P–T–X evolution in garnet pyroxenites from Tin Begane (Central Hoggar, Algeria)

Garnet pyroxenite from high pressure granulite facies occurs with different mineral assemblages which involve garnet, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, plagioclase, amphibole and quartz with spinel developing as symplectite with orthopyroxene and plagioclase in large cracks. Three successive parageneses have been identified. The primary assemblage is characterised by the presence of quartz. The second assemblage involves orthopyroxene–plagioclase–hornblende symplectite, and the third assemblage is characterised by the development of spinel in symplectites with orthopyroxene and plagioclase. Using THERMOCALC (V2.7), a quantitative pseudosection in the system CaO–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O has been calculated. The assemblage involving quartz developed at high pressure, while the assemblage involving spinel developed at lower pressure. The peak of metamorphism in Tin Begane was calculated at 860 °C and 13.5 kb with a_H2O=0.2. These conditions are followed by a decrease of pressure down to 4.8 kb.     

北大别黄土岭麻粒岩锆石U—Pb离子探针定年

阴极发光显微结构分析表明 ,北大别黄土岭麻粒岩中存在三种类型的锆石 :原岩锆石、麻粒岩相锆石和残留锆石。对它们分别进行离子探针定年 ,得到黄土岭麻粒岩的原岩年龄约为 2 70 0 Ma、麻粒岩相变质事件的年龄为 2 0 5 2± 10 0 Ma、残留锆石的年龄为约 3.4 Ga。以上研究表明黄土岭麻粒岩为残存的扬子板块的结晶基底 ,而约 3.4 Ga残留锆石的发现 ,则首次证明大别山地区存在古太古代的陆壳物质     

Tectonothermal evolution of the gneiss complex at Salur in the Eastern Ghats Grnaulite Belt of India

Textural relations, thermobarometry and petrogenetic grid considerations in the syn-tectonic granitoid massif and the enveloping metasedimentary gneisses at Salur are consistent with a counter-clockwise P–T –t path for the rocks. The low-P/high-T prograde sector is documented by the pre- to syn-D₁ cordierite±orthopyroxene±garnet±spinel–bearing metatexite leucosomes in metapelites. Heating and loading of the rocks (syn- to post-D₁) resulted in the formation of garnet+orthopyroxene± cordierite-bearing diatexites, and decomposition of cordierite in metatexite leucosomes to orthopyroxene+sillimanite+biotite+quartz symplectites. Near-peak temperature, 850 °C at 8.0 kbar, was reached syn- to post-D₂. Post-peak cooling resulted in the stabilization of coronal grossular and anorthite+calcite symplectites at the expense of scapolite+wollastonite+calcite assemblages in calc-silicate gneisses, and the resetting of cation exchange temperatures at 700–750 °C. Near-isothermal decompression at c. 700–750 °C is manifested by the decomposition of garnet porphyroblasts in the granitoid gneisses to plagioclase+orthopyroxene/ilmenite/biotite two-phase coronas and restabilization of cordierite at garnet margins in metapelites. Subsequent low-P, near-isobaric cooling led to the overprinting of granulite facies assemblages by muscovite+calcite assemblages, and further resetting of cation exchange thermometers to lower temperatures c. 600 °C. The tectonothermal evolution of the Salur gneiss complex vis-a-vis the Eastern Ghats Belt is therefore consistent with high degrees of lower crustal melting, followed by prograde heating of the cover rocks due to magma invasion synchronous with crustal compression, and finally thermal relaxation over a protracted period punctuated by tectonic/erosional denudation of the thickened crust.     

U–Pb zircon dating of post-obduction volcanic-arc granitoids and a granulite-facies xenolith from New Caledonia. Inference on Southwest Pacific geodynamic models

In New Caledonia, the occurrence of one of the World’s largest and best-exposed subduction/obduction complex is a key point for the understanding of the geodynamic evolution of the whole Southwest Pacific region. Within the ophiolite, pre-and post-obduction granitoids intrude the ultramafic allochthon and provide new time constraints for the understanding of obduction processes. At 27.4 Ma, a new East-dipping subduction generated the active margin magmatism along the western coast of the island (Saint-Louis massif). At 24.3 Ma, the eastward shift of the magma activity and slightly different geochemical features (Koum-Borindi massif) was either related to the older slab break-off; or alternatively, due to the eastward migration of the mantle wedge following the collision of the eastern margin of the Low Howe rise. Finally, the occurrence of a granulite-facies xenolith in the Koum-Borindi massif with comparable 24.5 Ma U–Pb zircon age and isotopic features (initial ε_Nd = 5.1) suggests that these evolved magmas were generated within the lithospheric mantle beneath a continental crust of normal thickness. Geochronological evidence for continuous convergence during the Oligocene infers an East-dipping Eocene-Oligocene subduction/obduction system to have existed in the Southwest Pacific from the d’Entrecasteaux zone to the North Island of New Zealand.     

Single zircon ages of migmatitic gneisses and granulites in the Obudu Plateau: Timing of granulite-facies metamorphism in southeastern Nigeria

A single zircon geochronological study of gneisses from the Obudu Plateau of southeastern Nigeria, using the evaporation technique, indicates that zircons recorded several Precambrian high-grade metamorphic events (Eburnean and Pan-African). Igneous and multifaceted metamorphic zircons yielded ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ages of 2062.4 ± 0.4 Ma, 1803.8 ± 0.4 Ma and 574 ± 10 Ma, respectively and confirm for the first time that granulite-facies metamorphism affected the basement of southeastern Nigeria, resulting in the formation of charnockites and granulitic gneisses. The Pan-African high-grade event was coeval with the formation of granulites in Cameroon, Togo and Ghana and resulted from collisional processes during continental amalgamation to form the Gondwana supercontinent. The sources of the sediments, which were deposited at ≈605 Ma and metamorphosed at 574 Ma, comprise older igneous and metamorphic protoliths (including inherited xenocrystic zircons up to 2.5 Ga in age). The Palaeoproterozoic zircons seem to have survived Pan-African melting.     

华北克拉通中部大陆地壳断面磁性结构研究及意义

为探讨华北克拉通中部地壳的磁性结构与深部地质过程之间的相互关系,测量了五台-集宁地壳剖面４４件岩石样品的磁性参量及磁滞回线．结合岩石学、地球化学及磁卫星资料的综合研究结果表明,整个断面具有明显的磁性分带结构特征．上地壳、中地壳与下地壳上部岩石饱和磁化强度（Ｊｓ）的平均值分别为５８．７Ａ／ｍ、６８１．２Ａ／ｍ与１０６８．０Ａ／ｍ,而饱和等温剩磁ＪＳＩＲＭ为４．１Ａ／ｍ、７７．９Ａ／ｍ和１３８.４Ａ／ｍ.磁性与变质相及成分对应分析显示,断面内的磁性结构主要受变质作用控制（尤其是变酸性岩与变基性岩）．Ｊｓ值的变异系数Ｖｃ,上地壳为６２．２％、中地壳为６２．５％、下地壳为１４３．７％,而ＪＳＩＲＭ值的变异系数则分别为７０７％、８６．１％、１６５.４％．中一下地壳之间Ｖｃ值的差异远大于上一中地壳,显示了地壳深部磁性强度的非均一分布特征．本区中一下地壳岩石的磁化强度明显高于秦岭造山带北缘的登封群与太华群,这一差异可能与两区地壳深部热结构的明显差异相关．结合磁卫星长波长磁异常分析推测,地壳断面中基性麻粒岩的磁性代表了区域下地壳的磁化强度,如果地壳深部的剩余磁性以热粘滞剩磁（ＴＶＲＴ）为主,则可估算出...     

青藏高原东南缘点苍山-哀牢山杂岩带中片麻岩的变质演化及深熔作用特征

片麻岩是点苍山-哀牢山变质杂岩带最常见的岩石类型,主要由夕线石榴黑云二长片麻岩、石榴黑云斜长片麻岩以及含十字石蓝晶夕线石榴片麻岩所组成,其原岩的化学成分与华北克拉通典型孔兹岩系十分相似.岩相学、成因矿物学和变质反应性质研究以及温压条件估算结果表明,研究区片麻岩类岩石变质峰期的温压条件为T=700～770℃,P=0.5～0.8GPa,已达到或接近麻粒岩相变质,晚期退变质阶段的温压条件为T=600～650℃,P=0.35～0.45GPa.片麻岩变质演化的P-T轨迹具有顺时针型式.在麻粒岩相变质阶段,片麻岩类岩石普遍发生深熔作用,主要表现为含水矿物黑云母的脱水熔融和长英质矿物的部分熔融.该项研究对于进一步揭示青藏高原东南缘点苍山-哀牢山造山带的变质演化深熔作用机理及动力学过程具有重要的科学意义.     

Metamorphic petrology and geology in China: A review

The development of metamorphic petrology to metamorphic geology in China has a long history. Ancient basement metamorphic rocks are distributed primarily in the North China Craton, the Yangtze Block and Tarim Craton. They are mainly made up of plutonic gneiss and metamorphosed supercrust rock, transformed to granulite facies through Archean Paleoproterozoic. Many of the Paleoproterozoic metamorphic rocks have undergone high-pressure granulite facies metamorphism with a clockwise metamorphic evolution path. The ultrahigh temperature (UHT) granulites from the Late Paleoproterozoic are found in North China Craton. Many high-precision chronological data have allowed preliminary construction of the formation and evolutionary framework of different metamorphic basements. Primarily there are low-temperature and high-pressure blue schist, high-temperature and high-pressure granulite and ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) eclogite facies metamorphic rocks in the Phanerozoic orogenic belt. The discovery of eclogite in the Sulu orogen and a large quantity of coesite in its country rocks show that there was a deep subduction of voluminous continental materials during the collision process between the Yangtze block and the North China Craton in the Early Mesozoic phase. From the studies of, for instance, organic matter vitrinite reflectance, illite crystallinity, illite (muscovite) polytype and illite (muscovite) b dimension, the Late Paleozoic strata in the eastern region of Inner Mongolia and the north-central region of NE China have only experienced diagenesis to an extremely low-grade metamorphism. The discovery of impact-metamorphosed rocks in Xiuyan area of Liaoning province has enriched the type and category of metamorphic rocks in China. The phase equilibrium method has been widely used in the study of metamorphism of middle and high-grade metamorphic rocks. On the basis of existing geologic surveys and monographic study results, different scholars have respectively compiled 1:1500000 Metamorphic Geological Map and Specifications of Qinghai Tibet Plateau and its Adjacent Areas, 1:2500000 Metamorphic Tectonic Map of China, and the 1:5000000 Metamorphic Geological Map and Specifications of China, among others repectively, which have systematically summarized the research results of metamorphic petrology and metamorphic geology in China.     

Archean Granitoids at the Contact of Eastern Ghat Granulite Belt and Singhbhum-Orissa Craton, in Bhuban-Rengali Sector, Orissa, India

The small granite plutons occurring at the contact of the Singhbhum-Orissa Iron Ore craton (IOC) to the north and the Eastern Ghat Granulite Belt (EGGB) to the south in eastern Indian shield are characterised by the presence of enclaves of the granulites of EGGB and the greenschist facies rocks of IOC. These granites also bear the imprints of later cataclastic deformation which is present at the contact of the IOC and the EGGB. In situ Pb-Pb zircon dating of these granites gives minimum age of their formation 2.80 Ga. A whole-rock three point Rb-Sr isochron age of this rock is found to be 2.90 Ga. Therefore, the true age of formation of these granites will be around 2.90–2.80 Ga. These granitic rocks also contain xenocrystic zircon components of 3.50 Ga and show a later metasomatic or metamorphic effect 2.48 Ga obtained from the analyses on overgrowths developed on 2.80 Ga old zircon cores. The presence of granulitic enclaves within these contact zone granite indicates that the granulite facies metamorphism of the EGGB is 2.80 Ga or still older in age. The cataclastic deformations observed at the contact zone of the two adjacent cratons is definitely younger than 2.80 Ga and possibly related to 2.48 Ga event observed from the overgrowths. As 2.80 Ga granite plutons of small dimensions are also observed at the western margin of the IOC; it can be concluded that a geologic event occurred 2.80 Ga over the IOC when small granite bodies evolved at the marginal part of this craton after its stabilisation at 3.09 Ga.