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UHP Terrane (uhp + terrane)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Earth and Environmental Science	100%

Selected Abstracts

Ultrahigh-pressure and Retrograde Metamorphic Ages for Paleozoic Protolith of Paragneiss in the Main Drill Hole of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Project (CCSD-MH), SW Sulu UHP Terrane

ACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 3 2006
LIU Fulai
Abstract, Laser Raman spectroscopy and cathodoluminescence (CL) images show that most zircon crystals separated from paragneiss in the main drill hole of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Project (CCSD-MH) at Maobei, southwestern Sulu terrane, contain low-pressure mineral-bearing detrital cores, coesite-bearing mantles and quartz-bearing or mineral inclusion-free rims. SHRIMP U-Pb dating on these zoned zircons yield three discrete and meaningful age groups. The detrital cores yield a large age span from 659 to 313 Ma, indicating the protolith age for the analyzed paragneiss is Paleozoic rather than Proterozoic. The coesite-bearing mantles yield a weighted mean age of 228 ± 5 Ma for the UHP event. The quartz-bearing outmost rims yield a weighted mean age of 213 ± 6 Ma for the retrogressive event related to the regional amphibolite facies metamorphism in the Sulu UHP terrane. Combined with previous SHRIMP U-Pb dating results from orthogneiss in CCSD-MH, it is suggested that both Neoproterozoic granitic protolith and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks were subducted to mantle depths in the Late Triassic. About 15 million years later, the Sulu UHP metamorphic rocks were exhumed to mid-crustal levels and overprinted by an amphibolite-facies retrogressive metamorphism. The exhumation rate deduced from the SHRIMP data and metamorphic P-T conditions is about 6.7 km/Ma. Such a fast exhumation suggests that the Sulu UHP paragneiss and orthogneiss returned towards the surface as a dominant part of a buoyant sliver, caused as a consequence of slab breakoff. [source]

Variation in peak P,T conditions across the upper contact of the UHP terrane, Dabieshan, China: gradational or abrupt?

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 9 2006
Y. SHI
Abstract The Southern Dabieshan Terrane (SDT) has previously been divided into high-pressure (HP) and ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terranes, and its regional extent and the tectonic nature of its boundaries are hotly debated topics. In this study, an eclogite-bearing area of 100 km2 near Taihu is mapped in detail, and divided into Northern, Middle and Southern Zones on the basis of lithological characteristics. The Northern Zone consists of epidote-biotite gneiss and eclogite blocks, the Middle Zone includes granitic gneiss, biotite gneiss, eclogites and amphibolite, and the Southern Zone is composed mainly of garnet-bearing mica schist. The eclogites occur mainly as lens or blocks in the Northern and Middle Zones. The peak P,T conditions for 61 eclogite samples across the area are estimated using the Grt-Cpx Fe2+ -Mg thermometers and the Grt-Cpx-Phe barometers. The results indicate three different P,T regions: 2.82,4.09 GPa/759,942 °C in the Northern Zone, and 2.00,3.54 GPa/641,839 °C in the granitic gneiss and 1.38,2.36 GPa/535,768 °C in the biotite gneiss from the Middle Zone. Combined with the spatial distribution of eclogites across the area, the P,T values for eclogites increase continuously from the south to the north, defining a reference ,geotherm' of 5 °C km,1. However, some unreasonable apparent gradients can be established along two south,north profiles across the area, and display a P,T difference between the Northern and Middle zones. On the basis of the average P,T data for eclogites across the area, a gap of at least 0.3 GPa/20 °C exists between the Northern and Middle zones. By contrast, the P,T values of eclogites from the Middle zone show a coherent pattern with transitional characteristics from HP in the south to UHP in the north. We suggest that the SDT was a coherent slab during subduction, and was broken up by a major fault during exhumation, which was formed under UHP metamorphic conditions. [source]

Petrochemical constraints for dual origin of garnet peridotites from the Dabie-Sulu UHP terrane, eastern-central China

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 2 2000
Zhang
Garnet peridotites occur as lenses, blocks or layers within granulite,amphibolite facies gneiss in the Dabie-Sulu ultra-high-pressure (UHP) terrane and contain coesite-bearing eclogite. Two distinct types of garnet peridotite were identified based on mode of occurrence and petrochemical characteristics. Type A mantle-derived peridotites originated from either: (1) the mantle wedge above a subduction zone, (2) the footwall mantle of the subducted slab, or (3) were ancient mantle fragments emplaced at crustal depths prior to UHP metamorphism, whereas type B crustal peridotite and pyroxenite are a portion of mafic,ultramafic complexes that were intruded into the continental crust as magmas prior to subduction. Most type A peridotites were derived from a depleted mantle and exhibit petrochemical characteristics of mantle rocks; however, Sr and Nd isotope compositions of some peridotites have been modified by crustal contamination during subduction and/or exhumation. Type B peridotite and pyroxenite show cumulate structure, and some have experienced crustal metasomatism and contamination documented by high 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.707,0.708), low ,Nd(t) values (,6 to ,9) and low ,18O values of minerals (+2.92 to +4.52). Garnet peridotites of both types experienced multi-stage recrystallization; some of them record prograde histories. High- P,T estimates (760,970 °C and 4.0,6.5±0.2 GPa) of peak metamorphism indicate that both mantle-derived and crustal ultramafic rocks were subducted to profound depths >100 km (the deepest may be ,180,200 km) and experienced UHP metamorphism in a subduction zone with an extremely low geothermal gradient of <5 °C km,1. [source]

Ultrahigh-pressure and Retrograde Metamorphic Ages for Paleozoic Protolith of Paragneiss in the Main Drill Hole of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Project (CCSD-MH), SW Sulu UHP Terrane

Experimental studies of mineralogical assemblages of metasedimentary rocks at Earth's mantle transition zone conditions

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 2 2007
L. F. DOBRZHINETSKAYA
Abstract Metasedimentary rocks, a major component of the continental crust, are abundant within ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphic terranes related to continental collisions. The presence of diamond, coesite, and relics of decompressed minerals in these rocks suggests that they were subducted to a depth of more than 150,250 km. Reconnaissance experiments at 9,12 GPa and 1000,1300 °C on compositions corresponding to felsic rocks from diamond-bearing UHP terranes of Germany and Kazakhstan show that at higher pressures they consist of majoritic garnet, Al-Na-rich clinopyroxene, stishovite, solid solution of KAlSi3O8 -NaAlSi3O8 hollandite, topaz-OH, and TiO2 with , -PbO2 structure. Comparison of our data with experiments conducted by others at similar P,T conditions shows differences, which are due to variations in bulk chemistry and the type of starting material (gel, oxides, minerals). These differences may affect correct establishment of the ,point of no return' of subducted continental lithologies. This paper discusses the implication of the experimental data with regard to naturally existing UHP metamorphic rocks and their significance for our understanding of the deep subduction of continental material. [source]

Unusual Hf contents in metamorphic zircon from coesite-bearing eclogites of the Dabie Mountains, east-central China: implications for the dating of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism

JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 7 2004
X. Wang
Abstract Metamorphic zircon from coesite-bearing eclogites in the Dabie Mountains encloses high- P phases, and may have formed at the peak of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism. Morphologically, the metamorphic zircon typically occurs as small, multi-faceted, near-spherical grains with homogeneous internal structure and weak backscattered electron (BSE) luminescence. Geochemically, it is characterized by extremely high and relatively constant contents of hafnium (Hf) and very low contents of Y, U and Th, reflecting the contraction of the zircon lattice under the UHP conditions. High contents of Hf may be characteristic of zircon formed during UHP metamorphism, which has important consequences for interpretation of geochronological results. We propose that the metamorphic zircon extremely enriched in Hf may be used to date the peak of UHP metamorphism that produced the coesite-bearing eclogites in the Dabie Mountains, and potentially in other UHP terranes. [source]