Zircon grains were selected from two types of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) eclogites, coarse-grained phengite eclogite and fine-grained massive eclogite, in the Yukahe area, the western part of the North Qaidam UHP metamorphic belt. Most zircon grains show typical metamorphic origin with residual cores in some irregular grains and sector, planar or misty internal textures on the cathodoluminescence (CL) images. The contents of REE and HREE of the core parts of grains range from 173 to 1680 μg/g and 170 to 1634 μg/g, respectively, in phengite eclogite, and from 37 to 2640 μg/g and 25.7 to 1824 μg/g, respectively, in massive eclogite. The core parts exhibit HREE-enriched patterns, representing the residual zircons of protolith of the Yukahe eclogite. The contents of REE and HREE of the rim parts and the grains free of residual cores are much lower than those for the core parts. They vary from 13.1 to 89.5 μg/g and 12.5 to 85.7 μg/g, respectively, in phengite eclogite, and from 9.92 to 45.8 μg/g and 9.18 to 43.8 μg/g, respectively, in massive eclogite. Negative Eu anomalies and Th/U ratios decrease from core to rim. Positive Eu anomalies are shown in some grains. These indicate that the presence of garnet and the absence of plagioclase in the peak metamorphic mineral assemblage, and the zircons formed under eclogite facies conditions. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb age data indicate that phengite eclogite and massive eclogite have similar metamorphic age of 436±3Ma and 431±4Ma in the early Paleozoic and magmatic protolith age of 783–793 Ma and 748–759 Ma in the Neo-proterozoic. The weighted mean age of the metamorphic ages (434±2 Ma) may represent the UHP metamorphic age of the Yukahe eclogites. The metamorphic age is well consistent with their direct country rocks of gneisses (431±3 Ma and 432±19 Ma) and coesite-bearing pelitic schist in the Yematan UHP eclogite section (423–440 Ma). These age data together with field observation and lithology, allow us to conclude that the Yukahe eclogites were Neo-proterozoic igneous rocks and may have experienced subduction and UHP metamorphism with continental crust at deep mantle during the early Paleozoic, therefore the metamorphic age of 434±2 Ma of the Yukahe eclogites probably represents the continental deep subduction time in this area.
We herein investigate the extent to which extensive hydration of the oceanic lithosphere influences the preservation and exhumation of large-scale ophiolite bodies from subduction zones. The Zermatt–Saas ophiolite (ZS, W. Alps), which was subducted during the late stages of oceanic subduction, preserves a complete section of Mesozoic Tethys oceanic lithosphere and particularly fresh eclogites, and represents, so far, the largest and deepest known portion of exhumed oceanic lithosphere. Pervasive hydrothermal processes and seafloor alteration led to the incorporation of large amounts of fluid bound in the hydrated upper layers of the oceanic crust (now as lawsonite eclogites, glaucophanites, and chloritoschists) and in associated ultramafic rocks.Internally, the ZS ophiolite is made up of a series of tectonic slices of oceanic crust (150–300 m thick) which are systematically separated by a 5 to 100 m thick layer of serpentinite. This stack of slices is separated from the underlying eclogitized continental crust (e.g., Monte Rosa) by a thick (~ 500 m) serpentinite sole. Field observations, textural relationships and pseudosection modelling reveal that lawsonite was abundant and widespread in mafic eclogites when the ophiolite detached from the slab at around 550 °C and 24 kbar.Comparison between fresh eclogitic samples and pseudosection modelling shows that (i) water remained in excess from burial to eclogitic peak conditions, (ii) the lightest eclogitized metabasalts correspond to the portions of oceanic crust where metasomatism was the strongest, (iii) crystallization of widespread hydrated parageneses (such as lawsonite, glaucophane and phengite) instead of garnet and omphacite decreased by 5 to 10% the rock density and subsequently enhanced its buoyancy.We propose that this density decrease acted as a ‘float’ which prevented the slices from an irreversible sinking in the mantle. These slices were subsequently detached from the downgoing slab and stacked in the serpentinized subduction channel at pressures between 15 and 20 kbar, in the epidote blueschist facies. Exhumation of the underlying, positively buoyant continental crust dragged this “frozen” nappe-stack from the subduction channel towards the surface. 相似文献
Low-temperature and high-pressure eclogites with an oceanic affinity in the western part of the Dabie orogen have been investigated with combined Lu–Hf and U–Pb geochronology. These eclogites formed over a range of temperatures (482–565 °C and 1.9–2.2 GPa). Three eclogites, which were sampled from the Gaoqiao country, yielded Lu–Hf ages of 240.7 ± 1.2 Ma, 243.3 ± 4.1 Ma and 238.3 ± 1.2 Ma, with a corresponding lower-intercept U–Pb zircon age of 232 ± 26 Ma. Despite the well-preserved prograde major- and trace-element zoning in garnets, these Lu–Hf ages mostly reflect the high-pressure eclogite-facies metamorphism instead of representing the early phase of garnet growth due to the occurrence of omphacite inclusions from core to rim and the shell effect. An upper-intercept zircon U–Pb age of 765 ± 24 Ma is defined for the Gaoqiao eclogite, which is consistent with the weighted-mean age of 768 ± 21 Ma for the country gneiss. However, the gneiss has not been subjected to successive high-pressure metamorphism. The new Triassic ages are likely an estimate of the involvement of oceanic fragments in the continental subduction. 相似文献
