Petrogenesis and implications of jadeite‐bearing kyanite eclogite from the Sanbagawa belt (SW Japan)

Jadeite‐bearing kyanite eclogite has been discovered in the Iratsu body of the Sanbagawa belt, SW Japan. The jadeite + kyanite assemblage is stable at higher pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions or lower H₂O activity [a(H₂O)] than paragonite, although paragonite‐bearing eclogite is common in the Sanbagawa belt. The newly discovered eclogite is a massive metagabbro with the peak‐P assemblage garnet + omphacite + jadeite + kyanite + phengite + quartz + rutile. Impure jadeite is exclusively present as inclusions in garnet. The compositional gap between the coexisting omphacite (P2/n) and impure jadeite (C2/c) suggests relatively low metamorphic temperatures of 510–620 °C. Multi‐equilibrium thermobarometry for the assemblage garnet + omphacite + kyanite + phengite + quartz gives peak‐P conditions of ~2.5 GPa, 570 °C. Crystallization of jadeite in the metagabbro is attributed to Na‐ and Al‐rich effective bulk composition due to the persistence of relict Ca‐rich clinopyroxene at the peak‐P stage. By subtracting relict clinopyroxene from the whole‐rock composition, pseudosection modelling satisfactorily reproduces the observed jadeite‐bearing assemblage and mineral compositions at ~2.4–2.5 GPa, 570–610 °C and a(H₂O) >0.6. The relatively high pressure conditions derived from the jadeite‐bearing kyanite eclogite are further supported by high residual pressures of quartz inclusions in garnet. The maximum depth of exhumation in the Sanbagawa belt (~80 km) suggests decoupling of the slab–mantle wedge interface at this depth.     

Free oscillations of a laterally heterogenous and anelastic earth

We calculate normal modes of the laterally heterogeneous and anelastic earth model by using the variational method to include the coupling of the modes due to the asphericity of the earth. If the aspherical anelasticity correlates with the heterogeneity of elastic velocity structure, the quality factorQ of the split singlets has a correlation with the eigenfrequency. This can cause a center frequency shift of the spectral peak with time. We perform a synthetic experiment to examine whether the magnitude of the shift can become an observable for the realistic lateral heterogeneity model of anelasticity. The result of the experiment reveals that the shift of the center frequency is consistent with the initial estimate for the fundamental spheroidal modes used in the experiment. We then examine the actual seismograms of the June 9, 1994, Bolivian earthquake to determine if this shift of center frequency can be observed. Although the amount of the center frequency shift of each multiplet is large, there is no consistent shift of the center frequency that is predicted in the synthetic experiment.