Reached Peak Metamorphic Conditions Research Articles

Metamorphic Evolution of the Garnet Amphibolite Schist from Mawat Ophiolite, Kurdistan Region, Northeast Iraq: Geochemistry, Mineral Chemistry and Thermodynamic Approach

The garnet amphibolite schist is associated with the gabbroic unit of the Mawat ophiolite, Kurdistan region, Northeast Iraq, in the imbricated zone of the Zagros orogenic belt. Field observation, petrographic study, mineral chemistry, geochemical data, and thermodynamic modeling were used to demonstrate mineral identification, predict the observed stable mineral assemblages, and validate the protolith. The mineral assemblages of prograde are garnet (pyrope-almandine), chlorite (clinochlore), amphibole (grunerite), plagioclase (anorthite), iron oxides while the garnet (almandine-pyrope), chlorite (chamosite), amphibole (cummingtonite), and iron oxide represent retrograde assemblage. The relict pod of metagabbro in the center of the garnet amphibolite schist body consists mainly of plagioclase, amphibole, pyroxene, and iron oxide. Geochemical data reveals that the rock is depleted in SiO2 and CaO and enriched in refractory elements compared to the metagabbro. This may be attributed to the generation of silicic melts by partial melting and producing nearby plagiogranite. The rare earth elements (REE) patterns show that the garnet amphibolite schist is depleted in light rare earth elements (LREE) and gradually enriched in heavy rare earth elements (HREE). Thermodynamic modeling, field observation, combined with petrographic study constrains two metamorphic stages and one possible anticlockwise P-T-t path for garnet amphibolite schist, with increasing pressure and temperature of gabbroic rocks units of Mawat ophiolite. The rocks reached peak metamorphic conditions at more than 800 °C and 8–10 kbar, which partially melted the rock produced prograde resitite and melt. Later, the resitite rock retrograded to the lower stage at temperatures ranging from 620 to 650 °C and pressures ranging from 6.5 to 6.8 kbar. Anticlockwise P-T-t paths suggested based on geochemical and thermodynamic data for garnet amphibolite schist of the Mawat ophiolite. Moreover, the gabbro is considered to be the protolith of garnet amphibolite schist, which have been undergone eclogite facies metamorphism later overprinted by amphibolite facies.

The origin and P-T conditions of the metamorphic sole rocks beneath the Late Cretaceous Pınarbaşı Ophiolite, Eastern-Central Anatolia

ABSTRACT Metamorphic sole rocks of the Pınarbaşı Ophiolite are one of the best-preserved rock units observed along the Tauride Ophiolite Belt in Turkey. The metamorphic sole rocks observed as tectonic slices at the base of mantle tectonites as well as blocks in the mélange units consist mainly of garnet-clinopyroxene-amphibolite, garnet-amphibolite, amphibolite, epidote-amphibolite, quartz-amphiboleschist and metabasalt. The amphibolites display a wide range of geochemical signatures such as those of N-MORB, E-MORB, OIB and IAT. The metabasalts exhibit OIB geochemical characteristics. P-T estimates indicate that the garnet-clinopyroxene-amphibolites reached peak metamorphic conditions of 790-840 °C and 12-14 kbar. High-grade metamorphism is followed by a stage of decompression, which is indicated by the presence of symplectitic growth of amphibole and plagioclase over garnet in garnet-clinopyroxene-amphibolites. P-T estimates for garnet-clinopyroxene-amphibolites suggest that they were metamorphosed under granulite-facies conditions (ca. 35-40 km). High temperature estimated from granulite facies rocks should be ascribed to the occurrence of the sole rocks during the inception of the intra-oceanic subduction, beneath young or relatively hot oceanic lithosphere. On the other hand, mineral paragenesis of the metabasalts suggest greenschist facies metamorphic conditions. Protoliths of the metabasalts were probably metamorphosed during final stages of subduction where they were very close to sea floor as the subduction zone was probably clogged by a seamount. The greenschist- and granulite-facies sole rocks were metamorphosed probably beneath the hot oceanic lithosphere at different depths of the subduction zone. Considering all these data are important to better understanding intra-oceanic subduction and final obduction events of the Tethys Ocean.

The slab–mantle wedge interface of an incipient subduction zone: Insights from the P–T–D evolution and petrological characteristics of the Dalrymple Amphibolite, Palawan Ophiolite, Philippines

AbstractIn this contribution, we present the petrological characteristics and pressure–temperature–deformation (P–T–D) history of the Dalrymple Amphibolite in Palawan Island, Philippines. This unit occurs below the residual mantle peridotites of the Palawan Ophiolite composed of interlayered dunite and harzburgite. The Dalrymple Amphibolite is predominantly composed of high‐grade metamafic blocks with minor metasedimentary units surrounded by a highly sheared hybridized matrix (kyanite + Ca‐amphibole + biotite + ilmenite ± garnet). Zr‐in‐rutile geothermometry and quartz‐in‐garnet geobarometry of the garnet amphibolite block reveal the P–T conditions of the prograde metamorphism from ~625°C, 11.5 kbar to ~700°C, 13 kbar. Zr‐in‐rutile geothermometer and the TZARS geobarometer (clinozoisite + rutile + quartz = anorthite + titanite + H2O) further indicate comparable peak metamorphic conditions for the amphibolite and epidote amphibolite (~605–710°C, 10–13 kbar) blocks. Geothermobarometry of the matrix surrounding the blocks reveals similar peak metamorphic conditions of ~700°C and 13 kbar to the garnet amphibolite blocks. The paleogeothermal gradient preserved in the Dalrymple Amphibolite (~16°C/km) and its block‐in‐matrix structure are atypical of metamorphic soles and are more akin to high‐T mélange complexes interpreted to have formed during incipient subduction. These P–T estimates and its block‐in‐matrix structure suggest that the Dalrymple Amphibolite likely represents the slab–mantle wedge interface of a young arc complex already transitioning from the much warmer paleogeothermal gradients of the slab–mantle wedge interface when subduction was first initiated. The similar peak metamorphic conditions constrained in the matrix and the metamafic blocks in the Dalrymple Amphibolite indicate that the matrix‐forming deformation started before the sequence reached peak metamorphic conditions at depths of around 45 km. Furthermore, the petrological and geochemical characteristics of this block‐in‐matrix sequence and the multiple generation of cross‐cutting veins reveal the complex processes that occur in the slab–mantle wedge interface of an arc in its infancy. Our results highlight the prevalence of Ca‐amphibole and kyanite over phyllosilicates (e.g., chlorite and serpentine) in the mélange matrix, mixing of crustal components along the slab–mantle wedge interface promoted by multiple deformation events and the ubiquity of fluids throughout its history. Subduction zones with similar geothermal gradients (e.g., warm subduction zones) possibly share these petrological characteristics.

Thermobarometric constraints on burial and exhumation of 2-billion-year-old eclogites and their metapelitic hosts

One of the first appearances of eclogite-facies mineral assemblages in the geological record occurs in the c. 2000 Ma Palaeoproterozoic Usagaran Belt in central Tanzania, where the extended margin of the Tanzanian Craton is interpreted to have been subducted. Mafic rocks are interpreted to have contained the mineral assemblage garnet + omphacite + rutile + quartz ± amphibole. This high-pressure assemblage has been overprinted by a secondary mineral assemblage containing clinopyroxene + plagioclase + hornblende + ilmenite ± orthopyroxene. Mineral equilibria forward modelling indicates that the eclogite-facies assemblages reached minimum peak pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions of ~17 kbar and ~700 °C. Inclusions in garnet document a prograde P–T history consistent with burial through upper amphibolite-facies conditions and possible partial melting. Petrological and compositional evidence from garnet suggests that following peak metamorphism, the eclogite-facies rocks were heated while stalled at approximate peak pressures. Temperature estimates derived from Zr concentrations in interpreted texturally retrograde rutile support a near-isothermal post-peak P–T evolution for the eclogite-facies rocks – an evolution that terminates at retrograde P–T conditions of approximately 7.6–8.2 kbar and 680–790 °C. The relict eclogite domains form part of a larger assemblage with enclosing migmatitic metapelitic lithologies (the Isimani Suite). The metapelitic gneisses contain garnet + kyanite + biotite + staurolite + hornblende + plagioclase + muscovite + rutile + quartz and preserve minimal evidence of a high-pressure history, conceivably due to post-peak mineralogical recrystallisation. P–T modelling, inclusion assemblages and compositional zonation patterns in porphyroblastic garnet suggests the metapelitic gneisses — similarly to the relict eclogites — experienced burial to minimum peak pressures of approximately 16.5–17 kbar. Compositional zoning patterns in eclogitic garnet suggest the Isimani system was buried, reached peak metamorphic conditions, and was subsequently exhumed within a timeframe of up to 20 Myr. A tectonic regime involving crustal thickening and subduction, followed by extensional exhumation of the entire Isimani Suite is our preferred model for the development of the c. 2000 Ma Usagaran Belt.

A petrochronological approach for the detrital record: Tracking mm-sized eclogite clasts in the northern Canadian Cordillera

Sutures recording the accretion history of the Canadian Cordillera terranes are poorly preserved. The Whitehorse trough syn-orogenic basin formed during early Mesozoic terrane accretion at the western margin of Laurentia and contains a ∼300 m thick horizon that includes eclogite clasts possibly sourced from a suture zone. By applying petrochronological micro-analytical techniques to the mm-diameter eclogite clasts, including thermobarometry and in situ rutile thermochronology, as well as detrital zircon geochronology and thermal diffusion modeling, we constrain a source-to-sink path for the clasts. The eclogite clasts likely reached peak metamorphic conditions of 2.2–2.9 GPa and ≥800 °C, cooled through Pb closure in rutile during Early Jurassic at ≥610 °C and were deposited into the basin by latest Pliensbachian/earliest Toarcian. This history implies minimum mean cooling and exhumation rates on the order of ∼38 °C/myr and ∼4.1 km/myr, respectively, consistent with rates reported for subduction-related eclogite worldwide. We suggest the most likely source for the clasts is the suture between the Yukon–Tanana and Stikinia terranes, involving a latest Triassic collision, followed by rapid Early Jurassic exhumation of the lower plate Yukon–Tanana terrane, either by buoyant extrusion or in a plate boundary zone metamorphic core complex. Our study demonstrates that micro-analytical techniques used for petrochronology can be applied to very small lithic clasts in the sedimentary record towards the tectonic reconstruction of accretionary orogens.

Developing an inverted Barrovian sequence; insights from monazite petrochronology

In the Himalayan region of Sikkim, the well-developed inverted metamorphic sequence of the Main Central Thrust (MCT) zone is folded, thus exposing several transects through the structure that reached similar metamorphic grades at different times. In-situ LA-ICP-MS U–Th–Pb monazite ages, linked to pressure–temperature conditions via trace-element reaction fingerprints, allow key aspects of the evolution of the thrust zone to be understood for the first time. The ages show that peak metamorphic conditions were reached earliest in the structurally highest part of the inverted metamorphic sequence, in the Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS) in the hanging wall of the MCT. Monazite in this unit grew over a prolonged period between ∼37 and 16 Ma in the southerly leading-edge of the thrust zone and between ∼37 and 14.5 Ma in the northern rear-edge of the thrust zone, at peak metamorphic conditions of ∼790 °C and 10 kbar. Monazite ages in Lesser Himalayan Sequence (LHS) footwall rocks show that identical metamorphic conditions were reached ∼4–6 Ma apart along the ∼60 km separating samples along the MCT transport direction. Upper LHS footwall rocks reached peak metamorphic conditions of ∼655 °C and 9 kbar between ∼21 and 16 Ma in the more southerly-exposed transect and ∼14.5–12 Ma in the northern transect. Similarly, lower LHS footwall rocks reached peak metamorphic conditions of ∼580 °C and 8.5 kbar at ∼16 Ma in the south, and 9–10 Ma in the north. In the southern transect, the timing of partial melting in the GHS hanging wall (∼23–19.5 Ma) overlaps with the timing of prograde metamorphism (∼21 Ma) in the LHS footwall, confirming that the hanging wall may have provided the heat necessary for the metamorphism of the footwall.Overall, the data provide robust evidence for progressively downwards-penetrating deformation and accretion of original LHS footwall material to the GHS hanging wall over a period of ∼5 Ma. These processes appear to have occurred several times during the prolonged ductile evolution of the thrust. The preserved inverted metamorphic sequence therefore documents the formation of sequential ‘paleo-thrusts’ through time, cutting down from the original locus of MCT movement at the LHS–GHS protolith boundary and forming at successively lower pressure and temperature conditions. The petrochronologic methods applied here constrain a complex temporal and thermal deformation history, and demonstrate that inverted metamorphic sequences can preserve a rich record of the duration of progressive ductile thrusting.

The exhumation of high pressure ophiolites (Voltri Massif, Western Alps): Insights from structural and petrologic data on metagabbro bodies

Serpentinites can enhance the exhumation of HP-rocks by lowering the bulk density of subducted material and by establishing a low-viscosity channel between the lower and upper plates; this mechanism has been proposed for a 100m-scale tectonic mélange outcropping inside the Voltri Massif (Ligurian–Piemontese Units, Western Alps, Italy). We want to test if the mechanism of the subduction channel is feasible at a larger scale, i.e. for the km-scale Voltri Massif, that consists of metaophiolites recording blueschist to eclogite facies peak conditions.We identified a study area in the eastern part of the massif made of highly sheared serpentinite which hosts lenses of metagabbros; a strong strain partitioning between host-rock and the lenses and between core and rims of the lenses occurs.We coupled P–T pseudosections, garnet–omphacite geothermometry and petrographic observations and we obtained clockwise P–T paths with almost isothermal decompression trajectory. The analyzed blueschist lens recrystallized at peak conditions of 10–15kbar and 450–500°C; the eclogitic ones reached peak metamorphic conditions ranging from about 21kbar and 450–490°C to 22–28kbar and 460–500°C; the studied bodies thus recorded different metamorphic peaks acquired at slightly different T conditions.Comparing our results with literature data, a large scatter in the metamorphic peak conditions is displayed, with peak temperatures up to 650°C and pressures ranging from 18 to 25kbar.(1) The presence of poorly deformed lenses (from m- to km-scale) of heterogeneous lithologies inside highly sheared serpentinite and metasediments country-rocks, (2) the strong strain partitioning and (3) the heterogeneous metamorphic peak conditions of the different lenses allow us to suggest that the Voltri Massif matches the requirements of a tectonic mélange; in particular the eastern sector may thus represent a “fossil” serpentinite-subduction channel, comparable to the small-scale one already described in the western sector of the Voltri Massif.

Unravelling the tectonothermal evolution of reworked Archean granulite facies metapelites using in situ geochronology: an example from the Gawler Craton, Australia

AbstractThe use of in situ geochronological techniques allows for direct age constraints to be placed on fabric development and the metamorphic evolution of polydeformed and reworked terranes. The Shoal Point region of the southern Gawler Craton consists of a series of reworked granulite facies metapelitic and metaigneous units which belong to the Late Archean Sleaford Complex. Structural evidence indicates three phases of fabric development with D1 retained within boudins, D2 consisting of a series of upright open to isoclinal folds producing an axial planar fabric and D3 composed of a highly planar vertical high‐strain fabric which overprints the D2 fabric. Th–U–total Pb EPMA monazite and garnet Sm–Nd geochronology constrain the D1 event to the c. 2450 Ma Sleaford Orogeny, whereas the D2 and D3 events are constrained to the 1730–1690 Ma Kimban Orogeny. P–T pseudosections constrain the metamorphic conditions for the Sleafordian Orogeny to between 4.5 and 6 kbar and between 750 and 780 °C. Subsequent Kimban‐aged reworking reached peak metamorphic conditions of 8–9 kbar at 820–850 °C during the D2 event, followed by high‐temperature decompression to metamorphic conditions <6 kbar and 790–850 °C associated with the development of the D3 high‐strain fabric. The P–T–t evolution of the Shoal Point rocks reflects the transpressional exhumation of lower crustal rocks during the Kimban Orogeny and the development of a regional ‘flower structure’.

The anatomy of a Gondwanan terrane: The Neoproterozoic–Ordovician basement of the pre-Alpine Sebeş–Lotru composite terrane (South Carpathians, Romania)

The Sebeş–Lotru terrane in the South Carpathians mountain range comprises a lower, Neoproterozoic metamorphic unit (Lotru) and an upper, Ordovician metamorphic unit (Cumpăna) that were juxtaposed during the Variscan orogeny. Two orthogneisses from the Lotru metamorphic unit yield U/Pb LA-ICP-MS zircon crystallization ages of 549.3 ± 3.8 Ma and 587.5 ± 3 Ma, respectively. Two orthogneisses from the Cumpăna metamorphic unit yield zircon crystallization ages of 458.9 ± 3.5 Ma and 466.0 ± 4.2 Ma, respectively. High U zircons from two other orthogneisses from the Cumpăna metamorphic unit have ages ranging from 400 Ma to 320 Ma, which are interpreted to reflect protracted zircon recrystallization during the regionally significant Variscan collisional event. Detrital zircons from a metasedimentary gneiss in the Cumpăna metamorphic unit have ages ranging from ~ 0.5 Ga to 2.8 Ga. The 0.5 Ga age constrains the maximum sediment deposition age to be late Cambrian. The source most compatible with the range of Precambrian detrital ages in the Sebeş–Lotru terrane is northeastern Gondwana. The Sebeş–Lotru terrane was part of a continental subduction/collision system as a lower plate after about 400 Ma and reached peak metamorphic conditions between 350 and 320 Ma (e.g. Medaris et al., 2003). A cross-cutting granite vein has a zircon U–Pb crystallization age of 321.5 ± 3.1 Ma, which constrains minimum age of ductile deformation during the Variscan collision in this region. The trace of the Rheic suture within the South Carpathians is located between the Ordovician upper part of the Sebeş–Lotru terrane and the Drăgşan pre-Alpine terrane of the Danubian domain.

Metamorphic history and geodynamic significance of high-grade metabasites from the ophiolitic mélange beneath the Yarlung Zangbo ophiolites, Xigaze area, Tibet

Blocks of highly foliated amphibolite are locally embedded within a serpentinite mélange underlying the Yarlung Zangbo ophiolites in the Xigaze area of southern Tibet. The ophiolites are remnants of an Early Cretaceous back-arc basin within the Permo-Cretaceous Tethys Ocean, which are exposed along in the Yarlung Zangbo Suture Zone (YZSZ). These amphibolites are interpreted as fragments of a dismembered dynamothermal sole. Three types of amphibolite are present: (1) common amphibolite with assemblages of Hbl + Pl ± Ep ± Ap ± Ttn, (2) clinopyroxene-bearing amphibolite with Hbl ± Pl ± Cpx ± Ep ± Ttn ± Qtz ± Ap and (3) garnet–clinopyroxene-bearing amphibolite characterized by the assemblages Hbl + Cpx + Grt + Pl ± Rt and Grt + Hbl + Pl (corona assemblage). In all three types, plagioclase is pseudomorphed by late albite–prehnite. Retrograde cataclastic veins containing assemblages of Prh + Ab + Ep ± Chl are also present. P–T estimates indicate that the amphibolites reached peak metamorphic conditions of 13–15 kbar and 750–875 °C. Partial replacement of pyrope-rich (up to 35 mole%) garnet by Al-tschermakite (Al 2O 3 up to 21 wt%) reflects a high pressure (≈18 kbar, 600 °C) metamorphic event followed by rapid exhumation. Soon after exhumation, the amphibolites were intruded by very fine-grained diabase dykes that were then hydrothermally altered. The field relationships and metamorphic history of the amphibolites indicate formation during inception of subduction within a back-arc basin prior to obduction of the ophiolites onto the Indian passive margin.

LPHT metamorphism in a late orogenic transpressional setting, Albera Massif, NE Iberia: implications for the geodynamic evolution of the Variscan Pyrenees

AbstractDuring the Late Palaeozoic Variscan Orogeny, Cambro‐Ordovician and/or Neoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks of the Albera Massif (Eastern Pyrenees) were subject to low‐pressure/high‐temperature (LPHT) regional metamorphism, with the development of a sequence of prograde metamorphic zones (chlorite‐muscovite, biotite, andalusite‐cordierite, sillimanite and migmatite). LPHT metamorphism and magmatism occurred in a broadly compressional tectonic regime, which started with a phase of southward thrusting (D1) and ended with a wrench‐dominated dextral transpressional event (D2). D1 occurred under prograde metamorphic conditions. D2 started before the P–T metamorphic climax and continued during and after the metamorphic peak, and was associated with igneous activity. P–T estimates show that rocks from the biotite‐in isograd reached peak‐metamorphic conditions of 2.5 kbar, 400 °C; rocks in the low‐grade part of the andalusite‐cordierite zone reached peak metamorphic conditions of 2.8 kbar, 535 °C; rocks located at the transition between andalusite‐cordierite zone and the sillimanite zone reached peak metamorphic conditions of 3.3 kbar, 625 °C; rocks located at the beginning of the anatectic domain reached peak metamorphic conditions of 3.5 kbar, 655 °C; and rocks located at the bottom of the metamorphic series of the massif reached peak metamorphic conditions of 4.5 kbar, 730 °C. A clockwise P–T trajectory is inferred using a combination of reaction microstructures with appropriate P–T pseudosections. It is proposed that heat from asthenospheric material that rose to shallow mantle levels provided the ultimate heat source for the LPHT metamorphism and extensive lower crustal melting, generating various types of granitoid magmas. This thermal pulse occurred during an episode of transpression, and is interpreted to reflect breakoff of the underlying, downwarped mantle lithosphere during the final stages of oblique continental collision.

Sub-solidus Oligocene zircon formation in garnet peridotite during fast decompression and fluid infiltration (Duria, Central Alps)

A garnet peridotite lens from Monte Duria (Adula nappe, Central Alps, Northern Italy) contains porphyroblastic garnet and pargasitic amphibole and reached peak metamorphic conditions of ∼830 C, ∼2.8 GPa. A first stage of near isothermal decompression to pressures <2.0 GPa is characterised by domains where fine grained spinel, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene and amphibole form. The newly formed amphibole contains elevated levels of fluid mobile elements such as Rb, Ba and Pb indicating that recrystallization was assisted by infiltration of a crustal-derived fluid. Further decompression and cooling to ∼720 °C, 0.7–1.0 GPa associated with limited fluid influx is documented by the formation of orthopyroxene-spinel-amphibole symplectites around garnet. Zircon separated from this garnet peridotite exhibits two distinct zones. Domain 1 displays polygonal oscillatory zoning and high trace element contents. It contains clinopyroxene and amphibole inclusions with the same composition as the same minerals formed during the spinel peridotite equilibration, indicating that this domain formed under sub-solidus conditions during decompression and influx of crustal fluids. Domain 2 has no zoning and much lower trace element contents. It replaces domain 1 and is likely related to zircon recrystallization during the formation of the symplectites. SHRIMP dating of the two domains yielded ages of 34.2 ± 0.2 and 32.9 ± 0.3 Ma, respectively, indicating fast exhumation of the peridotite within the spinel stability field. We suggest that the Duria garnet peridotite originates from the mantle wedge above the tertiary subduction of the European continental margin and that it was assembled to the country rock gneisses between 34 and 33 Ma.

Single zircon ages, PT evolution and Nd isotopic systematics of high-grade gneisses in southern Malawi and their bearing on the evolution of the Mozambique belt in southeastern Africa

The high grade gneiss assemblage of central and southern Malawi belongs to the Neoproterozoic Mozambique belt of East Africa, and reached peak metamorphic conditions at 900±70°C and 9.5±1.5 kbar, followed by an isobaric cooling path. We report single zircon U–Pb and Pb–Pb ages and Nd isotopic data for orthogneisses and metapelites collected around Lilongwe and farther south in the region around Blantyre and Zomba. The ages document three distinct events, (1) a Kibaran-age period of intrusion of calc-alkaline granitoids around 1040–929 Ma; Nd isotope data indicate overall juvenile compositions consistent with a magmatic arc environment, or emplacement into thinned continental crust with little involvement of older basement; (2) a Pan-African period of intrusion of calc-alkaline granitoids around 710–555 Ma; Nd isotopes for most samples indicate crustal residence ages of 1.0–1.5 Ga and suggest either remelting of ∼1.0–1.5 Ga (Kibaran) protoliths or mixing of juvenile material with subordinate amounts of older crust; (3) a long-lasting thermal peak of Pan-African high grade metamorphism around 571–549 Ma. The chemical composition of the dated orthogneisses is compatible with an origin of their protoliths in an Andean-type active continental margin setting. Penetrative deformation occurred prior to the thermal peak of metamorphism and also affected the youngest intrusions. It must, therefore, have been of Pan-African age as was the late, retrograde amphibolite facies overprint . Rocks with presumably rather different histories prior to the thermal peak were stacked together. An earlier Kibaran granulite metamorphism, postulated by previous authors, could not be verified. Rather uniform and widespread maximum PT-conditions of the granulite facies in central and southern Malawi, followed by near-isobaric, slow cooling indicate a transient metamorphic gradient of about 26°C/km and suggest stacking of a relatively hot crust and subsequent slow exhumation. The late Kibaran and Pan-African magmatic events in Malawi may be linked to granitoid magmatism of similar ages in northwestern Mozambique and the central Zambezi belt of northern Zimbabwe, but the geodynamic relationships between these terrains remain obscure. The variation in age of peak metamorphism between ∼640 and 520 Ma across the Mozambique belt from Malawi to Antarctica suggests that this belt was assembled from a number of terranes that accreted at different times over a period of ca. 100 million years. The available data, therefore, suggest that East Gondwana was not a coherent block colliding with West Gondwana but consisted of individual terranes before being amalgamated into the supercontinent Gondwana some 550–530 Ma ago.

Extensional collapse and uplift in a polymetamorphic granulite terrain in the Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic of north China

The Archaean granulite terrain in the Datong-Huai An area, north China, comprises a basement complex of felsic and mafic granulite, overlain by a sedimentary sequence dominated by metapelite and metapsammite. Both lithological associations are separated by a tectonic contact, and structural, textural and stratigraphic data indicate that the terrain was affected by two prominent tectono-thermal cycles (C A and C B), associated with two granulite facies events, M1 and M2, which probably occurred ∼2500 Ma and 1800 Ma ago, respectively. Of these, M1 events were dominant and associated with all major structures in the area. In the basement gneiss, M1 reached peak metamorphic conditions of 12–14 kbar and 800–900°C during a foliation-forming event, D 2Ba, which transposed an earlier S 1Ba foliation of unknown age and origin. In the allochthonous cover sediments M1 peak-conditions of about 8 kbar and 800°C were reached after a prograde thickening event, D 1Co, associated with the formation of a bedding-parallel foliation, while large amounts of S-type granites were emplaced. The localised D 2Ba and D 1Co structures are interpreted as spatially distinct responses at different crustal levels to one metamorphic event. Juxtaposition of basement and allochthonous cover along a large, low-angle normal shear zone occurred during D 3. This detachment zone accommodated extension after crustal thickening, and allowed unloading of the footwall resulting in a rise of the basement rocks through 4–6 kbar as deduced from syn-D 3 decompression textures. Coeval cooling textures in the allochthonous cover sequence indicate that lateral rather than vertical displacements occurred in the hanging wall of the detachment. During C B, M2 peak-conditions of about 4–6 kbar and 650–700°C were reached coeval with the development of discrete, left-lateral strike-slip zones (D 4) that transect both basement and allochthonous cover, and accommodated some uplift. The deduced C A and C B P- T paths have equivalents in many Precambrian granulites. In general decompressional paths like the one recorded in the basement rocks, are linked to processes involving crustal thickening followed by extensional collapse. In the Datong-Huai An area it can be shown that low-angle detachments may have played an important role in the uplift and cooling history of granulite belts as long ago as the Archaean-Proterozoic boundary.

40Ar/ 39Ar mineral ages within metamorphic clasts from the Kuma Group (Eocene), central Shikoku, Japan: Implications for tectonic development of the Sambagawa accretionary prism

The Sambagawa metamorphic belt exposed in central Shikoku records a high- P/T metamorphism. It is comprised by the Oboke nappe and the structurally overlying, internally imbricated Besshi nappe complex. The Besshi nappe complex locally is unconformably overlain by the Kuma Group (Eocene) which consists of conglomerates and subordinate sandstones and mudstones. Clasts within Kuma conglomerates exposed in the Kamegamori district include low-grade schists (derived from the unconformably underlying Sambagawa complex) and high-grade metamorphic rocks of uncertain provenance (including garnet-amphibolite and oligoclase-bearing pelitic schist). 36Ar/ 40Ar vs. 39Ar/ 40Ar isotope correlation ages recorded by hornblende from two amphibolite clasts are 131.1 ± 4.9 Ma and 156.8 ± 4.3 Ma. These are interpreted to date post-metamorphic cooling through temperatures required for intracrystalline retention of argon, and are older than cooling ages previously reported from any presently exposed segments of the Sambagawa terrane. Plateau ages of 108.8 ± 0.7 Ma and 115.7 ± 0.6 Ma are recorded by muscovite from two clasts of schist. Muscovite within a proximal basement exposure of unconformably underlying Sambagawa pelitic schist records a plateau age of 78.7 ± 0.5 Ma. Combined with isotopic ages previously reported for the Sambagawa terrane, 40Ar/ 39Ar data from clasts in the Kuma Group suggest that metamorphic culmination within a high-grade source terrane occured at c. 185-145 Ma. Sectors of this complex cooled through c. 500°C at c. 150 Ma. Other portions cooled through c. 500°C at c. 130 Ma. Contrasts in the cooling ages likely reflect internal imbrication within the source terrane. The Besshi nappe complex reached peak metamorphic conditions at c. 100-90 Ma and experienced relatively rapid uplift and cooling at c. 85-75 Ma. The Besshi nappe complex was structurally emplaced onto the Oboke nappe which attained peak metamorphic conditions at c. 75 Ma. Subsequently, the entire Sambagawa section was exhumed, and most high-grade metamorphic rocks were removed. The Eocene Kuma Group was unconformably deposited over the Sambagawa terrane at c. 50 Ma.