Finding of high-pressure mafic granulites in the Amdo basement,central Tibet

High-pressure mafic granulites with a peak mineral assemblage of garnet + clinopyroxene + rutile + quartz were found in the Amdo basement, central Tibet. Two kinds of symplectites were identified that are composed of orthopyroxene + plagioclase ± spinel and hornblende + plagioclase around garnet, which were interpreted to develop during the retrogressing stages in the granulites. P-T estimates suggested that peak metamorphic conditions were about 860–920°C and 1.46–1.56 GPa, which retrogressed from post-peak phase at 820–890°C and 0.88–1.15 GPa to amphibolite facies at 550–670°C and 0.52–0.65 GPa. These three stages define a clockwise P-T path with near-isothermal decompression and cooling following the peak high-pressure metamorphism. This suggests that the Amdo granulites underwent an initial subduction to a deep crustal level of ~50 km and then were rapidly exhumed to a shallow crustal level (~20 km). The formation of Amdo granulites is considered to result from the arc-continent collision between the Amdo basement and the Qiangtang terrane in the middle Jurassic, which is a crucial step to the tectonic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau.     

Discovery and implications of the high-pressure pelitic granulite from the Jiaobei massif

The high pressure pelitic granulite with peak assemblage of garnet kyanite ternary feldspar muscovite rutile was discovered in Qixia area in the Precambrian Jiaobei massif, where high pressure basic granulites are widely distributed. The metamorphic peak conditions for the pelitic granulite were calculated as T=800-840℃ and P=1.0-1.25 GPa on the basis of P-T pseudosection. The post peak P-T path is characterized first by an isothermal decompression (ITD) pattern and then by an isobaric cooling (IBC) pattern, indicating a geodynamic process related to thinning of thickened continental crust.     

Experimental study on the P wave velocity in rocks from lower crust and crust-mantle transitional zone beneath the Hannuoba

Cenozoic basalt-borne mafic granulite-facies plagioclase pyroxenite and eclogite-facies garnet pyroxenite xenoliths from the Hannuoba, as well as nearby Archean terrain granulites, are selected for the experimental study on the P wave velocity at high temperature and high pressure in order to reveal the present-day compositional features for the lower crust and crust-mantle transitional zone. Results show that mafic xenoliths have high Vp (7.0～8.0 km/s), in contrast, the Archean terrain granulites have low Vp (<7.0 km/s). High Vp mafic xenoliths can represent the present-day compositional features for the lower crust and crust-mantle transitional zone beneath the Hannuoba. This provides new evidence for the crust vertical growth and the formation of the crust-mantle transitional zone resulting from the magma underplating. Low Vp Archean granulite still remains the characteristics of the early lower crust.     

Thermodynamic evolution of lithosphere of the North China craton： Records from lower crust and upper mantle xenoliths from Hannuoba

Lithospheric thinning in East China attracts much attention of geologists. In many cases where a lithospheric thinning is inferred, the trigger for instability is a preced-ing episode of crustal thickening by the continental colli-sion[1]. Lithospheric processes (e.g. lithospheric thinning) could be recorded by the thermal history of the lower crustal and upper mantle xenoliths. Xu et al.[2] suggested that the cooling (from >1200 to 850℃) recorded by spinel harzburgite from Northeast China …     

Petrogenesis of the Neoproterozoic bimodal volcanic rocks along the western margin of the Yangtze Block： New constraints from Hf isotopes and Fe/Mn ratios

High-precision major element and Hf isotope data are reported for the Neoproterozoic Suxiong volcanic rocks along the western margin of the Yangtze Block. These volcanic rocks have variable εHf（T） values and Fe/Mn ratios. The relatively primitive basalts have high Fe/Mn ratios and high Hf-Nd isotopic compositions, indicating that they were generated by partial melting of garnet clinopyroxene in mantle plume at high pressure. Thus, the Suxiong basalts are genetically related to the proposed Neoproterozoic superplume. On the contrary, a few differentiated basalts have low Fe/Mn ratios and low Hf-Nd isotopic compositions. They are likely to experience assimilation-fractional crystallization process. The Suxiong rhyolites have consistent Hf and Nd model ages of 1.3-1.4 Ga. They are likely generated by shallow dehydration melting of pre-existing young arc igneous rocks associated with the basaltic underplating/intrusion in a continental rift.     

辽西太古代“建平变质杂岩”的变质作用演化

“建平变质杂岩”是辽宁省西部太古代的最下部的地体,它由连续性很差的表壳岩、TTG岩石及其它深成侵入岩构成。基本岩石类型有镁铁质岩石(包括角闪岩、辉石岩、斜长角闪岩等)、麻粒岩、紫苏花岗岩、片麻岩及少量的超镁铁质岩和磁铁石英岩。常见且主要的矿物相是斜方辉石、单斜辉石、石榴石、角闪石、斜长石和石英。岩相学研究确定了指示变质作用不同阶段的三个变质反应的存在,并且它们与推测的矿物相的转化关系吻合,结合地质温压的限定,本文得出了本区太古代末期的强烈的变质热事件的反时针的P-T-t演化轨迹,并推测出此变质热事件与大量的岩浆增聚密切相关。     

Sm-Nd age dating of high-pressure granulites and amphibolite from Sanggan area, North China craton

The high pressure (HP) metamorphic age has been dated to HP rocks from the Sanggan area, North China craton. We have got garnet+whole rock isochron ages of (1 842±38) Ma for HP granulite, and (1 856 ± 26) Ma for HP amphibolite. The Sm-Nd whole rock isochron of HP granulites give out an age of (1 870±150) Ma with Nd depleted mantle model age of (2 402—2 482) Ma. Considering the Nd isotope homogenization during the peak metamorphism of the HP granulite, Sm-Nd closure temperature and the retention of Nd isotopic memory in garnets partially broken down during decompression, all these isochron ages are thought to be HP metamorphic age. Furthermore, we proposed that the HP metamorphism took place at the end of Paleoproterozoic during the large-scale collision and assembly of the North China craton.     

Partial melting of the dry mafic continental crust: Implications for petrogenesis of C-type adakites

C-type adakites have been commonly considered as a result of partial melting of the mafic lower continental crust (LCC) at high pressure, as supported by high P-T experiments on hydrous basalts. However, because the mafic eclogitic LCC is generally dry, experiments on water-bearing materials cannot be used to constrain the melting processes of the dry mafic LCC. Due to the lack of systematic melting experimental studies on dry mafic rocks at crustal pressures, MELTs software was applied to simulating melting of the dry mafic LCC at 1–2 GPa. Comparison of model results with experimental data indicates that, when melting degree is greater than 20%, melts from the dry mafic LCC at 1–3 GPa cannot produce the C-type adakitic melt with high SiO₂ content (~70%). Although the limited experimental results about dry mafic rock melting at 1–2 GPa in the literature suggest that low degree melting (<10%) cannot produce silicic melt either, MELTs software simulation shows that, at pressure >1.8 GPa, low-degree melting can produce dacitic melt with high K₂O/Na₂O (~1) if SiO₂ content of the melt is controlled by residual garnet. Furthermore, the simulation also suggests that, if pressure is <1.8 GPa, abundant plagioclase (plg) in the residual phase may decrease SiO₂ content in the melt to below 62%, much lower than that of the C-type adakites observed in eastern China. Given the high P-T conditions required to produce melts with high SiO₂ and extremely low HREE contents, such melts could easily be contaminated by other crustal-derived melts, implying that the C-type adakites from eclogite melting could be less commonly observed in the outcrops than previously believed. Besides the interpretation that garnet fractionates Sr, Y, and REE, high Sr/Y and La/Yb could be also produced by multiple ways such as inheriting the source features and fractional crystallizing clinopyroxene (cpx). Therefore, it may be problematic using high Sr/Y and La/Yb as criteria to identify adakites. Instead, REE patterns with strong depletion of HREE relative to MREE (e.g. high Gd/Yb) could be a better parameter to identify the role of garnet and thus adakites. Finally, geochemical models based on MELTs simulation indicate that Eu anomaly cannot be simply used to constrain the role of plg in magmatism because Eu anomaly in the melt is a function of source characteristics, oxygen fugacity (fO₂) of magmatic systems, and plg/mafic minerals mode ratio.     

Coupled isomorphic substitution and exsolution of pyroxene,rutile, apatite and quartz in supersilicic garnet

Dissolution of pyroxene in garnet at ultrahigh pressures produces supersilicie garnet with the coupled substitutions of Si^Ⅵ M^Ⅵ= A^Ⅵ A^Ⅵ and Si^Ⅵ Na^Ⅷ=A^Ⅵ M^Ⅷ,which are enhanced by rising pressure. The supersilicic garnet and exsolution of pyroxene, rutile, apatite and quartz in garnet during decompression were found in natural rocks,pointing to the importance in studying mantle-derived rocks and ultrahigh pressure metamorphism related to plate deep subduction. Ti, P, K and H2O enters garnet via the substitutions of Ti = Si, P^Ⅵ Na^Ⅷ = Si^Ⅵ CaⅧ, Si^Ⅵ K^Ⅷ = AI^Ⅵ M^Ⅷ, and [(OH)4]^4- = [SiO4]^4- or [4H]^4 = Si^4 respectively. The possible entering of Eskola pyroxene component M0.5AlSi2O6 in clinopyroxene, together with the common pyroxene component M2Si2O6, into garnet can lead to the presence of the substitution of Si^Ⅵ 0.5□^Ⅷ= A^Ⅵ 0.5M^Ⅷ in garnet structure, which plays a key role in the exsolution of rntile, apatite and quartz in garnet. Two new breakdown reactions are thus proposed on the basis of the new coupled substitution, which can be regarded as a theoretical model for the exsolntion of the 3 minerals in garnet. The real exsolution may be a combination of several breakdown reactions.     

Geochemistry and zircon U-Pb ages of granulite xenolith from Tuoyun basalts, Xinjiang： Implications for the petrogenesis and the lower crustal nature beneath the southwestern Tianshan

The continental lithosphere growth mainly includes the horizontal accretion at the plate boundaries and vertical accretion within the plate[1]. Mafic magmatic materials, as the products of crust-mantle interaction[2,3], became more and more important in studying the formation and evolu- tion of the lower crust. The previous geologic researcheson Tianshan, extending nearly 2500 km from east to west, and the neighbor area were mainly focused on the Paleozoic collision structure[4 ― 6], Mesozoi…     

Discovery of Late Paleozoic retrograded eclogites from the middle part of the northern margin of North China Craton

The northern margin of the North China Craton (NCC), located between the Paleo-Asian Ocean tectonic region on the north and the NCC on the south, is a key region for studying the tectonic evolution of NCC. A Pre-cambrian retrograded eclogite (2500 Ma or 1800 Ma) was reported in Baimashi near Hengshan Mountain in the NCC, which is characterized by the vermicular symplec-tite of diopside and plagioclase with absence of ompha-cite[1,2]. In Hongqiyingzi Group from the middle part of the …     

Implications of micro-compositions of garnet and biotite from high-grade meta-pelites

Based on detailed studies on the compositional zoning of garnet and biotite in pelitic rocks from the Jingshan group of granulite facies in north Jiaodong, P-T pseudosections with isopleths of Fe/(Fe + Mg) in garnet and biotite were calculated in the KF-MASH system for two representative rocks of sillimanite-garnet-cordierite-biotite gneiss ( Vbi/ Vg>1 ) and sillimanite-garnet gneiss (Vbi/ Vg<0.2) using the software THERMOCALC and the internally consistent thermodynamic dataset. With a comparison of the calculated Fe/(Fe+ Mg) values in garnet and biotite in the peak P-T fields constrained by peak mineral assemblages with the measured ones, it is concluded that the coarse garnet crystals with diffusion zoning from high grade meta-pelites can preserve their peak compositions even when they have experienced a cooling event, and that biotite crystals surrounded by fetsic minerals in biotite-rich rocks with Vbi/Vg> 1 can nearly preserve their peak compositions, and biotites in garnet-rich rocks with Vbi/Vg<0. 2 cannot preserve their peak compositions due to the influence of grain-boundary fluid.     

SHRIMP U-Pb zircon geochronology of granulites at Rimana （Southern Tibet） in the central segment of Himalayan Orogen

TheCenozoicHimalayanorogenisimportantinun-derstandingcontinentaldynamicprocesses.Lowercrustal,high-grademetamorphicrockshaverecentlybeendiscov-eredinNamcheBarwaandParmir,i.e.therespectivere-gionsofeasternandwesternsyntaxisoftheorogen[1—4].Eclogitesthatunderwentgranulite-faciesmetamorphismhaverecentlybeenreportedintheCadaareatotheeastofMountEverestinthecentralsegmentoftheHimalayanorogen[5].WiththehelpofthegeologicalsurveyofDing-gyeCountyandChentangSheets(scale1︰250000),high-pressuremafic…     

The white schist assemblage in the kyanite quartzite from the ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic belt, eastern Dabie Mountains

The kyanite quartzite from the ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic belt in the eastern Dabie Mountains is composed mainly of quartz, kyanite, talc and epidote, which contains a typical mineral assemblage of white schist. It suffered an eclogite facies metamorphism of P =(2 4±0 3) GPa and T =630℃ together with coexisting eclogite. The protolith may be an aplite replaced by high-pressure fluid of eclogite facies.     

Garnet Sm-Nd and U-Pb systems: A case study of a granulite from the European Variscan belt

This study presents zircon and garnet ages of a mafic granulite from the high-grade Variscan basement of the Black Forest, Germany and discuss isotope closure temperature of garnet Sm-Nd and U-Pb systems. Zircon grains yield 207Pb/206Pb ages between ～340 and ～414 Ma by the U-Pb and evaporation methods. In contract, garnet dating gives Sm-Nd and Pb-Pb isochron ages of (398±3) Ma and (411±14) Ma, respectively, which are older than most of zircon ages. These data imply that most of zircons lost radiogenic Pb, probably due to metamictization or recrystallisation during the granulite-facies metamorphism (～800℃) at ～340 Ma. Garnet Sm-Nd and U-Pb systems preserve chronological information of pro-grade metamorphism, probably profiting from a fluid-absence metamorphic environment. These results demonstrate that garnet mineral can be a better candidate than zircon mineral to date high-grade metamorphism by the U-Pb and Sm-Nd methods in some cases.     

Discovery of ultrahighpressure magnesite-bearing garnet lherzolite (>3.8 GPa) in the Altyn Tagh,Northwest China

Magnesite-bearing garnet lherzolite from the Altyn Tagh, associated with garnet pyroxenite, and garnet-bearing felsic gneiss, crops out as lenses in Proterozoic gneiss about 100 km east of the Jianggelasayi River. The garnet lherzolite, together with the eclogite in western Jianggelasayi, composes a high-pressure to ultrahigh- pressure metamorphic belt in the southern margin of the Altyn Tagh. Parageneses of minerals from magnesite-bearing garnet lherzolite indicate that the rock evolved a multi-stage metamorphism. The peak-stage metamorphism produces an assemblage of Grt+Ol+Opx+Cpx±Mgs, in which Al₂O₃ content of Opx is very low (0.30 — 0.66wt%). The calculated P-T condition of the peak stage is 3.8—5.1GPa and 880—970℃, some exsolution rods of clinopyroxene and rutile occur in the Grt and magnesite is rimed by dolomite and orthopyroxene, all implying that the peak stage was a UHP metamorphic process. Together with regional geological studies, isotopic dating and the discovery of coesite inclusions in zircon separates from felsic gneiss from the northern margin of the Qaidam Basin, the presence of a very long UHP metamorphic belt in northwest China is suggested.     

Phase equilibria of HP–UHP mica-schists in Jiangling, Eastern Dabieshan orogen

The HP–UHP metamorphic terrane of Jiangling, eastern Dabieshan comprises extensively distributed granitic gneisses, mica-schists and numerous eclogite blocks. The mica-schists generally contain garnet, phengitic muscovite, biotite, plagioclase, quartz, rutile and a small amount of epidote and hornblende. Study on petrography and phases equilibria in the NCKMnFMASH system indicates that the present mineral assemblages in mica-schists are not in equilibrium. The earlier stage of mineral assemblage represented by garnet and phengite reflects a HP–UHP condition. The garnet compositions and the phengite Si contents give a PT condition of 580–600℃ at 2.6–2.8 GPa. The garnet zonation records an earlier progressive metamorphic process which may be associated with the appearance of glaucophane, jadeite and lawsonite. The later stage of mineral assemblage characterized by the presence of biotite and plagioclase reflects a PT condition of 620–635℃ at 0.9–1.1 GPa, belonging to the HP amphibolite facies. The main mineral assemblage in micaschists from the Jiangling region has recorded a complete HP–UHP metamorphic process.     

Polybaric partial melting in the continental mantle: Evidence from mantle xenoliths from Qilin Guangdong Province

The extremely low Ti content (160–245 μg/g) in clinopyroxene in some spinel peridotites from Qilin, South China is indicative of high degree of partial melting, inconsistent with their relatively high clinopyroxene modes (7.4%–12.4%). These clinopyroxenes show fractionated HREE patterns ((Gd/Yb)_n<0.2), suggesting the involvement of garnet in the melting regime. These REE patterns can be modeled as residues of 22%–23% fractional melting from a primitive mantle, first in garnet stability field (12%) then continuing in spinel stability field (10%–11%) after breakdown of garnet to pyroxenes and spinel. Such a polybaric melting suggests the lithospheric thinning and rapid mantle upwelling in south China during the Cenozoic. This is consistent with the dominant MORB-OIB isotopic signature and high thermal gradient of the lithospheric mantle in this region, and supports the contention that the formation of South China Sea basin is related to southward migration of continental lithosphere extension, rather than passive back-arc basin.     

Glass melt inclusion in clinopyroxene from Linqu Cenozoic basalt, Shandong Province, China

Melt inclusions or glasses usually occur in spinel- facies peridotitic xenoliths entrained in the global ba- salts[1―4], and olivine phenocrysts and/or xenocrysts carried in the intermediate-mafic volcanic rocks (such as basalts, basaltic andesites and h…     

Phase equilibria of HP-UHP mica-schists in Jiangling,Eastern Dabieshan orogen

The HP-UHP metamorphic terrane of Jiangling, eastern Dabieshan comprises extensively distributed granitic gneisses, mica-schists and numerous eclogite blocks. The mica-schists generally contain garnet, phengitic muscovite, biotite, plagioclase, quartz, rutile and a small amount of epidote and hornblende. Study on petrography and phases equilibria in the NCKMnFMASH system indicates that the present mineral assemblages in mica-schists are not in equilibrium. The earlier stage of mineral assemblage represented by garnet and phengite reflects a HP-UHP condition. The garnet compositions and the phengite Si contents give a PT condition of 580-00 ℃ at 2.6-2.8 GPa. The garnet zonation records an earlier progressive metamorphic process which may be associated with the appearance of glaucophane, jadeite and lawsonite. The later stage of mineral assemblage characterized by the presence of biotite and plagioclase reflects a PT condition of 620-635℃ at 0.9-1.1 GPa, belonging to the HP amphibolite facies. The main mineral assemblage in mica-schists from the Jiangling region has recorded a complete HP-UHP metamorphic process.