Showing papers on "Metamorphism published in 2008"

Triassic continental subduction in central Tibet and Mediterranean-style closure of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean

Abstract: The Qiangtang metamorphic belt (QMB) in central Tibet is one of the largest and most recently documented high-pressure (HP) to near-ultrahigh-pressure (near-UHP) belts on Earth. Lu-Hf ages of eclogite- and blueschist-facies rocks within the QMB are 244–223 Ma, indistinguishable from the age of UHP metamorphism in the Qinling-Dabie orogen. Results of a U-Pb detrital zircon study suggest that protoliths of the QMB include upper Paleozoic Qiangtang continental margin strata and sandstones that were derived from a Paleozoic arc terrane that developed within the Paleo-Tethys Ocean to the north. We attribute QMB HP metamorphism to continental collision between the Qiangtang terrane and a Paleo-Tethys arc terrane. This collision, and the coeval South China–North China collision, may have slowed convergence between Laurasia and Gondwana-derived terranes and initiated Mediterranean-style rollback and backarc basin development within much of the remnant Paleo-Tethys Ocean realm.

A perspective view on ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism and continental collision in the Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt

Abstract: The study of continental deep-subduction has been one of the forefront and core subjects to advance the plate tectonics theory in the twenty-first century. The Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt in China crops out the largest lithotectonic unit containing ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks in the world. Much of our understanding of the world’s most enigmatic processes in continental deep-subduction zones has been deduced from various records in the Dabie-Sulu rocks. By taking these rocks as the natural laboratory, earth scientists have made seminal contributions to understanding of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism and continental collision. This paper outlines twelve aspects of outstanding progress, including spatial distribution of the UHP metamorphic rocks, timing of the UHP metamorphism, timescale of the UHP metamorphism, the protolith nature of deeply subducted continental crust, subduction erosion and crustal detachment during continental collision, the possible depths of continental subduction, fluid activity in the continental deep-subduction zone, partial melting during continental collision, element mobility in continental deep-subduction zone, recycling of subducted continental crust, geodynamic mechanism of postcollisional magmatism, and lithospheric architecture of collision orogen. Some intriguing questions and directions are also proposed for future studies.

Archean crustal evolution of the Jiaodong Peninsula, China, as revealed by zircon SHRIMP geochronology, elemental and Nd-isotope geochemistry

Abstract: The Jiaodong Terrane in eastern Shandong Province is an important part of the Eastern Block of the North China Craton (NCC). In order to better understand the Precambrian crustal evolution of the NCC, we conducted a study of zircon geochronology, bulk-rock elemental and Nd-isotope geochemistry on gneisses and granodiorites from the Jiaodong Terrane. Zircon U-Pb SHRIMP analyses on biotite leptites and TTG gneisses yielded two groups of ages, one at ca. 2.90 Ga, and the other at 2.71 to 2.73 Ga. The new age results establish the existence of Mesoarchean and Neoarchean continental crust in the Jiaodong Terrane. The association of leptites, interpreted as metadacitic rocks, and TTG gneisses at 2.9 Ga was likely generated in an island-arc system, hence implying that plate tectonics, similar to the modern regime, was operative during the Mesoarchean. On the other hand, the results also indicate that the period of 2.71 to 2.73 Ga represents the most significant crust-forming episode in the Jiaodong Terrane. This is in contrast to the general understanding that the most important period of crustal growth and related metamorphism/deformation in the NCC took place in the terminal Archean (∼2.5 Ga). The geochemical and age constraints of the Neoarchean TTG rocks suggest that their formation was not related to subduction of oceanic crust, but to underplating and subsequent partial melting of lower crustal mafic rocks. Nd isotope data indicate that the Mesoarchean and Neoarchean rocks were mainly derived from juvenile sources with a limited amount of old crustal component. Like in other parts of the NCC, these rocks represent a juvenile addition to the late Archean continental crust. Finally, the formation of supracrustal rocks and most TTG gneisses in the period of 2.9 to 2.7 Ga distinguishes the Jiaodong Terrane from other tectonic units of the North China Craton.

The Basement of the Central Andes: The Arequipa and Related Terranes

Abstract: The basement of the Central Andes provides insights for the dispersal of Rodinia, the reconstruction of Gondwana, and the dynamics of terrane accretion along the Pacific. The Paleoproterozoic Arequipa terrane was trapped during collision between Laurentia and Amazonia in the Mesoproterozoic. Ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism correlates with the collapse of the Sunsas-Grenville orogen after ∼1000 Ma and is related to slab break-off and dispersal of Rodinia. The Antofalla terrane separated in the Neoproterozoic, forming the Puncoviscana basin. Its closure was coeval with the collision of the eastern Sierras Pampeanas. The rift-drift transitions of the early Paleozoic clastic platform showed a gradual younging to the north, in agreement with counterclockwise rotation based on paleomagnetic data of Antofalla. North of Arequipa arc magmatism and high-grade metamorphism are linked to collision of the Paracas terrane in the Ordovician, during the Famatinian orogeny in the Sierras Pampeanas. The early Paleozoic ...

Refining the P-T records of UHT crustal metamorphism

Abstract: Ultra-high-temperature (UHT) metamorphism occurs when the continental crust is subjected to temperatures of greater than 900 °C at depths of 20–40 km. UHT metamorphism provides evidence that major tectonic processes may operate under thermal conditions more extreme than those generally produced in numerical models of orogenesis. Evidence for UHT metamorphism is recorded in mineral assemblages formed in magnesian pelites, supported by high-temperature indicators including mesoperthitic feldspar, aluminous orthopyroxene and high Zr contents in rutile. Recent theoretical, experimental and thermodynamic data set constraints on metamorphic phase equilibria in FMAS, KFMASH and more complex chemical systems have greatly improved quantification of the P–T conditions and paths of UHT metamorphic belts. However, despite these advances key issues that remain to be addressed include improving experimental constraints on the thermodynamic properties of sapphirine, quantifying the effects of oxidation state on sapphirine, orthopyroxene and spinel stabilities and quantifying the effects of H2O–CO2 in cordierite on phase equilibria and reaction texture analysis. These areas of uncertainty mean that UHT mineral assemblages must still be examined using theoretical and semi-quantitative approaches, such as P(–T)–μ sections, and conventional thermobarometry in concert with calculated phase equilibrium methods. In the cases of UHT terranes that preserve microtextural and mineral assemblage evidence for steep or ‘near-isothermal’ decompression P–T paths, the presence of H2O and CO2 in cordierite is critical to estimates of the P–T path slopes, the pressures at which reaction textures have formed and the impact of fluid infiltration. Many UHT terranes have evolved from peak P–T conditions of 8–11 kbar and 900–1030 °C to lower pressure conditions of 8 to 6 kbar whilst still at temperature in the range of 950 to 800 °C. These decompressional P–T paths, with characteristic dP/dT gradients of ∼25 ± 10 bar °C−1, are similar in broad shape to those generated in deep-crustal channel flow models for the later stages of orogenic collapse, but lie at significantly higher temperatures for any specified pressure. This thermal gap presents a key challenge in the tectonic modelling of UHT metamorphism, with implications for the evolution of the crust, sub-crustal lithosphere and asthenospheric mantle during the development of hot orogens.

Shrimp U-Pb zircon geochronology of the Huai'an Complex: Constraints on late Archean to paleoproterozoic magmatic and metamorphic events in the Trans-North China Orogen

Abstract: The Huai9an Complex is situated in the northern segment of the Trans-North China Orogen (TNCO), a continent-continent collisional belt along which the discrete Archean Eastern and Western Blocks amalgamated to form the basement of the North China Craton. The complex consists of six distinct lithologic units: the Huai9an TTG gneisses, the Manjinggou high-pressure mafic granulites, the Khondalite Series, the Dongjiagou granitic gneiss, the Huai9an charnockite, and the Dapinggou K-feldspar granite. SHRIMP U–Pb geochronology, combined with Th and U data and cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging of zircons, enables resolution of magmatic and metamorphic events that can be directed towards understanding the late Archean to Paleoproterozoic history of the TNCO. CL images reveal the coexistence of magmatic and metamorphic zircons in most lithologies of the Huai9an Complex, of which the metamorphic zircons occur as either single grains or overgrowth rims surrounding and truncating oscillatory-zoned magmatic zircon cores. SHRIMP U–Pb analyses on magmatic zircons reveal that the tonalitic, trondhjemitic and granodioritic protoliths of the Huai9an TTG gneisses were emplaced at 2515 ± 20 Ma, 2499 ± 19 Ma and 2440 ± 26 Ma, respectively, much earlier than the emplacement of the Dongjiagou granitic gneiss dated at 2036 ± 16 Ma. However, their metamorphic zircons yield similar concordant 207Pb/206Pb ages of 1847 ± 17 Ma, 1842 ± 10 Ma and 1847 ± 11 Ma for the tonalitic, trondhjemitic and granodioritic gneisses, respectively, and 1839 ± 46 Ma for the Dongjia granitic gneiss. These ages demonstrate that the Huai9an Complex underwent a regional metamorphic event at ∼1850 Ma, which is further supported by a mean 207Pb/206Pb age of 1848 ± 19 Ma for metamorphic zircons in the Manjinggou high-pressure mafic granulite and 1849 ± 10 Ma and 1850 ± 17 Ma for igneous zircons in the anatectic Huai9an charnockite and Dapinggou garnet-bearing S-type granite, respectively. The timing of late Archean to Paleoproterozoic magmatism and regional metamorphism in the Huai9an Complex is in general agreement with recent SHRIMP zircon data for other metamorphic complexes in the TNCO. These data prove that the high-grade gneiss complexes were not the basement to the low-grade granite-greenstone terranes in the TNCO. Furthermore, the lithologies of the orogen are considered to have developed as a long-lived magmatic arc that was subsequently tectonically disrupted and juxtaposed during the collision of the Eastern and Western Blocks at ∼1.85 Ga, leading to final assembly of the North China Craton.

Prograde metamorphic sequence of REE minerals in pelitic rocks of the Central Alps: implications for allanite-monazite-xenotime phase relations from 250 to 610 C

Abstract: The distribution of REE minerals in metasedimentary rocks was investigated to gain insight into the stability of allanite, monazite and xenotime in metapelites. Samples were collected in the central Swiss Alps, along a well-established metamorphic field gradient that record conditions from very low grade metamorphism (250 C) to the lower amphibolite facies (600 C). In the Alpine metapelites investigated, mass balance calculations show that LREE are mainly transferred between monazite and allanite during the course of prograde metamorphism. At very low grade metamorphism, detrital monazite grains (mostly Variscan in age) have two distinct populations in terms of LREE and MREE compositions. Newly formed monazite crystallized during low-grade metamorphism (<440 C); these are enriched in La, but depleted in Th and Y, compared with inherited grains. Upon the appearance of chloritoid (440–450 C, thermometry based on chlorite–choritoid and carbonaceous material), monazite is consumed, and MREE and LREE are taken up preferentially in two distinct zones of allanite distinguishable by EMPA and X-ray mapping. Prior to garnet growth, allanite acquires two growth zones of clinozoisite: a first one rich in HREE + Y and a second one containing low REE contents. Following garnet growth, close to the chloritoid–out zone boundary (556–580 C, based on phase equilibrium calculations), allanite and its rims are partially to totally replaced by monazite and xenotime, both associated with plagioclase (± biotite ± staurolite ± kyanite ± quartz). In these samples, epidote relics are located in the matrix or as inclusions in garnet, and these preserve their characteristic chemical and textural growth zoning, indicating that they did not experience reequilibration following their prograde formation. Hence, the partial breakdown of allanite to monazite offers the attractive possibility to obtain in situ ages, representing two distinct crystallization stages. In addition, the complex REE + Y and Th zoning pattern of allanite and monazite are essential monitors of crystallization conditions at relatively low metamorphic grade.

Submarine reworking of exhumed subcontinental mantle rocks: field evidence from the Lherz peridotites, French Pyrenees

Abstract: In the Pyrenees, the lherzolites nowhere occur as continuous units Rather, they always outcrop as restricted bodies, never more than 3 km wide, scattered across Mesozoic sedimentary units along the North Pyrenean Fault We report the results of a detailed analysis of the geological setting of the Lherz massif (central Pyrenees), the type-locality of lherzolites and one of the most studied occurrences of mantle rocks worldwide The Lherz body is only 15 km long and belongs to a series of ultramafic bodies of restricted size (a few metres to some hundreds of metres), occurring within sedimentary formations composed mostly of carbonate breccias originating from the reworking of Mesozoic platform limestones and dolomites The clastic formations also include numerous layers of polymictic breccias reworking lherzolitic clasts These layers are found far from any lherzolitic body, implying that lherzolitic clasts cannot derive from the in situ fragmentation of an ultramafic body alone, but might also have been transported far away from their sources by sedimentary processes A detailed analysis of the contacts between the Lherz ultramafic body and the surrounding limestones confirms that there is no fault contact and that sediments composed of ultramafic material have been emplaced into fissures within the brecciated carapace of the peridotites These observations bear important constraints for the mode of emplacement of the lherzolite bodies We infer that mantle exhumation may have occurred during Albian strike-slip deformation linked to the rotation of Iberia along the proto-North Pyrenean Fault

EPMA U-Th-Pb monazite and SHRIMP U-Pb zircon geochronology of high-pressure pelitic granulites in the Jiaobei massif of the North China Craton

Abstract: The Jiaobei massif constitutes the southern segment of the Paleoproterozoic Jiao-Liao-Ji belt in the Eastern Block of the North China Craton, and contains high-pressure (HP) mafic and pelitic granulites. The HP pelitic granulites contain four distinct mineral assemblages: garnet + kyanite +biotite + muscovite + rutile (M1), garnet + kyanite + ternary-feldspar + biotite + muscovite + rutile (M2), garnet + sillimanite + biotite + perthite + anti-perthite (M3), and biotite + muscovite + sillimanite + plagioclase (M4), of which M2 is a typical HP pelitic assemblage. The origin of these HP granulites is important for understanding the tectonic evolution of the Jiao-Liao-Ji Belt, but the timing of the HP event still remains unknown. This study applied the EPMA U-Th-Pb monazite and SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating techniques to determine the metamorphic ages of the HP pelitic granulites in the Jiaobei massif. CL images and Th/U ratios show that all monazite and zircon grains in the analyzed samples are of metamorphic origin. Eighty-two EPMA analyses on 16 monazite grains from two samples yielded three age groups at 1895 to 1882 Ma, 1814 to 1813 Ma and 1706 to 1692 Ma, and the ages of 16 SHRIMP analyses on 14 zircon grains from one sample range from 1864 to 1803 Ma. The oldest ages of 1895 to 1882 Ma were yielded from high-Y monazite grains enclosed in garnet and sillimanite pseudomorph after kyanite, and thus interpreted as the time of the HP (M2) granulite-facies metamorphism. The EPMA monazite ages of 1814 to 1813 Ma and SHRIMP zircon ages of 1864 to 1803 Ma are interpreted as the approximate ages of the post-HP granulite-facies metamorphism (M3), most probably resulting from the exhumation of the HP granulites to the medium-pressure granulite-facies levels. The youngest age group of 1706 to 1692 Ma obtained from low-Y monazite grains in the matrix can be interpreted as the age of late cooling and retrograde metamorphism (M4) that occurred when the HP pelitic granulites were exhumed to the upper crust. The presence of Paleoproterozoic HP mafic and pelitic granulites in the southern segment of the Jiao-Liao-Ji Belt suggests that the evolution of the Jiao-Liao-Ji Belt in the Eastern Block of the North China Craton must have been involved in subduction- or collision-related tectonic processes.

Permian metamorphic event in the Alps

Abstract: In addition to the well-known Variscan and Alpine orogenic cycles, a Permian thermal event occurred in the European Alps. The geodynamic background of this event is not well understood. Here we suggest that the event is a reflection of lithospheric thinning accompanied by magmatic underplating causing partial melting of the lower crust and low-pressure–high-temperature metamorphism. The event was terminated by Early Triassic opening of the Meliata ocean and was followed by sag-stage subsidence during slow lithospheric cooling. This last stage of the evolution allowed the onset of the Mesozoic marine evolution with the orogen-wide formation of Triassic carbonate platforms well known from the Dolomites and the Northern Calcareous Alps. The combined evidence for magmatism, metamorphism, and late subsidence identifies the Permian event of the Alps as an excellent example of underplating events suggested as a cause for low-pressure–high-temperature terrains worldwide.

Polyphase Tectonothermal History Recorded in Granulitized Gneisses from the North Qaidam HP/UHP Metamorphic Terrane, Western China: Evidence from Zircon U-Pb Geochronology

Abstract: High-grade gneisses of the north Qaidam high-pressure/ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic terrane enclose minor eclogites and ultramafic rocks. In combination with petrological data, sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe U-Pb geochronology on the granulitized gneisses in the Luliangshan and Xitieshan, western north Qaidam Mountains, reveals a polyphase tectonothermal history including Early Neoproterozoic and Early Paleozoic events. The rocks investigated are two granulite-facies paragneisses and one orthogneiss that both surround garnet peridotite in the Luliangshan, and two paragneisses that enclose eclogite in the Xitieshan. The inherited zircon cores from paragneiss and orthogneiss yield ages between ca. 1000 Ma and ca. 2500 Ma, representing Mesoproterozoic to Archaean source material for these gneisses. A ca. 900 Ma age obtained from one orthogneiss and one paragneiss is interpreted as the age of simultaneous Early Neoproterozoic magmatism and metamorphism. This Early Neoproterozoic tectonothermal event is similar in age to the Jinning orogeny, which is commonly recognized in the metamorphic basement of the south China block, and suggests that the north Qaidam Mountains have an affinity to the south China block. Early Paleozoic metamorphism is recorded in all gneiss samples. In conjunction with cathodoluminescence imagery and mineral inclusions, U-Pb dating of zircons reveals two Early Paleozoic age groups: ca. 450 Ma represents the age of high-pressure granulite metamorphism (Grt + Rt inclusions in zircon; kyanite porphyroblasts), whereas ca. 425 Ma reflects the time of medium-pressure, granulite-facies metamorphism (Pl + Sil inclusions in zircon) and associated anatexis during decompression. The ages obtained suggest that the granulite-facies metamorphism lasted for ~25 m.y. and was related to the Early Paleozoic continental collision between the Qilian and Qaidam blocks, and to subsequent thermal relaxation and exhumation.

Temporal constraints on the timing of high-grade metamorphism in the northern Gawler Craton: implications for assembly of the Australian Proterozoic

Abstract: LA-ICPMS U–Pb data from metamorphic monazite in upper amphibolite and granulite-grade metasedimentary rocks indicate that the Nawa Domain of the northern Gawler Craton in southern Australia underwent multiple high-grade metamorphic events in the Late Paleoproterozoic and Early Mesoproterozoic. Five of the six samples investigated here record metamorphic monazite growth during the period 1730–1690 Ma, coincident with the Kimban Orogeny, which shaped the crustal architecture of the southeastern Gawler Craton. Combined with existing detrital zircon U–Pb data, the metamorphic monazite ages constrain deposition of the northern Gawler metasedimentary protoliths to the interval ca 1750–1720 Ma. The new age data highlight the craton-wide nature of the 1730–1690 Ma Kimban Orogeny in the Gawler Craton. In the Mabel Creek Ridge region of the Nawa Domain, rocks metamorphosed during the Kimban Orogeny were reworked during the Kararan Orogeny (1570–1555 Ma). The obtained Kararan Orogeny monazite ages are within uncerta...

The Mesoproterozoic in the Nordic countries

Abstract: During the Mesoproterozoic, central Fennoscandia and Laurentia (Greenland) were characterized by a weakly extensional stress regime, as evident from episodic rapakivi granites, dolerite dykes, continental rift intrusives, sandstone basins and continental flood basalts. Along the southwestern active margin of Fennoscandia, the 1.64-1.52 Ga Gothian and 1.52-1.48 Ga Tele-markian accretionary events resulted in oceanwards continental growth. The 1.47-1.42 Ga Hallandian-Danopolonian event included high-grade metamorphism and granite magmatism in southern Fennoscandia. The pre-Sveconorwegian 1.34-1.14 Ga period is characterized by bimodal magmatism associated with sedimentation, possibly reflecting transcurrent tectonics. The Sveconorwegian otogeny involved polyphase imbrication of terranes between 1.14 and 0.97 Ga, as a result of a collision between Baltica and another major plate, followed by relaxation and post-collisional magmatism between 0.96 and 0.90 Ga. Recent geologic data support classical models restoring the Sveconorwegian belt directly to the east of the Grenville belt of Laurentia at 1.0 Ga. Fragments of Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic crust showing late Grenvillian-Sveconorwegian (1.00-0.92 Ga) magmatism and/or metamorphism are exposed in several tectonic levels in the Caledonides of Scandinavia, Svalbard and East Greenland, on both sides of the inferred lapetus suture. Linking these fragments into a coherent late-Grenvillian tectonic model, however, require additional study. (Less)