ALBERT

Notes: Abstract Specimen thickness is the main experimental factor controlling the results of illite crystallinity (IC) or crystallite size measurements on sedimentation slides. Different values obtained from thick and thin preparations are due to grain-size gradation effects, which may exclude larger and higher ordered grains from contributing to the diffraction. Orientation effects control the measured peak intensity. The change from poor particle orientation in thick slides to high orientation in very thin slides is marked by an increase in specimen density, diminishing non-basal reflections, and by a strong increase in peak intensity. A plateau with constant peak breadths is observed if thin slides of well ordered, platy illites are used. A similar plateau can be recognized for thick preparations of specimens from less ordered materials, but not from well ordered ones. Therefore, it is suggested that IC is determined on very thin sedimentation slides with a thickness of 0.25 mg/cm2 or less. Ultrasonic and H2O2 treatments enhance the degree of particle orientation by destruction of grain aggregates and organic compounds, leading to smaller peak breadths and higher intensities.

Notes: Abstract Five basalt samples from the Point Sal ophiolite, California, were examined using HRTEM and AEM in order to compare observations with interpretations of XRD patterns and microprobe analyses. XRD data from ethylene-glycol-saturated samples indicate the following percentages of chlorite in mixed-layer chlorite–smectite identified for each specimen: (i) L2036 ± 50%, (ii) L2035 ± 70 and 20%, (iii) 1A-13 ± 70%, (iv) 1B-42 ± 70%, and (v) 1B-55 = 100%. Detailed electron microprobe analyses show that ‘chlorite’analyses with high Si, K, Na and Ca contents are the result of interlayering with smectite-like layers. The Fe/(Fe + Mg) ratios of mixed-layer phyllosilicates from Point Sal samples are influenced by the bulk rock composition, not by the percentage of chlorite nor the structure of the phyllosilicate.Measurements of lattice-fringe images indicate that both smectite and chlorite layers are present in the Point Sal samples in abundances similar to those predicted with XRD techniques and that regular alternation of chlorite and smectite occurs at the unit-cell scale. Both 10- and 14-Å layers were recorded with HRTEM and interpreted to be smectite and chlorite, respectively. Regular alternation of chlorite and smectite (24-Å periodicity) occurs in upper lava samples L2036 and 1A-13, and lower lava sample 1B-42 for as many as seven alternations per crystallite with local layer mistakes. Sample L2035 shows disordered alternation of chlorite and smectite, with juxtaposition of smectite-like layers, suggesting that randomly interlayered chlorite (〈0.5)–smectite exists. Images of lower lava sample 1B-55 show predominantly 14-Å layers. Units of 24 Å tend to cluster in what may otherwise appear to be disordered mixtures, suggesting the existence of a corrensite end-member having thermodynamic significance.

Notes: Abstract White mica crystallinity studies have been carried out on 90 samples of mudrocks, six of spotted slate, and five of accretionary lapilli tuff from the area around the Berwyn Hills, North Wales. Strain was measured for some of the spotted slate and tuff samples. The metamorphic grade increases from southeast to northwest, with values of the Kübler index varying from 0.64 to 0.20Δ2θ. Metamorphic zonal boundaries follow the strike of bedding and cleavage, but crystallinity values increase into stratigraphically younger rocks on the northwest side of the Berwyn Dome. This effect is attributed mainly to a rapid increase in the thickness of synmetamorphic overburden to the northwest, comprising exposed Silurian turbidites and inferred Lower Devonian non-marine sediments. Strain variations have a more local influence on crystallinity, and lateral variations in the contemporary geothermal gradient cannot be ruled out. However, only with unrealistically high gradients would the need for a thick Lower Devonian component to the overburden be removed. This reasoning implies that the metamorphic peak was coeval with the Acadian (late Caledonian) event, rather than with an early diastathermal event.

Notes: Abstract Illite crystallinity (IC) measurements, determination of the proportion of 2M mica-polytypes and organic-matter reflectance measurements establish regional diagenetic/low-grade metamorphic trends for the Taconian and Acadian belts of Gaspé Peninsula.IC varies as a function of many factors besides maximum burial temperature and heating time. Correlation between IC and %2M illite polytypes for the Fortin Group and Temiscouata Formation suggests (i) that the amount of high-grade detrital mica in the samples is low, and (ii) that IC can be used with some confidence as an estimator of regional thermal maturation levels. Correlation of these parameters with available organic reflectance values further supports this assumption. The illites of the Temiscouata and western Fortin groups are mostly phengitic in composition, whereas in the eastern outcrop belt they are more Mg- and Fe-rich (celadonitic), but generally also of lower grade and lower 2M content. The d(060) values for illites measured on the unorientated 〈2-μm fraction of samples fall between 1.502 and 1.503 Å (range: 1.500–1.504 Å), indicating relatively low octahedral occupancy by Mg and Fe (between one-fifth and one-third of the available spaces). Pyrophyllite and paragonite were not detected. Chlorites are Fe-rich and ripidolitic.The IC map for the Acadian belt of the peninsula displays general congruence between IC contours (2200 sample points) and structural trends for the 27,000-km2 area. The highest grades (anchimetamorphic) are associated with the oldest rocks (Honorat and Matapedia groups) exposed in the cores of major anticlines. Anchimetamorphic grades associated with the western outcrop belt of the Lower Devonian Fortin Group require 7–8 km of subsidence to accommodate sufficient thickness of overlying younger rocks (on top of 4–5 km of Fortin Group deep-water clastics) to explain the grades in terms of burial metamorphism assuming a geothermal gradient of 30° C km−1. The lowest-grade diagenetic rocks occupy a large area in the northeastern part of the peninsula, smaller areas in the northwestern part of the Acadian belt, in the centre of Chaleurs Bay synclinorium, and in the Ordovician Mictaw Group. The contact between the Taconian and Acadian belt is marked by a distinct maturation discontinuity. The Grand Pabos fault juxtaposes rocks of contrasting maturation levels (Matapedia Group against Fortin Group) in the west, but shows no maturation offset further east in the Honorat Group. The fault zone limiting the Fortin Group in the north is also associated with a major IC jump.

Notes: Abstract The assemblage muscovite-quartz-staurolite-aluminium silicate-biotite-garnet-chlorite with H2O (SABGC assemblage) is invariant in the K2O-FeO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O (KFMASH) system. Such five-phase AFM assemblages should be absent in nature, but reported occurrences from at least ten localities suggest that either the assemblage internally controls μH2O or non-KFMASH components stabilize one or more of the phases.Least-squares regression analysis of minerals from South Royalton and Gassetts, Vermont, USA, demonstrates that subsets of the minerals in single SABGC assemblages from both localities are related by balanced reactions involving water. These results are consistent with the interpretation that the subassemblages fixed μH2O at an arbitrary, specified pressure and temperature. Balanced dehydration reactions also may be written between minerals in the SABGC assemblages and four-phase assemblages from the same outcrops interpreted to have equilibrated at the same pressures and temperatures as the five-phase assemblages. These results suggest that different specimens from the same outcrops equilibrated at different values of μH2O, supporting the conclusion that μH2O was not controlled externally. We could not demonstrate internal control of fo2 using measured mineral compositions because oxygen balance occurred in all reactions derived by regression.Regression analysis of published mineral compositions from New Mexico failed to identify balanced reactions involving water or oxygen either among the phases in a single SABGC assemblage or between SABGC and nearby four-phase assemblages. These results demonstrate that neither μH2O nor fo2 were fixed by the SABGC assemblages at these localities, and permit the interpretations that the assemblages were stabilized by the non-KFMASH components Na or Ca and that μH2O and fo2 were controlled externally.

Notes: Abstract Albite porphyroblasts are widely distributed in pelitic and semi-pelitic schists of the Fleur de Lys Supergroup, western Newfoundland. Textures and mineral assemblages indicate that albite grew during nearly isothermal decompression from P-T conditions of about 500° C, 9 kbar, to conditions of 550° C, 6.5 kbar. Three compositional varieties of albite-bearing schists, here termed PMAQ (paragonite-muscovite-albite-quartz), MMAQ (microcline-muscovite-albite-quartz), and PMMQ (paragonite-muscovite-margarite-quartz), can be distinguished on the basis of pre-porphyroblast mineral assemblages. Analysis of these assemblages in terms of the composition of the coexisting fluid [log a(Na+/H+) versus log a(K+/H+)] suggests that, as pressure and temperature changed, the stability field of albite expanded at the expense of coexisting matrix phyllosilicates. This promoted growth of albite on pre-existing or newly formed nuclei. Late oligoclase in PMAQ and PMMQ samples is associated with replacement of matrix garnet by plagioclase + mica ° Chlorite, particularly in strongly sheared samples.

Notes: Abstract Spinel-quartz-cordierite and spinel-quartz are found as relic prograde assemblages in Fe-rich granulites from the Araku area, Eastern Ghats belt, India. Subsequent reactions produced orthopyroxene + sillimanite in the former association and garnet + sillimanite in the latter. The first reaction is univariant in the FMAS system, but is trivariant in the present case because of the presence of Zn and Fe3+ in spinel. The second reaction also has high variance because of Zn and Fe3+, but also because of the presence of Ca in garnet. Thermobarometry shows that the metamorphic conditions were approximately 950° C and 8.5 kbar and the fo2 was near the NNO buffer. In Fe-rich bulk compositions and low-P-high-T conditions of metamorphism, two of the univariant reactions around the invariant point [Sa], namely (Sa, Hy) and (Sa, Cd), change topology due to reverse partitioning of Fe-Mg between coexisting garnet and spinel. An alternative partial petrogenetic grid in the system FMAS is constructed for such conditions and is applied satisfactorily to several sapphirine-free spinel granulites. It is shown that bulk composition (XFe and Zn) exerts greater control on the stability of spinel + quartz than fo2. The effect of the presence of Zn and Fe3+ in spinel on the proposed grid is evaluated. Reaction textures in the Araku spinel granulites can be explained from the petrogenetic grid as due to near-isobaric cooling.

Notes: The impure marbles of the internal Sesia-Lanzo Zone underwent a multi-stage metamorphic evolution of Alpine age and retain early-Alpine eclogitic assemblages, partially recrystallized under blueschist to greenschist facies conditions. These high-P assemblages consist of carbonates, phengite, quartz, omphacite, grossular-rich (locally spessartinic) garnet, zoisite and Al-rich titanite. Retrogressive stages are characterized by the growth of glaucophane, paragonite, phlogopite, tremolite and albite. Halogen-rich biotite and amphibole are also present. P-T estimates of the early-Alpine metamophism have been calculated from these unique high-P assemblages, in order to test the applicability of some calibrations to impure carbonate systems. In particular, some Gt-Cpx calibrations and the phengite geobarometer give results (T= 575 ± 45° C at 15 kbar for the eclogitic climax and T≤ 500° C at PH2O ≤ 9 kbar for early-Alpine retrogressive stages) which are within the range obtained from the surrounding lithologies.Phase relationships in P-T-XCO2 space indicate that mineral assemblages in the impure marbles coexisted with H2O-rich fluids (XCO2 〈0.03) during their entire Alpine evolution.

Notes: Analysis of the precision of the illite ‘crystallinity’technique shows that machine errors are 〈5%, while intra- and inter-sample errors are variable but are up to 12% and 14%, respectively (1σ). Consideration of this error analysis shows that the isocryst approach, which involves close contouring (e.g. 0.03 Δ2°) of illite ‘crystallinity’data, has a very low degree of confidence (〈0.5) and thus is not regarded as statistically valid. If contouring is to be undertaken with a high degree of confidence (〉0.8) it is necessary that contours should be at intervals of 0.1 ΔΘ2°, which is equivalent to subdivision of the anchizone into upper and lower units. Where previous interpretations have relied upon an isocryst method of contouring at less than 0.1 ΔΘ2° the conclusions must be regarded as unsubstantiated.Centrifuge separation of clay fractions (based on a Stokes’law application) gives separations in which a significant, but variable, percentage of grains have long axes greater than the size calculated. For the typical 〈2-μm fraction utilized, some 20% of grains lie in the 2–4-μm range, although the proportion is not believed to have a significant effect upon ‘crystallinity’values. The formula is applicable for grain-sizes down to 0.5 μm. Illite ‘crystallinity’values on samples prepared by an ultrasonic disaggregation method show a small increase on those prepared by ball mill crushing. The differences are minimal at the epi/anchizone level but increase to some 10% at the anchizone/diagenetic level. The effect on grade determinations is again thought to be minimal and indicates that concern over unsuitability of the ultrasonic disaggregation method is unfounded.

Notes: The amphibolite facies Puolankajärvi Formation (PjF) occupies the western margin of the Early Proterozoic Kainuu Schist Belt (KSB) of northern Finland. The lower and middle parts of the PjF consist of turbiditic psammites and pelites and tempestitic semipelites. This report concentrates on the pelitic lithologies which include quartz–two-mica–plagioclase schists with variable amounts of garnet, staurolite, andalusite and biotite porphyroblasts as well as sillimanite and cordierite segregations.The KSB forms a major north–south-trending synclinorium between two Archaean blocks. It contains both autochthonous and allochthonous units and is cut by faults and shear zones. The PjF lies on the western side of the KSB and is probably allochthonous. The formation has undergone six major deformation phases (D1, D2, D3a, D3b, D4 and D5). During D3a-D5 the maximum principal stress (σ1) changed in a clockwise direction from south-west to north-east. Between D2 and D3 the intermediate principal stress (σ2) changed from horizontal to vertical and the interval between D2 and D3 marks a transition from thrust to strike-slip tectonics.Relict structures in the porphyroblasts indicate the following mineral growth–deformation evolution in the PjF. (1) Throughout the PjF there was a successive crystallization of garnet (syn-D1), poryphyroblastic biotite (inter-D3/4) and staurolite (inter-D3/4) during the pre-D4 stage. (2) A syn-D4-inter-D4/5 crystallization of kyanite, sillimanite (fibrolite), porphyroblastic tourmaline, magnetite, rutile, cordierite and muscovite–biotite–plagioclase pseudomorphs after staurolite was most localized at and near D4 shear zones. (3) A syn- to post-D5 generation of andalusite, ilmenohematite and sheet silicates after staurolite and after cordierite occurred near D5 faults.The evolution outlined here permits the relative dating of the PjF parageneses, which is used in the second part of the study (Tuisku & Laajoki, 1990), and, together with the knowledge of the pressure–temperature conditions during various growth events, makes it possible to compile pressure–temperature–deformation paths for the PjF.

Notes: Petrographical and mineral chemical data are given for the eclogites which occur in the garnet-kyanite micaschists of the Penninic Dora-Maira Massif between Brossasco, Isasca and Martiniana (Italian Western Alps) and for a sodic whiteschist associated with the pyrope-coesite whiteschists of Martiniana. The Brossasco-Isasca (BI) eclogites are fine grained, foliated and often mica-rich rocks with a strong preferred orientation of omphacite crystals and white micas. Porphyroblasts of hornblende are common in some varieties, whilst zoisite and kyanite occur occasionally in pale green varieties associated with leucocratic layers with quartz, jadeite and garnet. These features differentiate the BI eclogites from the eclogites that occur in other continental units of the Western Alps, which all belong to type C. Garnet, sodic pyroxene and glaucophane are the major minerals in the sodic whiteschist.Sodic pyroxene in the eclogites is an omphacite often close to Jd50Di50, with very little acmite and virtually no AlIV, and impure jadeite in the leucocratic layers and in the sodic whiteschist. Garnet is almandine with 20–30 mol. % for each of the pyrope and grossular components in the eclogites and a pyrope-rich variety in the sodic whiteschist. White mica is a variably substituted phengite, and paragonite apparently only occurs as a replacement product of kyanite. Amphibole is hornblende in the eclogites, but the most magnesian glaucophane yet described in the sodic whiteschist. Quartz pseudomorphs of coesite were found occasionally in a few pyroxenes and garnets.The P-T conditions during the VHP event are constrained in the eclogites by reactions which define a field ranging from 27–28 kbar to 35 kbar and from 680 to 750° C. These temperatures are consistent with the results of garnet-pyroxene and garnet-phengite geothermometry which suggest that the eclogites may have equilibrated at around 700° C. In the sodic whiteschist pressures ranging from 29 to 35 kbar can be deduced from the stability of the jadeite-pyrope garnet-glaucophane compatibility. As in the eclogites water activity must have been low. Such conditions are close to the P-T values estimated for the early Alpine recrystallization of the pyrope-coesite rock and, like petrographical and mineralogical features, set aside the BI eclogites from the other eclogites of the Western Alps, instead indicating a close similarity to some of the eclogite bodies occurring in the Adula nappe of the Central Alps. An important corollary is that glaucophane stability, at least in Na- and Mg-rich compositions and under very high pressures, may extend up to 700° C, in agreement with the HT stability limit suggested by experimental studies.

Notes: The retrograde P-T trajectory of the eclogitic Fe-Ti-gabbros from the Ligurian Alps is constrained by the appearance of mineral parageneses post-dating the Na-clinopyroxene + garnet eclogitic assemblage and indicating the following sequence of metamorphic events: (1) amphibolitic stage— edenite/katophorite + plagioclase (An33–43) + oxides in symplectitic aggregates; (2) glaucophanic stage— a porphyroblastic glaucophanic amphibole has overgrown the symplectite, winchite also occurs as thin rims around glaucophane and both amphiboles are, sometimes, armoured by atoll garnets; (3) albite-amphibolite stage—barroisite/katophorite + albite + epidote + oxides ± chlorite overprint the glaucophanic stage minerals; (4) greenschist stage—represented by actinolite + albite + epidote + oxide paragenesis.The metamorphic evolution is complex and the decompression path, on a P–T diagram, is significantly different from those defined in the literature for the Voltri eclogites. The main features inferred from the P–T path are the following: (1) the pressure climax does not match the thermal climax, the maximum temperature conditions are in fact achieved during the early stage of uplift; (2) a decrease in temperature, suggested by the appearance of glaucophane after the amphibolitic symplectite; (3) successive uplift, probably accompanied by an increase in temperature. The complexity of the P-T path drawn for the Voltri eclogites can be explained with a mechanism of successive underthrusts propagating from the innermost to the outermost sector of the Ligurian Alps.

Notes: Within the Çokkul synform, Caledonian metamorphic rocks of the Middle Köli Nappe Complex (MKNC) are in low-angle fault contact with the basement mylonites derived from the Precambrian Tysfjord granite-gneiss. In the synform, the MKNC is composed of four fault-bounded nappes each of which has a distinct tectonic stratigraphy composed of amphibolite-facies metamorphosed pelitic and psammitic schists with minor lensoidal bodies of mafic and ultramafic rocks.Pelitic rocks from the three structurally lowest nappes contain the low-variance AFM mineral assemblages gar + bio + staur and staur + ky + bio with mu + qtz + ilm, whereas staur and ky are absent from the highest nappe, the Kallakvare nappe. AFM mineral assemblages in the three lowest nappes indicate peak metamorphic temperatures of 610–660°C and peak pressures in excess of 600 MPa. Mineral assemblages from the Kallakvare nappe are not as diagnostic of metamorphic grade. However, rocks from that nappe contain coexisting plagioclases from both sides of the peristerite gap, suggesting lower-grade peak P–T conditions than those of the structurally lower nappes. In addition, biotite from the lower nappes is more Ti-rich than biotite from the Kallakvare nappe. However, gar–bio–mu–plag and gar–bio–ky–plag–qtz thermobarometry suggests that all four nappes equilibrated at approximately 525 ± 25°C and 700 ± 100 MPa.Gibbs method thermodynamic modelling of garnet zoning profiles suggests that the lower three nappes followed clockwise P–T paths that involved heating and compression to a metamorphic peak of approximately 575–625°C, 800 MPa followed by cooling and decompression to 525°C, 700 MPa. P–T paths calculated for the Kallakvare nappe show decompression and minor heating to a peak T of 500–525°C. In the lower nappes, staur and ky grew during the heating phase not seen by the highest nappe. The outer parts of the paths from all four nappes are approximately parallel, possibly recording the emplacement of the Kallakvare nappe onto the already stacked lower three nappes at some time following the metamorphic peak. These P–T paths suggest that the sole fault of the Kallakvare nappe is a normal fault. Garnet zonation thus appears to record a previously unrecognized phase of uplift and tectonic thinning of the MKNC. This event appears to be restricted to the MKNC and to have occurred prior to the emplacement of the MKNC onto the Tysfjord granite-gneiss basement of Baltoscandia under greenschist-facies conditions. It may have been responsible for the uplift and cooling of the MKNC from 25–30 km amphibolite-facies conditions prior to its emplacement onto Baltoscandia under 15–20 km greenschist-facies conditions.The deformation zone associated with this normal fault is relatively narrow, generally less than 1 m thick. If this is typical of other detachment faults in the metamorphic infrastructure of the Scandinavian Caledonides, they may be relatively common, but not often recognized due to the detailed study needed to document them.

Notes: Numerical models of the progressive evolution of pelitic schists in the NCMnKFMASH system with the assemblage garnet + biotite + chlorite ± staurolite + plagioclase + muscovite + quartz + H2O are presented with the goal of predicting compositional changes in garnet and plagioclase along different P-T paths. The numerical models support several conclusions that should prove useful for interpreting the P-T paths of natural parageneses: (i) Garnet may grow along P-T vectors ranging from heating with decompression to cooling with compression. P-T paths deduced from garnet zoning that are inconsistent with these growth vectors are self-contradictory. (ii) There is a systematic relation between garnet and plagioclase composition and growth such that for most P-T paths, garnet growth requires plagioclase consumption. Furthermore, mass balance in a closed system requires that as plagioclase is consumed the remaining plagioclase becomes increasingly albitic. Inclusions of plagioclase in the core of garnet should be more anorthitic than those near the rim and zoned matrix plagioclase should have rims that are more albitic than the cores. Complex plagioclase textures may arise from the local variability of growth and precipitation kinetics. (iii) A decrease of Fe/(Fe + Mg) in a garnet zoning profile is a reliable indicator of increasing temperature for the assemblage modelled. However, there is no single reliable ΔP monitor and inferences about ΔP can only be made by considering plagioclase and garnet together. (iv) Consumption of garnet during the production of staurolite removes material from the outer shell of a garnet and may make recovery of peak metamorphic compositions and P-T conditions impossible. Low ‘peak’temperatures typically recorded by staurolite-bearing assemblages may reflect this phenomenon. (v) Diffusional homogenization of garnet affects the computed P-T path and results in a clockwise rotation of the computed P-T vector relative to the true P-T path.

Notes: Abstract Geological relationships and geochronological data suggest that in Miocene time the metamorphic core of the central Himalayan orogen was a wedge-shaped body bounded below by the N-dipping Main Central thrust system and above the N-dipping South Tibetan detachment system. We infer that synchronous movement on these fault systems expelled the metamorphic core southward toward the Indian foreland, thereby moderating the extreme topographic gradient at the southern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Reaction textures, thermobarometric data and thermodynamic modelling of pelitic schists and gneisses from the Nyalam transect in southern Tibet (28°N, 86°E) imply that gravitational collapse of the orogen produced a complex thermal structure in the metamorphic core. Amphibolite facies metamorphism and anatexis at temperatures of 950 K and depths of at least 30 km accompanied the early stages of displacement on the Main Central thrust system. Our findings suggest that the late metamorphic history of these rocks was characterized by high-T decompression associated with roughly 15 km of unroofing by movement on the South Tibetan detachment system. In the middle of the metamorphic core, roughly 7–8 km below the basal detachment of the South Tibetan system, the decompression was essentially isothermal. Near the base of the metamorphic core, roughly 4–6 km above the Main Central thrust, the decompression was accompanied by about 150 K of cooling. We attribute the disparity between the P–T paths of these two structural levels to cooling of the lower part of the metamorphic core as a consequence of continued (and probably accelerated) underthrusting of cooler rocks in the footwall of the Main Central thrust at the same time as movement on the South Tibetan detachment system.

Notes: Abstract Metre-scale amphibolite boudins in the Cheyenne Belt of south-eastern Wyoming are cut and deformed by shear zones which preserve a full strain transition across 7 cm, from relatively undeformed amphibolite with a relict igneous texture to mylonitic amphibolite with an L-S tectonic fabric. The strain transition is marked by the progressive rotation of amphibole + plagioclase aggregates into parallelism with the shear-zone boundary. An increase in strain magnitude is indicated by development of the tectonic fabric and progressive reduction of amphibole and plagioclase grain size as a result of cataclasis. Bulk chemistry of five samples across a single strain transition shows no significant or systematic variation in major element chemistry except for a minor loss of SiO2, which indicates that the shear zone was a system essentially closed to non-volatile components during metamorphism and deformation. Amphibolites throughout the shear zone consist of amphibole and plagioclase with only minor amounts of quartz, chlorite, epidote, titanite and ilmenite. Within the relatively undeformed amphibolite, amphibole and plagioclase have wide compositional ranges in single thin sections. Amphibole compositions vary from actinolitic hornblende to magnesio-hornblende with increases in Al, Fe, Na and K contents and decreases in Si and Mg that can be modelled as progress along tschermakite, edenite and FeMg-1 exchange vectors from tremolite. Plagioclase ranges from An60 in cores to An30 within grain-boundary domains. With increasing strain magnitude, local variation of amphibole composition decreases as amphibole becomes predominantly magnesio-hornblende. Plagioclase composition range also decreases, although grain-boundary domains still have higher albite content. These petrological data indicate that shear-zone metamorphism was controlled by the magnitude of strain during synmetamorphic deformation. SEM and microprobe imaging indicate that chemical reactions occurred by a dissolution and reprecipitation process during or after cataclastic deformation. This suggests that grain-boundary formation was an important process in the petrological evolution of the shear zone, possibly by providing zones for fluid ingress to facilitate metamorphic reactions. These results highlight the necessity for conducting detailed microstructural evaluation of rocks in order to interpret petrological, isotopic and geochronological data.

Notes: Abstract Ten metamorphic domains can be distinguished in China, comprising four cratonic, three intracratonic and three intercratonic domains. Each domain contains one or more metamorphic belts, each of which, in turn, contains a characteristic metamorphic facies or facies series that was formed during a distinct metamorphic epoch.The metamorphic domains reflect the tectonic domains and tectonic evolution of China. Ancient continental nucleii in the North China and Tarim–Alxa cratons were probably unified with the Yangtze craton during the Early Proterozoic to form the China Platform. Widespread greenschist facies metamorphism, during the Middle and Late Proterozoic, accompanied by glaucophane–greenschist facies metamorphism, represents a rifting and closure event in the China Platform; a second rifting and closure event in the China Platform occurred during the Caledonian. The China and Siberian platforms were closed during the Hercynian to form the Eurasian Continent. Closure of the ancient Tethys Ocean occurred in the Indosinian epoch, and subduction and collision within Xizang (Tibet) and Taiwan occurred during Mesozoic–Cenozoic time.The distribution in time of types of metamorphism in China suggests cyclical changes of metamorphism known as the Archaean, Proterozoic and Phanerozoic megacycles. Each megacycle since the Archaean consists of a change from progressive, low- to intermediate-grade metamorphism to lower grade, greenschist metamorphism that was superimposed on a general trend in which high-grade metamorphism became progressively less important with time. The change in metamorphic megacycles shows a general secular decrease in regional heat supply during metamorphism punctuated by episodic high-grade, progressive metamorphism within orogenic belts.

Notes: Abstract The Shangdan fault in the Qinling Orogenic Belt of China is an important boundary between the Caledonian North Qinling Fold Belt and the Hercynian South Qinling Fold Belt. In the Danfeng area, the fault zone strikes WNW–ESE and comprises four strongly deformed zones and three weakly deformed domains parallel to each other. The fault zone has a complex history of multiple deformation and each domain has a different tectonic style that was formed at different stages of the deformation.The rocks exposed in the weakly deformed domains belong to the Qinling, Danfeng and Liuling Groups. In this paper, the mineral chemistry and mineral assemblages are used to infer the metamorphic conditions and the P–T paths of these units. The metamorphic units in and near the fault zone have different metamorphic conditions and histories that are correlated with the tectonic evolution of the fault zone. Caledonian–Hercynian uplift and southward thrusting of the Proterozoic Qinling Group, over the Danfeng and the Liuling Groups, produced the main metamorphic and tectonic features of the fault zone. Folding of both the Liuling Group and the thrust faults during the Hercynian–Indosinian was accompanied by northward thrusting.

Notes: The intracrystalline diffusion rate of oxygen in diopside was constrained based on natural isotopic variations from a granulite facies marble from Cascade Slide, Adirondacks (New York, USA). The oxygen isotope compositions of the diopsides, measured as a function of grain size, are nearly constant (20.9 ± 0.3‰ vs. SMOW) over the entire measured size range (0.3–3.2 mm diameter). The δ18O values of the cores of calcite grains are 23.0‰. Temperature estimates based on the Δ18O(calcite-diopside) are 800d̀C, in agreement with the highest previous thermometric estimates for these rocks.The lack of isotopic variation in the diopsides as a function of grain size requires that the oxygen intracrystalline diffusion rate in diopside from the Adirondack samples was very slow. The maximum diffusion rates (D800d̀C parallel to the c-axis) were calculated with an infinite reservoir model (IRM) and a finite reservoir model (FRM) that incorporates mineral modal abundances and initial isotopic variations. For an assumed activation energy (Q) = 100 kJ/mol, the IRM diffusion rate estimate of 1.6 times 10-20cm2/s is two orders of magnitude faster than from the FRM; at Q=500kJ/mol, the D800d̀C estimate for both methods is c. 5.6 times 10-20 cm2/s. The present results require that a hydrothermal fluid significantly enhances the diffusion rate of oxygen in diopside if previous data are correct.The δ18O(SMOW) and δ13C(PDB) values of the calcite, measured in situ with a CO2 laser, are 22.9 ± 0.3, 0.1±0.3‰ in the grain cores, 22.1 ±0.3, 0.2 ±0.1‰ at the grain boundaries and 21.7 ±0.4, -0.6±0.1‰ abutting diopside grains. The δ18O and δ13δC values measured conventionally are: crystal cores, 22.96, -0.95‰; abutting diopside grains, 22.38, -0.93‰; bulk, 22.79, -0.95%. Use of the bulk δ18O(calcite) values for thermometry yields unreasonably high temperatures. The lower δ18O values at the calcite grain boundaries are not due to retrograde diffusional exchange with the diopside, they are thought to be a result of a late retrograde fluid infiltration.

Notes: Abstract Discontinuous ultramylonite zones cut Proterozoic granulite facies gneisses in MacRobertson Land, east Antarctica, and preserve evidence of ductile non-coaxial flow and reverse sense of shear. Cross-cutting relationships indicate that ultramylonite deformation involved overthrusting to the east, but progressively rotated to involve overthrusting to the north; rotation of the principal compressive stress axes is inferred. Extensive pseudotachylite developed during ultramylonitization, the history of individual ultramylonite zones having involved a single episode of pseudotachylite generation. Neoblastic sillimanite indicates ultramylonitization occurred at 〉520° C. On the basis of inferred recrystallized granulite facies mineral assemblages ultramylonitization occurred at 〉700° C, and ≤7.3 ± 0.5 kbar, at aH2O± 0.3 and low aCO2. Comparison of these values with those suggested by metamorphic assemblages in rocks unaffected by mylonitization indicates that the Rayner Complex experienced a late increase in pressure of 1–2 kbar during ultramylonitization. The P-T-aH2O conditions of the ultramylonite zones are inferred to have been close to the solidus for minimum melting, pseudotachylite generation having involved a limited pressure drop during brittle fracturing at high strain rates. Most of the pseudotachylite veins are undeformed; the mechanism(s) of fracturing and melting must have caused strain hardening in rocks surrounding the ultramylonite, further strain having been mostly accommodated by a new or subsidiary shear zone. Renewed stress at reduced strain rates, or renewed stress in zones in which the proportion of pseudotachylite was significantly higher, could have led to the rare occurrences of deformed pseudotachylite. The preservation of fine-grained pseudotachylite is dependent on it remaining dry.

Notes: Abstract C-O-H fluid produced by the equilibration of H2O and excess graphite must maintain the atomic H/O ratio of water, 2:1. This constraint implies that all thermodynamic properties of the fluid are uniquely determined at isobaric-isothermal conditions. The O2, H2O and CO2 fugacities (fo2, fH2O and fCO2) of such fluids have been estimated from equations of state and fit as a function of pressure and temperature. These fugacities can be taken as characteristic for graphitic metamorphic systems in which the dominant fluid source is dehydration, e.g. pelitic lithologies. Because there are no compositional degrees of freedom for graphite-saturated fluids produced entirely by dehydration, the variance of the dehydration process is not increased in comparison with that in non-graphitic systems. Thus, compositional ‘buffering’of C-O-H fluids by dehydration equilibria, a common petrological model, requires that redox reactions, decarbonation reactions or external, H/O ± 2, fluid sources perturb the evolution of the metamorphic system. Such perturbations are not likely to be significant in metapelitic environments, but their tendency will be to increase the fO2 of the fluid phase. At high metamorphic grades, pyrite desulphidation reactions may cause a substantial reduction of fH2O and slight increases in fO2 and fCO2 relative to sulphur-free fluid. At low metamorphic grade, sulphur solubility in H/O ± 2 fluids is so low that pyrite decomposition must occur by sulphur-conserving reactions that cause iron depletion in silicates, a common feature of sulphidic pelites. With increasing temperature and sulphur solubility, pyrite desulphidation may be driven by dehydration reactions or infiltration of H2O-rich fluids. The absence of magnetite and the assemblages carbonate + aluminosilicate or pyrite + pyrrhotite + ilmenite from most graphitic metapelites is consistent with an H/O = 2 model for GCOH(S) fluid. For graphitic rocks in which such a model is inapplicable, a phase diagram variable that defines the H/O ratio of GCOH(S) fluid is more useful than the conventional fO2 variable.

Notes: Abstract Muscovite-poor pelitic schists in the wallrocks of the Proterozoic Annex sulphide deposit, near Prieska, South Africa, contain peak metamorphic assemblages including Crd + Bt + Sil, St + Sil + Bt, Crd + St + Bt and, rarely, Ky + St ° Crd. All rocks include oligoclase, quartz and commonly Fe–Mn garnet, with or without muscovite. Peak assemblages, assigned to M2 regional metamorphism in the Gordonia Belt (Namaqua Province), are syn- to post-kinematic with respect to the main S2 fabric although larger staurolite grains contain S1 inclusion trails. Garnet–biotite thermometry, utilizing corrections for Fe3+, Mn, AlVI and Ti, yields peak temperatures of 571–624°C at pressures of 4.5–6.0 kbar. Consideration of the sympathetic variation of XMn in garnet with XMg in biotite and the preserved zoning patterns in prograde garnets, together with the inferred prograde transition from kyanite to sillimanite, indicates that heating occurred during mild decompression to the M2 metamorphic peak. Sillimanite and cordierite grew last in the prograde sequence, possibly related to a pulse of thermal metamorphism (M3) that is found along the margin of the Keimoes Suite batholith to the north.Retrograde assemblages, including Ms + Ky + Chl + Qtz (after Crd + Bt), Ky + Ms (after Sil) and Chl + Ms (after St) indicate a period of isobaric cooling (M4a) terminated by rehydration in the kyanite stability field at about 500°C.The size difference between prograde (1–2-mm) and retrograde (0.05–0.1-mm) mineral grains indicates substantial undercooling below equilibrium positions of relevant retrograde reactions prior to rehydration, and explains why cordierite that grew during M2 is almost completely destroyed. Post-M4a regrowth of staurolite and garnet (M4b) is spatially linked to sites of M4a rehydration. It reached temperatures of 510–530°C, remaining within the stability field of kyanite.A best fit of the observed textural history to the Namaqua orogenic cycle involves collision and heating (M2/D2) followed by granite intrusion (M3), rifting (M4a) and renewed heating due to crustal loading during volcanism (M4b). The P–T path for the Annex region is consistent with those derived from elsewhere in the Gordonia Belt and, with modification, to that published already for the nearby Prieska Copper Mines.

Notes: Abstract Portions of three Proterozoic tectonostratigraphic sequences are exposed in the Cimarron Mountains of New Mexico. The Cimarron River tectonic unit has affinities to a convergent margin plutonic/volcanic complex. Igneous hornblende from a quartz diorite stock records an emplacement pressure of 2–2.6 kbar. Rocks within this unit were subsequently deformed during a greenschist facies regional metamorphism at 4–5 kbar and 330 ± 50° C.The Tolby Meadow tectonic unit consists of quartzite and schist. Mineral assemblages are indicative of regional metamorphism at pressures near 4 kbar and temperatures of 520 ± 20° C. A low-angle ductile shear zone separates this succession from gneisses of the structurally underlying Eagle Nest tectonic unit. Gneissic granite yields hornblende pressures of 6–8 kbar. Pelitic gneiss records regional metamorphic conditions of 6–7 kbar and 705 ± 15° C, overprinted by retrogression at 4 kbar and 530 ± 10° C. Comparison of metamorphic and retrograde conditions indicates a P–T path dominated by decompression and cooling. The low-angle ductile shear zone represents an extensional structure which was active during metamorphism. This extension juxtaposed the Tolby Meadow and Eagle Nest units at 4 kbar and 520° C. Both units were later overprinted by folding and low-grade metamorphism, and then were emplaced against the Cimarron River tectonic unit by right-slip movement along the steeply dipping Fowler Pass shear zone.An argon isotope-correlation age obtained from igneous hornblende dates plutonism in the Cimarron River unit at 1678 Ma. Muscovite associated with the greenschist facies metamorphic overprint yields a 40 Ar/39 Ar plateau age of 1350 Ma. By contrast, rocks within the Tolby Meadow and Eagle Nest units yield significantly younger argon cooling ages. Hornblende isotope-correlation ages of 1394–1398 Ma are interpreted to date cooling during middle Proterozoic extension. Muscovite plateau ages of 1267–1257 Ma appear to date cooling from the low-grade metamorphic overprint. The latest ductile movement along the Fowler Pass shear zone post-dated these cooling ages. Argon released from muscovites of the Eagle Nest/Tolby Meadow composite unit, at low experimental temperatures, yields apparent ages of c. 1100 Ma. Similar ages are not obtained north-east of the Fowler Pass shear zone, suggesting movement more recently than 1100 Ma.

Notes: Abstract Regional metamorphism in central Inner Mongolia has occurred during four different periods: the middle Proterozoic, the early Palaeozoic, the middle Palaeozoic and the late Palaeozoic tectonic cycles. The middle Proterozoic and late Palaeozoic metamorphic events are associated with rifting and are characterized by low-pressure facies series. The early Palaeozoic metamorphism occurred in two stages: (1) subduction zone metamorphism resulted in paired metamorphic belts in the Ondor Sum ophiolite and Bainaimiao island arc complex; and (2) orogenic metamorphism occurred during the collision of an island arc with the continent. Two types of middle Palaeozoic metamorphism are represented: (1) subduction zone metamorphism, which affected the melange; and (2) orogenic metamorphism that resulted from continent–continent collision.

Notes: Abstract The metamorphic history and tectonic evolution of the Qinling Complex is divided into formation and modification stages. During the Proterozoic formation stage, three deformational sequences are recognized. Andalusite–muscovite, sillimanite–muscovite and sillimanite–K-feldspar zones of amphibolite facies regional metamorphism are earlier than, or synchronous with the first or second phase of folding. Ductile shear zones were formed and Caledonian granites were emplaced during the modification stage. The granites superimposed contact aureoles (garnet–K-feldspar zone) on the regional metamorphic fabric.Metamorphic reactions, P–T conditions of metamorphism and P–T–t paths were estimated by analysis of mineral textures and standard thermobarometric techniques. The P–T–t path of the Proterozoic tectonometamorphic cycle shows prominent clockwise decompression. The P–T–t path of the Caledonian tectonometamorphic cycle is characterized by an early rise of pressure and temperature, followed by isothermal decompression (rapid uplift) and finally with isobaric cooling.The P–T–t paths of the two tectonometamorphic cycles reflect two major stages of collision and uplift in the evolution of the Qinling orogenic belt during the Proterozoic and Caledonian–Hercynian periods, respectively.

Notes: Abstract Eclogites are distributed for more than 500 km along a major tectonic boundary between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons in central and eastern China. These eclogites usually have high-P assemblages including omphacite + kyanite and/or coesite (or its pseudomorph), and form a high-P eclogite terrane. They occur as isolated lenses or blocks 10 cm to 300 m long in gneisses (Type I), serpentinized garnet peridotites (Type II) and marbles (Type III). Type I eclogites were formed by prograde metamorphism, and their primary metamorphic mineral assemblage consists mainly of garnet [pyrope (Prp) = 15–40 mol%], omphacite [jadeite (Jd) = 34–64 mol%], pargasitic amphibole, kyanite, phengitic muscovite, zoisite, an SiO2 phase, apatite, rutile and zircon. Type II eclogites characteristically contain no SiO2 phase, and are divided into prograde eclogites and mantle-derived eclogites. The prograde eclogites of Type II are petrographically similar to Type I eclogites. The mantle-derived eclogites have high MgO/(FeO + Fe2O3) and Cr2O3 compositions in bulk rock and minerals, and consist mainly of pyrope-rich garnet (Prp = 48–60 mol%), sodic augite (Jd = 10–27 mol%) and rutile. Type III eclogites have an unusual mineral assemblage of grossular-rich (Grs = 57 mol%) garnet + omphacite (Jd = 30–34 mol%) + pargasite + rutile.Pargasitic and taramitic amphiboles, calcic plagioclase (An68), epidote, zoisite, K-feldspar and paragonite occur as inclusions in garnet and omphacite in the prograde eclogites. This suggests that the prograde eclogites were formed by recrystallization of epidote amphibolite and/or amphibolite facies rocks with near-isothermal compression reflecting crustal thickening during continent–continent collision of late Proterozoic age. Equilibrium conditions of the prograde eclogites range from P 〉 26 kbar and T= 500–750°C in the western part to P 〉 28 kbar and T= 810–880°C in the eastern part of the high-P eclogite terrane. The prograde eclogites in the eastern part are considered to have been derived from a deeper position than those in the western part. Subsequent reactions, manifested by (1) narrow rims of sodic plagioclase or paragonite on kyanite and (2) symplectites between omphacite and quartz are interpreted as an effect of near-isothermal decompression during the retrograde stage. The conditions at which symplectites re-equilibrated tend to increase from west (P 〈 10 kbar and T 〈 580°C) to east (P 〉 9 kbar and T 〉 680°C). Equilibrium temperatures of Type II mantle-derived eclogites and Type III eclogite are 730–750°C and 680°C, respectively.

Notes: Abstract Fluid evolution paths in the COHN system can be calculated for metamorphic rocks if there are relevant data regarding the mineral assemblages present, and regarding the oxidation and nitrodation states throughout the entire P-T loop. The compositions of fluid inclusions observed in granulitic rocks from Rogaland (south-west Norway) are compared with theoretical fluid compositions and molar volumes. The fluid parameters are calculated using a P-T path based on mineral assemblages, which are represented by rocks within the pigeonite-in isograd and by rocks near the orthopyroxene-in isograd surrounding an intrusive anorthosite massif. The oxygen and nitrogen fugacities are assumed to be buffered by the coexisting Fe-Ti oxides and Cr-carlsbergite, respectively. Many features of the natural fluid inclusions, including (1) the occurrence of CO2-N2-rich graphite-absent fluid inclusions near peak M2 metamorphic conditions (927° C and 400 MPa), (2) the non-existence of intermediate ternary CO2-CH4-N2 compositions and (3) the low-molar-volume CO2-rich fluid inclusions (36–42 cm3 mol−1), are reproduced in the calculated fluid system. The observed CO2-CH4-rich inclusions with minor N2 (5 mol%) should also include a large proportion of H2O according to the calculations. The absence of H2O from these natural high-molar-volume CO2-CH4-rich inclusions and the occurrence of natural CH4-N2-rich inclusions are both assumed to result from preferential leakage of H2O. This has been previously experimentally demonstrated for H2O-CO2-rich fluid inclusions, and has also been theoretically predicted. Fluid-deficient conditions may explain the relatively high molar volumes, but cannot be used to explain the occurrence of CH4-N2-rich inclusions and the absence of H2O.

Notes: Abstract Declining temperatures during decay of a hydrothermal system, or during uplift and erosion, tend to result in veins involving progressive hydration reactions, e.g. veins with laumontite cutting prehnitepumpellyite facies rocks, and stilbite veins cutting laumontite veins.In contrast, examples are described of analcime replacement of heulandite along fractures in heulanditized vitric tuff, of replacement of analcime by albite along fractures in quartz-analcime rock, of joint-controlled replacement of heulandite in tuff by laumontite + quartz + (Na, K)-feldspars, of replacement of laumontite by prehnite + quartz along fractures in alumontitized vitric tuff, and of laumontitebearing feldspathic sandstones cut by vein assemblages of quartz and prehnite ° Calcite. The vein mineral assemblage, sometimes with pumpellyite and/or epidote in the prehnite-bearing veins, tends to spread as a zone of dehydration into the adjacent country rock. Except perhaps for albite replacement of analcime, and for laumontite replacement of heulandite, these open-system reactions involve cation activity ratios in the fluid. All involve dehydration. They are favoured by an increase in temperature, and except under certain situations where P-T equilibrium curves have negative slopes, are favoured by a fall in PH2O. Evidence indicates that in at least some cases the triggering mechanism was a drop in PH2O; this may be a widespread phenomenon associated with brittle fracture in the seismogenic upper crust. This may cause fluid pressure to drop from values approaching lithostatic to nearer hydrostatic, and equilibrium may be displaced to yield a less hydrous assemblage that appears as a dehydration vein and vein verge. The dehydration vein assemblage may be diagnostic of a higher grade mineral facies and adds to the mineral complexity attributable to varying permeabilities and fluid pressures in upper crustal strata. Mineral facies are likely to be more uniformly distributed in higher grade rocks from below the brittle-ductile transition zone.Reactions involving complex solid solutions are inappropriate as facies boundaries.

Notes: Abstract Mg–Fe carpholite is widespread in the Diahot region of New Caledonia in highly aluminous schists and as veins in what was originally a clay-rich hydrothermal alteration envelope about massive suphide deposits. These carpholites have Fe/(Fe + Mg) ratios of 0.03–0.65 and no significant Mn component. Mg-carpholite + quartz occur in assemblages with chlorite or pyrophyllite, pyrophyllite + kaolinite and pyrophyllite + diaspore. Temperatures of 230–320° C and minimum pressures of 7 kbar are indicated for the Mg–Fe carpholite-bearing rocks. The regional distribution of aragonite and Mg–Fe carpholite parallel to a major zone of dominantly transcurrent movement and oblique to the trend of the subduction complex indicates the high-P/low-T schists owe their rapid uplift and preservation to the vertical component of the transcurrent faulting.

Notes: Abstract A metasomatic diopside rock occurs at the top of the dolomitic Connemara Marble Formation of western Ireland and contains titanite and K-feldspar in addition to around 90% diopside (XMg= 0.90–0.97). U–Pb isotopic measurements on this mineral assemblage show that the titanite is both unusually uranium-rich and isotopically concordant, with the result that a precise U–Pb age of 478 ± 2.5 Ma can be determined. The age is identical within error to a less precise Rb–Sr age of diopside–K-feldspar of 483 ± 6 Ma. Petrological evidence indicates that the assemblage crystallized at c. 620° C close to or below the closure temperature of titanite. The age thus provides a precise estimate of the time of metamorphism; this age is 11 ± 3 Ma younger than the 490 Ma age for nearby gabbroic plutons which has previously been used to constrain the peak metamorphic age. This difference accords well with geological evidence that the gabbros were emplaced prior to the metamorphic peak. Analysis of minerals with high closure temperature from assemblages whose crystallization is unambiguously associated with a specific episode of fluid infiltration at the peak of metamorphism provides the basis for a new approach to dating metamorphism. The success of this approach is demonstrated by the results from Connemara.

Notes: Abstract Eclogites with a wide range in bulk composition are present in the Münchberg Massif, part of the Variscan basement of the Bohemian Massif in north-east Bavaria. New analyses of the primary phases garnet, omphacite, phengite and amphibole, as well as the secondary phases clinopyroxene II, various amphiboles, biotite/phlogopite, plagioclase, margarite, paragonite, prehnite and pumpellyite, reveal a complex uplift history. New discoveries were made of samples with very jadeite-rich primary omphacite as well as a secondary omphacite in a symplectite with albite. Various geothermobarometric techniques, together with thermodynamic databases (incorporating separately determined activity–composition values) and experimental data have clustered the minimum conditions for the primary assemblages to the P–T range 650 ± 60° C, 14.3 ± 1 kbar. However, jadeite (in omphacite)–kyanite–paragonite (in phengite) and zoisite–grossular (in garnet)–kyanite–quartz relationships suggests pressures of 25–28 kbar at the same temperatures. The fact that the secondary omphacite–plagioclase assemblage yields pressures within a few hundred bars of the minimum pressures for the plagioclase-free assemblages strongly suggests that the minimum values are serious underestimates.Zoning, inclusion suites and breakdown reactions of primary phases, in addition to new minerals formed during uplift, define a polyphase metamorphic evolution which, from geochronological evidence, occurred solely within the Variscan cycle. The complex breakdown in other Bohemian Massif eclogites and the distinct variation in their temperatures during uplift suggest a multi-stage thrusting model for the regional evolution of the eclogites. Such an evolution has significance with respect to incorporation of mantle slices into crustal sequences and fluid derivation from successively subducted units, possibly driving the breakdown reactions.

Notes: Clay mineral crystallinity and crystallite (domain) size data determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) are methods extensively used in the characterization of very low-grade metamorphic conditions. However, the lack of sufficient interlaboratory standardization has made comparisons between different research groups unreliable due to significant variations in numerical results obtained, a consequence of the different machine conditions, measurement methods and sample preparations used during analysis. A calibration approach to the standardization of data using rock chip standards is presented, which allows data sets produced by different research groups to be directly and quantitatively compared. A standardized scale, the crystallinity index standard (CIS), is proposed, with illite crystallinity anchizonal boundary limits of 0.25d̀Δ2θ and 0.42d̀Δ2θ, and equivalent illite crystallite sizes of 52 and 23 nm, respectively, determined by the Warren-Averbach method. Calibrating both old and new data will enable more reliable comparisons between similar and contrasting geological environments, and should improve the accuracy and reliability of correlations made between XRD data and other indicators of very low-grade metamorphism, hence increasing the value of such clay mineral studies.

Notes: The Chicago mineral-carbonate oxygen isotope fractionation curves have been combined with mineral-water fractionation data for jadeite, zoisite and rutile and new data for grossular-water to provide a set of self-consistent mineral-pair calibrations. The A coefficients in the equation 1000 In α=A× 106T-2 of the new mineral-pair fractionations areJadeite Zoisite Grossular RutileQuartz 1.69 2.00 3.03 5.02Jadeite 0.31 1.34 3.33Zoisite 1.03 3.02Grossular 1.99The isotopic fractionation properties of natural pyralspite garnet [(Ca, Fe, Mg, Mn)3Al2Si3O12] can be approximated by those of the grossular end-member. Appropriate substitutions also yield coefficients for the solid-solution minerals: sodic pyroxene and epidote, e.g. A quartz-sodic pyroxene= 2.75 - 1.06Xjd, A quartz-epidote= 2.00 + 0.75Xpswhere XJd and XPs are the mole fractions of the jadeite and pistacite components, respectively.The new data set is particularly suitable for the geothermometry of metamorphic rocks. δ18O data from minerals of the high-pressure metamorphic rocks of the Sesia Zone of Italy and Cyclades Complex of Greece yield well-constrained mean temperatures of 572 and 478d̀ C, respectively. Type III blueschist metabasalts of the Franciscan Formation of California give mean quartz-garnet temperatures of 354d̀ C.

Notes: Quantitative modelling of oxygen exchange by diffusion during slow cooling has been compared to the observed oxygen isotope distributions from high-grade metamorphic and granitic rocks of the High Himalayan Crystallines, Langtang Valley, central Nepal, in order to investigate the effect of retrograde diffusional exchange on the preservation of high-temperature, oxygen isotope systematics.Modelled fractionations, using water-present diffusion data reported in the literature, predict quartz-mica fractionations to be much larger than those at peak metamorphic and igneous conditions due to low closure temperatures for micas. Quartz-feldspar fractionations may be less than those at peak conditions, and in some samples may even be slightly negative.The observed oxygen isotope fractionations in the metamorphic rocks are small and largely appear to record equilibrations close to peak conditions determined by other methods. Hence these rocks clearly do not conform to predictions of fluid-present diffusional retrograde exchange. It is suggested that their retrograde history was therefore within an anhydrous closed system in which diffusion was slow and hence mineral closure temperatures were high. The granitic rocks record rather larger quartz-biotite fractionations, approaching those predicted by the diffusion modelling. However, quartz-feldspar fractionations are large and hence, although significant retrograde exchange has clearly occurred, simple diffusion alone is not sufficient to explain the observed data and open-system exchange may be required. The presence of fluids during the retrograde history of this part of the section is supported by petrographic evidence.The different retrograde oxygen exchange histories recorded between the regional metamorphic and magmatic regimes of the Langtang section would appear to support the importance of water on the kinetics of such exchange, and suggests that in its absence, diffusional exchange may become insignificant, allowing oxygen isotope thermometry to record meaningful high-temperature data.

Notes: Abstract At Kottavattam, southern Kerala (India), late Proterozoic homogeneous leptynitic garnet–biotite gneisses of granitic composition have been transformed on a decimetric scale into coarse-grained massive charnockite sensu stricto along a set of conjugate fractures transecting the gneissic foliation. Charnockitization post-dates the polyphase deformation, regional high-grade metamorphism and anatexis, and evidently occurred at a late stage of the Pan-African tectonothermal history. Geothermobarometric and fluid inclusion data document textural and chemical equilibration of the gneiss and charnockite assemblages at similar Plith–T conditions (650–700°C, 5–6 kbar) in the presence of carbonic fluids internally buffered by reaction with graphite and opaque mineral phases (XCO2= 0.7–0.6; XH2O= 0.2–0.3; XN2= 0.1; log fO2= -17.5).Mineralogical zonation indicates that charnockitization of the leptynitic gneiss involved first the breakdown of biotite and oxidation of graphite in narrow, outward-migrating transition zones adjacent to the gneiss, followed by the breakdown of garnet and the neoblastesis of hypersthene in the central charnockite zone. Compared to the host gneiss, the charnockite shows higher concentrations of K, Na, Sr, Ba and Zn and lower concentrations of Mg, Fe, Ti, V, Y, Zr and the HREE, with a complementary pattern in the narrow transition zones of biotite breakdown. The Plith–T–XH2O data and chemical zonation patterns indicate charnockitization through subsolidus-dehydration reaction in an open system. Subsequent residence of the carbonic fluids in the charnockite resulted in low-grade alteration causing modification of the syn-charnockitic elemental distribution patterns and the properties of entrapped fluids. We favour an internally controlled process of arrested charnockitization in which, during near-isothermal uplift, the release of carbonic fluids from decrepitating inclusions in the host gneiss into simultaneously developing fracture zones led to a change in the fluid regime from ‘fluid-absent’in the gneiss to ‘fluid-present’in the fracture zones and to the development of an initial fluid-pressure gradient, triggering the dehydration reaction.

Notes: The assemblages chlorite-pumpellyite-lawsonite-albite-quartz, chlorite-lawsonite-quartz-epidote and chlorite-epidote-albite-quartz occur in metabasaltic blocks and veins in a metamorphosed tectonic mélange in the structurally highest unit of the autochthonous and parautochthonous section underlying the Semail ophiolite in Saih Hatat, north-east Oman. The pre-Permian basement of this section contains mafic units characterized by the assemblage crossite-epidote-chlorite-quartz-albite /el actinolite. These assemblages indicate a down-section increase in metamorphic grade from ‘lawsonite-albite facies' conditions in the mélange to ‘epidote-blueschist’ facies conditions in the basement.Application of empirically and experimentally based thermobarometers as well as petrogenetic grids calculated for a model basaltic system indicates that the P-T conditions of metamorphism ranged from 3 to 6 kbar and 250 to 300d̀ C for the mélange and P 〉 6.8 kbar, T 〉 310d̀ C for the basement units. Textural relations interpreted in the context of petrogenetic grids indicate that these units followed clockwise P-T paths of evolution. The estimated P-T conditions and down-section increase in metamorphic grade in central, western and northern Saih Hatat are consistent with the hypothesis relating metamorphism to the Late Cretaceous tectonic loading of the continental margin by an ophiolite slab 〈 18 km in thickness. These results contrast with field and petrological observations documented for blueschists and eclogites exposed along the eastern coast of Saih Hatat which may have formed at an earlier stage in response to an Early Cretaceous collisional event.

Notes: The equilibrium thermodynamics of the reaction:And the equilibrium constant is composed of activities formulated using ideal mixing on sites. Consideration is given to the evaluation of uncertainties in pressures calculated using the geobarometer. Preliminary testing suggests that the geobarometer has considerable potential. Much wider testing is now required.

Notes: Abstract. Pink piemontite-spessartine-bearing and grey-green spessartine-bearing manganiferous quartzose schists derived from siliceous pelagites, and green quartzofeldspathic schists, are described from the greenschist facies of the Haast Schist terrane, near Arrow Junction, western Otago. Electron microprobe data are reported for sphene, spessartine-rich garnet, manganoan epidote, piemontite, tourmaline, phengitic muscovite, chlorite, albite, haematite, rutile, manganoan calcite and chalcopyrite.Metamorphism occurred at about 6.4kbar, 400°C. Xco2 was above the quartz-rutile-calcite-sphene buffer (Xco2± 0.02) throughout the recorded metamorphic history of the piemontite schists. It dropped from above to below this critical buffering value in a spessartine-rich schist and it was close to or below the buffering value in the quartzofeldspathic schists. Production of piemontite required high fO2, believed to be inherited from MnOx in the parent pelagite. Substantial loss of O2 (e.g. minimum of 0.19% by weight in one rock) during diagenesis and/or metamorphism is inferred. In the grey-green schists this inhibited piemontite formation. Slight loss of O2 and Ca2+ accompanied minor late-stage replacement of piemontite by second generation spessartine. Observed zoning and mineral replacements indicate rise of temperature, drop in pressure, or invasion by solutions of lower fO2 and XCO2 equilibrated with surrounding schists.The detailed chemistry of the minerals studied correlates with available Mn and with bulk-rock (Fe3+ x 100)/(Fe2++ Fe3+). The oxidation ratio ranges from 24 in average green quartzofeldspathic schist, through 78 in average grey-green manganiferous quartzose schist, to almost 100 in some piemontite-bearing schists. As Fe2+ gives way to Fe3+, Mg/Fe ratios tend to rise in chlorite, phengite, tourmaline, spessartine, and calcite, Mn increases and Ti decreases in haematite, Mn increases in spessartine and calcite, and Fe increases in rutile. Available divalent cations are depleted relative to Al; chlorite is more aluminous, and phengite more paragonitic than in typical Haast schists.

Notes: Abstract Large calcite veins and pods in the Proterozoic Corella Formation of the Mount Isa Inlier provide evidence for kilometre-scale fluid transport during amphibolite facies metamorphism. These 10- to 100-m-scale podiform veins and their surrounding alteration zones have similar oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios throughout the 200 × 10-km Mary Kathleen Fold Belt, despite the isotopic heterogeneity of the surrounding wallrocks. The fluids that formed the pods and veins were not in isotopic equilibrium with the immediately adjacent rocks. The pods have δ13Ccalcite values of –2 to –7% and δ18Ocalcite values of 10.5 to 12.5%. Away from the pods, metadolerite wallrocks have δ18Owhole-rock values of 3.5 to 7%. and unaltered banded calc-silicate and marble wallrocks have δ13Ccalcite of –1.6 to –0.6%, and δ18Ocalcite of 18 to 21%. In the alteration zones adjacent to the pods, the δ18O values of both metadolerite and calc-silicate rocks approach those of the pods. Large calcite pods hosted entirely in calc-silicates show little difference in isotopic composition from pods hosted entirely in metadolerite. Thus, 100- to 500-m-scale isotopic exchange with the surrounding metadolerites and calc-silicates does not explain the observation that the δ18O values of the pods are intermediate between these two rock types. Pods hosted in felsic metavolcanics and metasiltstones are also isotopically indistinguishable from those hosted in the dominant metadolerites and calc-silicates. These data suggest the veins are the product of infiltration of isotopically homogeneous fluids that were not derived from within the Corella Formation at the presently exposed crustal level, although some of the spread in the data may be due to a relatively small contribution from devolatilization reactions in the calc-silicates, or thermal fluctuations attending deformation and metamorphism. The overall L-shaped trend of the data on plots of δ13C vs. δ18O is most consistent with mixing of large volumes of externally derived fluids with small volumes of locally derived fluid produced by devolatilization of calc-silicate rocks. Localization of the vein systems in dilatant sites around metadolerite/calc-silicate boundaries indicates a strong structural control on fluid flow, and the stable isotope data suggest fluid migration must have occurred at scales greater than at least 1 km. The ultimate source for the external fluid is uncertain, but is probably fluid released from crystallizing melts derived from the lower crust or upper mantle. Intrusion of magmas below the exposed crustal level would also explain the high geothermal gradient calculated for the regional metamorphism.

Notes: Abstract The widespread khondalite series of south-east Inner Mongolia consists largely of biotite–sillimanite–garnet gneiss and quartzo-feldspathic gneiss with some marble and mafic granulite layers. It has experienced two metamorphic events at c. 2500 and 1900–2000 Ma.A pre-peak stage of the first metamorphism at T= 600–700°C and P 〉 6–7 kbar is recognized by the relict amphibolite facies assemblage Ky–Grt–Bt–Pl–Qtz and ‘protected’inclusions of biotite, hornblende, sodic plagioclase and quartz in garnet or orthopyroxene. The peak stage, with T=c. 800 ± 50°C and P 8–10 kbar, is characterized by the widespread granulite facies assemblages Sil–Grt–Bt–Kfs–Pl–Qtz in gneiss and Opx–Cpx–Pl ± Hbl ± Grt in granulite. The P–T–t path suggests that the supracrustal sequence was buried in the lower crust by tectonic thickening during D1–D2.The beginning of the second metamorphism is characterized by further temperature rise to 700°C or more at lower pressure. This stage is manifested by the appearance of cordierite after garnet, fibrolite (Sil2) after biotite in gneiss and transformation of Hbl1 into Opx2 and Cpx2 in granulite. Coronas of symplectitic Opx2 + Pl2 surrounding Grt1 and Cpx1 in mafic granulite are interpreted as products of near-isothermal decompression. The P–T–t path may be related tectonically to waning extension of the crust by the end of the early Proterozoic.

Notes: Abstract The Qinling–Dabie accretionary fold belt in east-central China represents the E–W trending suture zone between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons. A portion of the accretionary complex exposed in northern Hubei Province contains a high-pressure/low-temperature metamorphic sequence progressively metamorphosed from the blueschist through greenschist to epidote–amphibolite/eclogite facies. The ‘Hongan metamorphic belt’can be divided into three metamorphic zones, based on progressive changes in mineral assemblages: Zone I, in the south, is characterized by transitional blueschist–greenschist facies; Zone II is characterized by greenschist facies; Zone III, in the northernmost portion of the belt, is characterized by eclogite and epidote–amphibolite facies sequences. Changes in amphibole compositions from south to north as well as the appearance of increasingly higher pressure mineral assemblages toward the north document differences in metamorphic P–T conditions during formation of this belt. Preliminary P–T estimates for Zone I metamorphism are 5–7 kbar, 350–450°C; estimates for Zone III eclogites are 10–22 kbar, 500 ± 50°C.The petrographic, chemical and structural characteristics of this metamorphic belt indicate its evolution in a northward-dipping subduction zone and subsequent uplift prior to and during the final collision between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons.

Notes: Abstract The Lancang metamorphic terrane consists of an eastern low-P/T belt and a western high-P/T belt divided by a N–S-trending fault. Protoliths of both units are mid–late Proterozoic basement and its cover. The low-P/T belt includes the Permian Lincang batholith, related amphibolite facies rocks of the Damenglong and Chongshan groups, and Permo-Triassic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks. Most whole-rock Rb–Sr isochron and U–Pb zircon ages of the Lincang batholith are in the range 290–279 and 254–212 Ma, respectively. Metamorphism of the low-P/T belt reaches upper amphibolite with local granulite facies (735°C at 5 kbar), subsequently retrogressed at 450–500°C during post-Triassic time. The high-P/T rocks grade from west to east from blueschist through transitional blueschist/greenschist to epidote amphibolite facies. Estimated P–T conditions follow the high-P intermediate facies series up to about 550–600°C, at which oligoclase is stable. The 40Ar/39Ar plateau age of sodic amphibole in blueschist is 279 Ma.The paired metamorphic belts combined with the spatial and temporal distribution of other blueschist belts lead us to propose a tentative tectonic history of south-east Asia since the latest Precambrian. Tectonic juxtaposition of paired belts with contrasting P–T conditions, perhaps during collision of the Baoshan block with south-east Asia, suggests that an intervening oceanic zone existed that has been removed. The Baoshan block is a microcontinent rifted from the northern periphery of Gondwana. Successive collision and amalgamation of microcontinents from either Gondwana or the Panthalassan ocean resulted in rapid southward continental growth of c. 500 km during the last 200 Ma. Hence, the Lancang region in south-east Asia represents a suture zone between two contrasting microcontinents.

Notes: Abstract The high-grade metamorphic rocks of southern Brittany underwent a complex tectonic evolution under various P-T conditions (high-P, high-T), related to stacking of nappes during Palaeozoic continentcontinent collision.The east to west thrusting observed in the whole belt is strongly perturbed by vertical movements attributed to the ascent of anatectic granites in the high-T area. The field reconstruction of subvertical, closed elliptical structures in gneisses and migmatites, associated with the subhorizontal, doubly radial pattern of stretching lineation in the mica schists, suggests the existence of an elliptical diapiric body buried at depth beneath the present erosion level.Deformation is associated with a complex P-T evolution partly recorded in aluminous gneisses (kinzigites, e.g. morbihanites). A chronology of successive episodes of mineral growth at different compositions is established by detailed studies of the mineral-microstructure relationships in X-Z sections, using the deformation-partitioning concept (low- and high-strain zones).Several thermometric and barometric calibrations are applied to mineral pairs either in contact or not in contact but in equivalent microstructiiral positions with respect to the deformation history. This methodology provides a continuous microstructural control of P-T variations through time and leads to three P-T-t-d paths constructed from numerous successive P-T estimations. Path 1 is a clockwise retrograde path preserved in low-strain zones, which records general exhumation movements after crustal thickening. Paths 2 and 3 are clockwise prograde/retrograde paths from high-strain zones; they are interpreted and discussed in the light of models of crustal anatexis and upward movement of magma (diapirism). Deformation and P-T effects induced by diapirism can be distinguished from the general deformation-metamorphic history of a belt, and would seem to be produced during a late stage of its history.The present microstructural-petrological approach to defining successive mineral equilibria in relation to progressive deformation steps provides a far more accurate evaluation of the metamorphic evolution than is possible by ‘standard’thermobarometry.

Notes: Abstract The metamorphic history of the Middle to Upper Jurassic volcanic and hypabyssal rocks exposed in the Klamath Mountains and Sierra Nevada of California is related, in part, to the rifting of a volcano-plutonic arc. The Callovian to Kimmeridgian rocks exposed in the region consist of, from north-west to south-east, a back-arc ophiolite, a rifted volcanic arc and a volcanic arc complex. All of these units have been metamorphosed and contain various combinations of the phases chlorite, amphibole, epidote, prehnite and pumpellyite. Projection of coexisting phases onto the composition plane MgO/(MgO + FeO) and Al2O3+ Fe2O3 - 0.75 CaO - Na2O through quartz, water, albite and epidote results in consistent mineralogical compatibilities within each region, but crossing tie-lines between regions. This suggests that the volcanic and hypabyssal rocks from each region have equilibrated under different intensive conditions.The back-arc ophiolite in the north has suffered subseafloor high-T/P hydrothermal metamorphism with geothermal gradients on the order of 100° C km−1. The rifted volcanic arc has undergone synchronous burial, hydrothermal and contact metamorphism. Metamorphic field gradients in the region pass through the prehnite-pumpellyite and greenschist facies suggesting geothermal gradients on the order of 30° C km−1. The southernmost volcanic arc complexes contain metavolcanics of the pumpellyiteactinolite and greenschist facies suggesting moderate- to high-P/T metamorphism and geothermal gradients on the order of 20° C km−1.The apparent increase in rifting and calculated geothermal gradients from south-east to north-west suggest that the observed very low- and low-grade metamorphism may be a response to enhanced thermal gradients during extension of the volcanic arc. This correlation between the extent of rifting and metamorphism is consistent with a model of diastathermal metamorphism of a propagating rift along the western margin of North America during the Late Jurassic. The plate tectonic setting may be analogous to the present-day Andaman Sea region.

Notes: Abstract The Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary volcanic sequences in the Chilean Andes are affected by burial metamorphism. For example, in central Chile (between 32°30’and 35°S), the Abanico Formation, a folded upper Cretaceous to Palaeogene unit composed of basic lavas, tuffs and ash flows of intermediate composition and volcaniclastic sandstones, is characterized by heulandite- to laumontite-bearing zeolite facies assemblages in its upper part passing with depth to prehnite–pumpellyite facies assemblages.However, at c. 33°30'S in the Abanico Hill area, located just east of a graben at Santiago (the longitudinal Central Valley), the alteration pattern is unrelated to stratigraphic depth. It is characterized by a lateral increase in grade defined by assemblages with yugawaralite (reported for the first time in the Andes) laumontite, then wairakite ± epidote, and finally with abundant epidote successively closer to the graben boundary. This pattern was formed in a palaeogeothermal system with a high-T and a very low-P gradient. Geothermal alteration has also been inferred from the border zone of a Neogene caldera in the Abanico Hill area, and from the western fault boundary of the graben.These expressions of geothermal alteration, together with the occurrence of caldera structures, the huge volume of ignimbrites and numerous epithermal precious metal deposits of late Cretaceous and Tertiary age in central and northern Chile, suggest that fossil geothermal systems of this age are probably common features in the Chilean Andes.

Notes: Abstract Petrological, oxygen isotope and 40Ar/39Ar studies were used to constrain the Tertiary metamorphic evolution of the lower tectonic unit of the Cyclades on Tinos. Polyphase high-pressure metamorphism reached pressures in excess of 15 kbar, based on measurements of the Si content in potassic white mica. Temperatures of 450–500° C at the thermal peak of high-pressure metamorphism were estimated from critical metamorphic assemblages, the validity of which is confirmed by a quartz–magnetite oxygen isotope temperature of 470° C. Some 40Ar/39Ar spectra of white mica give plateau ages of 44–40 Ma that are considered to represent dynamic recrystallization under peak or slightly post-peak high-pressure metamorphic conditions. Early stages in the prograde high-pressure evolution may be documented by older apparent ages in the high-temperature steps of some spectra.Eclogite to epidote blueschist facies mineralogies were partially or totally replaced by retrograde greenschist facies assemblages during exhumation. Oxygen isotope thermometry of four quartz–magnetite pairs from greenschist samples gives temperatures of 440–470° C which cannot be distinguished from those deduced for the high-pressure event. The exhumation and overprint is documented by decreasing ages of 32–28 Ma in some greenschists and late-stage blueschist rocks, and ages of 30–20 Ma in the lower temperature steps of the Ar release patterns of blueschist micas. Almost flat parts of Ar–Ar release spectra of some greenschist micas gave ages of 23–21 Ma which are assumed to represent incomplete resetting caused by a renewed prograde phase of greenschist metamorphism.Oxygen isotope compositions of blueschist and greenschist facies minerals show no evidence for the infiltration of a δ18O-enriched fluid. Rather, the compositions indicate that fluid to rock ratios were very low, the isotopic compositions being primarily controlled by those of the protolith rocks. We assume that the fundamental control catalysing the transformation of blueschists into greenschists and the associated resetting of their isotopic systems was the selective infiltration of metamorphic fluid. A quartz–magnetite sample from a contact metamorphic skarn, taken near the Miocene monzogranite of Tinos, gave an oxygen isotope temperature of 555° C and calculated water composition of 9.1%. The value of δ18O obtained from this water is consistent with a primary magmatic fluid, but is lower than that of fluids associated with the greenschist overprint, which indicates that the latter event cannot be directly related to the monozogranite intrusion.

Notes: Abstract Orthopyroxene-bearing migmatites, exposed at the summit of Cone Peak in the Santa Lucia Range, California, offer an opportunity to explore potential links between granulite facies metamorphism and migmatite formation. Geothermobarometry indicates that the metamorphic temperatures and pressures were in the approximate ranges of 700–750° C and 7.0–7.5 kbar. The rocks at the summit comprise three domains: relatively coarse-grained, leucocratic veins; relatively fine-grained, biotite-enriched zones at the margins of the veins; and a biotite–hornblende-bearing host rock. Orthopyroxene is concentrated in the veins, which have also the highest ratio of anhydrous to hydrous minerals of the three rock types. The composition of the veins, together with their textures and modes, suggest that they formed through anatexis involving a dehydration-melting reaction which consumed hornblende and produced orthopyroxene. Variability in mineralogy and composition indicates that there was some local migration of magma along the veins before their final solidification. The biotite-enriched zones formed either by the concentration of residual biotite at the margins of the vein, or through the metasomatic conversion of hornblende (and/or pyroxene) to biotite, or by a combination of the two processes. Significant differences in the chemistry of the neosome (vein + biotite-enriched zone) and the host rock rule out simple dehydration melting in a local closed system. The model that explains best the mineralogical and chemical patterns involves triggering of melting by an influx of a low-aH2O mixed fluid which added K and Si to and removed Ca from the neosome.

Notes: Abstract In the Adirondack Highlands of New York State, the effect of granulite facies metamorphism on the physical and isotopic characteristics of zircon from anorogenic plutonic rocks has a distinct geographical pattern. The location of zircon populations which appear to have been altered describes a roughly circular area where metamorphic palaeotemperatures have been determined to be in excess of 750° C. Zircons from anorogenic plutonic rocks outside this area were undisturbed during metamorphism and yield well constrained ages.Granitic, charnockitic and mangeritic anorogenic plutonic rocks peripheral to the Marcy anorthosite massif have large, euhedral, prismatic zircons that display fine, internal, magmatic growth zonations and abundant, randomly orientated, mineral inclusions. Co-genetic zircon fractions yield linear discordant arrays and well constrained upper intercepts of 1125–1157 Ma. Metamorphic zircon is limited to sporadically developed and volumetrically insignificant, clear, low-U overgrowths or protuberances.In marked contrast, zircons from petrographically and geochemically identical rocks adjacent to, or within, the Marcy anorthosite massif are typically large, limpid, anhedral to subhedral crystals or crystal fragments lacking internal features except for tubular cavities and CO-2-rich inclusions. Co-genetic zircon fractions yield nearly concordant, non-linear clusters with 207Pb/206Pb minimum ages of 1073–1095 Ma. Metamorphic overgrowths cannot be readily identified by optical or cathodoluminscence techniques; however, many grains show complex and unusual external boundaries suggestive of post-crystallization modification.These data indicate that temperatures as low as 750° C, in combination with other factors, may have been sufficient to facilitate recrystallization, and diffusion of radiogenic Pb from the zircon crystal structure, during the complex, protracted metamorphism of the Adirondack Highlands.

Notes: Abstract Archaean greenstone belts are often cut by major shear zones, for example the Cadillac tectonic zone (CTZ) of the southern Abitibi region in north-western Quebec. At McWatters, the CTZ contains slices of metavolcanic units bounded by corridors of highly strained and altered rocks. Mineral assemblages of the metabasites record the metamorphic evolution of the CTZ.The McWatters metabasalts and metagabbros have similar chemistry but different mineral assemblages consisting of variable amounts of actinolite, hornblende, chlorite, albite, epidote, quartz, carbonates, titanite, biotite, rutile, magnetite, ilmenite and sulphides. The different mineral assemblages, which coexist in a single tectonic slice, can be divided into three types, characterized by (A) presence of hornblende and actinolite, (B) presence of actinolite and epidote, and (C) absence of amphibole and epidote. Partial replacements indicate that these mineral assemblages are not in equilibrium. The hornblende of the least altered and deformed samples of the type A assemblage is a relict of a prograde metamorphic event, contemporaneous with the development of the main schistosity. The prograde conditions are estimated at P= 5 kbar, T= 475° C with low Pf. The more altered and deformed samples of the type C assemblage record a later retrograde metamorphic event. Conditions of the later event are estimated at P= 4 kbar, T= 400° C with higher Pf. Widespread calcite precipitation occurred during a later episode. The diversity of the mineral assemblages results from permeability variations along the high-strain zones of the CTZ.