ALBERT

Notes: At Deobhog, migmatitic gneisses and granulites of the Eastern Ghats Belt are juxtaposed against a cratonic ensemble of banded augen gneiss, amphibolite and calcsilicate gneiss, intruded by late hornblende granite and dolerite. In the migmatitic gneiss unit, early isoclinal folds (syn-D1M and D2M) are reoriented along N–S-trending and E-dipping shear planes (S3M), with (S1M–S3M) intersection lineations having steep to moderate plunges. The near-peak P–T  condition was syn-D3M (≥900 °C, 9.5 kbar), as inferred from syn-D3M Grt+Opx-bearing leucosomes in mafic granulites, and from thermobarometry on Grt (corona)–Opx/Cpx–Pl–Qtz assemblages. The P–T  values are consistent with the occurrence of Opx–Spr–Crd assemblages in spatially associated high-Mg–Al pelites. A subsequent period of cooling followed by isothermal decompression (800–850 °C, c. 7 kbar) is documented by the formation of coronal garnet and its decomposition to Opx+Pl symplectites in mafic granulites. Hydrous fluid infiltration accompanying the retrograde changes is manifested in biotite replacing Opx in some lithologies.The cratonic banded gneiss–granite unit also documents two phases of isoclinal folding (D1B & D2B), with the L2B lineation girdle different from the lineation spread in the migmatitic gneiss unit. Calcsilicate gneiss (Hbl–Pl–Cpx–Scap–Cal) and amphibolite (Hbl–Pl±Grt±Cpx) within banded gneisses record syn-D2B peak metamorphic conditions (c. 700 °C, 6.5 kbar), followed by cooling (to c. 500 °C) manifested in the stabilization of coronal clinozoisite–epidote. The D3B shear deformation post-dates granite and dolerite intrusions and is characterized by top-to-the-west movement along N–S-trending, E-dipping shear planes. Deformation mechanisms of quartz and feldspar in granites and banded gneisses and amphibole–plagioclase thermometry within shear bands in dolerites document an inverted syn-D3B thermal gradient with temperature increasing from 350 to 550 °C in the west to ≥700 °C near the contact with the migmatitic gneiss unit. The thermal gradient is reflected in the stabilization of chlorite after hornblende in S3B shears to the west, and post-D2B neosome segregation along D3B folds and shears to the east.The contrasting lithologies, early structures and peak metamorphic conditions in the two units indicate unconnected pre-D3P–T –deformation histories. The shared D3 deformation in the two units, the syn-D3 inverted thermal gradient preserved in the footwall cratonic rocks and the complementary cooling and hydration of the hanging wall granulites across the contact are attributed to westward thrusting of ‘hot’ Eastern Ghats granulites on ‘cool’ cratonic crust. It is suggested that the Eastern Ghats migmatitic gneiss unit is not a reworked part of the craton, but a para-autochthonous/allochthonous unit emplaced on and amalgamated to the craton.

Notes: The nature and extent of deformation associated with 1.4 Ga tectonism in the south-western USA are poorly understood. Two models have been proposed. Both agree that Proterozoic crustal accretion occurred at 1.65 Ga and that the rocks remained at mid-crustal conditions (c. 12 km depth) until 1.4 Ga. However, one model suggests that 1.4 Ga deformation was regionally extensive, the other that it was localized around 1.4 Ga plutons. Following 1.4 Ga tectonism, the crust cooled below 300 °C. Detailed studies of quartz mylonite microfabrics in samples both adjacent to and removed from 1.4 Ga plutons in the Manzano Mountains, central New Mexico, are used to discriminate between these models of mid-Proterozoic thermotectonic history. In this area, as in much of northern New Mexico, the metamorphic conditions prior to emplacement of 1.4 Ga plutons were 500 °C and 4 kbar. The quartz mylonite microfabrics include ribbon grains, recrystallized grains with serrated boundaries, and strong c-axis crystallographic preferred orientations, which indicate no post-deformational modification. All of these microfabrics are consistent with deformation at upper greenschist/lower amphibolite facies conditions, and could have formed during either 1.65 or 1.4 Ga tectonism. Microfabrics formed during 1.65 Ga tectonism, however, should have been substantially modified by annealing recrystallization during residency in the middle crust and/or thermal/mechanical effects associated with 1.4 Ga tectonism. The observed microstructures are consistent with regional deformation associated with metamorphism at 1.4 Ga. The effects of deformation at 1.4 Ga in New Mexico are therefore more widespread than previously thought.

Notes: Following the early Eocene collision of the Indian and Asian plates, intracontinental subduction occurred along the Main Central Thrust (MCT) zone in the High Himalaya. In the Kishtwar–Zanskar Himalaya, the MCT is a 2 km thick shear zone of high strain, distributed ductile deformation which emplaces the amphibolite facies High Himalayan Crystalline (HHC) unit south-westwards over the lower greenschist facies Lesser Himalaya. An inverted metamorphic field gradient, mapped from the first appearance of garnet, staurolite and kyanite index minerals, is coincident with the high strain zone. Petrography and garnet zoning profiles indicate that rocks in the lower MCT zone preserve a prograde assemblage, whereas rocks in the HHC unit show retrograde equilibration. Thermobarometric results derived using THERMOCALC indicate a P–T  increase of c. 180 °C and c. 400 MPa across the base of the MCT zone, which is a consequence of the syn- to postmetamorphic juxtaposition of M1 kyanite grade rocks of the HHC unit on a cooling path over biotite grade footwall rocks, which subsequently attain their peak (M2) during thrusting. Inclusion thermobarometry from the lower MCT zone reveals that M2 was accompanied by loading, and peak conditions of 537±38 °C and 860±120 MPa were attained. M1 kyanite assemblages in the HHC unit, which have not been overprinted by M2 fibrolitic sillimanite, were not significantly affected by M2, and conditions of equilibration are estimated as 742±53 °C and 960±180 MPa.There is no evidence for dissipative or downward conductive heating in the MCT zone. Instead, the primary control on the distribution of peak assemblages, represented by the index minerals, is postmetamorphic ductile thrusting in a downward propagating shear zone. Polymetamorphism and diachroneity of equilibration are also important controls on the thermal profile through the MCT zone and HHC unit.

Notes: Semi-pelitic rocks ranging in grade from the prehnite–pumpellyite to the greenschist facies from south-eastern Otago, New Zealand, have been investigated in order to evaluate the reactions leading to formation and breakdown of stilpnomelane. Detrital grains of mica and chlorite along with fine-grained authigenic illite and chlorite occur in lower-grade rocks with compactional fabric parallel to bedding. At higher grades, detrital grains have undergone dissolution, and metamorphic phyllosilicates have crystallized with preferred orientation (sub)parallel to bedding, leading to slaty cleavage. Stilpnomelane is found in metapelites of the pumpellyite–actinolite facies and the chlorite zone of the greenschist facies, but only rarely in the biotite zone of the greenschist facies. Illite or phengite is ubiquitous, whereas chlorite occurs only rarely with stilpnomelane upgrade of the pumpellyite-out isograd. Chemical and textural relationships suggest that stilpnomelane formed from chlorite, phengite, quartz, K-feldspar and iron oxides. Stilpnomelane was produced by grain-boundary replacement of chlorite and by precipitation from solution, overprinting earlier textures. Some relict 14 Å chlorite layers are observed by TEM to be in the process of transforming to 12 Å stilpnomelane layers. The AEM analyses show that Fe is strongly partitioned over Mg into stilpnomelane relative to chlorite (KD≈2.5) and into chlorite relative to phengite (KD≈1.9). Modified A′FM diagrams, projected from the measured phengite composition rather than from ideal KAl3Si3O10(OH)2, are used to elucidate reactions among chlorite, stilpnomelane, phengite and biotite. In addition to pressure, temperature and bulk rock composition, the stilpnomelane-in isograd is controlled by variations in K, Fe3+/Fe2+, O/OH and H2O contents, and the locus of the isograd is expected to vary in rocks of different oxidation states and permeabilities. Biotite, quartz and less phengitic muscovite form from stilpnomelane, chlorite and phengite in the biotite zone. Projection of bulk rock compositions from phengite, NaAlO2, SiO2 and H2O reveals that they lie close to the polyhedra defined by the A′FM minerals and albite. Other extended A′FM diagrams, such as one projected from phengite, NaAlO2, CaAl2O4, SiO2 and H2O, may prove useful in the evaluation of other low-grade assemblages.

Notes: The Fuping Complex and the adjoining Wutai and Hengshan Complexes are located in the central zone of the North China craton. The dominant rock types in the Fuping Complex are high-grade tonalitic–trondhjemitic–granodioritic (TTG) gneisses, with minor amounts of mafic granulites, syntectonic granitic rocks and supracrustal rocks. The petrological evidence from the mafic granulites indicates three stages of metamorphic evolution. The M1 stage is represented by garnet porphyroblasts and matrix plagioclase, quartz, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and hornblende. Orthopyroxene+plagioclase symplectites and clinopyroxene+plagioclase±orthopyroxene coronas formed in response to decompression during M2 following the peak metamorphism at M1. Hornblende+plagioclase symplectites formed as a result of further isobaric cooling and retrograde metamorphism during M3. The P–T  estimates using TWQ thermobarometry are: 900–950 °C and 8.0–8.5 kbar for the peak assemblage (M1), based on the core compositions of garnet, matrix pyroxene and plagioclase; 700–800 °C and 6.0–7.0 kbar for the pyroxene+plagioclase symplectites or coronas (M2); and 550–650 °C and 5.3–6.3 kbar for the hornblende+plagioclase symplectites (M3), based on garnet rim and corresponding symplectic mineral compositions. These P–T  estimates define a clockwise P–T  path involving near-isothermal decompression for the Fuping Complex, similar to the P–T  path estimated for the metapelitic gneisses. The inferred P–T  path suggests that the Fuping Complex underwent initial crustal thickening, subsequent exhumation, and finally cooling and retrogression. This tectonothermal path is similar to P–T  paths inferred for the Wutai and Hengshan Complexes and other tectonic units in the central zone of the North China craton, but different from anti-clockwise P–T paths estimated for the basement rocks in the eastern and western zones of the craton. Based on lithological, structural, metamorphic and geochronological data, the eastern and western zones of the craton are considered to represent two different Archean to Paleoproterozoic continental blocks that amalgamated along the central zone at the end of Paleoproterozoic. The P–T paths of the Fuping Complex and other tectonic units in the central zone record the collision between the eastern and western zones that led to the final assembly of the North China craton at c. 1800 Ma.

Notes: The Vårdalsneset eclogite situated in the Western Gneiss Region, SW Norway, is a well preserved tectonite giving information about the deformation regimes active in the lower crust during crustal thickening and subsequent exhumation. The eclogite constitutes layers and lenses variably retrograded to amphibolite and is composed of garnet and omphacite with varying amounts of barroisite, actinolite, clinozoisite, kyanite, quartz, paragonite, phengite and rutile. The rocks record a five-stage evolution connected to Caledonian burial and subsequent exhumation. (1) A prograde evolution through amphibolite facies (T =490±63 °C) is inferred from garnet cores with amphibole inclusions and bell-shaped Mn profile. (2) Formation of L〉S-tectonite eclogite (T =680±20 °C, P=16±2 kbar) related to the subduction of continental crust during the Caledonian orogeny. Lack of asymmetrical fabrics and orientation of eclogite facies extensional veins indicate that the deformation regime during formation of the L〉S fabric was coaxial. (3) Formation of sub-horizontal eclogite facies foliation in which the finite stretching direction had changed by approximately 90°. Disruption of eclogite lenses and layers between symmetric shear zones characterizes the dominantly coaxial deformation regime of stage 3. Locally occurring mylonitic eclogites (T =690±20 °C, P=15±1.5 kbar) with top-W kinematics may indicate, however, that non-coaxial deformation was also active at eclogite facies conditions. (4) Development of a widespread regional amphibolite facies foliation (T =564±44 °C, P〈10.3–8.1 kbar), quartz veins and development of conjugate shear zones indicate that coaxial vertical shortening and sub-horizontal stretching were active during exhumation from eclogite to amphibolite facies conditions. (5) Amphibolite facies mylonites mainly formed under non-coaxial top-W movement are related to large-scale movement on the extensional detachments active during the late-orogenic extension of the Caledonides. The structural and metamorphic evolution of the Vårdalsneset eclogite and related areas support the exhumation model, including an extensional detachment in the upper crust and overall coaxial deformation in the lower crust.

Notes: A suite of high-Mg–Al granulites from Sunkarametta, Eastern Ghats Belt, India, shows contrasting prograde assemblages of extremely aluminous orthopyroxene+cordierite+sapphirine and similarly aluminous orthopyroxene+Ti-rich spinel in closely associated domains. Textural and compositional characteristics indicate that both were derived from prograde dehydration–melting of biotite–plagioclase–quartz-bearing protoliths. The former assemblage was stabilized at relatively more magnesian bulk composition. Geothermobarometric data and petrogenetic grid considerations place ‘peak’ metamorphic conditions at c. 950 °C and 9 kbar. Subsequent to peak metamorphism, the rocks cooled to c. 700–750 °C, with slight lowering of pressure, and the retrograde reactions also involved melt–solid interaction. The inferred P–T  trajectory is one of heating–cooling at lower crustal (25–30 km) depths.

Notes: Chlorite is a common sheet silicate that occurs in various lithologies over a wide grade range involving diagenesis and low-grade metamorphism. Thus, the reaction progress of chlorite offers a unique opportunity for direct correlation of zonal classification of metasedimentary rocks based on illite crystallinity with metabasite mineral facies. To provide such correlation, chlorite crystallinity indices, apparent mean crystallite sizes and lattice strains, crystallite size distributions and compositions of chlorite from coexisting metapelites and metabasites were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), analytical electron microscopy (AEM) and electron microprobe (EMP) methods. Samples were from Palaeozoic and Mesozoic formations of the Bükkium (innermost Western Carpathians, Hungary) that underwent Alpine (Cretaceous) orogenic metamorphism. Metapelites range in grade from late diagenesis to epizone, whereas metabasites vary from prehnite–pumpellyite through pumpellyite–actinolite to greenschist facies.Despite significant differences in composition, mineral assemblages and textures, reaction progress, as measured in part by chlorite crystallinity, in metapelites paralleled that in metabasites. Chlorite crystallinity and mean crystallite size increase and the proportion of mixed layers in chlorite decreases, whereas the calculated lattice strain does not change significantly with increasing metamorphic grade. Similar trends, but (especially at higher grades) significant differences, were found in mean crystallite size values using various methods for XRD line profile analyses. The increase in crystallite size with increasing grade was demonstrated also by direct TEM measurements on ion-milled whole-rock samples, but with a larger scatter of data at higher grades. In spite of the different kinds of mixed layering in chlorite (Mg-rich smectitic, mostly random, local corrensite-like units in metabasites, and Fe-rich berthierine and dioctahedral smectite in metapelites), XRD-calculated and TEM-measured parameters were found to be reliable tools for measuring reaction progress and metamorphic grade of the same degree in both lithotypes.

Notes: The metamorphic rocks from near Kütahya in north-west Anatolia record different stages in the history of closure of the Neo-Tethyan İzmir–Ankara–Erzincan ocean. Sub-ophiolite metamorphic rocks within the Tavşanlı zone are a tectonically composite sequence of quartz–mica schists, amphibole schists, amphibolites and garnet amphibolites. They show increasing metamorphic grade towards the base of the ophiolite. A first metamorphic event, typical of sub-ophiolite metamorphic sole rocks, was characterized by high-grade assemblages, and followed by retrograde metamorphism. A second event was marked by a medium-to high-pressure overprint of the first-stage metamorphic assemblages with assemblages indicating a transition between the blueschist and greenschist facies. The chemistry of the sub-ophiolite metamorphic rocks indicates an ocean island basalt origin, and Ar–Ar dating indicates a high temperature metamorphic event at 93±2 Ma. Counter-clockwise P–T–t paths recorded by the sub-ophiolite metamorphic rocks are interpreted to result from intra-oceanic thrusting during the closure of the İzmir– Ankara–Erzincan ocean, initiating subduction, which formed the high-temperature assemblages. Further subduction then produced the widespread blueschists of the Tavşanlı zone during the Late Cretaceous. Later cold thrusting obducted the ophiolite (with the metamorphic sole welded to its base), ophiolitic melanges and blueschists onto the Anatolide passive margin in the latest Cretaceous. All these events pre-date the final Anatolide–Pontide continent–continent collision.

Notes: Granulite facies orthogneiss of the Arthur River Complex (ARC) at Milford Sound, western Fiordland records a complex Early Cretaceous magmatic and orogenic history for the Pacific Gondwana margin that culminated in the emplacement and burial of a dioritic batholith, the Western Fiordland Orthogneiss (WFO). Enstatite-bearing mafic to intermediate protoliths of the ARC and WFO intruded the middle to upper crust. The early deformation history of the ARC is preserved in the Pembroke Granulite, where two-pyroxene S1 assemblages that reflect P〈8 kbar and T 〉750 °C were only patchily recrystallized during later deformation. S1 is cut by garnet-bearing, leucogabbroic to dioritic veins, which are cut by distinctive D2 fractures involving anorthositic veins and garnet–diopside–plagioclase-bearing reaction zones. These zones are widespread in the ARC and WFO and record conditions of P≈14 kbar and T 〉750 °C. Garnet–clinopyroxene-bearing corona reaction textures that mantle enstatite in both the ARC and WFO reflect Early Cretaceous burial by approximately 25 km of continental crust. Most of the ARC is formed from the Milford and Harrison Gneisses, which contain steeply dipping S4 assemblages that envelop the Pembroke Granulite and involve garnet, hornblende, diopside, clinozoisite, rutile and plagioclase, with or without kyanite. The P–T history of rocks in western Fiordland reflects pronounced Early Cretaceous convergence-related tectonism and burial, possibly related to the collision and accretion of island arc material onto the Pacific Gondwana margin.

Notes: Protolith zircon in high-grade metagranitoids from Queensland, Australia, partially recrystallized during granulite-grade metamorphism. We describe the zircon in detail using integrated cathodoluminescence, U–Pb isotope, trace element and electron backscatter diffraction pattern (EBSP) analyses. Primary igneous oscillatory zoning is partially modified or obliterated in areas within single crystals, but is well preserved in other areas. A variety of secondary internal structures are observed, with large areas of transgressive recrystallized zircon usually dominant. Associated with these areas are recrystallization margins, interpreted to be recrystallization fronts, that have conformable boundaries with transgressive recrystallized areas, but contrasting cathodoluminescence and trace element chemistry. Trace element analyses of primary and secondary structures provide compelling evidence for closed-system solid-state recrystallization. By this process, trace elements in the protolith zircon are purged during recrystallization and partitioned between the enriched recrystallization front and depleted recrystallized areas. However, recrystallization is not always efficient, often leaving a ‘memory’ of the protolith trace element and isotopic composition. This results in the measurement of ‘mixed’ U–Pb isotope ages. Nonetheless, the age of metamorphism has been determined. A correlation between apparent age and Th/U ratio is indicative of incomplete re-setting by partial recrystallization. Recrystallization is shown to probably not significantly affect Lu–Hf ages. Recrystallization has been determined by textural and trace element analysis and EBSP data not to have proceeded by sub-grain rotation or local dissolution/re-precipitation, but probably by grain-boundary migration and defect diffusion. The formation of metamorphic zircon by solid-state recrystallization is probably common to high-grade terranes worldwide. The recognition of this process of formation is essential for correct interpretation of zircon-derived U–Pb ages and subsequent tectonic models.

Notes: High-density CO2-rich fluid inclusions from a sapphirine-bearing granulite (Hakurutale, Sri Lanka) have been studied by microthermometry, Raman spectrometry and SEM analysis. Based on textural evidence, two groups of inclusions can be identified: primary, negative crystal shaped inclusions (group I) and pseudo-secondary inclusions, which experienced a local, limited post-trapping modification (group II). Both groups contain magnesite as a daughter mineral, occurring in a relatively constant fluid/solid inclusion volume ratio (volsolid =0.15 total volume). CO2 densities for group I and II differ only slightly. Both groups contain a fluid, which was initially trapped at peak metamorphic conditions as a homogeneous (CO2+MgCO3) mixture. Thermodynamic calculations suggest that such a fluid (CO2+15 vol% MgCO3) is stable under granulite facies conditions. After trapping, magnesite separated upon cooling, while the remaining CO2 density suffered minor re-adjustments. A model isochore based on the integration of the magnesite molar volume in the CO2 fluid passes about 1.5–2 kbar below peak metamorphic conditions. This remaining discrepancy can be explained by the possible role of a small quantity of additional water.

Notes: We investigate the pressure distribution with depth in regions undergoing horizontal shortening and experiencing crustal thickening both analytically and numerically. Our results show that, in a convergent tectonic setting, pressure can be considerably higher than lithostatic (the pressure resulting from the weight of the overburden). Increases in pressure with respect to lithostatic conditions result from both the contribution of horizontal stresses and the flexural vertical loads, the latter generated by the deflection of the upper crust and of the mantle because of the presence of topographic relief and a root, respectively. The contribution of horizontal stresses is particularly relevant to the upper crust and uppermost mantle, where rocks are thought to deform brittlely. In these domains, pressure gradients twice lithostatic can be achieved. The contribution of horizontal stresses is less important in the ductile domains as differential stresses are progressively relaxed; nevertheless, the effects are still noteworthy especially close to the brittle–ductile transition. Flexural vertical loads generated by the deflection of the upper crust and lithospheric mantle are relevant for rocks of the weaker lower crust. As a result of the combination of the two mechanisms, the pressure gradient varies vertically through the lithosphere, ranging from negative (inverted) gradients to gradients up to several times the lithostatic gradient. The pressure values range from one to two times the lithostatic values (1ρgz to 2ρgz).

Notes: One of the long recognized features of Himalayan geology is the apparent inversion of metamorphic sequences, as evidenced in both metamorphic parageneses and thermobarometric data. With the aid of an extended thermobarometric dataset from the Langtang Valley section of the Higher Himalayan Crystallines, it can be demonstrated that the relatively large uncertainties associated with traditional thermobarometric techniques severely limit the tectonic interpretation of metamorphic gradients across the Himalayas. We apply the recently developed ΔPT  approach, which significantly improves the precision to which pressure and temperature differences between samples may be calculated. High-precision thermobarometric data reveal an isothermal, rather than inverted, temperature array at Langtang, while the pressure data suggest significant structural complexity, with the Higher Himalayan Crystallines in the Langtang section comprising two distinct, possibly duplicated sequences, each having experienced considerable structural attenuation following metamorphism.

Notes: Centimetre- to decimetre-wide quartz+calcite veins in schistes lustrés from Alpine Corsica were formed during exhumation at 30–40 Ma following blueschist facies metamorphism. The δ18O and δ13C values of the veins overlap those of the host schistes lustrés, and the δ18O values of the veins are much higher than those of other rocks on Corsica. These data suggest that the vein-forming fluids were derived from the schistes lustrés. Fluids were probably generated by reactions that broke down carpholite, lawsonite, chlorite and white mica at 300–350 °C during decompression between c. 1400 and 800 MPa. However, the δ18O values of the veins are locally several per mil higher than expected given those of their host rocks. The magnitude of oxygen isotope disequilibrium between the veins and the host rock is inversely proportional to the δ18O value of the host rock. Additionally, calcite in some schists is in isotopic equilibrium with calcite in adjacent veins, but not with the silicate fraction of the schists. Locally, the schists are calcite bearing only within 1–20 cm of the veins. The vein-forming fluids may have been preferentially derived from calcite-bearing, high-δ18O rocks that are common within the schistes lustrés and that locally contain abundant (〉15%) veins. If the fluids were unable to completely isotopically equilibrate with the rocks, due to relatively rapid flow at moderate temperatures or being confined to fractures, they could form veins with higher δ18O values than those of the surrounding rocks. Alteration of the host rocks was probably inhibited by isolation of the fluid in ‘quartz-armoured’ veins. Overall, the veins represent a metre- to hectometre-scale fluid-flow system confined to within the schistes lustrés unit, with little input from external sources. This fluid-flow system is one of several that operated in the western Alps during exhumation following high-pressure metamorphism.

Notes: Geochronological data, combined with field and petrological evidence, constrain the timing and rate of near-isothermal decompression at granulite facies temperatures in rocks from the Lützow-Holm Complex of East Antarctica. Granulite facies gneisses from Rundvågshetta in Lützow-Holm Bay experienced a peak metamorphic temperature of over 900 °C at c. 11 kbar, as evidenced by primary orthopyroxene–sillimanite-bearing assemblages, and secondary cordierite–sapphirine-bearing assemblages in metapelites. Peak metamorphic assemblages show strong preferred mineral orientation, interpreted to have developed synchronously with pervasive ductile deformation. Zircon from a syndeformational leucosome has a U–Pb age of 517±9 Ma, which is interpreted as a melt crystallization age. This age provides the best estimate of the time of peak metamorphic conditions. The post-peak metamorphic history is characterized by near-isothermal decompression, recorded by mineral textures in a variety of rock compositions. Field and textural relations indicate that decompression post-dated pervasive ductile deformation. K/Ar and 40Ar/39Ar ages from hornblende and biotite represent closure ages during cooling subsequent to decompression, and indicate cooling to temperatures between c. 350 and 300 °C by c. 500 Ma, thus placing a lower time limit on the duration of the high-temperature isothermal decompression episode. The combination of the zircon age from a syndeformational melt with K/Ar and 40Ar/39Ar closure ages indicates that near-isothermal decompression from c. 11 to c. 4 kbar at granulite facies temperatures, followed by cooling to c. 300 °C, took place within a time interval of 20±10 Myr. Simple one-dimensional models for exhumation-controlled cooling indicate that these data require exhumation rates of the order of c. 3 km Myr−1 for several million years, then cessation of exhumation followed by relatively isobaric cooling during thermal re-equilibration.

Notes: Polyphase metamorphic paragneisses from the drill core of the continental deep drilling project (KTB; NW Bohemian Massif) are characterized by peak pressures of about 8 kbar (medium-P metamorphism) followed by strain accumulation at T 〉650 °C, initially by dislocation creep and subsequently by diffusion creep. U–Pb monazite ages and Rb–Sr whole-rock data vary in the dm-scale, indicating Ordovician and Mid-Devonian metamorphic events. Such age variations are closely interconnected with dm-scale domainal variations of microfabrics that indicate different predominant deformation mechanisms. U–Pb monazite age variations dependent on microfabric domains exceed grain-size-dependent age variations. In ‘mylonitic domains’ recording high magnitudes of plastic strain, dislocation creep and minor static annealing, monazite yields concordant and near concordant Lower Ordovician U–Pb ages, and the Rb–Sr whole-rock system shows isotopic disequilibrium at an mm-scale. In ‘mineral growth/mobilisate domains’, in which diffusive mass transfer was a major strain-producing mechanism promoting diffusion creep of quartz and feldspar, and in which static recrystallization (annealing) reduced the internal free energy of the strained mineral aggregates, concordant U–Pb ages are Mid-Devonian. Locally, in such domains, Rb–Sr dates among mm3-sized whole-rock slabs reflect post-Ordovician resetting. In ‘transitional domains’, the U–Pb-ages are discordant. We conclude that medium-P metamorphism occurred at 484±2 Ma, and a second metamorphic event at 380–370 Ma (Mid-Devonian) caused progressive strain in the rocks. Dislocation creep at high rates, even at high temperatures, does not reset the Rb–Sr whole-rock system, while diffusion creep at low rates and stresses (i.e. low ε/Deff ratios), static annealing and the presence of intergranular fluids locally assist resetting. At temperatures above 650 °C, diffusive Pb loss did not reset Ordovician U–Pb monazite ages, and in domains of overall high imposed strain rates and stresses, resetting was not assisted by dynamic recrystallization/crystal plasticity. However, during diffusion creep at low rates, Pb loss by dissolution and precipitation (‘recrystallization’) of monazite produces discordance and Devonian-concordant U–Pb monazite ages. Hence, resetting of these isotope systems reflects neither changes of temperature nor, directly, the presence or absence of strain.

Notes: Four samples from the metamorphic aureole around the Beni Bousera ultramafic massif were studied in detail for U–Th–Pb electron microprobe dating on monazite. The samples include three meta-sedimentary granulites (kinzigites), collected at variable distance from the peridotites, and one kyanite-bearing leucosome in the kinzigite. Two types of monazite were identified in thin section, using SEM. The main population consists of interstitial grains, 20–70 μm in size, while the second population consists of small grains (〈20 μm), included in garnet. A total of 64 U–Th–Pb electron microprobe measurements on 53 monazite crystals were undertaken. Most crystals have a Pb content lower than the Pb detection limit, indicating that they crystallized, or were reset, during a young event, probably Cainozoic in age. Few crystals, all entirely included in garnet, have Hercynian age, the best estimate of which is 284±27 Ma. This is a direct demonstration of the shielding effect of garnet for the U–Th–Pb system in monazite. The grains in inclusion in garnet are not reset by the post-Hercynian events, despite the high temperature reached at this time (〉850 °C). Thus, the monazite closure temperature depends on its textural position in the host rock. The data also show that a Hercynian event occurred in the Beni Bousera granulitic metapelites, which equates with a high-P, high-T  event. The emplacement of the peridotite in the Cainozoic may be linked a low-P, high-T  event, followed by a low-P, low-T  retrogression. These two events reset the U–Th–Pb system in almost all monazite grains, except for the few crystals shielded by garnet.

Notes: Multiple regression analysis on an extended dataset has been performed to refine the relationship between temperature, pressure, composition and the Fe–Mg distribution between garnet and clinopyroxene. In addition to a significant dependence between the distribution coefficient KD and XGrtCa and XGrtMg#, as shown by the experimental data, the effect of XGrtMn has also been incorporated using data from natural Mn-rich garnet–clinopyroxene pairs. Multiple regression of data (n=360) covering a large span in pressure, temperature and composition from 27 experimental datasets, combined with 49 natural high-Mn granulites from Ruby Range, Montana, USA, and Karnataka, India, yields the P–T –compositional relationship (r2=0.98): 〈inlineGraphic alt="inline image" href="urn:x-wiley:02634929:JMG247:JMG_247_m81" location="equation/JMG_247_m81.gif"/〉 where KD=(Fe2+/Mg)Grt/(Fe2+/Mg)Cpx, XGrtCa=Ca/(Ca+Mn+Fe2++Mg) in garnet, XGrtMn= Mn/(Ca+Mn+Fe2++Mg) in garnet, and XGrtMg#=Mg/(Mg+Fe2+) in garnet. The Fe2+–Mg equilibrium between garnet and clinopyroxene does not seem to be affected by variations in the sodic content of the co-existing clinopyroxene in the range XCpxNa=0–0.51. Comparisons between the new and former calibrations of the garnet–clinopyroxene Fe2+–Mg geothermometer clearly demonstrate how the various parameters in each case affect the calculated temperatures. Application of the new expression gives reasonable results for natural garnet–clinopyroxene pairs from various rock types and settings, and should be preferred to previous formulations. Using the new calibration to the self-consistent dataset of Pattison & Newton (Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 1989, 101, 87–103) suggests a systematic deviation with regard to both temperature and composition between their dataset and the datasets used in the present calibration.

Notes: High-pressure zoisite- and clinozoisite-bearing segregations are common in garnet- and albite-bearing amphibolites of the Palaeozoic part of the Lower Schieferhülle, south-central Tauern Window, Austria. The zoisite segregations (primary assemblage: Zo+Qtz+Cal) formed during an early to pre-Hercynian high-pressure event (P≫0.6 GPa, T =500–550 °C) by hydrofracturing as a result of protolith dehydration. Zoisite is growth zoned from Fe3+-poor cores (Al2Fe=9 mol%) to Fe3+-rich rims (17 mol%), and has high Sr, Pb and Ga contents and LREE-enriched REE patterns, controlling the trace element budget of the segregations. Hercynian deformation at c. 0.7 GPa/600 °C kinked and cracked primary zoisite and enhanced breakdown into secondary zoisite (13 mol% Al2Fe), clinozoisite (40–55 mol% Al2Fe), albite (an〈20), calcite and white mica during an Eoalpine high-pressure event at 0.9–1.2 GPa/400–500 °C. The clinozoisite segregations (primary assemblage: Czo+Qtz+Omp+Ttn+Chl+Cal) are mm- to cm-wide, vein-like bodies, cross-cutting fabric elements of the host garnet amphibolite. They formed during the Eoalpine high-pressure event at 0.9–1.2 GPa/400–500 °C. During Alpine exhumation, omphacite was pseudomorphed by amphibole, albite, quartz and clinozoisite. Oxygen isotope data suggest equilibrium between host metabasite and zoisite segregations and indicate an internal fluid source and fluid buffering by the protolith. Mobility of P, Nb and LREE changed the protolith’s trace element composition in the vicinity of the zoisite segregations: Mobilization of LREE is evidenced by decreasing modal amounts of LREE-rich epidote and decreasing LREE contents in LREE-rich epidote towards the segregations, changing the REE patterns of the host metabasite from LREE-enriched to LREE-depleted. Tectonic discrimination diagrams, based on the trace element content of metabasites, should be applied with extreme caution.

Notes: Amphibolite facies mafic rocks that consist mainly of hornblende, plagioclase and quartz may also contain combinations of chlorite, garnet, epidote, and, more unusually, staurolite, kyanite, sillimanite, cordierite and orthoamphiboles. Such assemblages can provide tighter constraints on the pressure and temperature evolution of metamorphic terranes than is usually possible from metabasites. Because of the high variance of most of the assemblages, the phase relationships in amphibolites depend on rock composition, in addition to pressure, temperature and fluid composition. The mineral equilibria in the Na2O–CaO–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O (NCFMASH) model system demonstrate that aluminium content is critical in controlling the occurrence of assemblages involving hornblende with aluminous minerals such as sillimanite, kyanite, staurolite and cordierite. Except in aluminous compositions, these assemblages are restricted to higher pressures. The iron to magnesium ratio (XFe), and to a lesser extent, sodium to calcium ratio, have important roles in determining which (if any) of the aluminous minerals occur under particular pressure–temperature conditions. Where aluminous minerals occur in amphibolites, the P–T–X dependence of their phase relationships is remarkably similar to that in metapelitic rocks. The mineral assemblages of Fe-rich amphibolites are typically dominated by garnet- and staurolite-bearing assemblages, whereas their more Mg-rich counterparts contain chlorite and cordierite. Assemblages involving staurolite–hornblende can occur over a wide range of pressures (4–10 kbar) at temperatures of 560–650 °C; however, except in the more aluminous, iron-rich compositions, they occupy a narrow pressure–temperature window. Thus, although their occurrence in ‘typical’ amphibolites may be indicative of relatively high pressure metamorphism, in more aluminous compositions their interpretation is less straightforward.

Notes: The pressure and temperature history of the Tertiary Shimanto belt of south-west Japan has been elucidated by analysing fluids trapped in quartz crystals which grew syn-kinematically along late-stage brittle faults. The samples come from three areas that span the Paleogene exposures on the Muroto Peninsula of Shikoku Island. Applying microthermometric and laser Raman microsampling techniques to coeval water-rich and carbonic fluid inclusions, we have constrained the pressure and temperature conditions that accompanied a widespread and kinematically distinct phase of deformation. The results suggest elevated geothermal gradients during late-stage deformation, conditions that are in disaccord with previous plate reconstructions that have depicted old, thermally mature Pacific crust subducting beneath Eurasia during the early to middle Tertiary. These conditions can most easily be accounted for by including an additional plate boundary in the western Pacific during Paleogene time. Plate reconstructions that include the Kula plate in this region are therefore consistent with our findings. In addition, our results provide clues to the conditions that likely accompany seismogenic deformation at active convergent plate boundaries.

Notes: Alpine-type orogenic garnet-bearing peridotites, associated with quartzo-feldspathic gneisses of a 140–115 Ma high-pressure/ultra-high-pressure metamorphic (HP-UHPM) terrane, occur in two regions of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Both exposures are located within NW–SE-trending strike–slip fault zones. Garnet lherzolite occurs as 〈10 m wide fault slices juxtaposed against Miocene granite in the left-lateral Palu-Koro (P-K) fault valley, and as 10–30 m wide, fault-bounded outcrops juxtaposed against gabbros and peridotites of the East Sulawesi ophiolite within the right-lateral Ampana fault in the Bongka river (BR) valley. Six evolutionary stages of recrystallization can be recognized in the peridotites from both localities. Stage I, the precursor spinel lherzolite assemblage, is characterized by Ol+Cpx+Opx±Prg-Amp ± Spl±Rt±Phl, as inclusions within garnet cores. Stage II, the main garnet lherzolite assemblage, consists of coarse-grained Ol+Opx+Cpx+Grt; whereas finer-grained, neoblastic Ol+Opx+Grt+Cpx±Spl±Prg-Amp±Phl constitutes stage III. Stages IV and V are manifest as kelyphites of fibrous Opx+Cpx+Spl in inner coronas, and Opx+Spl+Prg-Amp±Ep in outer coronas around garnet, respectively. The final (greenschist facies) retrogressive stage VI is accompanied by recrystallization of Serp+Chl±Mag±Tr±Ni sulphides±Tlc±Cal. P–T conditions of the hydrated precursor spinel lherzolite stage I were probably about 750 °C at 15–20 kbar. P–T  determinations of the peak stage IIc (from core compositions) display considerable variation for samples derived from different outcrops, with clustering at 26–38 kbar, 1025–1210 °C (P-K & BR); 19–21 kbar, 1070–1090 °C (P-K), and 40–48 kbar, 1205–1290 °C (BR). Stage IIr (derived from rim compositions) generally records decompression of around 4–12 kbar accompanied by cooling of 50–240 °C from the IIc peak stage. Stage III, which post-dates a phase of ductile deformation, yielded 22±2 kbar at 750±25 °C (P-K) and 16±2 kbar at 730±40 °C (BR). The granulite–amphibolite–greenschist decompression sequence reflects uplift to upper crustal levels from conditions of 647–862 °C at P=15 kbar (stage IV), through 580–635 °C at P=10–12 kbar (stage V) to 350–400 °C at P=4–7 kbar (stage VI), respectively, and is identical to the sequence recorded in associated granulite, gneiss and eclogite. Sulawesi garnet peridotites are interpreted to represent minor components of the extensive HP-UHP (peak P 〉28 kbar, peak T  of c. 760 °C) metamorphic basement terrane, which was recrystallized and uplifted in a N-dipping continental collision zone at the southern Sundaland margin in the mid-Cretaceous. The low-T , low-P and metasomatized spinel lherzolite precursor to the garnet lherzolite probably represents mantle wedge rocks that were dragged down parallel to the slab–wedge interface in a subduction/collision zone by induced corner flow. Ductile tectonic incorporation into the underthrust continental crust from various depths along the interface probably occurred during the exhumation stage, and the garnet peridotites were subsequently uplifted within the HP-UHPM nappe, suffering a similar decompression history to that experienced by the regional schists and gneisses. Final exhumation from upper crustal levels was clearly facilitated by entrainment in Neogene granitic plutons, and/or Oligocene trans-tension in deep-seated strike–slip fault zones.

Notes: Garnet peridotites from the southern Su-Lu ultra-high-pressure metamorphic (UHPM) terrane, eastern China, contain porphyroblastic garnet with aligned inclusions comprising a low-P–T  mineral assemblage (chlorite, hornblende, Na-gedrite, Na-phlogopite, talc, spinel and pyrite). Orthopyroxene porphyroblasts show fine exsolution lamellae of clinopyroxene and minor chromite. A clinopyroxene inclusion in garnet shows some orthopyroxene exsolution lamellae. Both the rims of porphyroblastic pyroxene and garnet and the matrix pyroxene and garnet crystallized at the expense of olivine. This is interpreted as a result of metasomatism of the peridotites by an SiO2-rich melt at UHP conditions. A chromian garnet further overgrew on the rims of the garnet. The XMg values (Mg/(Mg+Fe)) of porphyroblastic garnet decrease from core to rim and vary in different peridotite samples, while the compositions of both the porphyroblastic and the matrix pyroxene are similar in terms of Ca–Mg–Fe. The Mg-rich cores of porphyroblastic garnet and orthopyroxene record high temperatures and pressures (c. 1000 °C, ≥5.1 GPa), whereas the matrix minerals, including the rims of porphyroblasts, record much lower P–T  (c. 4.2 GPa, c. 760 °C). Sm–Nd data give apparent isochron ages of c. 380 Ma and negative εNd(0) values (c.−9). These dates are considered meaningless due to isotopic disequilibrium between garnet cores and the rest of the rocks. The isotopic disequilibrium was probably caused by metasomatism of the peridotites by melt/fluids derived from the coevally subducted crustal materials. On the other hand, the Rb–Sr isotopic systems of phlogopite and clinopyroxene appear to have reached equilibrium and record a cooling age of c. 205 Ma. It is suggested that the garnet peridotites were originally emplaced into a low-P–T  environment prior to the c. 220 Ma continental collision, during which they were subducted together with crustal rocks to mantle depth and subjected to UHP metamorphism. An important corollary is that at least some of the coevally subducted crustal rocks in the Su-Lu terrane have been subjected to peak metamorphism at P–T  conditions much higher than presently estimated (≥2.7 GPa, ≤800 °C).

Notes: A number of sources of uncertainty are involved in thermobarometric calculations, the most important of which are associated with analytical precision, activity–composition (a–x) relationships, and thermodynamic data. Statistical treatment of these uncertainties results in relatively large uncertainties on the calculated values of pressure and temperature. Little can be done, at least in the short term, about the magnitude of such uncertainties, and any thermobarometric calculations in which they are not taken into account should be treated with caution. Given that uncertainties associated with a–x models and thermodynamic data are systematic when applied to multiple samples with the same mineral assemblage, a solution to the problem of imprecise absolute thermobarometry can be obtained via a relative thermobarometric technique referred to as the ΔPT  approach. The ΔPT  approach offers a major improvement in the precision of thermobarometry if the calculations can be presented in a ΔPT  context.

Notes: Dolerite dykes which intrude dolomitic marble in the aureole of the Beinn an Dubhaich granite on the Isle of Skye have developed metasomatized margins close to the contact with the (younger) granite in the southern part of Torrin Quarry. These margins display well-defined mineralogical zones which can be divided into two groups on the basis of composition. Chlorite-bearing margins display the sequence dolerite | diopside+spinel | chlorite+calcite+magnetite | olivine+calcite+spinel | dolomite, whereas phlogopite-bearing sequences have a phlogopite+calcite±fluorapatite layer in place of the chlorite-bearing layer. No spatial pattern is seen in the distribution of the two margin types, but textural and compositional evidence points to an importance of metasomatism by localized infiltration of magmatic fluids in the development of the phlogopite-bearing sequences. Extensive patterning of the phlogopite-bearing margins by a process of self-organization during grain growth has resulted in the formation of alternating silicate-only/calcite-only layers parallel to the dyke margin on a millimetre to centimetre scale. Early development of chlorite-bearing sequences at the dolerite–dolomite contact during contact metamorphism was followed by metasomatism-controlled growth of phlogopite and patterning at or after the peak of metamorphism associated with the expulsion of aqueous fluids from the crystallizing pluton.

Notes: Caledonian orogenesis in NE Greenland resulted from the collision of Laurentia and Baltica during the Ordovician–Silurian. Anatectic pelites within the metasedimentary Smallefjord Sequence record a clockwise P–T  path, the result of early crustal thickening at c. 445–440 Ma and subsequent exhumation of the high-grade metamorphic core by a combination of ductile extension and tectonic denudation. The early prograde segment of the path followed a shallow, near-isothermal trajectory and attained a metamorphic peak of c. 9.0–10.0 kbar at 〉790 and 〈850 °C. Prograde metamorphism initiated anatexis of pelites in the kyanite stability field and continued with sillimanite stable. Inclusion trails in the garnet cores are textural remnants of early deformation, which occurred either before or during prograde metamorphism. The peak metamorphic conditions are anomalously high in the context of thermal models and P–T  paths for continental collision zones. The additional heat input required to promote migmatization may have been provided by advection as lower crustal high-pressure rocks and the uppermost mantle were uplifted following lithospheric thinning at an early stage in the orogeny. The prograde path was interrupted by the development of retrograde extensional shear fabrics defined by biotite+sillimanite and associated with garnet breakdown. Field observations indicate that ductile extension was accompanied by melt extraction, transport and emplacement of intracrustal granites dated at c. 430 Ma. Regional ductile extension and exhumation probably resulted from the development of gravitational instabilities within the overthickened crust during continental collision.

Notes: By comparison with the general features of metamorphic soles (e.g. vertical and lateral extension, metamorphic grade and diagnostic mineral parageneses, deformation and dominant rock types), it is inferred that the amphibolites, metagabbros and hornblendites of the Wadi Um Ghalaga–Wadi Haimur area in the southern part of the Eastern Desert of Egypt represent the metamorphic sole of the Wadi Haimur ophiolite belt. The overlying ultramafic rocks represent overthrusted mantle peridotite. Mineral compositions and thermobarometric studies indicate that the rocks of the metamorphic sole record metamorphic conditions typical of such an environment. The highest P–T conditions (c. 700 °C and 6.5–8.5 kbar) are preserved in clinopyroxene amphibolites and garnet amphibolites from the top of the metamorphic sole, which is exposed in the southern part of the study area. The massive amphibolites and metagabbros further north (Wadi Haimur) represent the basal parts of the sole and show the lowest P–T  conditions (450–620 °C and 4.7–7.8 kbar). The sole is the product of dynamothermal metamorphism associated with the tectonic displacement of ultramafic rocks. Heat was derived mainly from the hot overlying mantle peridotites, and an inverted P–T  gradient was caused by dynamic shearing during ophiolite emplacement. Sm/Nd dating of whole-rock–metamorphic mineral pairs yields similar ages of c. 630 Ma for clinopyroxene and hornblende, which is interpreted as a lower age limit for ophiolite formation and an upper age limit for metamorphism. A younger Sm/Nd age for a garnet-bearing rock (c. 590 Ma) is interpreted as reflecting a meaningful cooling age close to the metamorphic peak. Hornblende K/Ar ages in the range 570–550 Ma may reflect thermal events during late orogenic granite magmatism.

Notes: Basic and ultrabasic blocks within ophiolitic mélanges of the Cycladic Blueschist Unit in southern Evia provide a detailed insight into its ocean floor igneous and hydrothermal evolution, as well as the regional poly-metamorphism occurring during Alpine orogenesis. The upper structural levels (Mt. Ochi exposures) are dominated by metamorphosed wehrlites, gabbros and highly light rare earth element (LREE)-enriched pillow basalts, whereas the underlying Tsaki mélange consists of basic protoliths with much less fractionated REE patterns as well as mantle harzburgites. Most of the metabasites show Nb anomalies, indicative of derivation from a subduction-affected mantle. The igneous bodies were juxtaposed and incorporated into the enclosing sedimentary sequences prior to high-pressure/low-temperature (HP/LT) metamorphism (M1). Glaucophane, epidote, sodic clinopyroxene and high-Si phengite constitute the Eocene M1 assemblage, which is estimated to have formed at 〉11 kbar and 400–450 °C. High δ18O values of M1 minerals in Ochi metagabbros indicate that the formation of the high-pressure assemblage was controlled by infiltration of fluids from the dehydrating host sediments. Cooling during decompression is indicated by an overprinting (M2, Early Miocene) pumpellyite–actinolite facies assemblage in metabasic rocks, calculated to have developed at P〈8 kbar and T 〈350 °C. Possible mechanisms for such cooling include: exhumation from shallower burial levels relative to the eclogites of the NW Cyclades, accretion of colder rocks from below and extensional unroofing by low-angle normal faults and detachments. The occurrence of sodic augite in the M2 assemblage of Tsaki metagabbros indicates that rocks at the base of the Blueschist Unit cooled faster or longer than their higher level Ochi counterparts. This suggests that differential cooling of the blueschists was enhanced by the underthrusting of colder rock units.

Notes: One-dimensional thermal (1DT) modelling of an Acadian (Devonian) tectonothermal regime in southern Vermont, USA, used measured metamorphic pressures and temperatures and estimated metamorphic cooling ages based on published thermobarometric and geochronological studies to constrain thermal and tectonic input parameters. The area modelled lies within the Vermont Sequence of the Acadian orogen and includes: (i) a western domain containing garnet-grade pre-Silurian metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks from the eastern flank of an Acadian composite dome structure (Rayponda–Sadawga Dome); and (ii) an eastern domain containing similar, but staurolite- or kyanite-grade, rocks from the western flank of a second dome structure (Athens Dome), approximately 10 km farther east. Using reasonable input parameters based on regional geological, petrological and geochronological constraints, the thermal modelling produced plausible P–T  paths, and temperature–time (T –t) and pressure–time (P–t) curves. Information extracted from P–T –t modelling includes values of maximum temperature and pressure on the P–T  paths, pressure at maximum temperature, predicted Ar closure ages for hornblende, muscovite and K-feldspar, and integrated exhumation and cooling rates for segments of the cooling history. The results from thermal modelling are consistent with independently obtained pressure, temperature and Ar cooling age data on regional metamorphism in southern Vermont. Modelling results provide some important bounding limits on the physical conditions during regional metamorphism, and indicate that the pressure contemporaneous with the attainment of peak temperature was probably as much as 2.5 kbar lower than the actual maximum pressure experienced by rocks along various particle paths. In addition, differences in peak metamorphic grade (garnet-grade versus staurolite-grade or kyanite-grade) and peak temperature for rocks initially loaded to similar crustal depths, differences in calculated exhumation rates, and differences in 40Ar/39Ar closure ages are likely to have been consequences of variations in the duration of isobaric heating (or ‘crustal residence periods’) and tectonic unroofing rates. Modelling results are consistent with a regional structural model that suggests west to east younging of specific Acadian deformational events, and therefore diachroneity of attainment of peak metamorphic conditions and subsequent 40Ar/39Ar closure during cooling. Modelling is consistent with the proposition that regional variations in timing and peak conditions of metamorphism are the result of the variable depths to which rocks were loaded by an eastward-thickening thrust-nappe pile rooted to the east (New Hampshire Sequence), as well as by diachronous structural processes within the lower plate rocks of the Vermont Sequence.

Notes: The exchange reaction tschermakite+2 diopside+2 quartz=tremolite+2 anorthite (HPCQ), in combination with the thermodynamic database TWQ (version 1.02, Berman, 1991), has been evaluated for its usefulness as a geothermometer. This reaction, which is both water conserving (independent of water fugacity) and which does not require the presence of garnet, is well suited for studying pyroxene-bearing amphibolites. As an application of this geothermometer, we have re-examined the amphibolites occurring in the Popple Hill gneiss of the Adirondack Lowlands of New York, USA, to better understand the magnitude of temperature variation preserved in the amphibolites themselves in this classic locality. At an assumed constant pressure of 7 kbar, the temperatures range from 619 to 682 °C from Edwards to Pierrepont and are uncorrelated with either distance along the strike of the region or with modal mineralogical variations. Hornblende exhibits a narrow compositional range suggesting that there has been little or no thermal gradient along the strike of the Lowlands. Temperatures recorded just north of Colton are, however, distinctly higher (694–758 °C). Although it is likely that the Popple Hill gneiss amphibolites experienced some effects of progressive metamorphism, particularly in the vicinity of Colton, the variations in modal mineralogy are most likely the result of such factors as local variations in the bulk chemistry of the protolith and in the fugacity of H2O due to infiltration of diluting species (e.g. CO2, CH4), rather than a regional temperature variation. Temperatures recorded by the HPCQ geothermometer reported here are similar in magnitude and geographic trend to those reported for graphite–calcite carbon-isotope thermometry by Kitchen & Valley (1995), suggesting that peak metamorphism in the Adirondack Lowlands involved laterally extensive and fairly uniform isotherms.

Notes: Large amounts of fluid, bound up in the hydrated upper layers of the ocean crust, are consumed at convergent margins and released in subduction zones through devolatilization. The liberated fluids may play an integral role in subduction zone processes, including the generation of arc-magmas. However, exhumed subduction zone rocks often record little evidence of large-scale fluid flow, especially at deeper levels within the subduction zone. Basaltic pillows from the high-pressure Corsican and Zermatt-Saas ophiolites show a range of δ18O values that overall reflect seafloor alteration prior to subduction. However, comparison between the δ18O values of the cores and rims of the pillows suggests that the δ18O values of the pillow rims at least have been modified during subduction and high-pressure metamorphism. Pillows that have not undergone high-pressure metamorphism generally have rims with higher δ18O values than their cores, whereas the converse is the case in pillows that have undergone high-pressure metamorphism. This reversal in the core to rim oxygen isotope relationship between unmetamorphosed and metamorphosed pillows is strong evidence for fluid–rock interaction occurring during subduction and high-pressure metamorphism. However, the preservation of different δ18O values in the cores and rims of individual pillows and within and between different pillows suggests that fluid flow within the subduction zone was strongly channelled. Resetting of the δ18O values in the pillow rims was probably due to fluid-hosted diffusion that occurred over relatively short time-scales (〈1 Myr).

Notes: Within an analysed garnet porphyroblast, opaque inclusions imaged with the backscatter facility of a scanning electron microscope show different microtextures depending on their position within the porphyroblast. Three different zones can been distinguished: Zone 1 contains a Ti-rich magnetite that has decomposed to a symplectite of fine and narrowly spaced exsolution lamellae of ilmenite and magnetite. Zone 2 shows a Ti-rich magnetite symplectite with thicker and more widely spaced exsolution lamellae of ilmenite and magnetite. Within zone 3, Ti-rich magnetite symplectite has totally been replaced by recrystallized magnetite crystals bordered by a thin ilmenite rim. Similar microtextures within ulvöspinel-rich magnetite have elsewhere shown to be the result of an increase in oxidation and rate of diffusion. During metamorphism of metapelites, such an increase can be reasonably envisaged because of dehydration reactions progressing during rising temperatures, and this has occurred during the overgrowth of the three different microtextures by the garnet porphyroblast. Because the microtextures are homogeneous within the three different zones, it is deduced that the oxidation reaction rate of the opaque inclusions was substantially lower than the garnet growth rate. As a consequence, hiatuses in the garnet growth history must have occurred between the evolution from one microtexture to the next. A comparison between the inclusion trail geometry and the microtextural zone boundaries shows a perfect coincidence between these and the sites where inclusion trails become strongly deflected and truncated. This correlation confirms that, in the studied case, sharp microstructural boundaries (as truncation zones or deflection zones) coincide with growth hiatuses. The study therefore highlights the potential use of opaque inclusions to confirm or reject the occurrence of growth hiatuses within garnet porphyroblasts, especially in cases where discontinuities in the inclusion trail patterns are otherwise arbitrarily associated with growth hiatuses.

Notes: Foliated garnet-bearing amphibolites occur within the West Bore Shear Zone, cutting through granulite facies gneisses of the Strangways Metamorphic Complex. In the amphibolites, large euhedral garnet (up to 3 cm) occurs within fine-grained recrystallized leucocratic diffusion haloes of plagioclase–quartz. The garnet and their haloes include a well-developed vertical foliation, also present in the matrix. This foliation is the same as that cutting through the unconformably overlying Neoproterozoic Heavitree Quartzite. The textures indicate syn- to late kinematic growth of the amphibolite facies mineral assemblages.All mineral assemblages record an arrested prograde reaction history. Noteworthy is the growth of garnet at the expense of hornblende and plagioclase, and the breakdown of staurolite–hornblende to give plagioclase–gedrite. These dehydration reactions indicate increasing P–T  conditions during metamorphism, and suggest heating towards the end of a period of intense deformation. Temperature estimates for the garnet–amphibolite and related staurolite–hornblende assemblages from the shear zone are about 600 °C. Pressure is estimated at about 5 kbar.An Sm–Nd isochron gives an age of 381±7 Ma for the peak metamorphism and associated deformation. This age determination confirms that amphibolite facies conditions prevailed during shear zone development within the Strangways Metamorphic Complex during the Alice Springs Orogeny. These temperature conditions are significantly higher than those expected at this depth assuming a normal geothermal gradient. The Alice Springs Orogeny was associated with significant crustal thickening, allowing exhumation of the granulite facies, Palaeoproterozoic, lower crust. Along-strike variations of the tectonic style suggest a larger amount of crustal shortening in the eastern part of the Alice Springs Orogeny.

Notes: Hypersaline (Na–Ca–Cl) fluids are associated with late-stage quartz veining and retrogression of garnet, kyanite and other high P–T  phases in the vicinity of thrusts and major lithological boundaries in the Scandian nappes of the Troms-Ofoten region, northern Norway. They record early Devonian fluid infiltration during rapid exhumation in the final stages of Caledonian orogenesis. The δ18O and δD characteristics of these late fluids provide compelling evidence for deep circulation of meteoric fluids. The sub-greenschist to low greenschist facies retrogression (P=2±1 kbar; T =300–350 °C) suggests infiltration to depths of 7–9 km in a regime of supra-hydrostatic fluid pressure. Peak metamorphic quartz veins and associated fluids have δD and δ18O characteristics consistent with a metamorphic origin (δD −47 to −75; δ18O+8.6 to +17.4). However, late quartz veins and associated fluids show a broad spread of δD from −42 to −148, interpreted in terms of meteoric fluid infiltration. Such negative δD values are only recorded in present-day high-latitude or high-altitude settings, and since north Norway was in an equatorial setting (10° S) in the early Devonian, a high-altitude origin is deduced. By calculation, and by comparison with modern examples, the early Devonian mountains of the north Norwegian Caledonides are interpreted to have had a topography in excess of 5 km. The deep circulation of surface waters is interpreted in terms of topographically driven flow, linked with a hydrothermal system induced by elevated geothermal gradients due to rapid uplift. Whilst the case for deep penetration of surface-derived fluids has been promoted for Mesozoic and younger mountain belts, this study represents one of the first documented examples for a Palaeozoic orogenic belt. It suggests that many of the fundamental processes operating during the exhumation of mountain belts are similar irrespective of age.

Notes: Garnet-bearing peridotite lenses are minor but significant components of most metamorphic terranes characterized by high-temperature eclogite facies assemblages. Most peridotite intrudes when slabs of continental crust are subducted deeply (60–120 km) into the mantle, usually by following oceanic lithosphere down an established subduction zone. Peridotite is transferred from the resulting mantle wedge into the crustal footwall through brittle and/or ductile mechanisms. These ‘mantle’ peridotites vary petrographically, chemically, isotopically, chronologically and thermobarometrically from orogen to orogen, within orogens and even within individual terranes. The variations reflect: (1) derivation from different mantle sources (oceanic or continental lithosphere, asthenosphere); (2) perturbations while the mantle wedges were above subducting oceanic lithosphere; and (3) changes within the host crustal slabs during intrusion, subduction and exhumation. Peridotite caught within mantle wedges above oceanic subduction zones will tend to recrystallize and be contaminated by fluids derived from the subducting oceanic crust. These ‘subduction zone peridotites’ intrude during the subsequent subduction of continental crust. Low-pressure protoliths introduced at shallow (serpentinite, plagioclase peridotite) and intermediate (spinel peridotite) mantle depths (20–50 km) may be carried to deeper levels within the host slab and undergo high-pressure metamorphism along with the enclosing rocks. If subducted deeply enough, the peridotites will develop garnet-bearing assemblages that are isofacial with, and give the same recrystallization ages as, the eclogite facies country rocks. Peridotites introduced at deeper levels (50–120 km) may already contain garnet when they intrude and will not necessarily be isofacial or isochronous with the enclosing crustal rocks. Some garnet peridotites recrystallize from spinel peridotite precursors at very high temperatures (c. 1200 °C) and may derive ultimately from the asthenosphere. Other peridotites are from old (〉1 Ga), cold (c. 850 °C), subcontinental mantle (‘relict peridotites’) and seem to require the development of major intra-cratonic faults to effect their intrusion.

Notes: Ductilely deformed veins consisting of quartz+andalusite, in which the andalusite is partially replaced by fibrous sillimanite, locally occur in garnet–sillimanite schist near a margin of the Niğde metamorphic core complex in south-central Turkey. Mineral assemblages, reaction textures and structural features of the veins record low-pressure–high-temperature deformation during exhumation of mid-crustal rocks. The partial replacement of andalusite by sillimanite may indicate a late-stage increase in temperature and/or fluid pressure, possibly related to Miocene magmatism, during extensional unroofing of the core complex. Aluminosilicate-bearing veins are observed at the eastern margin of the massif where metapelitic rocks were deformed during unroofing of the core complex. Veins formed in aluminous rocks where deformation-enhanced permeability allowed fluid flow during extensional shear. The cm-scale veins are typically boudinaged and form asymmetric lenses concordant with the host rock foliation and are parallel to the down-dip lineation defined by sillimanite and stretched biotite. Aluminosilicate-bearing boudins record top-to-the-east shear sense, which is compatible with the extensional shear sense displayed by structures in the host rock.

Notes: Garnet glaucophanite and greenschist facies assemblages were formed by the recrystallization of barroisite-bearing eclogite facies metabasites in northern New Caledonia. The mineralogical evolution can be modelled by calculated P–T and P–XH2O diagrams for appropriate bulk rock compositions in the model system CaO–Na2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O. The eclogites, having developed in a clockwise P–T path that reached P≈19 kbar and T ≈590 °C, underwent decompression with the consumption of free H2O as the volume of hydrous minerals increased. Eclogite is preserved in domains that experienced no fluid influx following the loss of this fluid. Garnet glaucophanite formed at P≈16 kbar during semi-pervasive fluid influx. Fluid influx, after further isothermal decompression, was focused in shear zones, and resulted in chlorite–albite-bearing greenschist facies mineral assemblages that reflect P≈9 kbar.

Notes: Known eclogite occurrences in the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt of SW Japan are dominantly in metagabbro bodies which have complex polyphase metamorphic histories. These bodies are generally described as tectonic blocks and their relationship to the Sanbagawa metamorphism is unclear. New findings of foliated eclogite in the Seba and Kotsu areas show that eclogite facies metamorphism is much more widespread than generally thought. Evidence that the foliated eclogite units originated as lavas or sediments implies that these units can be treated as a high-grade part of the subduction-related Sanbagawa metamorphism. Although separated by an along-strike distance of 80 km, the Seba and Kotsu eclogites have very similar garnet and omphacite compositions, suggesting that they were formed under similar metamorphic conditions. However, differences in the associated retrograde assemblages (epidote–amphibolite in the Seba unit and epidote–blueschist in the Kotsu unit) suggest contrasting P–T  paths. In both units, the eclogite rocks occupy the highest structural level of the Sanbagawa belt and overlie rocks metamorphosed at lower pressure. The lower boundary to the eclogite units is therefore a major tectonic discontinuity locally decorated with lenses of exotic material. These features can help trace the boundary into other areas. The previously known outcrops of eclogite show enough similarities with the newly found areas to suggest that all the eclogite facies rocks in the Sanbagawa belt constitute a single nappe that lies at the highest structural levels of the orogen.

Notes: Mineral equilibria calculations in the system K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 (KFMASHTO) using thermocalc and its internally consistent thermodynamic dataset constrain the effect of TiO2 and Fe2O3 on greenschist and amphibolite facies mineral equilibria in metapelites. The end-member data and activity–composition relationships for biotite and chloritoid, calibrated with natural rock data, and activity–composition data for garnet, calibrated using experimental data, provide new constraints on the effects of TiO2 and Fe2O3 on the stability of these minerals. Thermodynamic models for ilmenite–hematite and magnetite–ulvospinel solid solutions accounting for order–disorder in these phases allow the distribution of TiO2 and Fe2O3 between oxide minerals and silicate minerals to be calculated. The calculations indicate that small to moderate amounts of TiO2 and Fe2O3 in typical metapelitic bulk compositions have little effect on silicate mineral equilibria in metapelites at greenschist to amphibolite facies, compared with those calculated in KFMASH. The addition of large amounts of TiO2 to typical pelitic bulk compositions has little effect on the stability of silicate assemblages; in contrast, rocks rich in Fe2O3 develop a markedly different metamorphic succession from that of common Barrovian sequences. In particular, Fe2O3-rich metapelites show a marked reduction in the stability fields of staurolite and garnet to higher pressures, in comparison to those predicted by KFMASH grids.

Notes: A detailed investigation of the compositional variation in garnet has been undertaken in a garnet–pyroxene-bearing granulite from the high-grade Gföhl Unit, Moldanubian Zone, Lower Austria. Textural observations, together with the interpretation of the preserved garnet chemistry, enables the recognition of both prograde core and peak metamorphic garnet mantle growth stages, an extremely rare feature in high-P–T  granulite facies rocks. Initial thermobarometric calculations undertaken across whole garnet zoning profiles show how correct interpretation of a zoning profile is essential if the maximum peak metamorphic P–T  conditions are to be recovered. The effect of retrograde decompression- and cooling-driven reactions on inclusion and host garnet compositions has also been assessed. The results indicate that caution should be exercised when utilizing inclusion and adjacent garnet compositions for the thermobarometric evaluation of peak metamorphic equilibration conditions. Peak P–T conditions were determined by the TWEEQU thermobarometric method, utilizing the core compositions of matrix phases combined with the interpreted high-P–T  garnet mantle composition, to give 15.6 kbar and 1090 °C, consistent with previously determined results for Moldanubian granulites. Similar high-P–T estimates are also provided by a re-evaluation of previously published results for a granulite sample from the same lithological unit, using a modified interpretation of garnet and plagioclase compositional data. The new estimates presented confirm the previously disputed idea that the Gföhl Unit underwent a high-pressure granulite facies stage and is therefore distinctly different from the underlying tectonostratigraphic units. It is emphasized that any interpretation of the peak metamorphic conditions in high-grade rocks must be based on detailed petrographic observations combined with a thorough understanding of the co-existing equilibrium mineral compositions.

Notes: The Barro Alto complex, central Brazil, is a layered mafic–ultramafic intrusion, which was subjected to granulite facies metamorphism during the Neoproterozoic. Ultra-high-temperature conditions are recorded by parageneses that occur in some lenses of quartz-bearing rock (metagranite, metapelite and impure quartzite). The peak paragenesis consists of spinel+quartz±cordierite±leucosome (recording the former presence of melt with quartz in excess), which is replaced by either orthopyroxene+sillimanite or garnet+sillimanite. Quartz+biotite±sillimanite±garnet symplectites are ubiquitous and indicate reactions between Fe–Mg phases and melt. Late kyanite porphyroblasts have overgrown these symplectites. The direct replacement of spinel+quartz±cordierite by orthopyroxene+sillimanite or garnet+sillimanite occurred around the [Sa] invariant point, which appears only in a petrogenetic grid with inverted topology. The topology inversion occurs at conditions of high oxygen fugacity or due to the presence of ZnO-bearing spinel. Minimum peak conditions of ultra-high-temperature metamorphism were calculated as c. 980 °C and c. 7.9 kbar. The succession of observed mineral textures can be explained by a near-isobaric cooling P–T  path, with a cooling stage occurring between c. 980 and 750 °C.

Notes: Exposed cross-sections of the continental crust are a unique geological situation for crustal evolution studies, providing the possibility of deciphering the time relationships between magmatic and metamorphic events at all levels of the crust. In the cross-section of southern and northern Calabria, U–Pb, Rb–Sr and K–Ar mineral ages of granulite facies metapelitic migmatites, peraluminous granites and amphibolite facies upper crustal gneisses provide constraints on the late-Hercynian peak metamorphism and granitoid magmatism as well as on the post-metamorphic cooling. Monazite from upper crustal amphibolite facies paragneisses from southern Calabria yields similar U–Pb ages (295–293±4 Ma) to those of granulite facies metamorphism in the lower crust and of intrusions of calcalkaline and metaluminous granitoids in the middle crust (300±10 Ma). Monazite and xenotime from peraluminous granites in the middle to upper crust of the same crustal section provide slightly older intrusion ages of 303–302±0.6 Ma. Zircon from a mafic to intermediate sill in the lower crust yields a lower concordia intercept age of 290±2 Ma, which may be interpreted as the minimum age for metamorphism or intrusion. U–Pb monazite ages from granulite facies migmatites and peraluminous granites of the lower and middle crust from northern Calabria (Sila) also point to a near-synchronism of peak metamorphism and intrusion at 304–300±0.4 Ma. At the end of the granulite facies metamorphism, the lower crustal rocks were uplifted into mid-crustal levels (10–15 km) followed by nearly isobaric slow cooling (c. 3 °C Ma−1) as indicated by muscovite and biotite K–Ar and Rb–Sr data between 210±4 and 123±1 Ma. The thermal history is therefore similar to that of the lower crust of southern Calabria. In combination with previous petrological studies addressing metamorphic textures and P–T  conditions of rocks from all crustal levels, the new geochronological results are used to suggest that the thermal evolution and heat distribution in the Calabrian crust were mainly controlled by advective heat input through magmatic intrusions into all crustal levels during the late-Hercynian orogeny.

Notes: P–T  paths based on parageneses in the immediate vicinity of former high-temperature contact zones between mantle peridotites and granulitic country rocks of the Central Vosges (NE France) were derived by applying several conventional thermometers and thermobarometric calculations with an internally consistent dataset. The results indicate that former garnet peridotites and garnet–spinel peridotites were welded together with crustal rocks at depths corresponding to 1–1.2 GPa. The temperature of the crustal rocks was about 650–700 °C at this stage, whereas values of 1100 °C (garnet peridotites) and 800–900 °C (garnet–spinel peridotites) were calculated for the ultramafic rocks. After emplacement of the mantle rocks, exhumation of the lower crust took place to a depth corresponding to 0.2–0.3 GPa. The temperatures of the incorporated peridotite slices were still high (900–1000 °C) at this stage. This is indicated by the presence of high-T /low-P parageneses (c. 800 °C, 0.2–0.3 GPa) in a small (1–10 m) contact aureole around a former garnet peridotite. Crustal rocks distant to the peridotites equilibrated in the same pressure range at lower temperature (650–700 °C). High cooling rates (102–103 °C Ma−1) were calculated for a garnet–biotite rock inclusion in the peridotites and for the crustal rocks at the contact by applying garnet–biotite diffusion modelling. Minimum rates of 0.75–7.5 cm a−1 are required for vertical ascent of rock units (30 km vertical distance) derived from the crust–mantle boundary, resulting in a late Variscan (340 Ma) high-T /low-P event.

Notes: The Raobazhai ultramafic body of the North Dabie Complex is re-interpreted as a mantle-derived peridotitic slice enclosed in, and isofacially metamorphosed with, surrounding granulite-to-amphibolite facies gneisses. The ultramafic sheet consists mainly of metaharzburgite, but includes subunits of metadunite and mylonitic lherzolite. The rocks contain spinel but neither garnet nor plagioclase. However, in the mylonitic lherzolite, fine-grained intergrowths of spinel, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene outline domains resembling the habit of garnet in two dimensions; broad-beam microprobe analyses imply pseudomorphs after a pyropic garnet precursor. The mineral assemblage of the metadunite and metaharzburgite is: olivine (Fo92)+orthopyroxene (En92)+tremolitic-to-magnesiohornblende+Mg–Al-chromite, indicating amphibolite facies recrystallization. The mineral assemblage of the mylonitic lherzolite is: olivine (Fo90)+orthopyroxene (En90)+clinopyroxene+Cr-bearing spinel+pargasitic amphibole, indicative of granulite-to-amphibolite facies metamorphism. Phase equilibria and geothermometric estimations show that the Raobazhai meta-ultramafics have undergone at least three stages of recrystallization: (I) 950–990 °C, (II) 750–860 °C, and (III) 670–720 °C, assuming equilibrium in the spinel peridotite stability field (c. 6–15 kbar), although an early, high-pressure stage (≥18 kbar) is probable, based on the inferred garnet pseudomorphs. Petrochemical and geothermobarometric data suggest that the ultramafic slice represents a fragment of the mantle wedge, tectonically incorporated into subducted continental crust and re-equilibrated at granulite-to-amphibolite facies conditions while being exhumed to shallow levels.

Notes: 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 εNd(t) values (−6 to −9) and low δ18O 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.

Notes: We report the field, petrographic and mineral chemical characteristics of relict super-silicic (=majoritic) garnet microstructures from the Otrøy peridotites in the Western Gneiss Region, Norway. The evidence for the former existence of super-silicic garnet consists of two-pyroxene exsolution microstructures from garnet. Estimates of the initial composition of the super-silicic garnet imply pressures of 6–6.5 GPa, indicating that the Otrøy garnet peridotites were derived from depths 〉185 km. The garnet peridotites consist of inter-banded variable compositions with c. 50% garnet peridotite and 50% garnet-free peridotite. Two distinct garnet types were identified: (a) normal matrix garnet, grain-size ≤4 mm, and (b) large isolated single garnet crystals and/or (polycrystalline) garnet nodules up to 10 cm in size. Large garnet nodules occur only within limited bands within the garnet peridotites. The relicts of super-silicic garnet were exclusively found in some (not all) of the larger garnet nodules. Petrographic observations revealed that the microstructure of nodular garnet consists of the following four characteristic elements. (1) Individual garnet nodules are polycrystalline, with grain sizes of 2–8 mm. Garnet grain boundaries are straight with well-defined triple junctions. (2) Some garnet triple junctions and garnet grain boundaries are decorated by interstitial orthopyroxene. (3) Cores of larger polycrystalline garnet contain two-pyroxene exsolution microstructures. (4) Precipitation-free rims (2 mm thick) surround garnet cores containing the exsolved pyroxene microstructure. Pyroxene exsolution from super-silicic garnet was subsequently followed by brittle–ductile deformation of garnet. Both exsolved pyroxene needles and laths become undulous or truncated by fractures. Simultaneous garnet plasticity is indicated by the occurrence of high densities of naturally decorated dislocations. Transmission electron microscopy observations indicate that decoration is due to Ti-oxide precipitation. Estimates of the P–T  conditions for mineral chemical equilibration were obtained from geothermobarometry. The mineral compositions equilibrated at mantle conditions around 805±40 °C and 3.2±0.2 GPa. These P–T  estimates correspond to cold continental lithosphere conditions at depths of around 105 km. From a combination of both depth estimates it can be concluded that the microstructural memory of the rock extends backwards to twice as great a depth range as obtained by thermobarometric methods. Available geochronological and geochemical data of Norwegian garnet peridotites suggest a multi-stage, multi-orogenic exhumation history.

Notes: The Mary granite, in the East Athabasca mylonite triangle, northern Saskatchewan, provides an example and a model for the development of non-migmatitic gneissic texture. Gneissic compositional layering developed through the simultaneous evolution of three microdomains corresponding to original plagioclase, orthopyroxene and matrix in the igneous rocks. Plagioclase phenocrysts were progressively deformed and recrystallized, first into core and mantle structures, and ultimately into plagioclase-rich layers or ribbons. Garnet preferentially developed in the outer portions of recrystallized mantles, and, with further deformation, produced garnet-rich sub-layers within the plagioclase-rich gneissic domains. Orthopyroxene was replaced by clinopyroxene and garnet (and hornblende if sufficient water was present), which were, in turn, drawn into layers with new garnet growth along the boundaries. The igneous matrix evolved through a number of transient fabric stages involving S-C fabrics, S-C-C′ fabrics, and ultramylonitic domains. In addition, quartz veins were emplaced and subsequently deformed into quartz-rich gneissic layers. Moderate to highly strained samples display extreme mineralogical (compositional) segregation, yet most domains can be directly related to the original igneous precursors. The Mary granite was emplaced at approximately 900 °C and 1.0 GPa and was metamorphosed at approximately 750 °C and 1.0 GPa. The igneous rocks crystallized in the medium-pressure granulite field (Opx–Pl) but were metamorphosed on cooling into the high-pressure (Grt–Cpx–Pl) granulite field. The compositional segregation resulted from a dynamic, mutually reinforcing interaction between deformation, metamorphic and igneous processes in the deep crust. The production of gneissic texture by processes such as these may be the inevitable result of isobaric cooling of igneous rocks within a tectonically active deep crust.

Notes: Abstract. In organic farming, potassium (K) deficiency may become a significant problem due to nutrient import restrictions. Knowledge about potential K leaching in systems with different K budgets is therefore important for effective agricultural management. We investigated the effect of four organic farming systems (two livestock densities in combination with two types of organic manure) on crop yields, K leaching and K balances in a six course crop rotation from 1993/94 to 1997/98. Average K concentrations in soil water extracted by means of ceramic suction cups at 1 m depth were 0.6 mg K l−1 corresponding to a K leaching loss of 1.5 kg ha−1 yr−1 which was less than expected from values reported in the literature. Variation in K budgets from −12 to +30 kg ha−1 yr−1 did not affect K leaching. In an additional experiment with application of 988 kg K ha−1 as KCl, K leaching accounted for only 0.2% of the applied K although 40% of the accompanying Cl was leached. The main part of the applied K was retained in the topsoil. It was concluded that K leaching was a result of the fertilizer history rather than of the current K budget.

Notes: Abstract. Nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N) leaching from animal production systems in the northeast USA is a major non-point source of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. We conducted a study to measure NO3-N leaching from dairy slurry applied to orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L., cv. Pennlate) using large drainage lysimeters to measure the direct impact of four rates of slurry (urine and faeces) N application (0, 168, 336, 672 kg N ha−1 yr−1) on NO3-N leaching on three soil types. We then used experimentally-based relationships developed earlier between stocking density and NO3-N leaching loss and leachate NO3-N concentration to estimate the added impact of animal grazing. Nitrate N leaching losses from only dairy slurry applied at the 0, 158, 336, and 672 kg N ha−1 yr−1 rates were 5.85, 8.26, 8.83, and 12.1 kg N ha−1 yr−1, respectively with corresponding NO3-N concentrations of 1.60, 2.30, 2.46, and 3.48 mg l−1. These NO3-N concentrations met the 10 mg l−1 US EPA drinking water standard. However, when a scenario was constructed to include the effect of NO3-N leaching caused by animal grazing, the NO3-N drinking water standard was calculated to be exceeded.

Notes: Abstract. The African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is relatively well adapted to the pedoclimatic conditions of central Amazonia. The clayey upland soils of the region are well supplied with nitrogen, although they are deficient in most other nutrients. Under these conditions, oil palm does not respond to N fertilization with yield increases. In this research, the N status of a central Amazonian upland soil was evaluated after having supported a productive oil palm plantation for 15 years without N fertilization. Mineral N in the upper 2 m of soil showed pronounced spatial patterns, with very low concentrations close to the palms, indicative of efficient N uptake by the palms, and evidence for nitrate leaching into the subsoil in the inter-tree spaces despite the near-absence of a leguminous cover crop during the previous ten years. The pronounced increases of mineral N with increasing tree distance were explained by increases in N mineralization and a strong decrease in fine root length density of the palms, especially in the subsoil. Failure of the palms to fully occupy the available soil volume with their roots was apparently related to fertilizer placement close to the stem base, which over the years had led to steep fertility gradients between the soil under the trees and the inter-tree spaces. Broadcast fertilization would have presumably favoured a more extensive lateral root development of the palms, and consequently improved nutrient and water uptake from the inter-tree spaces. The incomplete soil occupation by the palm roots also suggests that young oil palms can be associated with shade tolerant crops without much risk of root competition. These conclusions may be valid also for other tree crops and may help to reduce nitrate leaching and consequently the need for N fertilization in Amazonian tree crop agriculture.

Notes: Abstract. Four experiments studying ground preparation for the restoration of disturbed land to a woodland cover are described. They provide consistent evidence to suggest that methods of soil replacement which minimize compaction are preferable to conventional methods followed by deep ripping to relieve compaction induced in the placement operation. In addition, soil loosening using an excavator is more effective than that achieved by ripping. The research supports modern guidance which advocates ‘loose tipping’ as the best method of ground preparation for a woodland or forestry after-use on sites reclaimed after dereliction or mineral extraction.

Notes: Abstract. Denitrifying enzyme activity (DEA) declined to a greater extent and was more variable in soils stored air-dried for 6 months than after storage at 4 °C. DEA was greatest in fertilized soils. The relative differences in DEA between soils were maintained after storage at 4 °C. We suggest that storage at 4 °C is more appropriate than air-drying.

Notes: Book reviewed in this articles: Agriculture, Fertilizers and the Environment. Edited by M. Lægreid, O. C. Bøckman and O. Kaarstad. Ramiran 98. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference of the FAO European System of Co-operative Research Networks in Agriculture (ESCORNENA) on Management Strategies for Organic Waste Use in Agriculture. Edited by J. Martinéz & M.-N. Maudet.

Notes: Abstract. The incidence of soil water erosion was monitored in 12 erosion-susceptible arable catchments (c. 80 fields) in England and Wales between 1990 and 1994. Factors associated with the initiation of erosion were recorded, and the extent of rills and gullies measured. Approximately 80% of the erosion events were on land cropped to winter cereals. In 30% of cases, the initiation of erosion was linked to valley floor features, which concentrated runoff. Poor crop cover, wheelings and tramlines were also assessed as contributory factors in 22%, 19% and 14% of cases, respectively. In c. 95% of cases rainfall events causing erosion were ≥10 mm day−1 and c. 80% were 〉15 mm day−1. Erosion was also associated with maximum rainfall intensities of 〉4 mm h−1 for c. 90% of cases and 〉10 mm h−1 for c. 20%. Mean net soil erosion rates were approximately 4 t ha−1 per annum (median value 0.41 t ha−1 per annum) and associated mean P losses 3.4 kg ha−1.

Notes: Abstract. A study of the leaching losses of nitrate under urine patches in irrigated and non-irrigated dairy pastures in the South East of South Australia was undertaken with repacked and monolith lysimeters 1 m deep, and with monolith lysimeters 150, 300 and 450 mm deep. The aim was to quantify differences in measurements of drainage and nitrogen fluxes for these different lysimeters. Drainage of water and N flux were found to vary significantly between types and depths of lysimeters. Drainage volumes in repacked lysimeters were 78% and 33% more than in monolith lysimeters in irrigated and non-irrigated paddocks, and N fluxes were 5 and 3 times higher in repacked lysimeters respectively. The results indicate that lysimeter estimates of recharge rates and N fluxes to water tables are best determined by leaching studies which are longer term, and use deep monolith lysimeters. Shorter term studies and the use of shallow or repacked lysimeters have potential to distort conclusions.

Notes: Abstract. Under the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union is committed to an 8% reduction in CO2 emissions, compared to baseline (1990) levels, during the first commitment period (2008–2012). However, within the overall EU agreement, the UK is committed to a 12.5% reduction. In this paper, we estimate the carbon mitigation potential of various agricultural land-management strategies (Kyoto Article 3.4) and examine the consequences of UK and European policy options on the potential for carbon mitigation.We show that integrated agricultural land management strategies have considerable potential for carbon mitigation. Our figures suggest the following potentials (Tg yr−1) for each scenario: animal manure, 3.7; sewage sludge, 0.3; cereal straw incorporation, 1.9; no-till farming, 3.5; agricultural extensification, 3.3; natural woodland regeneration, 3.2 and bioenergy crop production, 4.1. A realistic land-use scenario combining a number of these individual management options has a mitigation potential of 10.4 Tg C yr−1 (equivalent to about 6.6% of 1990 UK CO2-carbon emissions). An important resource for carbon mitigation in agriculture is the surplus arable land, but in order to fully exploit it, policies governing the use of surplus arable land would need to be changed. Of all options examined, bioenergy crops show the greatest potential. Bioenergy crop production also shows an indefinite mitigation potential compared to other options where the potential is infinite.The UK will not attempt to meet its climate change commitments solely through changes in agricultural land-use, but since all sources of carbon mitigation will be important in meeting these commitments, agricultural options should be taken very seriously.

Notes: Abstract. A method to predict field-saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs) from soil structure, as described in soil profile descriptions, was developed using 627 Kfs measurements. As the soil structure classes used are very similar to an international classification (FAO, 1990), the derived relationships (class pedotransfer functions) could be widely applicable. A total of 49 unique combinations of primary and secondary structures were identified but the relationship between these structures and Kfs was poor. However, this relationship became clearer when the structures were grouped according to both the ped size and ped orientation. It improved further with the removal of data from horizons with significant amounts of vertically orientated angular stones or very coarse roots. Soils with vertically orientated peds larger than 50 mm had a geometric mean conductivity of 0.33 cm day−1 while those with fractures in both the horizontal and vertical planes had a geometric mean conductivity of 4.1 cm day−1. Soils with peds between 20 and 50 mm had a geometric mean conductivity of 17.9 cm day−1 and those with peds 〈20 mm had a geometric mean conductivity of 53.0 cm day−1. Those soils with only horizontally orientated structures proved to be anomalous in that the conductivity increased as ped size increased.

Notes: Abstract. Bacterial contamination of water is a problem worldwide and is often acute in developing countries where human and animal waste is disposed of on land for use as fertilizer or because of poorly developed sanitation systems. Studying leaching risk through soils is difficult when no suitable microbiological laboratory is available. A method using the movement of ZnO particles through soils as a surrogate for studying bacteria directly was tested. ZnO particles with a similar size to bacteria can readily be detected by chemical analysis. For a range of nine different soil textures, leaching rates of ZnO particles under near saturated conditions were significantly correlated with leaching rates of Escherichia coli cells (P=0.013). For both ZnO and E. coli, leaching was generally greatest through fine textured soils.

Notes: Book reviewed in this articles: Soil Microbiology. Second edition 2000. By Robert L. Tate

Notes: Abstract. The effect of drought between summer 1995 and 1997 on stream and river nitrate concentrations was investigated using sites close to the long-running meteorological station in Oxford, UK. Nitrate concentrations in the River Windrush were relatively low during the drought, but after it had ended reached the highest level since records began in 1973. The low concentrations during the drought probably reflect a reduced contribution from agricultural runoff. High nitrate concentrations were found in a field drain at Wytham Environmental Change Network site during and after the drought, but discharge was greatly reduced. A woodland stream at Wytham had much lower nitrate concentrations than the field drain but these similarly increased during and after the drought. There was evidence that both a concentrating effect of low water volumes and enhanced soil nitrogen mineralization and nitrification rates were causing concentrations to rise. The effects of mineralization and nitrification were more important in woodland than agricultural land. Nitrate load over the course of a year was determined largely by discharge, but steeper gradients for the relationship between cumulative load and cumulative discharge were seen during and after the drought than before, reflecting the higher concentrations.

Notes: Abstract. A survey was undertaken in 1996, by postal questionnaire sent to a stratified sample of 1500 pig producers in England and Wales; 576 (37%) responded. The survey provided data on manure production, manure storage and application strategies (timing, techniques and nutrient recycling to crops).Total pig manure production, in England and Wales is estimated to be at about 10.03 m t per year, with about 45% as slurry and 55% as FYM, according to this survey, where calculations have been based on undiluted outputs of excreta. About 45% of slurry is stored in above-ground tanks or earth-banked lagoons. Above-ground tanks most commonly held an amount of slurry equivalent to 3–6 months production, but earth-banked lagoons were more variable in capacity and over 20% could hold more than 9 months production of slurry.Annual statistics on fertilizer use indicate that farmers make little allowance for the nutrient content of manures. However, the results of this survey suggest that farmers generally make a genuine effort to allow for the nutrients applied, but that they currently fail to be assured by the advice available to them or their confidence is lacking for other technical reasons. Autumn represents the peak period for spreading, with 30% of slurry and 50% of FYM applied at that time.

Notes: Book reviewed in this articles: Pollution by heavy metals in the soil - plant system. By Chen Huaiman et al.

Notes: Book reviewed in this articles: Managing Risks of Nitrates to Humans and the Environment Edited by W.S. Wilson, A.S. Ball and R.H. Hinton

Notes: Abstract. Land disposal of sewage sludge in the UK is set to increase markedly in the next few years and much of this will be applied to grassland. Here we applied high rates of digested sludge cake (1–1.5×103 kg total N ha−1) to grassland and incorporated it prior to reseeding. Using automated chambers, nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes from the soil were monitored 2–4 times per day, for 6 months after sludge incorporation. Peaks of N2O emission were up to 1.4 kg N ha−1 d−1 soon after incorporation, and thereafter were regularly detected following significant rainfalls. Gas emissions reflected diurnal temperature variations, though N2O emissions were also strongly affected by rainfall. Although emissions decreased in the winter, temperatures below 4 °C stimulated short, sharp fluxes of both CO2 and N2O as temperature increased. The aggregate loss of nitrogen and carbon over the measurement period was up to 23 kg N ha−1 and 5.1 t C ha−1. Losses of N2O in the sludge-amended soil were associated with good microbial conditions for N mineralization, and with high carbon and water contents. Since grassland is an important source of greenhouse gases, application of sewage sludge can be at least as significant as fertilizer in enhancing these emissions.

Notes: Abstract. Research conducted in the MAFF Nitrate Programme has been used to formulate new and improved guidelines on the efficient use of manure nitrogen (N). In order to reduce nitrate leaching losses, manures containing large amounts of available N (i.e. slurries and poultry manures) should not be applied to free-draining soils in the period from autumn to early winter. Also, for efficient nutrient utilization manure application rates should be consistent with agronomic requirements (up to 250 kg total N ha−1 yr−1). Existing farm machinery was shown to be capable of applying manures evenly to grassland and arable stubbles, but required an accurate estimate of application rate and the careful matching of spreading widths. To provide growers with detailed guidance on the fertilizer N replacement value of manures the computer-based decision support system MANNER (MANure Nitrogen Evaluation Routine) has been developed. The much improved understanding of manure N losses and availability has been summarized in a series of ‘Managing Livestock Manures’ booklets, the MAFF Fertilizer Recommendation booklet and the Codes of Good Agricultural Practice.

Notes: Abstract. The large input of research effort on aspects of nitrate leaching over the last two decades has produced many innovative scientific and practical results. The MAFF Nitrate Programme has enabled considerable progress to be made in unravelling much of the complexity of the grassland nitrogen (N) cycle, and identifying gaps as essential first stages in providing improved managements for N in grassland systems. From a practical standpoint, there have been key outputs which have allowed the identification of options for policy, and which should allow grassland farmers to increase the efficiency of N use throughout their farming system and thereby improve the sustainability of their enterprises. As well as quantifying N transformations, transfers and losses, other important outcomes have been the development of user-friendly models of N cycling (NCYCLE and variants) and an easy to use field kit to determine mineral N in pasture soils. The use of modelling to produce fertilizer recommendations with a Decision Support System and of new approaches developed within the Programme, in particular system synthesis desk studies, and ‘farmlet’ investigations to determine the consequences of modifying N flows and losses, have allowed us to produce solutions to satisfy the dual aims of meeting environmental and economic production targets.

Notes: Abstract. The MAFF Nitrate Programme has provided policy makers and the agricultural industry with a much improved understanding of soil nitrogen cycling, and the cost-effectiveness of a range of nitrate reduction strategies. This understanding has been disseminated as improved economically-based advice on fertilizer N inputs to arable and grass crops, and information on the N value of livestock manures as affected by timing and method of application. In addition, strategies for reducing nitrate losses have been developed, including the use of over-winter cover crops, the management of cultivations and crop residues, and the conversion of arable land to low-input grassland.A wide variety of information dissemination methods have been used, including face-to-face discussions, demonstrations, articles in the farming press, booklets aimed at farmers, technical information for advisers and consultants, recommendation reference books and computer-based fertilizer recommendation systems.

Notes: Abstract. A number of changes in agricultural land-management show some potential as carbon mitigation options. However, research has focused on CO2-carbon mitigation and has largely ignored potential effects of land management change on trace gas fluxes. In this paper, we attempt for the first time, to assess the impact of these changes on fluxes of the important agricultural greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide, in the UK.The estimates presented here are based on limited evidence and have a great (unquantifiable) uncertainty associated with them, but they show that the relative importance of trace gas fluxes varies enormously among the scenarlos. In some, such as the application of sewage sludge, woodland regeneration and bioenergy production scenarios, the inclusion of estimates for trace gas fluxes makes only a small (〈10%) difference to the CO2-C mitigation potential. In the animal manure and agricultural extensification scenarios, including estimates of trace gas fluxes has a large impact, increasing the CO2-C mitigation potential by up to 50%. In the no-till scenario, the carbon mitigation potential decreases significantly due to a sharp increase in N2O emissions under no-till.When these land-management options are combined for the whole agricultural land area of the UK, including trace gases has an impact on estimated mitigation potentials, and depending upon assumptions for the animal manure scenario, the total mitigation potential either decreases by about 10% or increases by about 30%, potentially shifting the mitigation potential of the scenario closer to the EU's 8% Kyoto target for reduction of CO2-carbon emissions (12.52 Tg C yr−1 for the UK).

Notes: Book reviewed in this articles: Review of Soil Research and Management in Papua New Guinea. Special issue of Papua New Guinea Journal of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 1998.

Notes: Abstract. In cracking clay soils the movement of water and solutes is greatly influenced by the arrangement of cracks and aggregates in the soil profile. It is essential that a model to simulate leaching from clay soils takes into account the routes of water movement and the interaction between water in the macropores and the soil aggregates. This paper describes modification of the CRACK model, which includes an explicit description of the structure of an aggregated clay soil and can simulate the movement of water and solutes, to create CRACK-NP, which incorporates nitrogen transformations and pesticide sorption and degradation. The application of the model to data from the Brimstone Farm experimental site in Oxfordshire, UK, is described. Results show that the model provides good simulations of both nitrate and pesticide leaching at the site but further testing is required to evaluate its performance over a wider range of hydrological conditions at this and other sites.

Notes: Abstract. A number of mathematical models to predict soil water evaporation are available in the literature which generally require complex input data. In the present study, a simple parametric model has been developed by coupling existing and newly developed equations to assess soil water evaporation and drainage under field conditions in relation to potential evaporation rate, soil texture, time and depth of tillage and crop residue management. The model has moderate input data requirements and predicts well the effects of tillage and crop residue management practices on soil water loss (evaporation+drainage) with multi-drying and -wetting cycles prevailing under natural conditions. The root mean squares of deviations between observed and predicted cumulative water loss at different periods of study were 0.82, 2.04, 2.31 and 1.74 cm for untreated, residue-mulch, tillage and residue-incorporated treatments, respectively. Simulation analysis on cumulative evaporation and evaporation rate has shown that the evaporation reduction with different combinations of tillage and crop residue followed the order of residue-undercut〉residue-mulch〉residue-incorporated〉tillage. Thus, the magnitude of beneficial effects of crop residues and tillage on soil water evaporation reduction are associated with amount of residues, mode of residue management (mulched or incorporated in the soil) and time and depth of tillage.

Notes: Abstract. A pilot-scale test confirmed that malodorous air containing 600 mg l−1 ammonia can be passed through a soil filter with 98.5% removal efficiency. Furthermore, the concentrations of methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide, actaldehyde, and trimethyl amine were also significantly reduced using soil as a filter. The tests provide technical information for planning of industrial-scale soil filters: linear velocity, bed depth, properties of soil, reliability, and effects of soil deodorization on various types of odorous substances. It is concluded that the soil can be an effective filter to remove noxious and malodorous gases derived from industrial processes.

Notes: Abstract. An equation is developed to permit temperature correction (to some chosen reference temperature) for field-based soil columns that measure the depletion of nitrate in the water column above a soil layer where denitrification occurs. The derivation is based on the assumption that the overall nitrate depletion is diffusion controlled by the nitrate flux from the water column into the soil and the soil denitrification obeys Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The expression is tested on results from a large soil column maintained in a greenhouse where natural temperature cycling occurred.

Notes: Abstract. Nitrate leaching was measured over the eight drainage seasons spanning the nine years from 1990–1998 on the 157-year old Broadbalk Experiment at Rothamsted, UK. The weather pattern of two dry, three wet and three dry years was the dominant factor controlling nitrogen (N) loss. Both the concentration of nitrate in the drainage waters and the amount of N leached increased with the amount of N applied, mostly because of long-term, differential increases in soil organic matter and mineralization. On average, losses of N by leaching were 30 kg ha−1yr−1 when no more than the optimum N application was applied and were typical of amounts leached from arable land in the UK. Losses increased significantly in both amounts and as the percentage of N applied for supra-optimal applications of N and from autumn-applied farmyard manure (FYM). Extra spring-applied fertilizer was very effective at increasing yields on plots given FYM in the autumn but at the expense of leaching losses three times those from optimum fertilizer N applications. Losses increased after potatoes because they left significant amounts of mineral N in the soil, and decreased after forage maize because it used applied N more effectively. Losses measured 120 years ago from identical treatments were 74% greater than current losses because of today's larger yields and more efficient varieties and management practices. Average concentrations of nitrate in drainage waters did not exceed the EU limit of 11.3 mg NO3-N l−1 until supra-optimal amounts of N fertilizer (〉150–200 kg ha−1yr−1) were applied in spring or FYM was applied in autumn. However some drainage waters from all plots, even those that have not received fertilizer for 〉150 years, exceeded the limit when rain followed a dry summer and autumn. Nitrate leaching into waters will remain a problem for profitable arable farming in the drier parts of Eastern England and Europe despite increased N use efficiency.

Notes: Book reviewed in this articles: Modelling Soil-Biosphere Interactions. By C. Müller

Notes: Abstract. The soil sequestration components of recent estimates of the carbon mitigation potential of UK agricultural land were calculated on the basis of a percentage change to the soil carbon stock present in the soil. Recent data suggest that the carbon stock of soil in UK arable land has been overestimated, meaning that potential soil carbon sequestration rates were also overestimated. Here, we present a new estimate of the carbon stock in UK arable land, and present revised estimates for the carbon mitigation potential of UK agricultural land. The stock of soil organic carbon in UK arable land (0–30 cm) is estimated to be 562 Tg, about half of the previous estimate. Consequently, the soil carbon sequestration component of each mitigation option is reduced by about half of previously published values. Since above-ground carbon accumulation and fossil fuel carbon savings remain unchanged by these new soil carbon data, options with a significant non-soil carbon mitigation component are reduced by less than those resulting from soil carbon sequestration alone. The best single mitigation option (bioenergy crop production on surplus arable land) accounts for 3.5 Tg C yr−1, (2.2% of the UK's 1990 CO2-carbon emissions), whilst an optimal combined land-use mitigation option accounts for 6.1 Tg C yr−1 (3.9% of the UK's 1990 CO2-carbon emissions). These revised figures suggest that through manipulation of arable land, the UK could, at best, meet 49% of its contribution to the EU's overall Kyoto CO2-carbon emission reduction target (8% of 1990 emissions), and 31% of the greater target accepted by the UK (12.5%). Even these reduced estimates show a significant carbon mitigation potential for UK arable land.

Notes: Abstract. Nitrogen losses via nitrate leaching, ammonia volatilization and nitrous oxide emissions were measured from contrasting outdoor pig farming systems in a two year field study. Four 1-ha paddocks representing three outdoor pig management systems and an arable control were established on a sandy loam soil in Berkshire, UK. The pig management systems represented: (i) current commercial practice (CCP) - 25 dry sows ha−1 on arable stubble; (ii) ‘improved’ management practice (IMP) - 18 dry sows ha−1 on stubble undersown with grass, and (iii) ‘best’ management practice (BMP) 12 dry sows ha−1 on established grass. Nitrogen (N) inputs in the feed were measured and N offtakes in the pig meat estimated to calculate a nitrogen balance for each system. In the first winter, mean nitrate-N concentrations in drainage water from the CCP, IMP, BMP and arable paddocks were 28, 25, 8 and 10 mg NO3 l−1, respectively. On the BMP system, leaching losses were limited by the grass cover, but this was destroyed by the pigs before the start of the second drainage season. In the second winter, mean concentrations increased to 111, 106 and 105 mg NO3-N l−1 from the CCP, IMP and BMP systems, respectively, compared to only 32 mg NO3-N l−1 on the arable paddock. Ammonia (NH3) volatilization measurements indicated that losses from outdoor dry sows were in the region of 11 g NH3-N sow−1 day−1. Urine patches were identified as the major source of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, with N2O-N losses estimated at less than 1% of the total N excreted. The nitrogen balance calculations indicated that N inputs to all the outdoor pig systems greatly exceeded N offtakes plus N losses, with estimated N surpluses on the CCP, IMP and BMP systems after 2 years of stocking at 576, 398 and 264 kg N ha−1, respectively, compared with 27 kg N ha−1 on the arable control. These large N surpluses are likely to exacerbate nitrate leaching losses in following seasons and make a contribution to the N requirement of future crops.

Notes: Book reviewed in this articles: Cycles of Soils - Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Sulfur, Micronutrients. By F.J. Stevenson & M.A. Cole.

Notes: Abstract. A large soil block was constructed to determine the importance of preferential flow routes compared with matric flow pathways at a pasture site in mid-Devon. The sandy loam soil was well structured and uniform. The soil block measured 5 m×3 m×1 m and was instrumented with an array of 54 tensiometers, TDR wave guides and suction samplers connected to an in situ chloride analysis system. Four steady state irrigation experiments were conducted with a range of rainfall intensities. During each experiment chloride and nitrate tracers were applied and the patterns of movement were observed. Although the application of tracer was uniform and the soil was relatively homogeneous, there was large variability across the block in terms of time taken to reach the peak concentration (TPC) and the peak concentration itself. About 44 samplers operated at the greatest intensities (10–2 mm h−1) and only 35 at the smallest (1 mm h−1). No relationship was found between TPC and depth. The fastest TPC and largest concentrations were associated with the greatest rainfall intensities. Relative importance of the individual water pathways was a function of soil heterogeneity: parts of the soil block were highly active with several pathways having short TPCs and conductivities in excess of 4 m day−1 whereas other areas had longer TPCs and conductivities of 1–2 m day−1. The pattern was also dynamic, with conductivities of the pathways changing through time, though most of the faster pathways maintained their greater conductivities for more than one year.

Notes: Abstract. There is a need to develop sustainable nitrogen (N) management systems that minimize environmental losses by maximizing the use efficiency of applied fertilizers, particularly with wide-row annual crops that are often poor at utilizing N. A key approach is to match nitrogen supply with crop demand using improved methods of fertilizer application and timing. One technique is to target liquid ‘starter’ fertilizers close to the seed, or around the roots of transplants, and to omit or reduce conventional broadcast applications. This paper examines the effects of starter fertilizer combined with various rates of seedbed and/or top-dressed N on the growth and yield of bulb onion (Allium cepa L.), crisp lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), forage maize (Zea mays Bonaf.) and sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris L.). Starter fertilizer improved early growth and, in combination with reduced rates of supplementary N, gave yields comparable with higher rates of base N with each crop, except sugarbeet. The use of top-dressed N was as effective as base N in supplementing starter fertilizer and had the benefit that it allowed a top-dressing requirement to be estimated accurately using a simple nitrogen balance equation. These results, taken with earlier work, show that starter fertilizers offer clear opportunities for reducing N inputs, while maintaining yield and quality of these crops.

Notes: Abstract. This paper describes the results of laboratory-based research which investigated the losses of the herbicide, isoproturon, and a non-adsorbing solute, bromide, from topsoil aggregates under high (7 mm h−1 and low 2.7 mm h−1) intensity simulated rainfall. The structures of the micro- and macro-aggregates from a clay soil of the Denchworth Series (from Wytham, Oxfordshire, UK) were observed using a scanning electron microscope, and the slaking of the topsoil aggregates was also investigated in order to provide a context for interpreting the experimental results. The topsoil at Wytham was found to have a bimodal structure with small microaggregates of 0.71 to 1 mm diameter clustered together to form larger macroaggregates of up to several centimetres diameter. Selected aggregates were air dried and then repacked in Buchner funnels to several centimetres depth in order to remove variability in the experimental results due to the effects of surface microrelief. Under saturated surface conditions high intensity simulated rainfall was less efficient at removing both non-adsorbing and adsorbing solutes from the repacked topsoil aggregates than low intensity rainfall. The observed decrease in the concentration of isoproturon and bromide in the leachate with time could be explained by a transport non-equilibrium effect.

Notes: Abstract. There is increasing evidence that phosphorus has been accumulating in the surface horizons of agricultural soils to the extent that some soils represent a potential diffuse source of pollution to surface waters. The relationships between equilibrium phosphorus concentration at zero sorption (EPC 0) of soil and a number of soil physicochemical variables were investigated in the surface layers of arable and grassland agricultural soils sampled from the Thame catchment, England. Soil EPC0 could be predicted from an equation including soil test (Olsen) P, soil phosphate sorption index (PSI) and organic matter content (OM) (R2=0.88; P〈0.001) across a range of soil types and land use. The simple index Olsen P/PSI was found to be a good predictor of EPC0 (R2=0.77; P〈0.001) and readily desorbable (0.02 m KCl extractable) P (R2=0.73; P〈0.001) across a range of soil types under arable having soil organic matter contents of 〈10%.

Notes: Abstract. Emissions of N2O were measured from different agricultural systems in SE Scotland. N2O emissions increased temporarily after fertilization of arable crops, cultivation of bare soil, ploughing up of grassland and incorporation of arable and horticultural crop residues, but the effect was short-lived. Most of the emission occurred during the first two weeks, returning to ‘background’ levels after 30–40 days. The highest flux was from N-rich lettuce residues, 1100 g N2O-N ha−1 being emitted over the first 14 days after incorporation by rotary tillage. The magnitude and pattern of emissions was strongly influenced by rainfall, soil mineral N, cultivation technique and C∶N ratio of the residue. Comparatively large emissions were measured after incorporation of material with low C∶N ratios. Management practices are recommended that would increase N-use efficiency and reduce N2O emissions from agricultural soils.

Notes: Book reviewed in this articles: Nutrient Disequilibria in Agroecosystems Edited by E.M. Smaling, O. Oenema & L.A. Fresco

Notes: Abstract. The effects of pig slurry applications to a hydrologically isolated field treatment plant (at Solepur) were studied over a period of eight years. Thirty repeated doses, averaging 160 m3 ha−1 were applied from April to October of each year (1991–1995), to reach a total application of 4930 m3 ha−1. All slurry samples were analysed for their total solids (TS), macronutrient (C, N, P, K, Ca) and micronutrient (Cu, Zn) content. In total, 284 tonnes of total solids (57 t TS ha−1 yr−1), 115 tonnes of carbon (23 t C ha−1yr−1), 24.5 tonnes of nitrogen (4900 kg N ha−1 yr−1), 7964 kg of phosphorus (1593 kg P ha−1 yr−1), 16 518 kg of potassium (3304 kg K ha−1 yr−1), 183 kg copper (37 kg Cu ha−1 yr−1) and 266 kg zinc (53 kg Zn ha−1 yr−1) were applied to the soil. Thus, this site provides an opportunity to assess the balance and to examine the long-term behaviour of nutrients under conditions of intensive land application of pig slurries or similar effluents.The main nutrient fluxes through the soil-water system were determined for each element. Over 40% of the total carbon applied was retained by the soil. About 25% of the slurry nitrogen applied remained in the soil profile and 12.5% was leached through the drainage water as nitrate. Most of the slurry phosphorus applied was retained in the soil profile either as P-Dyer extractable (83%), or as total soil phosphorus (112%); 〈0.01% was found in the drainage water. Forty-three per cent of the potassium applied in the slurry was recovered from the soil profile and 15% was recovered in the drainage water. Most of the copper (62%) and zinc (74%) applied in the slurry remained in the soil as EDTA extractractable forms; very low percentages (0.05% and 0.6% respectively) were found in the drainage water.

Notes: Abstract. Volcanic ash soils are generally recognized as soils with excellent and stable physical properties. Here we characterized the porosity and water properties of volcanic ash Andosols and Nitisols from Guadeloupe in contrasting banana systems: (1) perennial crop without mechanization, (2) mechanized and regularly replanted crop. Desiccation from 1 kPa to 1550 kPa moisture tension leads to significant shrinkage in the Andosol, representing a 50% reduction of the void space. The clayey Nitisol exhibited limited shrinkage. Soil clods from the mechanized plots had a significantly smaller macroporosity than that from perennial plots. The soil hydraulic conductivity was also drastically reduced in the compacted layers of the mechanized plots. However, Nitisols appeared to be less affected than Andosols. Laboratory compression tests showed that both soils were susceptible to compaction at soil moisture close to field capacity. The shrinkage properties of the Andosol were due to microaggregation of non-crystalline components upon drying. The relative stability of the macroporosity in the Nitisol was probably related to the presence of stable microaggregates made of halloysite and iron oxide. Two major processes promote soil structure degradation in the Andosol under mechanized banana cropping, surface desiccation and soil compaction. They are both induced by repeated tillage after clearing.

Notes: Abstract. This paper describes a soil classification system developed for agronomists in Cambodia that has proved useful in improving soil fertility management. The classification system relies on soil characteristics that are easily identifiable in the field and have agronomic relevance. The system was used in the on-farm trial programme of the Cambodia-IRRI-Australia Project (CIAP) in 1996 and 1997 to determine whether it could adequately discriminate between soil types and improve fertility management.  Using diagnostic criteria that could be identified in the field, 11 soil groups were defined and subdivided into a further 20 phases. Soil groups were defined as units of morphologically similar soils, which occurred at the same position in the landscape. Classification of soil phases within a soil group was primarily based on soil properties that had significance for crop production, this included information gained from local experience and expertise. A modified version of the Fertility Capability Classification (Sanchez et al., 1982) was added as a third level to allow a more quantitative classification in cases where soil analytical data was available, and to facilitate the transfer of agronomically important soil information from outside Cambodia.  The soil groups adequately predicted differences in grain yields of rice grown on the different soils in on-farm trials and provided the basis for soil-specific management recommendations. Local agronomists have welcomed the system and have incorporated it into their research and extension operations.

Notes: Book reviewed in this articles: Impact of land-use change on nutrient loads fromdiffuse sources. Edited by Louise Heathwaite

Notes: Abstract. A novel agronomic system of soil classification for managing rice soils in Cambodia (CASC) was developed recently. It integrates local knowledge about the soil with its conceptual and taxonomic understanding by soil scientists. Using quantitative soil survey data we evaluated the agronomic efficacy of the classification system. Although the CASC is based on simple field criteria it explained 25 to 44% of the variation in soil prop-erties relevant for agronomic decision making. It failed, however, to differentiate soil types based on pH (6% of variances explained). Despite its simplicity it performed as well or better than the most widely used soil map in Cambodia (Crocker, 1962), and unlike this small-scale soil map it allows classification on a field-specific basis. The average values of soil properties were often significantly different between groups. Organic carbon, clay content and plant available magnesium and calcium contributed most to the discrimination of CASC soil groups. The predictive accuracy when allocating new samples on the basis of quantitative survey data to soil groups of the CASC was 50% to 100%, except for soil groups Kein Svay (0%) and Kampong Siem (20%). The CASC is valuable for managing Cambodian rice soils and may also be used for up-scaling and mapping of soil information.

Notes: Abstract. Broadcast granular fertilizers are inefficient at supplying nitrogen (N) to wide-spaced row crops. Substantial nitrate residues can remain in the soil post-harvest, even when recommended fertilizer practices are followed. This paper explores the benefits of an alternative strategy based on targeting small amounts of liquid nitrogen starter fertilizer close to the seed at drilling to increase N use efficiency and reduce potential pollution. Bulb onion (Allium cepa) and crisp lettuce (Lactuca sativa) were grown with various rates and combinations of ammonium phosphate (AP) and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) as ‘starters’, in comparison with seedbed incorporated ammonium nitrate. AP consistently improved early growth and final yield of both crops compared to broadcast ammonium nitrate, but UAN showed no additional benefits. AP in combination with broadcast N, or injected UAN, generally increased N recovery, and produced yields of marketable quality produce matched only by much higher rates of broadcast N. A reduced N input system based on starter fertilizers is likely to be acceptable to the industry, but would rely on a method to predict how much N is required to supplement that provided by the starter.

Notes: Abstract. Daily measurements of precipitation and temperature at 82 locations in Denmark for periods of 10 to 43 years, were used for calculation of the impact energy and intensity of rain, climatic erosivity (hereafter called erosivity). The computed erosivity values were analysed for trends and variations in time and space. Analysis of 43 years of data from 6 locations showed a change in the annual distribution of intense (erosive) precipitation, with a tendency to bi-modality, increasing erosivity in September, and decreasing erosivity in August. Amounts of precipitation in autumn have generally increased, but the erosive power of rain has increased even more. The geographic location of high erosivity varied considerably from year to year. Using a simple crop model, the interaction between crop cover and erosivity was investigated. This suggested that changes in climate in combination with changes in cropping and management practice have increased risk of serious erosion over the period 1954 to 1996. We recommend that present and future cropping and management practices be evaluated for risk of adverse interaction with high erosivity events.

Notes: Abstract. Arable crops in the UK make a large contribution to nitrate leaching by virtue of the land area they cover (〉4.5 million ha). By contrast horticultural crops occupy only a small area (〈 0.2 million ha) but can leach very large amounts of nitrogen. The application of nitrogen fertilizer to arable and horticultural crops is very cost-effective, stimulating its use. MAFF's Nitrate Research Programme for arable and horticultural crops aims to reduce nitrate leaching and maintain productive farming through Best Management Practice. The Programme has led to the development and testing of methods to measure nitrate leaching, the identification of ‘leaky’ crops, soils and practices, and strategies to optimize the use of fertilizer nitrogen. Data have been used to construct and test models of nitrate leaching, which in turn have been used to evaluate the leakiness of potential rotations. Current best practice to minimize nitrate leaching requires measures to improve the efficiency of nitrogen use by crops, combined with measures to protect soil nitrogen from leaching during the late autumn to spring drainage period. This involves consideration of many factors: an appropriate crop variety must be chosen; a green cover must be maintained for as much of the year as is practicable; crops should be drilled early; fertilizer requirements should be calculated using a recommendation system and allowing for soil mineral nitrogen and any manures applied; fertilizers should be spread evenly with a properly calibrated spreader, perhaps using split applications; starter fertilizers and banding of fertilizers should be used where appropriate to reduce losses from vegetables; pest and disease infestation must be minimized; any irrigation must be applied carefully with scheduling. Research is now moving on to study whole farm systems and the interactions between losses of nitrogen and other pollutants to the environment with the aim of minimizing total environmental impact.

Notes: Abstract. A national agri-environmental database and nitrate modelling system has been developed to support the UK government's nitrate policy development. The framework, ‘MAGPIE’, consists of a database and models linked within a Geographical Information System and provides a user interface which allows detailed spatial and statistical investigation of the current state (data and model output) and the impact of changes in conditions or agricultural practice. Data on crops and livestock numbers taken from the annual agricultural census were modified in relation to land cover data derived from remote sensing, and other sources. These data and data on climate, soils and altitude were interpolated to a 1 km grid. The models of nitrate loss were adapted to work with this data set while retaining as far as possible the salient features of the more detailed models and data from which they were derived. The resulting Policy Decision Support System was found to give estimates of mean annual flow and nitrate load for agricultural catchments which matched measured data closely. The system has contributed to work on a number of policy issues both within the UK and in the UK's contribution to international policy development on pollution derived from agriculture.

Notes: Book reviewed in this articles: SOILpak for dryland farmers on the red soil of Central Western NSW 1999. Edited by A.N. Anderson, D.C. McKenzie & J.J. Friend.