The duration of prograde garnet crystallization in the UHP eclogites at Lago di Cignana, Italy

The distinct core-to-rim zonation of different REEs in garnet in metamorphic rocks, specifically Sm relative to Lu, suggests that Sm-Nd and Lu-Hf isochron ages will record different times along a prograde garnet growth history. Therefore, REE zonations in garnet must be measured in order to correctly interpret the isochron ages in terms of the garnet growth interval, which could span several m.y. New REE profiles, garnet crystal size distributions, and garnet growth modeling, combined with previously published Sm-Nd and Lu-Hf geochronology on a UHP eclogite of the Zermatt-Saas Fee (ZSF) ophiolite, Lago di Cignana (Italy), demonstrate that prograde garnet growth of this sample occurred over a similar to 30 to 40 m.y. interval. Relative to peak metamorphism at 38 to 40 Ma, garnet growth is estimated to have begun at similar to 11 to 14 kbar pressure at similar to 70 to 80 Ma. Although such a protracted garnet growth interval is surprising, this is supported by plate tectonic reconstructions which suggest that subduction of the Liguro-Piemont ocean occurred through slow and oblique convergence. These results demonstrate that REE zonations in garnet, coupled to crystal size distributions, provide a powerful means for understanding prograde metamorphic paths when combined with Sm-Nd and Lu-Hf geochronology. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Estimation of a maximum Lu diffusion rate in a natural eclogite garnet

Lutetium zoning in garnet within eclogites from the Zermatt-Saas Fee zone, Western Alps, reveal sharp, exponentially decreasing central peaks. They can be used to constrain maximum Lu volume diffusion in garnets. A prograde garnet growth temperature interval of 450-600 A degrees C has been estimated based on pseudosection calculations and garnet-clinopyroxene thermometry. The maximum pre-exponential diffusion coefficient which fits the measured central peak is in the order of D-0= 5.7*10(-6) m(2)/s, taking an estimated activation energy of 270 kJ/mol based on diffusion experiments for other rare earth elements in garnet. This corresponds to a maximum diffusion rate of D (600 A degrees C) = 4.0*10(-22) m(2)/s. The diffusion estimate of Lu can be used to estimate the minimum closure temperature, T-c, for Sm-Nd and Lu-Hf age data that have been obtained in eclogites of the Western Alps, postulating, based on a literature review, that D (Hf) < D (Nd) < D (Sm) a parts per thousand currency sign D (Lu). T-c calculations, using the Dodson equation, yielded minimum closure temperatures of about 630 A degrees C, assuming a rapid initial exhumation rate of 50A degrees/m.y., and an average crystal size of garnets (r = 1 mm). This suggests that Sm/Nd and Lu/Hf isochron age differences in eclogites from the Western Alps, where peak temperatures did rarely exceed 600 A degrees C must be interpreted in terms of prograde metamorphism

Revised ages of blueschist metamorphism and the youngest pre-thrusting rocks in the San Juan Islands, Washington

New ages of rocks in the San Juan Islands (SJI), northwest Washington, significantly change our understanding of the evolution of the SJI thrust system. Re-examination of foram-bearing mudstones at Richardson on Lopez Island indicates a late Aptian (112-115 Ma), not late Albian (100 Ma) age as currently in the literature. The age brackets of thrusting, marked by these pre-thrusting mudstones and 84 Ma post-thrusting sedimentary rocks, span a much longer period than previously thought, diminishing controls on rates of displacement in the thrust system and timing of regional deformation in western Washington. New 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages of phengite in blueschist facies meta-volcanic rock, also at Richardson, are 124 \ub1 0.7 Ma (2_, late Barremian). These blueschist facies volcanic rocks are in fault contact with the fossiliferous mudstones. Therefore, at Richardson the blueschist facies metamorphism, previously inferred to be associated with the thrusting, now appears to have occurred prior to thrusting. Further, the Ar ages demonstrate that blueschist-facies fabric formed earlier than the thrust event and is therefore not directly useful in analyzing the thrusting kinematics. The Richardson 40Ar/39Ar age is similar to isotopic ages found in the eastern San Juan Islands and in the Shuksan blueschist terrane in the northwest Cascades, and thus fits into an emerging regional age-pattern of blueschist facies metamorphism during Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous (up to Barremian) but not late Albian - Cenomanian. If this pattern is more broadly confirmed for the San Juan Islands, all the blueschist facies metamorphism can be regarded as having formed in subduction zones elsewhere along the continental margin rather than in the anomalous setting of an on-land thrust system as in the San Juan Islands

Mesozoic Tectonic Evolution in the Kurgovat-Vanch Complex, NW Pamir

Different crustal deformation histories between Tibet and the Pamir reflect along-strike variations in geodynamics of the Tethys orogen. To investigate the less well-documented deformation history of the Pamir, which has been a barrier in understanding the nature of these differences, we conducted an integrated study in the Kurgovat-Vanch region, NW Pamir. The lithologies are primarily Ediacaran-to-Carboniferous metasedimentary rocks intruded by Carboniferous plutons, which then experienced Late Triassic to Early Jurassic regional metamorphism. Structural mapping and analyses document a low-angle NW-directed thrust fault, the Poshkharv thrust, separating the overlying upper-greenschist facies Poshkharv complex from the underlying amphibolite facies Kurgovat complex. Regional geologic maps indicate the Poshkharv thrust continues for ∼300 km across the NW Pamir. Our study also documents another regional thrust fault, the top-to-the-SE Vanch thrust that juxtaposes the Southern Kurgovat complex above the lower-grade Vanch complex in the south. Biotite 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology indicates Early Cretaceous movement on all structures with ∼135–125 Ma exhumation along the NW-directed Poshkharv thrust and ∼125–115 Ma exhumation along the SE-directed Vanch thrust. Regional crustal deformation in the Northern Pamir was formed in a Cretaceous retro-arc setting, unrelated to the Cenozoic India-Asia collision. Cretaceous deformation in the NW Pamir was broadly coeval with the NE Pamir, but preceded Cretaceous shortening and coeval arc magmatism in the Southern Pamir. We interpret Early Cretaceous thrusting and crustal thickening followed by southward migration of shortening and magmatic flare-up in the Pamir to have resulted from a transition of Neotethys subduction from northward flat-slab advancing to southward retreating. © 2022. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.6 month embargo; first published: 30 September 2022This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Core Formation and Mantle Differentiation on Mars

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