Emergence of blueschists on Earth linked to secular changes in oceanic crust composition
The oldest blueschists—metamorphic rocks formed during subduction—are of Neoproterozoic age1, and 0.7–0.8 billion years old. Yet, subduction of oceanic crust to mantle depths is thought to have occurred since the Hadean, over 4 billion years ago2. Blueschists typically form under cold geothermal gradients of less than 400 °C GPa−1, so their absence in the ancient rock record is typically attributed to hotter pre-Neoproterozoic mantle prohibiting such low-temperature metamorphism; however, modern analogues of Archaean subduction suggest that blueschist-facies metamorphic conditions are attainable at the slab surface3. Here we show that the absence of blueschists in the ancient geological rec…
Subduction metamorphism in the Himalayan ultrahigh-pressure Tso Morari massif: an integrated geodynamic and petrological modelling approach
The Tso Morari massif is one of only two regions where ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism of subducted crust has been documented in the Himalayan Range. The tectonic evolution of the massif is enigmatic, as reported pressure estimates for peak metamorphism vary from ∼2.4 GPa to ∼4.8 GPa. This uncertainty is problematic for constructing large-scale numerical models of the early stages of India–Asia collision. To address this, we provide new constraints on the tectonothermal evolution of the massif via a combined geodynamic and petrological forward-modelling approach. A prograde-to-peak pressure–temperature–time (P–T–t) path has been derived from thermomechanical simulations tailored for E…
Generation of Earth's early continents from a relatively cool Archean mantle
This research has been supported by DFG grant, SPP 1833 Building a Habitable Earth and MAGMA Consolidator Grant (ERC project #71143). Several lines of evidence suggest that the Archean (4.0 2.5 Ga) mantle was hotter than today's potential temperature (TP) of 1350 ° C. However, the magnitude of such difference is poorly constrained, with TP estimation spanning from 1500 ° C to 1600 ° C during the Meso‐Archean (3.2‐2.8 Ga). Such differences have major implications for the interpreted mechanisms of continental crust generation on the early Earth, as their efficacy is highly sensitive to the TP. Here, we integrate petrological modeling with thermomechanical simulations to understand the dynami…
U-Pb monazite ages from the Pakistan Himalaya record pre-Himalayan Ordovician orogeny and Permian continental breakup
The Greater Himalayan Sequence in India and Nepal records crustal thickening processes that took place during and following the onset of India-Asia collision (ca. 54–50 Ma). These resulted in late Eocene–early Miocene kyanite- and sillimanite-grade regional metamorphism, and Oligocene–Miocene crustal anatexis, which formed migmatites and leucogranites. We present new U-Pb monazite data for kyanite- and sillimanite-grade gneisses of the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Tanawal Formation in the Pakistan Himalaya, which have metamorphic ages of 482.4 ± 7.9 Ma and 464.5 ± 4.0 Ma, respectively. These ages, together with along-strike equivalent rocks in the Lesser Himalaya of India and Nepal, help to d…
High-grade metamorphism and partial melting in Archean composite grey gneiss complexes
Much of the exposed Archaean crust is composed of composite gneiss which includes a large proportion of intermediate to tonalitic material. These gneiss terrains were typically metamorphosed to amphibolite to granulite facies conditions, with evidence for substantial partial melting at higher grade. Recently published activity–composition (a-x) models for partial melting of metabasic to intermediate compositions allows calculation of the stable metamorphic minerals, melt production and melt composition in such rocks for the first time. Calculated P–T pseudosections are presented for six bulk rock compositions taken from the literature, comprising two metabasic compositions, two intermediate…
U-Pb zircon geochronology and phase equilibria modelling of a mafi c eclogite from the Sumdo complex of south-east Tibet: insights into prograde zircon growth and the assembly of the Tibetan plateau
Abstract The Sumdo complex is a Permian–Triassic eclogitic metamorphic belt in south-east Tibet, which marks the location of a suture zone that separates the northern and southern Lhasa terranes. An integrated geochronological and petrological study of a mafic eclogite from the complex has constrained its tectonometamorphic history and provides a case study of zircon growth in eclogite as a product of prograde dissolution–precipitation. In situ U–Pb geochronology indicates that the eclogite contains a single population of zircon with a crystallisation age of 273.6 ± 2.8 Ma. The morphology and chemistry of the zircon grains are consistent with growth by dissolution–precipitation of protolith…
Quantifying geological uncertainty in metamorphic phase equilibria modelling; a Monte Carlo assessment and implications for tectonic interpretations
AbstractPseudosection modelling is rapidly becoming an essential part of a petrologist's toolkit and often forms the basis of interpreting the tectonothermal evolution of a rock sample, outcrop, or geological region. Of the several factors that can affect the accuracy and precision of such calculated phase diagrams, “geological” uncertainty related to natural petrographic variation at the hand sample- and/or thin section-scale is rarely considered. Such uncertainty influences the sample's bulk composition, which is the primary control on its equilibrium phase relationships and thus the interpreted pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions of formation. Two case study examples—a garnet–cordierit…
High-grade metamorphism and partial melting of basic and intermediate rocks
Rocks of basic and intermediate bulk composition occur in orogenic terranes from all geological time periods and are thought to represent significant petrological components of the middle and lower continental crust. However, the former lack of appropriate thermodynamic models for silicate melt, amphibole and clinopyroxene that can be applied to such lithologies at high temperature has inhibited effective phase equilibrium modelling of their petrological evolution during amphibolite- and granulite facies metamorphism. In this work, we present phase diagrams calculated in the Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–O2 (NCKFMASHTO) compositional system for a range of natural basic and interm…
Activity-composition relations for the calculation of partial melting equilibria in metabasic rocks
A set of thermodynamic models is presented that, for the first time, allows partial melting equilibria to be calculated for metabasic rocks. The models consist of new activity–composition relations combined with end-member thermodynamic properties from the Holland & Powell dataset, version 6. They allow for forward modelling in the system Na (Formula presented.) O–CaO–K (Formula presented.) O–FeO–MgO–Al (Formula presented.) O (Formula presented.) –SiO (Formula presented.) –H (Formula presented.) O–TiO (Formula presented.) –Fe (Formula presented.) O (Formula presented.). In particular, new activity–composition relations are presented for silicate melt of broadly trondhjemitic–tonalitic compo…
Partial melting of metabasic rocks and the generation of tonalitic–trondhjemitic–granodioritic (TTG) crust in the Archaean: Constraints from phase equilibrium modelling
Abstract Rocks of tonalitic–trondhjemitic–granodioritic (TTG) composition preserved in Archaean terranes represent fragments of the Earth’s earliest-formed continental crust, and are thought to have formed via partial melting of hydrated metabasalt. The geodynamic environments in which such high-grade metamorphism and anatexis may have occurred in the early Earth is strongly debated. Constraining the pressure ( P ) and temperature ( T ) conditions at which melts of appropriate composition can be derived from protoliths containing plausible mineral assemblages is central to addressing this question. Phase equilibrium modelling has been undertaken for an enriched Archaean tholeiite bulk compo…
Plume — Lid interactions during the Archean and implications for the generation of early continental terranes
Abstract Many Archean terranes are interpreted to have a tectonic and metamorphic evolution that indicates intra-crustal reorganization driven by lithospheric-scale gravitational instabilities. These processes are associated with the production of a significant amount of felsic and mafic crust, and are widely regarded to be a consequence of plume-lithosphere interactions. The juvenile Archean felsic crust is made predominantly of rocks of the tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) suite, which are the result of partial melting of hydrous metabasalts. The geodynamic processes that have assisted the production of juvenile felsic crust, are still not well understood. Here, we perform 2D and …
New constraints on granulite facies metamorphism and melt production in the Lewisian Complex, northwest Scotland
The research carried out for this study was part of YF's Master Thesis at the Institute of Geoscience, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, which provided the funding for fieldwork and laboratory analyses. TJ acknowledges support from Open Fund GPMR210704 from the State Key Lab for Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan. In this study we investigate the metamorphic history of the Assynt and Gruinard blocks of the Archaean Lewisian Complex, northwest Scotland, which are considered by some to represent discrete crustal terranes. For samples of mafic and intermediate rocks, phase diagrams were constructed in the Na2O-CaO‐K2O‐FeO‐MgO‐Al2O3-SiO2-H2O-T…
Phase equilibria modelling of retrograde amphibole and clinozoisite in mafic eclogite from the Tso Morari massif, northwest India: constraining the P -T -M (H2 O) conditions of exhumation
Phase equilibria modelling of post-peak metamorphic mineral assemblages in (ultra)high-P mafic eclogite from the Tso Morari massif, Ladakh Himalaya, northwest India, has provided new insights into the potential behaviour and source of metamorphic fluid during exhumation, and constrained the P–T conditions of hydration. A series of P–M(H2O) pseudosections constructed in the Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–O (NCKFMASHTO) system show that a number of petrographically distinct hydration episodes occurred during exhumation from peak P–T conditions (~640 °C, 27–28 kbar), resulting in the formation of abundant compositionally zoned amphibole and minor clinozoisite poikiloblasts at the exp…
Quantifying the P-T-t conditions of north-south Lhasa terrane accretion: new insight into the pre-Himalayan architecture of the Tibetan plateau
An integrated field, petrological and geochronological study of the Basong Tso region of south-eastern Tibet has constrained the timing and P–T conditions of north–south Lhasa terrane accretion and provides new insight into the tectonothermal evolution of the Tibetan plateau. Two distinct high-grade metamorphic belts are recognized in the region: a southern belt (the Basong Tso complex) that consists of sheared schist and orthogneiss; and a northern belt (the Zhala complex) that comprises paragneiss and granite. Combined pseudosection modelling and U–Pb geochronology of monazite and zircon indicates that the Basong Tso complex records peak metamorphic conditions of 9 ± 0.5 kbar and 690 ± 25…
Origin, age, and significance of deep-seated granulite-facies migmatites in the Barrow zones of Scotland, Cairn Leuchan, Glen Muick area
Funding for this work was provided by the Johannes-Gutenberg University of Mainz. Petrological modelling of granulite‐facies mafic and semipelitic migmatites from Cairn Leuchan, northeast Scotland, has provided new constraints on the pressure (P) and temperature (T) conditions of high‐grade metamorphism in the type‐locality Barrow zones.Phase diagrams constructed in the Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–O2 system have constrained the P–T conditions of peak metamorphism in the Glen Muick region of the upper‐sillimanite zone (Sill+Kfs) to have been at least ~840 ◦C at ~9 kbar (high‐pressure granulite facies). These conditions are approximately ~120 ◦C and ~3 kbar higher than those reco…