Multistage growth of Fe–Mg–carpholite and Fe–Mg–chloritoid, from field evidence to thermodynamic modelling

© 2014, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. We provide new insights into the prograde evolution of HP/LT metasedimentary rocks on the basis of detailed petrologic examination, element-partitioning analysis, and thermodynamic modelling of well-preserved Fe–Mg–carpholite- and Fe–Mg–chloritoid-bearing rocks from the Afyon Zone (Anatolia). We document continuous and discontinuous compositional (ferromagnesian substitution) zoning of carpholite (overall XMg = 0.27–0.73) and chloritoid (overall XMg = 0.07–0.30), as well as clear equilibrium and disequilibrium (i.e., reaction-related) textures involving carpholite and chloritoid, which consistently account for the consistent enrichment in Mg of both minerals through time, and the progressive replacement of carpholite by chloritoid. Mg/Fe distribution coefficients calculated between carpholite and chloritoid vary widely within samples (2.2–20.0). Among this range, only values of 7–11 correlate with equilibrium textures, in agreement with data from the literature. Equilibrium phase diagrams for metapelitic compositions are calculated using a newly modified thermodynamic dataset, including most recent data for carpholite, chloritoid, chlorite, and white mica, as well as further refinements for Fe–carpholite, and both chloritoid end-members, as required to reproduce accurately petrologic observations (phase relations, experimental constraints, Mg/Fe partitioning). Modelling reveals that Mg/Fe partitioning between carpholite and chloritoid is greatly sensitive to temperature and calls for a future evaluation of possible use as a thermometer. In addition, calculations show significant effective bulk composition changes during prograde metamorphism due to the fractionation of chloritoid formed at the expense of carpholite. We retrieve P–T conditions for several carpholite and chloritoid growth stages (1) during prograde stages using unfractionated, bulk-rock XRF analyses, and (2) at peak conditions using compositions fractionated for chloritoid. The P–T paths reconstructed for the Kütahya and Afyon areas shed light on contrasting temperature conditions for these areas during prograde and peak stages

Neotethyan closure history of western Anatolia: a geodynamic discussion

International audienceThis paper addresses the lithosphere-scale subduction–collision history of the eastern termination of the Aegean retreating subduction system, i.e. western Anatolia. Although there is some general consensus on the protracted subduction evolution of the Aegean since the early Cenozoic at least, correlation with western Anatolia has been widely debated for more than several decades. In western Anatolia, three main tectonic configurations have been envisaged in the past years to reconstruct slab dynamics during the closure of the Neotethyan oceanic realm since the Late Cretaceous. Some authors have suggested an Aegean-type scenario, with the continuous subduction of a single lithospheric slab, punctuated by episodic slab roll-back and trench retreat, whereas others assumed a discontinuous subduction history marked by intermittent slab break-off during either the Campanian (ca. 75 Ma) or the Early Eocene (ca. 55–50 Ma). The third view implies three partly contemporaneous subduction zones. Our review of these models points to key debated aspects that can be re-evaluated in the light of multidisciplinary constraints from the literature. Our discussion leads us to address the timing of subduction initiation, the existence of hypothetical ocean basins, the number of intervening subduction zones between the Taurides and the Pontides, the palaeogeographic origin of tectonic units and the possibility for slab break-off during either the Campanian or the Early Eocene. Thence, we put forward a favoured tectonic scenario featuring two successive phases of subduction of a single lithospheric slab and episodic accretion of two continental domains separated by a continental trough, representing the eastern end of the Cycladic Ocean of the Aegean. The lack of univocal evidence for slab break-off in western Anatolia and southward-younging HP/LT metamorphism in continental tectonic units (from ~85, 70 to 50 Ma) in the Late Cretaceous–Palaeogene period suggests continuous subduction since ~110 Ma, marked by roll-back episodes in the Palaeocene and the Oligo-Miocene, and slab tearing below western Anatolia during the Miocene