Petrology and metamorphism of glaucophane eclogites in Changning-Menglian suture zone, Bangbing area, southeast Tibetan Plateau: An evidence for Paleo-Tethyan subduction

High/ultrahigh-pressure(HP/UHP)metamorphic complexes,such as eclogite and blueschist,are generally regarded as significant signature of paleo-subduction zones and paleo-suture zones.Glaucophane eclogites have been recently identified within the Lancang Group characterized by accretionary mélange in the Changning-Menglian suture zone,at Bangbing in the Shuangjiang area of southeastern Tibetan Plateau.The authors report the result of petrological,mineralogical and metamorphism investigations of these rocks,and discuss their tectonic implications.The eclogites are located within the Suyi blueschist belt and occur as tectonic lenses in coarse-grained garnet muscovite schists.The major mineral assemblage of the eclogites includes garnet,omphacite,glaucophane,phengite,clinozoisite and rutile.Eclogitic garnet contains numerous inclusions,such as omphacite,glaucophane,rutile,and quartz with radial cracks around.Glaucophane and clinozoisite in the matrix have apparent optical and compositional zonation.Four stages of metamorphic evolution can be determined:The prograde blueschist facies(M_(1)),the peak eclogite facies(M_(2)),the decompression blueschist facies(M_(3))and retrograde greenschist facies(M_(4)).Using the Grt-Omp-Phn geothermobarometer,a peak eclogite facies metamorphic P-T condition of 3000–3270 MPa and 617–658℃ was determined,which is typical of low-temperature ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism.The comparison of the geological characteristics of the Bangbing glaucophane eclogites and the Mengku lawsonite-bearing retrograde eclogites indicates that two suites of eclogites may have formed from significantly different depths or localities to create the tectonic mélange in a subduction channel during subduction of the Triassic Changning-Menglian Ocean.The discovery of the Bangbing glaucophane eclogites may represent a new oceanic HP/UHP metamorphic belt in the Changning-Menglian suture zone.

Structural Evidence for the in-situ Origin of the HP and UHP Eclogites in the Dabie-Sulu Orogenic Belt

Whether the HP and UHP metamorphic rocks of the Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt are of an "in-situ" or "foreign" origin is a long-standing dispute among geologists. Eclogites preserved today in the HP and UHP units constitute merely 5-10%, which are not isolated exotic bodies tectonically intruding into amphibolite facies gneiss, but remnants of once pervasive or widespread eclogite-facies terranes or slabs. The present spatial distribution and forms of the eclogites have resulted from polyphase and progressive deformation and strain partitioning of the HP and UHP slabs. From their formation in deep mantle to their exhumation to the surface, the eclogites have experienced long-term deformation with different strain regimes. The dominant regime responsible for the present spatial distribution and forms of the eclogites is the shear process. The deformation patterns of the eclogites and gneiss matrix also clearly show that the eclogites were metamorphosed in situ. The original distribution area of the eclogites

Differential Evolution of High-Pressure and Ultrahigh-Pressure Metapelites from Habutengsu, Chinese Western Tianshan: Phase Equilibria Modelling and ^(40)Ar/^(39)Ar Geochronology

Metapelite is one of the predominant rock types in the high-pressure–ultrahigh-pressure（HP–UHP） metamorphic belt of western Tianshan, NW China; however, the spatial and temporal variations of this belt during metamorphism are poorly understood. In this study, we present comparative petrological studies and 40^Ar/39 ^Ar geochronology of HP and UHP pelitic schist exposed along the Habutengsu valley. The schist mainly comprises quartz, white mica, garnet, albite and bluish amphibole. In the Mn O–Na2O–Ca O–K2O–Fe O–Mg O–Al2O3–Si O2–H2O（Mn NCKFMASH） system, P–T pseudosections were constructed using THERMOCALC 333 for two representative pelitic schists. The results demonstrate that there was a break in the peak metamorphic pressures in the Habutengsu area. The northern schist has experienced UHP metamorphism, consistent with the presence of coesite in the same section, while the southern one formed at lower pressures that stabilized the quartz. This result supports the previous finding of a metamorphic gradient through the HP–UHP metamorphic belt of the Chinese western Tianshan by the authors. Additionally, phengite in the northern schist was modelled as having a Si content of 3.55–3.70（a.p.f.u.） at the peak stage, a value much higher than that of oriented matrix phengite（Si content 3.32–3.38 a.p.f.u.）. This indicates that the phengite flakes in the UHP schist were subjected to recrystallization during exhumation, which is consistent with the presence of phengite aggregates surrounding garnet porphyroblast. The 40^Ar/39^ Ar age spectra of white mica（dominantly phengite） from the two schists exhibit similar plateau ages of ca. 315 Ma, which is interpreted as the timing of a tectonometamorphic event that occurred during the exhumation of the HP–UHP metamorphic belt of the Chinese western Tianshan.

Zircon age depth-profiling sheds light on the early Caledonian evolution of the Seve Nappe Complex in west-central J?mtland

The Scandinavian Caledonides comprise nappe stacks of far-travelled allochthons that record closure of the Iapetus Ocean and subsequent continental collision of Baltica and Laurentia.The Seve Nappe Complex(SNC)of the Scandinavian Caledonides includes relics of the outermost Baltoscandian passive margin that were subducted to mantle depths.The earliest of the deep subduction events has been dated to ca.500-480 Ma.Evidence of this event has been reported from the northern exposures of the SNC.Farther south in the central and southern segments of the SNC,(ultra)high-pressure rocks have yielded younger ages in the range of ca.470-440 Ma.This study provides the first record of the early Caledonian event in the southern SNC.The evidence has been obtained by depth profiling of zircon grains that were extracted from the Tv?r?klumparna microdiamond-bearing gneiss.These zircon grains preserve eclogite facies overgrowths that crystallized at 482.6±3.8 Ma.A second,chemically-distinct zircon overgrowth records granulite facies metamorphism at 439.3±3.6 Ma,which corroborates previous geochronological evidence for granulite facies metamorphism at this time.Based on these results,we propose that the entire outer margin of Baltica was subducted in the late Cambrian to early Ordovician,but the record of this event may be almost entirely eradicated in the vast majority of lithologies by pervasive late Ordovician to early Silurian metamorphism.