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Ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphism of the Tso Morari coesite-eclogite during burial in NW Himalaya has been intensively studied over the past several decades. However, amphibolite-facies metamorphism and accompanying metasomatism occurring at lower-crustal depths in the Tso Morari terrane are less well-constrained. In this study, we characterize the eclogite amphibolization and related metasomatic fluids by systematically sampling and analyzing the eclogites at the core of an eclogite boudin and the amphiblolized eclogite (amphibolite) at the rim. Integrated techniques including modal mineralogy, mineral chemistry, whole-rock geochemistry, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and thermodynamic modelling are used to constrain the fluid-induced eclogite amphibolization and associated fluid behaviors. Petrographic observations show that infiltration of an external fluid caused complete amphibolite-facies overprinting of the eclogites at the boudin rim. This is recorded petrographically as increased modal proportions of amphibole, biotite, epidote, plagioclase, and calcite in the amphibolites. The infiltrating fluid caused increased K2O and CO2 concentrations and higher bulk-rock Fe3+/ΣFe ratio for the amphibolites, as well as increased LILE (e.g., K, Rb, Cs, Sr, Ba) and ratios of Ba/Rb and Cs/Rb. Phase equilibria modelling using P–T–M(H2O) pseudosections on the amphibolite and the surrounding gneiss indicate that the fluid infiltration occurred at 9.0–12.5 kbar and ~608 °C with >2.6–3.1 mol % H2O infiltration. The abrupt increase of bulk-rock Fe3+/ΣFe ratio from 0.192 to 0.395 near the boudin rim indicate that this phase of fluid most likely derived from the mixing of dehydrated host orthogneiss and/or metasediments during uplift at the amphibolite-facies zone in the subduction channel. This study also demonstrates the need for using careful petrographic observations and geochemical analysis in parallel with thermodynamic modelling to achieve realistic results.
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Chemical and mechanical controls on metasomatic assimilation of eclogite blocks in high-pressure host gneiss
Mica- and garnet-rich selvages are often developed around eclogitized mafic blocks within felsic gneiss in HP to UHP metamorphic terranes. The development of these metasomatic features ranges from readily identified reaction zones between the eclogite and host gneiss to shear zones where the spatial relationships between eclogite blocks and host gneiss are completely obscured. Block-selvage relationships within the Luliang Shan HP/UHP belt (North Qaidam, China) and the Tso Morari UHP terrane (NW Himalaya, India) approximate end members of the selvage preservation process. Here we apply whole-rock and incompatible trace element compositions coupled with B and O isotopic data in white mica to constrain the relationship of metasomatism vs. deformation during selvage formation. Within the Luliang Shan, extensive fluid flow formed thick, compositionally hybridized phengite- and garnet-bearing selvages between eclogite (SiO2 ~ 50%) and quartzofeldspathic gneiss (SiO2 ~ 80%). The Luliang Shan HP selvages have intermediate SiO2 and range from 5-10 m in thickness as "halos" around spheroidal eclogite blocks. Volatile enrichment at near-UHP conditions in the selvage is indicated by enrichment of Li, Cs, Ba, Ar, and δ18O and very light δ11B values in phengite. The retrograde muscovite from the host gneiss is low in Li, Cs, Rb, and Sr but possess remarkably high B concentrations (up to 3000 ppm) and positive δ11B values that are best explained by interaction with fluids devolatilized from accreted sediments within cooler regions of the subduction zone. Alternatively, the Tso Morari UHP terrane features boudinaged discoids of eclogite encased within highly strained quartzofeldspathic gneiss. Whole rock major element sampling performed normal to the foliation reveal consistently high SiO2 (78-80%). Highly variable degrees of metasomatic recrystallization occur within the phengite-rich rocks spatially associated with eclogite. The selvage rocks exhibit heterogeneous degrees of enrichment in Li, Be, B, and Ba and yield δ11B values of -4 to -6‰ typical of undevolatilized oceanic and continental crust. We conclude that fluid-mediated metasomatic reaction between eclogite and gneiss at Tso Morari is sheared out into lenses that are incorporated into, and heterogeneously distributed throughout, the host gneiss.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1822524
- PAR ID:
- 10188781
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- AGU Fall Meeting 2019
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Thermodynamic modeling is an important technique to interpret metamorphic phase relations and calculate model pressure-temperature (P-T) paths for metamorphic rocks. This study uses representative, coesite-bearing eclogites from the Tso Morari UHP terrane of the NW Himalaya to simulate its prograde metamorphism using multiple modeling programs and thermobarometry. Our modeling yields a peak metamorphism P-T of ~32-33 kbar and ~560-570 °C by the THERMOCALC345 and Theriak-Domino programs (Green et al., 2016), which is ~5 kbar higher in pressure and ~15 °C lower in temperature than that determined by using THERMOCALC333 (White et al., 2007) (~27.8 kbar and ~580 °C). The significantly higher pressure obtained using the THERMOCALC345 and Theriak-Domino is likely a result of the upgrade of thermodynamic parameters of minerals (i.e. garnet Wpy-gr and agr) in the newer a-x relations. The modeled effective bulk compositions and mineral stabilities along the calculated P-T path show different patterns under the two modeling techniques. Modeling by the Theriak-Domino programs is preferred in this case because the results are more consistent with the measured mineral compositions of our rocks. Multiple thermobarometers by garnet-omphacite-phengite, garnet-omphacite, garnet-phengite on the garnet rim, high-Si phengite and matrix omphacite yield a peak metamorphism of ~ 28.5-29.0 kbar and ~ 650-728 °C, which is generally consistent with the modeled P-T path. Based on our model calculations, the initial bulk composition measured by XRF does not represent the reactant bulk composition at the time of garnet nucleation, and this compositional discrepancy possibly is caused by the crystallization of pre-garnet minerals (i.e. hematite), reaction overstepping, or partial reequilibration. In summary, by implementing and evaluating multiple modeling strategies and considering the petrography and metamorphic mineralogy of the rocks, this study finds that the eclogite modeling using Theriak-Domino programs in the Tso Morari terrane provide more consistent metamorphic phase relations and more reasonable thermodynamic simulations regarding fractionation of the bulk composition and prograde metamorphism. References: Green et al. J Metamorph Geol 34, 845-869 (2016) White et al. J Metamorph Geol 25, 511-527 (2007)more » « less
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Abstract In orogens worldwide and throughout geologic time, large volumes of deep continental crust have been exhumed in domal structures. Extension‐driven ascent of bodies of deep, hot crust is a very efficient mechanism for rapid heat and mass transfer from deep to shallow crustal levels and is therefore an important mechanism in the evolution of continents. The dominant rock type in exhumed domes is quartzofeldspathic gneiss (typically migmatitic) that does not record its former high‐pressure (HP) conditions in its equilibrium mineral assemblage; rather, it records the conditions of emplacement and cooling in the mid/shallow crust. Mafic rocks included in gneiss may, however, contain a fragmentary record of a HP history, and are evidence that their host rocks were also deeply sourced. An excellent example of exhumed deep crust that retains a partial HP record is in the Montagne Noire dome, French Massif Central, which contains well‐preserved eclogite (garnet+omphacite+rutile+quartz) in migmatite in two locations: one in the dome core and the other at the dome margin. Both eclogites recordP ~ 1.5 ± 0.2 GPa atT ~ 700 ± 20°C, but differ from each other in whole‐rock and mineral composition, deformation features (shape and crystallographic preferred orientation, CPO), extent of record of prograde metamorphism in garnet and zircon, and degree of preservation of inherited zircon. Rim ages of zircon in both eclogites overlap with the oldest crystallization ages of host gneiss atc.310 Ma, interpreted based on zircon rare earth element abundance in eclogite zircon as the age of HP metamorphism. Dome‐margin eclogite zircon retains a widespread record of protolith age (c.470–450 Ma, the same as host gneiss protolith age), whereas dome‐core eclogite zircon has more scarce preservation of inherited zircon. Possible explanations for differences in the two eclogites relate to differences in the protolith mafic magma composition and history and/or the duration of metamorphic heating and extent of interaction with aqueous fluid, affecting zircon crystallization. Differences in HP deformation fabrics may relate to the position of the eclogite facies rocks relative to zones of transpression and transtension at an early stage of dome development. Regardless of differences, both eclogites experienced HP metamorphism and deformation in the deep crust atc.310 Ma and were exhumed by lithospheric extension—with their host migmatite—near the end of the Variscan orogeny. The deep crust in this region was rapidly exhumed from ~50 to <10 km, where it equilibrated under low‐P/high‐Tconditions, leaving a sparse but compelling record of the deep origin of most of the crust now exposed in the dome.more » « less
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null (Ed.)The Tso Morari terrane within the Himalayan orogeny underwent ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism due to northward subduction under the Eurasian continent during the early Eocene. The advancement of computational petrology and availability of relevant thermodynamic databases provide the mechanism to more precisely quantify metamorphic processes. In this study, we model the eclogite’s prograde pressure-temperature (P-T) path as well as multiple fluid infiltration events during exhumation using Theriak-Domino with dataset ds62 and garnet[1] and other metabasic mineral activity-composition relations. The effect of garnet fractionation on the rock’s effective bulk composition is considered in simulating prograde garnet growth. A “fishhook” shape clockwise P-T path is obtained with a peak pressure of ~28.5 kbar at ~563 °C, followed by a peak temperature of ~613 °C at ~24.5 kbar[2]. Thermodynamic modelling using P-M(H2O) pseudosections on Tso Morari eclogites indicates three distinct phases of fluid infiltration during exhumation. Fluid infiltration Ⅰ occurs at ~610 °C and ~23.5 kbar with ~3.1 mol % fluid expulsion due to the destabilization of lawsonite. The modelling results are consistent with petrographic observations in the eclogite: we found ~6.0 vol % epidote and ~21.0 vol % amphibole and the possible pre-existence of lawsonite evidenced by its pseudomorph (as epidote and paragonite aggregates) in a garnet core and rim[3], and CNASH modelling on the epidote and its inclusion paragonite. Fluid infiltration Ⅱ occurs at ~9.2 kbar and ~608 °C with >2.6 mol % fluid infiltration at amphibolite-facies. This phase of fluid infiltration is characterized by aggressive amphibolization from the boudin core to rim. Fluid infiltration Ⅲ occurs at ~610 °C and ~8.7 kbar, caused by breakdown of phengite as predicted through modelling the symplectitic association (plagioclase, biotite, and amphibole) surrounding omphacite. In summary, this study not only illustrates the application of thermodynamic modelling in quantifying metamorphic processes, but also the need of comparison between modeling predictions and petrographic observations. [1] White et al. (2007), J Metamorph Geol 25, 511–527. [2] Pan et al. (2020), Contrib Mineral Petrol 175, 1–28. [3] St-Onge et al. (2013), J Metamorph Geol 31, 469–504.more » « less
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null (Ed.)Diamond and coesite are classic indicators of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP; ≥100-kilometer depth) metamorphism, but they readily recrystallize during exhumation. Crystallographically oriented pyroxene and amphibole exsolution lamellae in garnet document decomposed supersilicic UHP majoritic garnet originally stable at diamond-grade conditions, but majoritic precursors have only been quantitatively demonstrated in mafic and ultramafic rocks. Moreover, controversy persists regarding which silicates majoritic garnet breakdown produces. We present a method for reconstructing precursor majoritic garnet chemistry in metasedimentary Appalachian gneisses containing garnets preserving concentric zones of crystallographically oriented lamellae including quartz, amphibole, and sodium phlogopite. We link this to novel quartz-garnet crystallographic orientation data. The results reveal majoritic precursors stable at ≥175-kilometer depth and that quartz and mica may exsolve from garnet. Large UHP terranes in the European Caledonides formed during collision of the paleocontinents Baltica and Laurentia; we demonstrate UHP metamorphism from the microcontinent-continent convergence characterizing the contiguous and coeval Appalachian orogen.more » « less
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