent with the garnet‐rich rocks representing the residual products of ultrahigh temperature melting of biotite‐bearing paragneisses driven by intraplating of mafic magma in continental lower crust. The c. 2.64–2.61 Ga Y‐rich resorbed monazite cores included in garnet are interpreted as relicts of detrital grains deposited on the Earth's surface after c. 2.61 Ga. Yttrium‐poor monazite domains in garnet are depleted in Sm and Gd and linked to fluid‐absent melting of biotite + plagioclase + quartz ± sillimanite during a prograde loading path from ≤0.8 to ≥1.4 GPa. The c. 2.61–2.55 Ga Y‐depleted, Th‐rich monazite domains crystallized in the presence of garnet + ternary feldspar ± orthopyroxene + peraluminous melt. The c. 2.58–2.52 Ga monazite rims depleted in Th + Ca and enriched in Eu are linked to localized melt extraction synchronous with growth of high‐pressure (HP) grossular‐rich garnet at the expense of plagioclase during crustal thickening, culminating at &gt;950 °C. Re‐heating and dextral transpressive lower crustal reactivation at c. 1.9 Ga resulted in syn‐kinematic growth of (La + Ce)‐enriched monazite and a second generation of garnet, concurrent with recrystallization of feldspar and orthopyroxene at 1.0–1.2 GPa and 600–700 °C. Monazite grains in this study are marked by positive Eu‐anomalies relative to chondrite. A direct link is implied between Y, Sm, Eu and Gd in monazite and two major phases in continental lower crust: garnet and plagioclase. Positive Eu‐anomalies in lower crustal monazite associated with modally abundant garnet appear to be directly related to Eu‐enrichment and depletions of Y, Sm and Gd that are consequences of garnet growth and plagioclase breakdown during HP melting of peraluminous bulk compositions.

Phase equilibria modeling of kyanite-bearing eclogitic metapelites in the NCKFMASHTO system from the Egere terrane (Central Hoggar, South Algeria)

Kyanite-bearing metapelites from the Egere terrane (Central Hoggar, South Algeria) have a high-pressure eclogitic facies paragenesis; furthermore, they preserve evidence of partial melting with the development of metamorphic textures involving garnet–kyanite–biotite–white mica–plagioclase–K-feldspar–quartz–rutile and ilmenite. Garnet porphyroblasts in these rocks display a calcium zonation formed during high-P metamorphism followed by decompression. Moreover, the large garnet poikiloblasts reflect complex mineral–melt relationships, and their growth was strongly linked to melt production. In order to give an account of the various textures and explain the evolution of the different parageneses in relation with pressure and temperature, thermodynamic modeling in the Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 (NCKFMASHTO) system is a powerful approach. The intersection of isopleths of grossular content and Fe⁄(Fe + Mg) of core of garnet provides constraints on the P–T conditions of the metamorphic peak. Kyanite-bearing metapelites experienced a clockwise P–T path culminating at about 850 °C and 17–19 kbar. Peak conditions were followed by decompression to about 9 kbar and 750 °C.

Metamorphic P–T path and tectonic implications of pelitic granulites from the Daqingshan Complex of the Khondalite Belt, North China Craton

Pelitic granulites are cropped out in the Daqingshan Complex of the Khondalite Belt, a Paleoproterozoic tectonic belt in the Western Block of the North China Craton. Petrological studies show that these granulites contain four distinct metamorphic assemblages. The core of a garnet porphyroblast, along with fine-grained inclusions of biotite+plagioclase+K-feldspar+quartz±sillimanite±ilmenite, defines the prograde metamorphic (M1) stage. The peak (M2) assemblage consists of garnet (mantle)+biotite+K-feldspar+plagioclase+quartz±sillimanite±orthopyroxene±ilmenite±magnetite±rutile. Peak metamorphism was followed by a near-isothermal decompression (M3) and the development of coronae of garnet+biotite+cordierite+plagioclase+quartz±K-feldspar±sillimanite±spinel±ilmenite±magnetite (M3) in the Crd–Grt–Bt gneisses during the following garnet breakdown reactions: garnet+sillimanite+melt→cordierite+biotite+Fe-oxide and garnet+melt→biotite+quartz+plagioclase. Retrograde cooling (M4) assemblages are represented by biotite+muscovite+sillimanite+quartz+plagioclase+K-feldspar±ilmenite. Quantitative phase equilibria modeling in the system Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 was applied to obtain P–T conditions of <780°C and <9kbar for M1, 840–880°C and 9–11kbar for M2, 800–870°C and 5.0–7.5kbar for M3, and <660°C and 4.1–6.9kbar for M4. The combination of the mineral assemblages, mineral compositions, and metamorphic reaction histories in the Daqingshan pelitic granulites defines a clockwise P–T path that involves periods of near-isothermal decompression and late cooling that followed the peak granulite-facies metamorphism. This result is consistent with the tectonic history of the Daqingshan Complex in the Khondalite Belt, which involved continent–continent subduction and collision followed by exhumation and cooling. This suggests a continent–continent collisional event between the Yinshan and Ordos blocks, which became amalgamated to form the Paleoproterozoic Khondalite Belt in the Western Block of the North China Craton.

Osumilite–melt interactions in ultrahigh temperature granulites: phase equilibria modelling and implications for the P–T–t evolution of the Eastern Ghats Province, India

AbstractThe exposed residual crust in the Eastern Ghats Province records ultrahigh temperature (UHT) metamorphic conditions involving extensive crustal anatexis and melt loss. However, there is disagreement about the tectonic evolution of this late Mesoproterozoic–early Neoproterozoic orogen due to conflicting petrological, structural and geochronological interpretations. One of the petrological disputes in residual high Mg–Al granulites concerns the origin of fine‐grained mineral intergrowths comprising cordierite + K‐feldspar ± quartz ± biotite ± sillimanite ± plagioclase. These intergrowths wrap around porphyroblast phases and are interpreted to have formed by the breakdown of primary osumilite in the presence of melt trapped in the equilibration volume by the melt percolation threshold. The pressure (P)–temperature (T) evolution of four samples from three localities across the central Eastern Ghats Province is constrained using phase equilibria modelling in the chemical system Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 (NCKFMASHTO). Results of the modelling are integrated with published geochronological results for these samples to show that the central Eastern Ghats Province followed a common P–T–t history. This history is characterized by peak UHT metamorphic conditions of 945–955 °C and 7.8–8.2 kbar followed by a slight increase in pressure and close‐to‐isobaric cooling to the conditions of the elevated solidus at 940–900 °C and 8.5–8.3 kbar. In common with other localities from the Eastern Ghats Province, the early development of cordierite before osumilite and the peak to immediate post‐peak retrograde reaction between osumilite and melt to produce the intergrowth features requires that the prograde evolution was one of contemporaneous increasing pressure with increasing temperature. This counter‐clockwise (CCW) evolution is evaluated for one sample using inverse phase equilibria modelling along a schematic P–T path of 150 °C kbar−1 starting from the low P–T end of the prograde P–T path as constrained by the phase equilibria modelling. The inverse modelling is executed by step‐wise down temperature reintegration of sufficient melt into the residual bulk chemical composition at the P–T point of the 1 mol.% melt isopleth at each step, representing the melt remaining on grain boundaries after each prograde drainage event, to reach the melt connectivity transition (MCT) of 7 mol.%. The procedure is repeated until a plausible protolith composition is recovered. The result demonstrates that clastic sedimentary rocks that followed a CCW P–T evolution could have produced the observed mineral assemblages and microstructures preserved in the central Eastern Ghats Province. This study also highlights the role of melt during UHT metamorphism, particularly its importance to both chemical and physical processes along the prograde and retrograde segments of the P–T path. These processes include: (i) an increase in diffusive length scales during the late prograde to peak evolution, creating equilibration volumes larger than a standard thin section; (ii) the development of retrograde mineral assemblages, which is facilitated if some melt is retained post‐peak; (iii) the presence of melt as a weakening mechanism and the advection of heat by melt, allowing the crust to thicken; and (iv) the effect of melt loss, which makes the deep crust both denser and stronger, and reduces heat production at depth, limiting crustal thickening and facilitating the transition to close‐to‐isobaric cooling.

Exhumation of oceanic eclogites: thermodynamic constraints on pressure, temperature, bulk composition and density

AbstractThe exhumation mechanism of high‐pressure (HP) and ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) eclogites formed by the subduction of oceanic crust (hereafter referred to as oceanic eclogites) is one of the primary uncertainties associated with the subduction factory. The phase relations and densities of eclogites with MORB compositions are modelled using thermodynamic calculations over a P–T range of 1–4 GPa and 400–800 °C, respectively, in the NCKFMASHTO (Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3) system. Our modelling suggests that the mineral assemblages, mineral proportions and density of oceanic crust subducted along a cold P–T path are quite different from those of crust subducted along a warm P–T path, and that the density of oceanic eclogites is largely controlled by the stability of low‐density hydrous minerals, such as lawsonite, chlorite, glaucophane and talc. Along a cold subduction P–T path with a geotherm of ~6 °C km−1, lawsonite is always present at 1.1 to &gt;4.0 GPa, and chlorite, glaucophane and talc can be stable at pressures of up to 2.3, 2.6 and 3.6 GPa respectively. Along such a P–T path, the density of subducted oceanic crust is always lower than that of the surrounding mantle at depths shallower than 110–120 km (&lt; 3.3–3.6 GPa). However, along a warm subduction P–T path with a geotherm of ~10 °C km−1, the P–T path is outside the stability field of lawsonite, and the hydrous minerals of chlorite, epidote and amphibole break down completely into dry dense minerals at relatively lower pressures of 1.5, 1.85 and 1.9 GPa respectively. Along such a warm subduction P–T path, the subducted oceanic crust becomes denser than the surrounding mantle at depths &gt;60 km (&gt;1.8 GPa). Oceanic eclogites with high H2O content, oxygen fugacity, bulk‐rock XMg [ = MgO/(MgO + FeO)], XAl [ = Al2O3/(Al2O3 + MgO + FeO)] and low XCa [ = CaO/(CaO + MgO + FeO + Na2O)] are likely suitable for exhumation, which is consistent with the bulk‐rock compositions of the natural oceanic eclogites on the Earth's surface. On the basis of natural observations and our calculations, it is suggested that beyond depths around 110–120 km oceanic eclogites are not light enough and/or there are no blueschists to compensate the negative buoyancy of the oceanic crust, therefore explaining the lack of oceanic eclogites returned from ultradeep mantle (&gt;120 km) to the Earth's surface. The exhumed light–cold–hydrous oceanic eclogites may have decoupled from the top part of the sinking slab at shallow depths in the forearc region and are exhumed inside the serpentinized subduction channel, whereas the dense–hot–dry eclogites may be retained in the sinking slab and recycled into deeper mantle.

Prolactine et cortisol : valeur prédictive chez les polytraumatisés

The Inner Mongolia Suture Zone marks the Paleoproterozoic collisional boundary between the Yinshan Block and Ordos Block in the North China Craton. The ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) orogen developed within this collisional suture reflects the extreme thermal conditions associated with the tectonic processes during the incorporation of the North China Craton within the Columbia supercontinent. Here we report the results from a systematic petrological and phase equilibria modeling study of sapphirine-bearing granulites from Daqingshan, a region within the central domain of the Inner Mongolia Suture Zone. The sapphirine–spinel–garnet–sillimanite–biotite-bearing granulites in Daqingshan occur typically as dark lenses or layers within spinel–garnet–sillimanite–biotite-bearing gneisses, and are associated with mafic granulites carrying orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + plagioclase + calcic amphibole. The sapphirine in these rocks is magnesian (XMg = 0.73–0.79) and occurs in various microstructural associations such as: (1) matrix coarse-grain mineral in plagioclase aggregates, (2) subidioblastic mineral mantling spinel or in direct contact with spinel, (3) fine-grained phase in sillimanite, and (4) vermicular symplectitic aggregates with plagioclase. Garnet + plagioclase + sapphirine + sillimanite + ilmenite + inferred melt is considered to represent the peak assemblage in these rocks. We apply systematic phase equilibria analysis in the system Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 (NCKFMASHTO) to constrain the peak P–T conditions of the Daqingshan Mg–Al granulites. Our pseudosection analysis defines the stability of the peak assemblage at T > 970 °C at P > 11 kbar. The peak temperature derived from pseudosection analysis is broadly consistent with the temperature estimate from conventional thermometry of sapphirine–spinel pairs (ca. 940 °C). The extreme metamorphism recorded from the Mg–Al granulites from Daqingshan is also consistent with the occurrence of dry orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + plagioclase, and orthopyroxene + pargasite + plagioclase in the associated mafic granulites, although conventional thermometry yields lower temperatures from these rocks (830–840 °C) marking the post-peak retrograde stage. Our data confirm UHT conditions in Daqingshan and indicate that the extreme metamorphism is of regional extent within the Inner Mongolia Suture Zone, in agreement with the model of ultra-hot metamorphic orogen developed within a Paleoproterozoic subduction–collision system.

Combined thermobarometry and geochronology of peraluminous metapelites from the Karakoram metamorphic complex, North Pakistan; New insight into the tectonothermal evolution of the Baltoro and Hunza Valley regions

AbstractPetrographic analysis of peraluminous metapelites from two separate regions of the Karakoram metamorphic complex, North Pakistan, has produced new insights into the P–T–t evolution of the deep crust along the south Asian margin before and after the India‐Asia collision. Average P–T estimates and pseudosection construction in the MnO–Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 (MnNCKFMASHTO) system using THERMOCALC have provided prograde and peak metamorphic conditions and U–Pb geochronology of metamorphic monazite has provided age constraints. Two new events in the tectonothermal evolution of the Hunza Valley have been documented; an andalusite‐grade contact metamorphic event at 105.5 ± 0.8 Ma, at unknown P–T conditions, associated with the widespread subduction‐related granite magmatism before the India‐Asia collision, and a kyanite‐grade overprint of sillimanite‐grade rocks with peak P–T conditions of ∼7.8 kbar, 645 °C at 28.2 ± 0.8 Ma associated with the ongoing India‐Asia collision. A kyanite‐grade event observed in the Baltoro region with similar peak P–T conditions (∼7.4–8.0 kbar, ∼640–660 °C) is interpreted to have occurred sometime after 21.8 ± 0.6 Ma, however, previous studies have suggested that this event commenced in the Baltoro as early as c. 28 Ma. A calculated prograde P–T path for this kyanite‐grade event in the Baltoro indicates that garnet first nucleated on an initially high geothermal gradient (∼30 °C km−1) and grew during a significant increase in pressure of ∼2.6 kbar over a temperature increase of ∼100 °C. This event is thought to represent evidence for conductive heating of the middle crust during early stages of intrusion and lateral migration of the Baltoro batholith, with thermal conditions comparable with tectonic models of magmatic over‐accretion.

Shallow laccolithic emplacement of the Land’s End and Tregonning granites, Cornwall, UK: Evidence from aureole field relations and P-T modeling of cordierite-anthophyllite hornfels

The Land’s End and Tregonning-Godolphin granites of the >250 km-long Permian Cornubian Batholith are heterogeneous medium- to coarse-grained peraluminous biotite-, tourmaline-, and lithium-mica granites traditionally thought to be emplaced as massive magmatic diapirs. Although S-type characteristics are dominant (quartz + biotite + muscovite + tourmaline ± topaz ± lithium-micas in the melt, numerous greisen and pegmatite veins, Sn-W mineralization), some characteristics of evolved I-type granites are also exhibited (hornblende-bearing enclaves, elevated ɛNd, Cu mineralization, batholithic dimensions). Here, we present an investigation focusing on the contact metamorphism and deformation of the aureole rocks adjacent to the Land’s End and Tregonning granites as an approach to better determine the method of granite emplacement and the depth at which it occurred. New 1:5000-scale geological maps are presented for ∼15 km of coastal exposure of the granites and their aureoles. We propose that the granites were emplaced non-diapirically by intrusion of sills that amalgamated to form a sheeted laccolith-type body. Granite contacts cleanly truncate all faults, folds, and cleavages generated during both Variscan convergence and subsequent latest Carboniferous–Early Permian (end-Variscan) extension, and it is likely that granite was emplaced during continuation of this extensional episode. There is evidence for stoping of the country rocks by an outward-migrated sill and dyke network, and uplift and doming of the host rocks can be partially attributed to laccolith inflation. Host meta-siltstones of the Devonian Mylor Slate Formation formed a contact aureole of cordierite + biotite + chlorite ± andalusite “spotted slates.” Several interspersed pillow basalts and dolerites, previously affected by hydrothermal alteration, underwent isochemical contact metamorphism to form cordierite- and orthoamphibole-bearing hornfels, including cordierite-anthophyllite rocks that are present in Kenidjack cliff, NW Land’s End aureole. THERMOCALC P-T modeling and pseudosection construction for these rocks in the large Na2O-CaO-K2O-FeO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O-TiO2-Fe2O3 (NCKFMASHTO) chemical system indicates contact metamorphism occurred at 1.5 ± 1.0 kbar and 615 ± 50 °C. This ultra-low pressure metamorphism equates to a likely emplacement depth of 5–6 km for the adjacent granite sheets. The Cornubian Batholith is highly composite and likely comprises an amalgamation of discrete shallow-seated sheeted laccoliths that are dyke-fed from a common lower-crustal/upper-mantle melt region to result in the batholith’s mixed S-type/I-type character.

Crustal growth during back-arc closure: Cretaceous exhumation history of Cordillera Darwin, southern Patagonia

The Cordillera Darwin metamorphic complex is unique in the Andes in exposing kyanite–staurolite schist north of the Beagle Channel in southern Patagonia. Garnet in amphibolite facies pelitic schists from Bahia Pia has patchy textures whereby some grains consist of clear, grossular-rich garnet with fine-grained S1 inclusion trails truncated by regions of turbid spessartine–pyrope-rich garnet with biotite, muscovite, plagioclase and quartz inclusions. Micron-scale aqueous inclusions in turbid garnet are consistent with recrystallization facilitated by fluid ingress; S2 inclusion trails indicate this was broadly contemporary with the growth of kyanite and staurolite in the matrix. Pseudosection modelling in Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 (NCKFMASHTO) is used to infer a P–T path dominated by decompression from 12 to 9 kbar at T ≈ 620 °C, coupled with garnet mode decreasing from ∼5% to <1%. U–Th–Pb in situ dating of S2 monazite indicates that staurolite and kyanite growth and thus exhumation was underway before 72.6 ± 1.1 Ma. Contact aureoles developed adjacent to late granite intrusions include sillimanite-bearing migmatites formed at P ≈ 6 kbar after 72 Ma. Metamorphism of southern Cordillera Darwin induced by continental underthrusting beneath the arc, related to closure of the Rocas Verdes back-arc basin, was terminated by thrusting-controlled exhumation, with the rocks at P ≈ 9 kbar by c. 73 Ma and 6 kbar by c. 70 Ma.

New constraints on the metamorphic evolution of the Eastern Ghats Belt, India, based on relict composite inclusions in garnet from ultrahigh‐temperature sapphirine granulites

AbstractThe sapphirine granulites from Gangaraju Madugula, Eastern Ghats Belt (EGB), India preserve a rich variety of mineral assemblages and unique isolated and composite mineral inclusions within garnet that provide robust evidence for extreme crustal metamorphism at ultrahigh temperature (UHT) conditions (&gt;900°C). Diagnostic UHT assemblages in these rocks include sapphirine + quartz, spinel + quartz and high alumina orthopyroxene + sillimanite + quartz. The stability of spinel + quartz, sapphirine + quartz and orthopyroxene + sillimanite + quartz assemblages provides evidence for temperatures exceeding 960°C at moderate pressures. The mineral association of garnet–orthopyroxene is indicative of a subsequent high P–UHT metamorphic event as indicated by the high alumina contents of orthopyroxene (&gt;10 wt% Al2O3) coexisting with garnet. Peak P–T conditions of ∼970°C and 9.5 kbars are calculated from conventional garnet–orthopyroxene geothermobarometry. Calculated isochemical sections constructed in the model system Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 (NCKFMASHTO) for the sapphirine granulites and garnet–orthopyroxene granulites adequately predict phase relationships that are consistent with those observed in the rocks. An evaluation of the assemblages and textures and P–T estimates indicate a three‐stage evolution of the sapphirine granulites and associated garnet–orthopyroxene granulites: (1) inclusion assemblages with sapphirine, spinel and quartz on the low‐pressure prograde path (M1 stage); (2) a peak UHT assemblage of porphyroblastic garnet–orthopyroxene (M2 stage) and (3) a retrogression that resulted in orthopyroxene–cordierite intergrowths and biotite rims on Grt (M3 stage). The sapphirine granulites and associated garnet–orthopyroxene granulites indicate that they grew during the prograde and retrograde stage. The thermo‐barometric estimates from mineral compositions and the complimentary isochemical sections approached from bulk rock compositions allow tighter constraints to be placed on the P–T evolution of this sector of the EGB. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Quantitative phase petrology of cordierite–orthoamphibole gneisses and related rocks

AbstractCordierite–orthoamphibole gneisses and rocks of similar composition commonly contain low‐variance mineral assemblages that can provide useful information about the metamorphic evolution of a terrane. New calculated petrogenetic grids and pseudosections are presented in the FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O (FMASH), Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O (NCKFMASH) and Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 (NCKFMASHTO) chemical systems to investigate quantitatively the phase relations in these rocks. Although the bulk compositions of cordierite–orthoamphibole gneisses are close to FMASH, calculations in this system do not adequately account for the observed range of mineral assemblages. Calculations in NCKFMASH and NCKFMASHTO highlight the role of minor constituents such as Ca, Na and Fe3+ in the mineral assemblage evolution of such rocks and these systems are more appropriate for interpreting the evolution of natural examples.

Quantitative P–T–X constraints on orthopyroxene‐bearing high‐pressure granulites in felsic–metapelitic rocks: evidence from the Huangtuling granulite, Dabieshan Orogen

AbstractHigh‐pressure granulites are generally characterized by the absence of orthopyroxene. However, orthopyroxene is reported in a few high‐pressure, felsic–metapelitic granulites, such as the Huangtuling felsic high‐pressure granulite in the North Dabie metamorphic core complex in east‐central China, which rarely preserves the high‐pressure granulite facies assemblage of garnet + orthopyroxene + biotite + plagioclase + K‐feldspar + quartz. To investigate the effects of bulk‐rock composition on the stability of orthopyroxene‐bearing, high‐pressure granulite facies assemblages in the NCKFMASHTO (Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3) system, a series of P–T–X pseudosections based on the melt‐reintegrated composition of the Huangtuling felsic high‐pressure granulite were constructed. Calculations demonstrate that the orthopyroxene‐bearing, high‐pressure granulite facies assemblages are restricted to low XAl [Al2O3/(Na2O + CaO + K2O + FeO + MgO + Al2O3) &lt; 0.35, mole proportion] or high XMg [MgO/(MgO + FeO) &gt; 0.85] felsic–metapelitic rock types. This study also reveals that the XAl values in the residual felsic–metapelitic, high‐pressure granulites could be significantly reduced by a high proportion of melt loss. We suggest that orthopyroxene‐bearing, high‐pressure granulites occur in residual overthickened crustal basement under continental subduction–collision zones and arc–continent collision belts.