Dating of prograde metamorphic events deciphered from episodic zircon growth in rocks of the Dabie–Sulu UHP complex, China

The timing of ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphism has been difficult to determine because of a lack of age constraints on crucial events, especially those occurring on the prograde path. New Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Microprobe (SHRIMP) U–Pb age and rare-earth element (REE) data of zircon are presented for UHP metamorphic rocks (eclogite, garnet peridotite, garnet pyroxenite, jadeite quartzite and garnet gneiss) along the Dabie–Sulu UHP complex of China. With multiphase metamorphic textures and index mineral inclusions within zircon, the Dabie data define three episodes of eclogite-facies metamorphism, best estimated at 242.1 ± 0.4 Ma, 227.2 ± 0.8 Ma and 219.8 ± 0.8 Ma. Eclogite-faci…