Metamorphic evolution of garnet–clinopyroxene–amphibole rocks from the Proterozoic Songshugou mafic–ultramafic complex, Qinling Mountains, central China |
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| Authors: | Z J Zhang |
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| Institution: | Department of Earth Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan and Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xian, China;Email:<> |
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| Abstract: | Garnet–clinopyroxene–amphibole rocks from the Songshugou mafic–ultramafic complex ( ca 1029 Ma) in the Qinling Mountains, central China, occur in a metabasite unit that is situated structurally beneath the peridotite body. These rocks have many records testifying to a multistage metamorphic history for the metabasites. Through petrographic and mineralogic investigations, at least three metamorphic stages were recognized: (i) a pre-eclogite stage of the amphibolite-facies condition as inferred from inclusions in garnet; (ii) an eclogite-facies stage as inferred from Pl-Cpx symplectites and from their reconstructed omphacite compositions (Jd17–35); and (iii) a post-eclogite stage characterized by various reaction textures such as coronas and reaction zones around garnets, clinopyroxenes and fine-grained mineral aggregates after garnets and clinopyroxenes. A textural relationship observed in the field and thin-section scales indicates that a breakdown of the Grt–Cpx–Amp assemblage led to the Grt-free and the Cpx-free assemblages, that is, Amp + Pl assemblage at the end. The eclogite-facies metamorphism of the metabasites, discussed in the present report, was related to subduction at the age intervening between ca 983 and ca 1029 Ma. Regional geologic data indicate that the eclogite-related subduction took place during the opening of the Kuanping marginal basin in the southern margin of the North China craton, and slightly before the formation of the Danfeng magmatic arc ( ca 984 Ma). The exhumation and emplacement of the eclogite-facies domain probably resulted from a collision between the Danfeng magmatic arc terrain and a fragment of the North China craton (i.e. the Qinling Complex) during 790–890 Ma. |
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| Keywords: | eclogite garnet amphibolite geobarometry geothermometry metamorphism Proterozoic Qinling Mountains |
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