FIAS(Foliation Intersection/Inflection Axes)Preserved in Porphyroblasts,the DNA of Deformation:A Solution to the Puzzle of Deformation and Metamorphism in the Colorado,Rocky Mountains USA

FIAS tool has been used extensively by for more than a decade to unravel the deformational puzzle.Orogenic processes have always challenged scientists,as rocks usually reactivate during the repeated cycles of deformation and consequently the evidences in the matrix are misleading.This paper presents results obtained fiom Rockies in Colorado USA.A succession of four FIAS as observed in porphyroblasts that could not have been preserved if they had rotated during the

Distinguishing and Correlating Multiple Phases of Metamorphism across Multiply Deformed Regions Using the Axes of Inclusion Trails in Porphyroblasts

Successions of FIAs（foliation inflection/intersection axes preserved within porphyroblasts） provide a relative time scale for deformation and metamorphism.In-situ dating of monazite grains preserved as inclusions within garnet and staurolite porphyroblasts within the foliations defining each FIA from such successions provides a rigorous approach to grouping ages that formed over extended periods of deformation and metamorphism.Matching age and FIA progressions confirms the suitability of this approach plus provides access to lengthy histories that cannot otherwise be determined.Tectonism in the Big Thompson region of the Colorado Rocky Mountains,USA began about a SW-NE trending axis defined by FIA set 1 at around 1761±13 Ma.Subsequent periods of tectonism occurred around 1712±25 and 1672±21 Ma about W-E and NW-SE trending FIAs 2 and 3, respectively.Tectonism in the Balcooma Metamorphic Group NW of Greenvale in NE Queensland, Australia began around 470 Ma with the growth of garnet porphyroblasts about a W-E trending axis defined by FIA set 1.No monazite grains were preserved as inclusions in this mineral phase but they were in subsequently grown staurolite.Tectonism then occurred around 443.2±3.8,424±4 and 408.9±8.9 Ma about NNW-SSE,SSW-NNE and W-E trending FIAs 2,3 and 4,respectively.This test of a FIA based approach to monazite dating in tectonic regimes in different parts of the world and with dramatically different ages suggests it can be used in all orogens containing porphyroblasts preserving inclusion trails.

FIAs(Foliation Intersection/Inflection Axes) Preserved in Porphyroblasts,the DNA of Deformation:A Solution to the Puzzle of Deformation and Metamorphism in the Colorado,Rocky Mountains,USA

FIAs have been used extensively for more than a decade to unravel deformation and metamorphic puzzles. Orogenic processes developing early during the history or orogenesis challenge scientists because compositional layering in rocks always reactivates where multiple deformations have occurred, leaving little evidence of the history of foliation development preserved in the matrix. The foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, USA contain a succession of four FIA sets （trends） that would not have been distinguishable if porphyroblasts had not grown during the multiple deformation events that affected these rocks or if they had rotated as these events took place. They reveal that both the partitioning of deformation and the location of isograds changed significantly as the deformation proceeded.

Resolving the Routine Presence of Kyanite, Andalusite and Sillimanite across a Region using Foliation Intersection/Inflection Axes Preserved in Porphyroblasts, Petrographic Observations and Thermobarometry

Constraints from P-T pseudosections （MnNCKFMASH system）, foliation intersection/ inflection axes preserved in porphyroblasts （FIAs）, mineral assemblages and textural relationships for rocks containing all three Al2 SiO5 polymorphs indicate a kyanite→ andalusite→ sillimanite sequential formation at different times rather than stable coexistence at the Al2SiO5 triple point. All three Al2SiO5 polymorphs grew in the Chl, Bt, Ms, Grt, St, Pl and Crd bearing Ordovician Clayhole Schist in Balcooma, northeastern Australia separately along a looped P-T-t-D path that swaps from clockwise to anticlockwise in the tectono-metamorphic history of the region. Kyanite grew during crustal thickening in an Early Silurian Orogenic event followed by decompression/heating, andalusite and fibrolitic sillimanite growth during Early Devonian exhumation.

Compositional Distribution and Growth Mode of Garnet Porphyroblasts during Deformation and Metamorphism

Although porphyroblast microstructures play an important role in structural and metamorphic studies, there are still controversies in the interpretation. The focus is how porphyroblasts grow during deformation and metamorphism. In this paper, we introduce a new approach, the Synchrotron Radiation X-Ray Fluorescence, to a hemi-quantitative interpretation of the growth mode of porphyroblasts. The analysis was done at the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The specimens were sampled from metapelite of the Baoyintu Group, northern Urad Middle Banner, Inner Mongolia. The new method is successful for determining the microscopic distribution of trace elements in porphybroblasts. The results support the theory of deformation partition, which has been brought forth by Bell and his colleagues, and demonstrate the existence of porphyroblast growth phases and the growth mode of porphyroblasts by hemi-quantitative mineral chemical analysis. The porphyroblast grows stage by stage in the manner of the distribution of a roseleaf and is controlled by deformation. We call the growth stage of porphyroblast a growth phase.

Multiple Successions of Soliation Development in Shallow Versus Deep Orogenic Regimes and Their Relationship to Regional Folding

With the realization that rocks with a schistosity parallel to bedding(S0 parallel S1)have undergone lengthy histories of deformation that predate the obvious first deformation(e.g.Bell et al.,2003; Sayab,2006;Yeh,2007)came recognition that large scale regional folds can form early during this process and be preserved throughout orogenesis(e.g.,Ham & Bell,2004;Bell & Newman,2006).This history is lost within the matrix because of reactivational shear

Changes in Relative Plate Motion during the Isan Orogeny(1670-1500Ma) and Implications for Pre-Rodinia Reconstructions

Foliation inflexion/intersection axes （FIAs） preserved within porphyroblasts that grew throughout Isan orogenesis reveal significant anticlockwise changes in the direction of bulk horizontal shortening between 1670 and 1500 Ma from NE-SW, N-S, E-W to NW-SE. This implies an anticlockwise shift in relative plate motion with time during the Isan orogeny. Dating monazite grains amongst the axial planar foliations defining three of the four FIAs enabled an age for the periods of relative plate motion that produced these structures to be determined. Averaging the ages from monazite grains defining each FIA set revealed 1649^-12 Ma for NE-SW shortening, 1645±7 Ma for N-S shortening, and 1591±10 Ma for that directed E-W. Inclusion trail asymmetries indicate shear senses of top to the SW for NW-SE FIAs and dominantly top to the N for E-W FIAs, reflecting thrusting towards the SW and N. No evidence for tectonism related to early NE-SW bulk horizontal shortening has previously been detected in the Mount Isa Inlier. Amalgamation of the Broken Hill and possibly the Gawler provinces with the Mount Isa province may have taken place during these periods of NE-SW and N-S-directed thrusting as the ages of tectonism are similar. Overlapping dates, tectonic, metamorphic, and metallogenic similarities between eastern Australia （Mount Isa and Broken Hill terranes） and the southwest part of Laurentia imply a most probable connection between both continental masses. Putting Australia in such position with respect to North America during the Late-Paleo-to-Mesoproterozoic time is consistent with the AUSWUS model of the Rodinia supercontinent.

Survival Conditions of Folding in Different Depth During Orogenesis-Deformation in Texas Creek and Chester Dome, USA

A succession of 5 FIA trends（foliation intersection or inflection axes in porphyroblasts） preserved in high temperature-low pressure regime PreCambrian rocks in the Texas Creek, Arkansas River region reflected by the fold axial plane traces and schistosity data in this region. Similar fold axial plane trace data measured in Palaeozoic rocks in Chester Dome, Vermont, which is high temperature to medium pressure regime, only preserve the effects of the youngest FIAs of the all 5 FIA sets that obtained in this region. The other three FIA sets have no equivalent fold axial planes. This difference from shallow to deeper orogenic regimes reflects decreasing competency at greater pressure with collapse and unfolding of earlier formed folds. The greater overlying load of rocks has tended to flatten all but the very largest early-formed structures, preserving only those folds that were more recently developed.

Tectonic evolution of the Karakoram metamorphic complex(NW Himalayas)reflected in the 3D structures of spiral garnets:Insights from X-ray computed micro-tomography

Spiral garnet porphyroblasts are known to record lengthy periods of deformation and metamorphism by preserving single or multiple FIAs(Foliation Intersection Axis)formed normal to tectonic shortening directions.Thanks to technological advances in X-ray computed micro-tomography(XCMT),FIAs can now be readily determined in relatively large samples in contrast to previous methods that require the preparation of a set of radial vertical and horizontal thin sections of samples.XCMT scanning not only alleviates tedious thin section based procedures but also illuminates the complete internal architecture of a rock sample allowing three-dimensional(3D)quantitative shape analysis of an individual porphyroblast as well as precise measurement of FIAs.We applied the technique to a sample from the Hunza Valley in the Karakoram metamorphic complex(KMC),NW Himalayas,containing numerous garnet porphyroblasts with spiral-shaped inclusion trails.The XCMT imaging reveals an E-W trending FIA within the sample,which is consistent with orthogonal N-S collision of the India-Kohistan Island Arc with Asia.Garnet long axes(X_(GT))have variable plunges that define a broad sub-vertical maximum and a small sub-horizontal maximum.The X_(GT) principle maxima lie at N-090 and N-120.Smaller maxima lie at N-020 and N-340.Geometric relationships between X_(GT) axes and FIA orientation in the sample suggest that porphyroblast shapes are controlled by the geometry of the lens-shaped microlithons in which they tend to nucleate and grow.The orientation of inclusion trails and matrix foliations in the sample are correlated with three discrete tectono-metamorphic events that respectively produced andalusite,sillimanite and kyanite in the KMC.Late staurolite growth in the sample reveals how the rocks extruded to the surface via a significant role of roll-on tectonics,which can be correlated with the Central Himalayas.

New Recognition of Spiral-shaped Porphyroblast Inclusion Trails From Orogenic Belts: an Effective Means to Determine History of Early Deformation and Metamorphism——With Lancang Metamorphic Belt of Western Yunnan as an Example

1 A Method of Determining Early Deformation and Metamorphism History in Orogenic Belts Porphyroblast inclusion trails from orogenic belts represent early-formed foliations composed of oriented metamorphic minerals preserved in rocks in the processes of porphyroblast growth (i.e. progressive and retrogressive metamorphism). Since they were studied in the 1920s, such inclusion trails have been recognized as products of syntectonic rotation due to progressive ductile deformation, which may be used as a known