late miocene coesite eclogite exhumed in the woodlark rift late miocene pliocene eclogites were exhumed in the woodlark rift of eastern papua new guinea an actively extending region west of the woodlark basin seafl oor spreading center we report the discovery of coesite in late miocene eclogite from the lower plate of one of the d entrecasteaux islands metamorphic core complexes within the woodlark rift zircon crys tallization temperatures 650 675 c and 238 u 206 pb age ca 8 ma and rutile thermometry 695 743 c combined with garnet pyroxene thermometry 600 760 c and garnet pyroxene phengite barometry 18 27 kbar indicate that the coesite eclogite was exhumed from mantle depths 90 km to the earth s surface at plate tectonic rates cm yr 1 this late miocene coesite eclogite is the youngest exhumed ultrahigh pressure uhp rock on earth and its preservation ahead of the westward propagating seafl oor spreading center forces reevaluation of models for uhp exhumation as well as the geologic and tectonic evolution of the woodlark rift

a late cretaceous and cenozoic reconstruction of the southwest pacific region tectonics controlled by subduction and slab rollback processes abstract a cenozoic tectonic reconstruction is presented for the southwest pacific region located east of australia the reconstruction is constrained by large geological and geophysical datasets and recalculated rotation parameters for pacific australia and lord howe rise pacific relative plate motion the reconstruction is based on a conceptual tectonic model in which the large scale structures of the region are manifestations of slab rollback and backarc extension processes the current paradigm proclaims that the southwestern pacific plate boundary was a west dipping subduction boundary only since the middle eocene the new reconstruction provides kinematic evidence that this configuration was already established in the late cretaceous and early paleogene from 82 to 52 ma subduction was primarily accomplished by east and northeast directed rollback of the pacific slab accommodating opening of the new caledonia south loyalty coral sea and pocklington backarc basins and partly accommodating spreading in the tasman sea the total amount of east directed rollback of the pacific slab that took place from 82 ma to 52 ma is estimated to be at least 1200 km a large percentage of this rollback accommodated opening of the south loyalty basin a north south trending backarc basin it is estimated from kinematic and geological constraints that the east west width of the basin was at least 750 km the south loyalty and pocklington backarc basins were subducted in the eocene to earliest miocene along the newly formed new caledonia and pocklington subduction zones this culminated in southwestward and southward obduction of ophiolites in new caledonia northland and new guinea in the latest eocene to earliest miocene it is suggested that the formation of these new subduction zones was triggered by a change in pacific australia relative motion at 50 ma two additional phases of eastward rollback of the pacific slab followed one during opening of the south fiji basin and norfolk basin in the oligocene to early miocene up to 650 km of rollback and one during opening of the lau basin in the latest miocene to present up to 400 km of rollback two new subduction zones formed in the miocene the south dipping trobriand subduction zone along which the solomon sea backarc basin subducted and the north dipping new britain san cristobal new hebrides subduction zone along which the solomon sea backarc basin subducted in the west and the north loyalty south fiji backarc basin and remnants of the south loyalty santa cruz backarc basin subducted in the east clockwise rollback of the new hebrides section resulted in formation of the north fiji basin the reconstruction provides explanations for the formation of new subduction zones and for the initiation and termination of opening of the marginal basins by either initiation of subduction of buoyant lithosphere a change in plate kinematics or slab mantle interaction

origin of eclogite bearing domed layered metamorphic complexes core complexes in the d entrecasteaux islands papua new guinea compositionally layered metamorphic rocks of the d entrecasteaux islands papua new guinea are folded into domes and antiforms bounded by faults parallel to metamorphic layering and foliation the structures are broadly similar to the metamorphic core complexes of western north america lenses of ultramafic rock lie on the bounding faults and the same faults have served as loci for quaternary andesitic volcanic activity metamorphic grade in the northern islands goodenough and fergusson is amphibolite facies with pockets of eclogite fergusson island only and granulite and is greenschist facies in the southern island normanby in all three islands there is a characteristic tectonostratigraphic sequence fmu sequence from felsic metamorphic rocks at base or internally through mafic metamorphic rocks to ultramafic rocks at top or externally the association of metamorphic and ultramafic rocks apparently developed in a north dipping paleogene subduction system and was exhumed to upper crustal level in the oligocene early miocene possibly by reversal of movement on faults in the former subduction system vigorous uplift and development of domes and antiforms in the pliocene was triggered by westward propagation of the woodlark basin spreading ridge and was accompanied by rifting rift related magmatism rapid erosion and deposition of coarse sediment in the adjacent trobriand basin

young eclogite from the greater himalayan sequence arun valley eastern nepal p t t path and tectonic implications abstract garnet geochronology was used to provide the first direct measurement of the timing of eclogitization in the central himalaya lu hf dates from garnet separates in one relict eclogite from the arun river valley in eastern nepal indicate an age of 20 7 0 4 ma significantly younger than ultra high pressure eclogites from the western himalaya reflecting either different origins or substantial time lags in tectonics along strike four proximal garnet amphibolites from structurally lower horizons are 14 15 ma similar to post eclogitization ages published for rocks along strike in southern tibet p t calculations indicate three metamorphic episodes for the eclogite i eclogite facies metamorphism at 670 c and 15 kbar at 23 16 ma ii a peak t granulite event at 780 c and 12 kbar and iii late stage amphibolite facies metamorphism at 675 c and 6 kbar at 14 ma the garnet amphibolites were metamorphosed at 660 c three models are considered to explain the observed p t t evolution the first assumes that the main himalayan thrust basal thrust of the himalayan thrust system cuts deeper at arun than elsewhere while conceptually the simplest this model has difficulty explaining both the granulite facies overprint and the pulse of exhumation between 25 and 14 ma a second model assumes that aborted subduction slab breakoff and ascent of india s leading edge occurred diachronously 50 ma in the western himalaya 25 ma in the central himalaya of nepal and presumably later in the eastern himalaya this model explains the p t t path particularly heating during initial exhumation but implies significant along strike diachroneity which is generally lacking in other features of the himalaya a third model assumes repeated loss of mantle lithosphere first by slab breakoff at 50 ma and again by delamination at 25 ma this model explains the p t t path but requires geographically restricted tectonic behavior at arun the p t t history of the arun eclogites may imply a change in the physical state of the himalayan metamorphic wedge at 16 25 ma ultimately giving rise to the main central thrust by 15 16 ma

possible seismogenic shallow dipping normal faults in the woodlark d entrecasteaux extensional province papua new guinea active normal faults dipping less than 30 have not been documented in the seismic record but they are commonly observed in geologic structures one interpretation is that seismogenic low angle faulting is physically impossible and that the geologic structures do not form at shallow dips to better examine this problem teleseismic body waves were inverted to determine source parameters for five large earthquakes in the woodlark d9entrecasteaux region a rare example of active continental extension associated with pliocene quaternary metamorphic core complexes the inversions show that at least two and possibly four events are consistent with normal dip slip on shallow dipping faults the largest earthquake m w 6 8 is located near the mapped core complexes the shallow dipping plane for this event determined to dip between 10 and 25 is nearly coplanar to the faults bounding the core complexes and may represent slip on these or other parallel low angle structures although slip on the conjugate high angle plane cannot be ruled out observations of quaternary uplift and the similarity to the adjacent core complex bounding structures favor motion on the low angle plane similar earthquake mechanisms have not yet been documented in most other extensional provinces perhaps because instances of active core complex exhumation are rare

close range terrestrial digital photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning for discontinuity characterization on rock cuts this paper reviews the application of close range terrestrial digital photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning for discontinuity characterization on rock cuts terrestrial remote sensing techniques are being increasingly used as a complement to traditional scanline and window mapping methods they provide more comprehensive information on rock cuts allow surveying of inaccessible outcrops and increase user safety selected case studies are used to estimate the accuracy of several 3d model registration approaches and the most time effort and cost effective methods are highlighted it is shown that simple registration networks are able to provide adequate measurement of discontinuity orientation for engineering purposes the case studies presented also illustrate the effects of sampling bias and limitations related to discontinuity characterization using remote sensing techniques vertical orientation bias and occlusion can be of particular concern when persistent discontinuities dip at the same angle as the camera scanner line of sight major advantages of the techniques are presented illustrating how terrestrial remote sensing techniques provide rapid spatial measurements of discontinuity location orientation and curvature and are well suited to the quantification of persistence magnitudes greater than 3 m

geometry and kinematics of shear zones formed during continental extension in eastern papua new guinea abstract the d entrecasteaux islands eastern papua new guinea lie in an area of continental extension that has been active since the mid miocene during the last 4 ma the metamorphic basement rocks composing most of the islands have been uplifted and tectonically exhumed from depths of approximately 35 km tectonic exhumation appears to have been controlled by deformation in broad kilometre scale mylonitic shear zones a progressive evolution is documented in the shear zones characterized by increasing localized deformation a change from dominantly ductile to dominantly brittle processes and decreasing metamorphic grade i e retrograde metamorphism the evolution is believed to be the result of uplift and cooling of the basement accompanying shear zone movement the kinematic history of the shear zones is complex a number of sinistrally offset extensional detachment zones separate a multiply deformed high grade metamorphic basement from a cover of largely undeformed ultramafic and mafic cover rocks the detachment zones are connected by transverse shear zones these transverse zones appear to act as sinistral strike slip zones which also accommodate transfer motion between the detachment zones

gps and seismological constraints on active tectonics and arc continent collision in papua new guinea implications for mechanics of microplate rotations in a plate boundary zone 1 the island of new guinea is located within the deforming zone between the pacific and australian plates that converge obliquely at 110 mm yr new guinea has been fragmented into a complex array of microplates some of which rotate rapidly about nearby vertical axes we present velocities from a network of 38 global positioning system gps sites spanning much of the nation of papua new guinea png the gps derived velocities are used to explain the kinematics of major tectonic blocks in the region and the nature of strain accumulation on major faults in png we simultaneously invert gps velocities earthquake slip vectors on faults and transform orientations in the woodlark basin for the poles of rotation of the tectonic blocks and the degree of elastic strain accumulation on faults in the region the data are best explained by six distinct tectonic blocks the australian pacific south bismarck north bismarck and woodlark plates and a previously unrecognized new guinea highlands block significant portions of the ramu markham fault appear to be locked which has implications for seismic hazard determination in the markham valley region we also propose that rapid clockwise rotation of the south bismarck plate is controlled by edge forces initiated by the collision between the finisterre arc and the new guinea highlands

a tale of two eras pliocene pleistocene unroofing of cenozoic and late archean zircons from active metamorphic core complexes solomon sea papua new guinea u pb ion microprobe analyses of zircons from gneisses and granodiorites exposed in the d9entrecasteaux islands and from conglomerate sections of the goodenough no 1 well in the adjacent trobriand basin provide constraints on the age of magmatism peak metamorphism and nature of rocks unroofed during initial stages of metamorphic core complex formation in the solomon sea the youngest populations of zircons from felsic gneisses and granodiorites indicate late pliocene 206 pb 238 u ages no inherited zircons were identified in the granodiorites and the 206 pb 238 u ages 1 65 0 18 ma 1 98 0 08 ma 2 are interpreted as crystallization ages these synkinematically emplaced granodiorites intruded into actively extending continental crust are some of the youngest known granitoids currently exposed at the earth9 surface zircon ages from felsic gneisses 2 63 0 16 ma 2 72 0 28 ma 2 are interpreted to date zircon growth subsequent to eclogite facies metamorphism felsic gneiss samples also contained zircon xenocrysts from cretaceous miocene protoliths in striking contrast zircons from igneous and metamorphic clasts from the goodenough no 1 well indicate a single population with a 207 pb 206 pb age of 2781 9 ma 2 we speculate that they are derived from basement rocks unroofed during initial stages of development of the d entrecasteaux metamorphic core complexes these results provide the first direct evidence for the existence of archean protoliths in the basement rocks of southeastern papua new guinea

superplasticity in garnet from eclogite facies shear zones in the haram gabbro haramsoya norway study of garnet adjacent to and within shear zones that underwent synkinematic eclogitization reveals microstructures and textures that for the first time indicate grain boundary sliding as the main deformation mechanism in garnet monomineralic garnet layers exhibit characteristic features of superplastic behavior and show little strength contrast to the surrounding minerals the low strength is caused by the synkinematic growth of garnet limiting the grain size to tens of micrometers this behavior may significantly influence rheologic properties of high and ultrahigh pressure shear zones in subduction environments and may play a role during the formation of garnet in the transition zone of the mantle

seismotectonics of new guinea a model for arc reversal following arc continent collision the structure and evolution of the northern new guinea collision zone is deduced from international seismological center isc seismicity 1964 1985 new and previously published focal mechanisms and a reexamination of pertinent geological data a tectonic model for the new guinea margin is derived which illustrates the sequential stages in the collision and suturing of the bewani toricelli adelbert finisterre huon new britain arc to central new guinea followed by subduction polarity reversal in the west east of 149 e the solomon plate is being subducted both to the north and south bringing the new britain and trobriand forearcs toward collision west of 149 e the forearcs have collided and together they override a fold in the doubly subducted solomon plate lithosphere which has an axis that is parallel to the strike of the ramu markham suture and that plunges westward at an angle of 5 beneath the coast ranges of northern new guinea active volcanism off the north coast of new guinea is related to subduction of the solomon plate beneath the bismarck plate active volcanism of the papuan peninsula and quaternary volcanism of the new guinea highlands are related to slow subduction of the solomon plate beneath the indo australian plate along the trobriand trough and the trough s former extension to the west respectively from 144 148 e seismicity and focal mechanisms reveal that convergence between the sutured bismarck and indo australian plates is accommodated by thrusting within the finisterre and adelbert ranges and compression of the new guinea orogenic belt together with basement involved foreland folding and thrusting to the south the finisterre block overthrusts the new guinea orogenic belt whereas the adelbert block is sutured to new guinea and overthrusts the oceanic lithosphere of the bismarck sea along the new guinea trench west of 144 e seismicity defines a southward dipping wadati benioif zone and focal mechanisms indicate oblique subduction only this oldest westernmost portion of the collision has progressed past suturing to a full reversal in subduction polarity

a routine high precision method for lu hf isotope geochemistry and chronology a method for chemical separation of lu and hf from rock meteorite and mineral samples is described together with a much improved mass spectrometric running technique for hf this allows i geo and cosmochronology using the176lu 176hf decay scheme and ii geochemical studies of planetary processes in the earth and moon chemical yields for the three stage ion exchange column procedure average 90 for hf chemical blanks are 0 2 ng for lu and hf from 1 g of hf a total ion current of 0 5 10 11 ampere can be maintained for 3 5 h yielding 0 01 0 03 precision on the ratio176hf 177hf normalisation to179hf 177hf 0 7325 is used extensive results for the johnson matthey hf standard jmc 475 are presented and this sample is urged as an international mass spectrometric standard suitable aliquots prepared from a single batch of jmc 475 are available from denver lu hf analyses of the standard rocks bcr 1 and jb 1 are given the potential of the lu hf method in isotope geochemistry is assessed

continental rifting and metamorphic core complex formation ahead of the woodlark spreading ridge d entrecasteaux islands papua new guinea 1 we evaluate the role of a metamorphic core complex mcc on normanby island in the woodlark rift located 1 km thickness of blueschist derived mylonites formed in a midcrustal shear zone during the pliocene at 400 500 c this top to the north zone appears to have reactivated the gently dipping base of the papuan ophiolite papuan ultramafic body pub and its continued activity appears to control the north dipping asymmetry of active half grabens to the north of the mcc and rapid subsidence of the woodlark rise mylonites in the mcc s lower plate have been exhumed along a detachment as a result of 50 km of slip at rates of 12 mm yr the inactive back tilted detachment preserves fault surface megamullions and mylonitic lineations parallel to the plio pleistocene plate motion a second se vergent detachment has been established on the opposite flank of this rolling hinge style mcc probably since 0 8 at depth and provide a sufficient mechanism for activating low angle normal faults in the rift mcc inception was not localized to the tip of the woodlark mor instead extreme crustal thinning near the mcc preconditioned later continental breakup the lower crust appears to be weak thickening beneath unloaded footwalls to uplift mccs above sea level and flowing laterally to even out regional crustal thickness contrasts on a 1 6 m y timescale deep seated transforms separate rheologically distinct domains in which extension has been localized along the weak pub to cause mcc formation vs those in which slip is distributed across an imbricate zone of more uniform strength normal faults the trobriand fault connects in the eastern woodlark rift to the owen stanley fault in the papuan ranges which is probably moving at nearly the full plate velocity

high precision lu hf geochronology of eocene eclogite facies rocks from syros cyclades greece abstract garnet bearing high pressure low temperature hp lt metamorphic rocks of the cycladic blueschist unit have been investigated by lu hf geochronology eclogites from syros island yield precise ages of 52 2 0 3 ma 51 4 0 4 ma and 50 2 ma preserved major and trace element growth zoning in garnet suggests that the closure temperature of the lu hf system in garnet was higher than the estimated peak metamorphic temperature of 500 c hence lu hf ages most likely reflect garnet growth in the studied samples our new lu hf grt ages are in excellent agreement with previously published u pb shrimp ages of metamorphic zircon and the maximum reported white mica rb sr and ar ar ages from syros garnet growth in all samples apparently took place over a narrow time interval because the lu hf ages cluster tightly even though the distribution of lu between cores and rims varies among samples we find no evidence for garnet generations that are significantly older or younger than the given isochron ages this in conjunction with the agreement among the ages of metamorphic zircon the maximum white mica ages and the lu hf ages strongly suggests that the 52 ma age dates a single hp event that affected these rocks

age of the metamorphic sole of the papuan ultramafic belt ophiolite papua new guinea abstract the papuan ultramafic belt pub ophiolite is former oceanic crust and upper mantle emplaced onto continental crust in papua new guinea png in a zone of general convergence between the pacific and australian plates the metamorphic sole beneath the ophiolite is best exposed in the musa kumusi divide and comprises a 40 to 300 m thick body of granulite and amphibolite facies rocks geochronological studies on the metamorphic sole using amphiboles from the granulites and amphibolites yield measured k ar ages ranging from 65 0 0 7 to 57 2 0 6 ma and average 40ar 39ar direct total fusion ages ranging from 67 0 0 7 to 59 5 0 2 ma five of the six 40ar 39ar plateau ages derived from age spectra lie between 58 6 0 2 and 57 8 0 2 ma with an overall mean age of 58 3 0 4 ma the large spread in measured k ar and 40ar 39ar total fusion ages is thought to be caused by the presence of variable amounts of excess argon the mean plateau age for five samples of 58 3 0 4 ma is interpreted to mark the time of cooling of the metamorphic sole following peak metamorphism we suggest that the development of the metamorphic sole and emplacement of the pub ophiolite onto the png crust occurred in a relatively short time interval in the paleocene

continental rifting and initial sea floor spreading in the woodlark basin our understanding of the processes by which continents rift and sea floor spreading initiates is derived primarily from studies either of old passive margins and oceanic crust or of young regions of intra continental extension where spreading has not yet started it has been thought that continental rifting ceases when sea floor spreading begins1 2 that oceanic fracture zones develop from transfer or transform faults within continental rifts3 4 and that linear magnetic anomalies correlate with the onset of sea floor spreading during times of magnetic reversals5 6 here we present a marine geophysical survey of one of the few active examples of continental rifting and spreading initiation the western woodlark basin papuan peninsula region of new guinea which shows that in detail these assumptions do not hold the data confirm models of the rifting to spreading transition that invoke both ridge propagation and nucleation of discrete spreading cells7 10 and provide an unambiguous example of a spreading centre reorienting by synchronous jumping rather than propagation

burial rates during prograde metamorphism of an ultra high pressure terrane an example from lago di cignana western alps italy abstract estimation of burial rates and duration of prograde metamorphism of ultra high pressure uhp rocks t 590 630 c p 2 7 2 9 gpa of the zermatt saas ophiolite from lago di cignana italy may be made through combined lu hf and sm nd garnet geochronology in conjunction with petrologic estimates of the prograde p t path we report a lu hf garnet omphacite whole rock isochron age of 48 8 2 1 ma from the uhp locality at lago di cignana which stands in contrast to the sm nd age of 40 6 2 6 ma amato et al earth planet sci lett 171 1999 425 438 obtained from the same sample and mineral material the sm nd and lu hf ages as well as other ages determined on metamorphic garnet zircon and white mica amato et al earth planet sci lett 171 1999 425 438 mayer et al eur union geosci 10 1999 abstr 809 rubatto et al contrib mineral petrol 132 1998 269 287 dal piaz et al int j earth sci 90 2001 668 684 from lago di cignana and elsewhere in the zermatt saas ophiolite lie within a range of 50 38 ma which we interpret to encompass the duration of prograde metamorphism and possibly the duration of garnet growth the difference in measured sm nd and lu hf ages from cignana can be accounted for by expected core to rim variations in lu hf sm and nd the measured yttrium content in garnet which may be a proxy for lu is highest in garnet core and lowest in the mineral rim generally following a profile that is predicted by rayleigh fractionation preferential enrichment of lu in the core produces a lu hf age that is weighted toward the older garnet core sm nd ages as predicted by rayleigh fractionation of sm and nd during garnet growth however reflect later grown garnet as compared to lu hf ages the difference in sm nd and lu hf ages from a single sample should therefore be a minimum estimate for the duration of garnet growth and prograde metamorphism so long as sm nd and lu hf blocking temperatures were not exceeded for a long period of time based on the 12 myr duration of prograde garnet growth estimated in this study burial rates for rocks at lago di cignana were on the order of 0 23 0 47 cm yr these values correlate with continuous shortening rates of 0 4 1 4 cm yr between the european plate and the african adriatic promontory between 50 and 38 ma which is on the order of that calculated for plate velocities from plate reconstructions suggesting that the zermatt saas ophiolite may have remained well coupled to the down going slab to uhp conditions

object representations at multiple scales from digital elevation models in the last decade landform classification and mapping has developed as one of the most active areas of geomorphometry however translation from continuous models of elevation and its derivatives slope aspect and curvatures to landform divisions landforms and landform elements is filtered by two important concepts scale and object ontology although acknowledged as being important these two issues have received surprisingly little attention this contribution provides an overview and prospects of object representation from dems as a function of scale relationships between object delineation and classification or regionalization are explored in the context of differences between general and specific geomorphometry a review of scales issues in geomorphometry ranging from scale effects to scale optimization techniques is followed by an analysis of pros and cons of using cells and objects in dem analysis prospects for coupling multi scale analysis and object delineation are then discussed within this context we propose discrete geomorphometry as a possible approach between general and specific geomorphometry discrete geomorphometry would apply to and describe land surface divisions defined solely by the criteria of homogeneity in respect to a given land surface parameter or a combination of several parameters homogeneity in its turn should always be relative to scale

diapiric exhumation of earth s youngest uhp eclogites in the gneiss domes of the d entrecasteaux islands papua new guinea abstract the woodlark rift in papua new guinea hosts the world s youngest 2 8 ma eclogite facies rocks and extensional deformation has played a key role in exhuming these u hp rocks at rates of 20 mm yr during the eocene papuan arc continent collision australian plate derived continental rocks were subducted to u hp depths there they remained for up to 30 m y until the pliocene when asthenospheric circulation ahead of the west propagating woodlark spreading ridge introduced heat and fluids this caused rocks to break away from the paleosubduction channel recrystallize in the eclogite facies and rise as rayleigh taylor instabilities the diapirs ascended adiabatically undergoing partial melting which lowered their viscosity and increased buoyancy u hp crust ponded near the moho at 2 4 ma thickening the crust to 40 km 11 kb domal uplifts emerged above sea level and these are still underlain by an unusually thick crust 26 km for a rift that has stretched by factor of 3 since 6 ma after ponding they acquired a flat lying foliation during amphibolite facies retrogression vertical shortening accompanied the gravitationally driven outflow of ponded lower crust the weak material was extended parallel to the rift margin thinning ductilely by w k 0 2 and was mechanically decoupled from and orthogonal to plate motion in the rift top e shear fabrics suggest that this flow was westward perhaps driven by isostatic stresses towards a strongly thinned rift corridor ahead of the woodlark spreading ridge at 100 c per m y and were mechanically incorporated into the rift s upper crust final exposure was by normal faulting and minor erosion such exhumation may also apply to other u hp terranes where less evidence for moho ponding is preserved

mantle compensation of active metamorphic core complexes at woodlark rift in papua new guinea in many highly extended rifts on the earth tectonic removal of the upper crust exhumes mid crustal rocks producing metamorphic core complexes these structures allow the upper continental crust to accommodate tens of kilometres of extension but it is not clear how the lower crust and underlying mantle respond also despite removal of the upper crust such core complexes remain both topographically high and in isostatic equilibrium because many core complexes in the western united states are underlain by a flat moho discontinuity it has been widely assumed that their elevation is supported by flow in the lower crust or by magmatic underplating these processes should decouple upper crust extension from that in the mantle in contrast here we present seismic observations of metamorphic core complexes of the western woodlark rift that show the overall crust to be thinned beneath regions of greatest surface extension these core complexes are actively being exhumed at a rate of 5 10 km myr 1 and the thinning of the underlying crust appears to be compensated by mantle rocks of anomalously low density as indicated by low seismic velocities we conclude that at least in this case the development of metamorphic core complexes and the accommodation of high extension is not purely a crustal phenomenon but must involve mantle extension

the isotopic composition of yb and the precise and accurate determination of lu concentrations and lu hf ratios by isotope dilution using mc icpms 1 we report yb isotopic data for the purpose of accurately correcting measurements of lu and lu hf ratios during multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer mc icpms analysis the yb isotopic ratios agree with recent results of chu et al 2002 and amelin and davis 2004 when corrected for mass fractionation to the same reference values protocols for lu measurement involving simultaneous subtraction of yb interference and application of a fractionation correction based on yb are described it is shown that lu concentrations and lu hf ratios determined by mc icpms using this methodology are more precise and potentially more accurate than results based on analysis of lu by thermal ionization mass spectrometry tims a number of mc icpms lu hf isotopic analyses of standard rocks and other geological samples previously analyzed by tims are presented these document reproducibility of lu hf within 0 2 where most discrepancies can be assigned to the unknown lu mass fractionation during tims analysis

lu hf garnet geochronology applied to plate boundary zones insights from the u hp terrane exhumed within the woodlark rift abstract high pressure and ultra high pressure u hp metamorphic rocks occur in many of the world s major orogenic belts suggesting that subduction of continental lithosphere is a geologically important process despite the widespread occurrence of these rocks relatively little is known about the timescales associated with u hp metamorphism this is because most u hp terranes are tectonically overprinted and juxtaposed against rocks with a different history an exception to this are the late miocene u hp metamorphic rocks found in active metamorphic core complexes mcc in the woodlark rift of southeastern papua new guinea this region provides a rare opportunity to study the garnet lu hf isotopic record of u hp metamorphism in a terrane that is not tectonically overprinted in order to constrain the timing of garnet growth relative to the history of u hp metamorphism and the evolution of the woodlark rift lu hf ages were determined in conjunction with measurements of lu and major element zoning for garnets from three metamorphic rocks garnets from the three samples yielded different ages that instead of recording the spatial and temporal evolution associated with a single metamorphic event provide information on the timing of three separate plate boundary events the youngest lu hf age determined was 7 1 0 7 ma for garnets in a late miocene coesite eclogite the age is interpreted to record the time when a garnet bearing partial melt of the mantle crystallized within subducted continental lithosphere at u hp conditions the young lu hf age from the coesite eclogite is in contrast to a 68 3 6 ma lu hf age obtained on large 1 2 cm garnet porphyroblasts from within the pleistocene amphibolite facies shear zone carapace bounding exposures of u hp rocks in the d entrecasteaux islands this older age records the growth of garnet in response to continental subduction and ophiolite obduction in the region north and east of australia during late mesozoic early cenozoic time in order to relate the u hp metamorphic rocks to the larger scale tectonic evolution of the woodlark rift a third lu hf age of 11 2 2 1 ma was determined for dynamically recrystallized garnet from the southeastern margin of the rift while the tectonic implications of the lu hf age from the southeastern rifted margin are not fully known this result suggests that the eastern and western parts of the woodlark rift might have a different metamorphic history the garnet lu hf results demonstrate that prior to rifting the woodlark rift underwent a complex history of metamorphism involving garnet growth and recrystallization the ability of the lu hf system to date late miocene garnet growth and at the same time preserve latest cretaceous garnets within pleistocene shear zones in the woodlark rift demonstrate that lu hf garnet geochronology is an essential component of investigations where the primary objective is documenting and understanding the full range of plate boundary processes recorded in metamorphic minerals

lu hf geochronology and trace element distribution in garnet implications for uplift and exhumation of ultra high pressure granulites in the sudetes sw poland combining lu hf garnet geochronology with in situ trace element analyses in garnet allowed its to gain new insight into the metamorphic evolution of uhp uht rocks in the stary gieraltow region in the polish sudetes prograde garnet growth recorded by rayleigh type heavy ree hree zoning in the felsic granulites indicates that the obtained 386 6 4 9 ma lu hf age represents the time of garnet crystallization on a prograde uhp metamorphic path the surrounding rocks were metamorphosed at the same time as indicated by 381 2 6 7 ma sm nd garnet age obtained for the mid crustal metapelites the second metamorphic episode which affected most of the lower crust in the orlica snieznik massif osm occurred at ca 340 ma as determined by u pb zircon and sm nd garnet dating of granulites in this and previous studies is interpreted as a high temperature event which took place on a retrograde path trace element distribution in garnets from the layered granulites showed significant differences in distribution of medium and hree in garnets from mafic and felsic protoliths over the course of the metamorphic evolution this had strong impact on the isotopic dating results and led to decoupling of the sm nd and lu hf clocks which recorded timing of the two different metamorphic episodes separated by as much as 40 ma moreover the preservation of the hree growth zonation profile in garnets from the felsic granulites whose minimum metamorphic temperature was established at 900 degrees c implies that the lu hf system under relatively dry conditions does not undergo significant diffusional re equilibration even at such extreme temperatures and therefore it sill provides the age of prograde garnet growth under hydrous conditions at least some resetting will take place as documented by the partially relaxed hree zonation profile in the amphibolitised mafic granulite which yielded a 10 ma younger age the hree distribution study appeared to be a particularly valuable and essential tool which allowed us to distinguish garnet growth from post growth complexities and hence provide improved age interpretation medium ree on the other hand did not show any obvious correlation with the isotopic signature of garnet two distinct metamorphic episodes recorded in the stary gieraltow region show that buoyancy driven uplift of uhp rocks can be arrested at the base of a continental crust if not supported by any additional force in our case study the uhp rocks would have never reached the surface if their uplift had not been resumed after a long pause under a different tectonic regime the multistage discontinuous uplift revealed by the uhp rocks of the osm provides a new scenario for the exhumation of continental crust from mantle depths distinct from the fast track exhumation histories recognized in uhp terranes elsewhere c 2006 elsevier b v all rights reserved