crystallographic fabrics of omphacite rutile and quartz in vendee eclogites armorican massif france consequences for deformation mechanisms and regimes abstract this study aims at further understanding of the mechanisms how lattice preferred orientations lpo develop during deformation in the main eclogite minerals microstructures and textures of deformed eclogites from the les essarts complex western france were investigated using optical microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction ebsd in the scanning electron microscope microfabric analyses of eclogite facies minerals are used to identify their deformation mechanisms which define the rheology at high pressure metamorphic conditions mechanisms of intracrystalline deformation by dislocation movement dislocation creep result usually in a non linear flow law typically power law while diffusive processes diffusion creep correspond to linear flow laws general microstructural observations may suggest intracrystalline deformation dislocation creep of omphacite the omphacite lpo vary between s and l type and correlate with oblate or prolate grain shape fabrics respectively until now these lpo types have not been understood by plasticity models based on dislocation glide on the known slip systems in clinopyroxene an alternative interpretation is given in terms of anisotropic growth and dissolution with grain boundary diffusion as the rate controlling process there are further indications suggesting diffusion creep with concomitant anisotropic growth and dissolution as a main deformation mechanism in omphacite in omphacite around a hollow garnet crystallographic and shape fabrics align with the c 001 axes parallel to the grain elongations defining the mineral lineation which rotates locally with the inferred flow direction in this part the grain sizes of omphacite and rutile are larger than in the surrounding matrix the geometry of both the shape and crystallographic fabrics is interpreted to represent the local stress regime directions and ratios of the principal stresses the lpo of rutile duplicate the lpo of omphacite and a similar distinction between s and l type was used rutile deformation mechanisms probably involve dislocation creep as well as diffusion creep quartz mainly occurs as an interstitial phase with weak lpo patterns interpreted as random no representative obliquity of the lpo in omphacite nor rutile with respect to foliation and lineation was observed to be used as potential shear sense criteria however the rutile lpo was slightly rotated relative to the omphacite lpo consistently in most samples the results suggest that diffusion processes are strongly involved in the deformation of eclogites a linear flow law should be taken into account in tectonic models where eclogites are incorporated

high pressure eclogites in northern jiangsu southern shandong province eastern china abstract eclogites are distributed for more than 500 km along a major tectonic boundary between the sino korean and yangtze cratons in central and eastern china these eclogites usually have high p assemblages including omphacite kyanite and or coesite or its pseudomorph and form a high p eclogite terrane they occur as isolated lenses or blocks 10 cm to 300 m long in gneisses type i serpentinized garnet peridotites type ii and marbles type iii type i eclogites were formed by prograde metamorphism and their primary metamorphic mineral assemblage consists mainly of garnet pyrope prp 15 40 mol omphacite jadeite jd 34 64 mol pargasitic amphibole kyanite phengitic muscovite zoisite an sio2 phase apatite rutile and zircon type ii eclogites characteristically contain no sio2 phase and are divided into prograde eclogites and mantle derived eclogites the prograde eclogites of type ii are petrographically similar to type i eclogites the mantle derived eclogites have high mgo feo fe2o3 and cr2o3 compositions in bulk rock and minerals and consist mainly of pyrope rich garnet prp 48 60 mol sodic augite jd 10 27 mol and rutile type iii eclogites have an unusual mineral assemblage of grossular rich grs 57 mol garnet omphacite jd 30 34 mol pargasite rutile pargasitic and taramitic amphiboles calcic plagioclase an68 epidote zoisite k feldspar and paragonite occur as inclusions in garnet and omphacite in the prograde eclogites this suggests that the prograde eclogites were formed by recrystallization of epidote amphibolite and or amphibolite facies rocks with near isothermal compression reflecting crustal thickening during continent continent collision of late proterozoic age equilibrium conditions of the prograde eclogites range from p 26 kbar and t 500 750 c in the western part to p 28 kbar and t 810 880 c in the eastern part of the high p eclogite terrane the prograde eclogites in the eastern part are considered to have been derived from a deeper position than those in the western part subsequent reactions manifested by 1 narrow rims of sodic plagioclase or paragonite on kyanite and 2 symplectites between omphacite and quartz are interpreted as an effect of near isothermal decompression during the retrograde stage the conditions at which symplectites re equilibrated tend to increase from west p 9 kbar and t 680 c equilibrium temperatures of type ii mantle derived eclogites and type iii eclogite are 730 750 c and 680 c respectively

partial transformation of gabbro to coesite bearing eclogite from yangkou the sulu terrane eastern china an ultra high pressure uhp metamorphic slab at yangkou beach near qingdao in the sulu region of china consists of blocks of eclogite facies metagabbro metagranitoid ultramafic rock and mylonitic orthogneisses enclosed in granitic gneiss a gradational sequence from incipiently metamorphosed gabbro to completely recrystallized coesite eclogite formed at ultra high pressures was identified in a single 30 m block metagabbro is preserved in the core whereas coesite eclogite occurs along the block margins the metagabbro contains an igneous assemblage of pl aug opx qtz bt ilm ti mag it shows relict magmatic textures and reaction coronas fine grained garnet developed along boundaries between plagioclase and other phases primary plagioclase broke down to ab ky ms zo grt amp augite is rimmed by sodic augite or omphacite whereas orthopyroxene is rimmed by a corona of cum act and omp qtz layers or only omp qtz in transitional rocks augite and orthopyroxene are totally replaced by omphacite and the lower pressure assemblage ab ky phn zo grt coexists with domains of omp jd70 73 ky phn in pseudomorphs after plagioclase both massive and weakly deformed coesite bearing eclogites contain omp ky grt phn coe qtz rt and preserve a faint gabbroic texture coesite inclusions in garnet and omphacite exhibit limited conversion to palisade quartz some intergranular coesite and quartz pseudomorphs after coesite also occur assemblages of the coronal stage transitional and uhp peak occurred at about 540 50 c at c 13 kbar 600 800 c at 15 25 kbar and 800 850 c at 30 kbar respectively garnet from the coronal through the transitional to the eclogite stage rocks show a decrease in almandine and an increase in grossular pyrope components garnet in low grade rocks contains higher mno and lower pyrope components the growth textures of garnet within pseudomorphs after plagioclase or along grain boundaries between plagioclase and other phases are complex the application of garnet zoning to estimate p t should be carried out with caution some garnet enclosing quartz aggregates as inclusions shows radial growth boundaries these quartz aggregates as well as other primary and low p phases persisted metastably at uhp conditions due to sluggish reactions resulting from the lack of fluid during prograde and retrograde p t evolution

timing of collision of the sino korean and yangtse cratons u pb zircon dating of coesite bearing eclogites the suture zone between the sino korean and yangtse cratons in central china is marked by a series of fault bounded belts composed of crustal protoliths in the dabie mountains some of these blocks contain coesite and diamond indicating subduction to minimum depths of 120 km as a result of continental collision the blocks range from the structurally lowest ultrahigh pressure metamorphic belt and decrease in metamorphic grade upsection to the structurally highest low greenschist facies belt furthermore the faults mark large contrasts in metamorphic grade these features form a structure that is similar to metamorphic core complexes indicating extension as part of the exhumation process timing of the continental collision has previously been inferred as late triassic from regional geologic relations or caledonian from 40 ar 39 ar dating of the adjacent and possibly related qinling metamorphic belt u pb dating of zircon from ultra high pressure eclogites yields a metamorphic age of 209 2 ma this age coincides with later stages of collision and is therefore a minimum estimate of the time of collision

deformation related recrystallization processes abstract recrystallization is a common microstructural transformation that occurs during deformation metamorphism and diagenesis of rocks studies on minerals and rock analogues have demonstrated that a wide range of recrystallization mechanisms can occur the range of mechanisms is related to the various ways in which two basic processes grain boundary migration and new grain boundary formation combine to transform the microstructure two recent papers drury et al 1985 urai et al 1986 have proposed different schemes for the description of recrystallization mechanisms the purpose of this paper is to provide a unified framework for the description of mechanisms recrystallization mechanisms are divided into three main types rotation mechanisms which principally involve the formation of new grain boundaries migration mechanisms which principally involve grain boundary migration and general mechanisms which involve both basic processes a further distinction is made on the basis of the continuity of the microstructural transformation with respect to time each of the three main types of mechanism can be divided into a number of sub types depending on whether the processes of grain boundary migration new grain boundary formation and new grain formation occur in a discontinuous or continuous manner with respect to time as the terms continuous and discontinuous have been used in the metallurgical literature to signify the spatial continuity of the microstructural transformation the terms discontinuai and continual are used to refer to the temporal continuity of the transformation it is recommended that the following aspects should be specified if possible in a general description of recrystallization mechanisms 1 1 how do the basic processes combine to transform the microstructure 2 2 if new grain development occurs what is the development mechanism and does new grain formation occur in a continual or discontinuai manner 3 3 if grain boundary migration is involved in the transformation what is the migration mechanism i e fast solute escape migration slow solute loaded migration fluid assisted migration etc and is migration a continual or discontinuai process the application of the unified scheme is illustrated by reviewing studies that have provided detailed information on the recrystallization mechanisms involved the complicating effects of solid solution impurities dispersed second phase particles and grain boundary fluid films are also considered and it is demonstrated that variations in content of these types of impurity can significantly effect the types of recrystallization that occur in a given material

high to ultrahigh pressure uhp ductile shear zones in the sulu uhp metamorphic belt china implications for continental subduction and exhumation high to ultrahigh pressure hp uhp metamorphic rocks that resulted from deep continental subduction and subsequent exhumation in the sulu orogenic belt china have experienced multiphase deformation and metamorphic overprint during its long journey to the mantle and return to the surface hp uhp shear zones are strain localized weak zones on which the uhp slab is transported over long distances hp uhp shear zones are well exposed along a 200 km belt in the sulu uhp metamorphic belt the shear zones lie structurally below the uhp rocks and above the non uhp rocks suggesting the early exhumation of the uhp rocks by thrusting the large area distribution hp uhp nature high strain and structural association of the shear zones with the uhp rocks suggest that the shear zones are probably a regional detachment developed during the early stage of exhumation of the uhp rocks kinematic indicators suggest top to the n nw motion of the uhp slab during the exhumation which combined with isotope signature in mesozoic igneous rocks leads us to the interpretation that the subduction polarity is the north china plate down to the south rather than the yangtze plate down to the north in the sulu region

dynamic recrystallization of quartz under greenschist conditions abstract the sem electron channelling technique has been used to investigate the dynamic recrystallization of three quartz grains representative of optical textures observed in quartzite deformed under greenschist facies conditions the degree of recrystallization has been determined at 10 20 50 and 100 respectively we demonstrate that dynamic recrystallization is a sequential process involving subgrain grain rotation and grainboundary migration it initiates via subgrain polygonization on a single crystal slip system and continues via subgrain and neoblast rotation on several slip systems in the early stages of recrystallization

micro xanes determination of ferric iron and its application in thermobarometry micro x ray absorption near edge structure xanes analysis was employed to determine the content of ferric iron in minerals formed in ultrahigh pressure uhp eclogites it is observed that omphacite and phengite contain significant amounts of fe3 fetot 0 2 0 6 whereas only very low contents are present in garnet fe3 fetot 0 0 0 03 the latter being consistent with results from stoichiometric charge balance calculations furthermore considerable variations in the fe3 fetot ratios of omphacite and phengite are observed depending on the textural sites and local bulk chemistry eclogite and calc silicate matrix within one thin section the oxidation state of isofacial minerals is thus likely to depend on the local fluid composition which in the studied case is controlled by calcareous and meta basic mineral compositions these first in situ measurements of ferric iron in an eclogite sample from the dabie shan e china are used to recalculate geothermobarometric data calculations demonstrate that the temperature during uhp metamorphism was as high as 780 c about 80 100 c higher than previously estimated temperatures based on charge balance calculations often give erroneous results pressure estimates are in good agreement with former results and confirm metamorphism in the stability field of diamond 43 7 kbar at 750 c these p t data result in a geothermal gradient of ca 6 c km during uhp metamorphism in the dabie shan however accounting for ferric iron contents in geothermobarometry creates new difficulties inasmuch as calibrations of geothermometers may not be correctable for fe3 and the actual effect on mg fe2 partitioning is unknown the present study further shows that micro xanes is a promising technique for the in situ determination of ferric iron contents without destroying the textural context of the sample a clear advantage compared to bulk methods

large areal extent of ultrahigh pressure metamorphism in the sulu ultrahigh pressure terrane of east china new implications from coesite and omphacite inclusions in zircon of granitic gneiss abstract coesite and omphacite inclusions have been identified for the first time as minute inclusions in zircon from amphibolite facies granitic orthogneiss in the sulu ultrahigh pressure uhp metamorphic terrane of eastern china by raman spectroscopy and microprobe analyses the occurrences of these minerals in the voluminous granitic gneiss of sulu support a regional and pervasive uhp metamorphic event that predated regional amphibolitic retrogression taking into account the widespread discoveries of coesite in other lithologies we thus conclude that a substantial crustal component in the sulu uhp metamorphic terrane appears to have shared a common history of triassic subduction to mantle depths and later exhumation

geometry and structural evolution of ultra high pressure and high pressure rocks from the dora maira massif western alps italy abstract the crystalline nappes of the dora maira massif western alps essentially made of continental material from the upper crust show petrological relics of an ultra high pressure uhp to high pressure hp cold eclogite eoalpine metamorphism they also display relics of uhp hp structures preserved in boudins and or within large uhp porphyroclasts in a retrograde greenschist facies regional deformation fabric the greenschist facies overprint has the character of a shallow dipping mylonitic foliation s m bearing a penetrative stretching lineation l m which roughly parallels the axes of coeval isoclinal folds shear sense markers indicate a w verging overthrust mechanism the uhp and hp relic structures arc of variable nature the coexistence of equant and inequant either symmetric or asymmetric fabrics indicates that the deformation at uhp hp conditions was strongly heterogeneous and partitioned this is also supported by the local preservation of hercynian magmatic fabrics the uhp and hp deformation involved at least locally rotational components although less intensive than during the latter retrograde stage the regional structural evolution is envisaged as follows i the eoalpine subducted crust was subdivided into lenticular bodies surrounded by uhp hp shear zones the main part of the exhumation processes remains unconstrained due to the sparseness and late rotation of the uhp hp structural relics conflicting models are possible depending on the interpretation of the early sense of movement normal vs reverse along the faults that limit the lens shaped units and ii the late heterogeneous regional greenschist deformation can be attributed to the eocene collapse of the alpine orogenic wedge

tectonics of the dabieshan eastern china and possible exhumation mechanism of ultra high pressure rocks the dabieshan is divided into three tectonic domains the southern dabieshan is a stack of allochtons from top to bottom i unmetamorphosed cambrian early triassic series unconformably covered by jurassic sandstone ii weakly metamorphosed proterozoic slate iii hp rocks mostly retrogressed into greenschist facies iv uhp allochton v uhp free gneisses these units exhibit a nw se lineation and top to the nw shearing reworked by s verging folds the central dabieshan is a migmatitic dome superimposed on uhp metamorphism and bounded by a detachement fault responsible for the exhumation of the uhp unit during its retrogression into amphibolite facies in the northern dabieshan early foliation and n s trending compressional lineation are deformed by n verging folds coeval to the syn exhumation ductile structures of the central dabieshan a geodynamic model involving coeval thrusting and normal faulting is discussed

ultrarapid exhumation of ultrahigh pressure diamond bearing metasedimentary rocks of the kokchetav massif kazakhstan the diamond bearing ultrahigh pressure kokchetav massif recrystallized at eclogite facies conditions deep in the mantle at 180 km depth at 535f3 ma and yet new 40 ar 39 ar ages suggest that it may have been exhumed to crustal depths as indicated by closure of mica to ar loss by f529 ma these data indicate a possible exhumation rate of tens of kilometers per million years i e a rate that is comparable to rates of horizontal plate motion and subduction d 2003 elsevier b v all rights reserved

petrogenesis and timing of talc formation in the ruby range southwestern montana talc deposits in the ruby range southwestern montana have formed in archean dolomitic marbles that were mineralized during retrograde talcification in the proterozoic calcite rich marbles contain the assemblage calcite olivine phlogopite or tremolite indicating that metamorphism occurred in the upper amphibolite to granulite facies m 1 crystallization of serpentine and chlorite and dolomitization of the marbles in the greenschist facies overprinted the high grade calc silicate assemblages m 2 and talc has replaced dolomite and the other greenschist grade silicate minerals in the latest stage of recrystallization which resulted in the formation of the main talc bodies m 3 structural control of the talc formation is suggested by discontinuous occurrences of talc bodies along layer parallel fractures preservation of relict textures indicates that the talc formed during constant volume replacement geochemical analyses and mass balance calculations demonstrate that introduction of large quantities of si and mg and removal of ca is required to maintain constant volume model reactions indicate that infiltration of a minimum of 4 8 x 10 5 1 of water is needed to convert a cubic meter of the average high grade marble to talc volumetric water rock ratio 600 the infiltration mechanism is consistent with the observation that no isobaric univariant mineral assemblages were present to buffer the composition of the metamorphic fluids estimates of the maximum conditions of talc formation of 2 kbars and 400 degrees c are based on field observations and heterogeneous phase equilibria it is probable that the talc actually formed at much lower temperatures and pressures possibly in a near surface hot spring deposit regional geologic relations indicate that the talc mineralization occurred during the middle proterozoic

occurrence and field relationships of ultrahigh pressure metagranitoid and coesite eclogite in the su lu terrane eastern china coesite eclogite is associated with metagranitoid in a 50 100 m 2 outcrop within the regionally developed amphibolite facies su lu orthogneiss primary intrusive relationships between the metagranitoid and basic rocks and bulk chemistry analyses show that together they represent a composite igneous body that has subsequently been strongly deformed and metamorphosed the presence of rutile sodie pyroxene corona garnet and possible pseudomorphs after coesite all suggest very high pressures of metamorphism in the metagranitoid this is the first documented occurrence of ultrahigh pressure uhp metagranitoid outside of the european alps the existence of uhp metagranitoid shows that low density of rocks does not necessarily prevent subduction to mantle depths even at peak metamorphic conditions the uhp composite igneous body reported here would have a bulk density less than the mantle buoyancy forces may therefore have been important in the early exhumation of this unit other outcrops of coesite eclogite in the su lu region may also have been originally metamorphosed along with low density granitoid rocks

preservation of primary volcanic textures in the ultrahigh pressure terrain of dabie shan delicate primary volcanic features such as ash layers volcaniclastic breccias and pillow lavas with amygdaloidal rims have been identified in a terrigenous volcanosedimentary sequence forming part of the ultrahigh pressure unit of the dabie shan china the presence of coesite relics in crosscutting dikes confirms an ultrahigh pressure evolution for the entire sequence evaluation of the probable reaction history for zeolite compositions as supposed for the amygdaloidal rims reveals a scarcity of reactions at very high pressures such special conditions of low reactivity and fluid conserving reactions combined with a lack of directed stress have allowed the remarkable preservation of these primary volcanic features despite deep subduction

faulting induced by precipitation of water at grain boundaries in hot subducting oceanic crust dehydration embrittlement has been proposed to explain both intermediate and deep focus earthquakes in subduction zones1 2 3 4 5 because such earthquakes primarily occur at shallow depths or within the core of the subducting plate dehydration at relatively low temperatures has been emphasized6 7 8 however recent careful relocation of subduction zone earthquakes9 10 shows that at depths of 100 250 km earthquakes continue in the uppermost part of the slab probably the former oceanic crust that has been converted to eclogite where temperatures are higher here we show that at such pressures and temperatures eclogite lacking hydrous phases but with significant hydroxyl incorporated as defects in pyroxene and garnet develops a faulting instability associated with precipitation of water at grain boundaries and the production of very small amounts of melt this new faulting mechanism satisfactorily explains high temperature earthquakes in subducting oceanic crust and could potentially be involved in much deeper earthquakes in connection with similar precipitation of water in the mantle transition zone 400 700 km depth of potential importance for all proposed high pressure earthquake mechanisms is the very small amount of fluid required to trigger this instability

thermobarometry of phengite bearing eclogites in the dabie mountains of central china pressure temperature conditions for formation of the peak metamorphic mineral assemblages in phengite bearing eclogites from dabieshan have been assessed through a consideration of fe2 mg2 partitioning between garnet omphacite and garnet phengite pairs and of the reaction equilibrium celadonite pyrope grossular muscovite diopside which incorporates an evaluation of the extent of the strongly pressure dependent inverse tschermak s molecule substitution in the phengites for the latter equilibrium the calibration and recommended activity composition models indicated by waters martin 1993 have been employed and importantly yield results consistent with petrographic evidence for the stability at peak conditions of coesite in certain samples and quartz in others confirmation that in some phengite eclogite samples peak silicate mineral assemblages have equilibrated at confining pressures sufficient for the stability of coesite and in some cases even diamond rather negates previous suggestions that coesite may have been stabilized in only very localized possibly just intracrystalline domains inherent difficulties in the evaluation of peak metamorphic temperatures from fe2 mg2 partitioning between mineral phases due to uncertainties over fe3 fe2 ratios in the minerals especially omphacites and to re equilibration during extensive retrograde overprinting in some samples are also assessed and discussed our results indicate the existence in south central dabieshan of phengite eclogites with markedly different equilibration conditions within two structurally distinct tectonometamorphic terranes thus our data do not support earlier contentions that south central dabieshan comprises a structurally coherent continental crust terrane with a regional p t gradient signalling previous deepest level subduction in the north instead we recognize the central dabie ultra high pressure coesite eclogite bearing terrane to be structurally overlain by a southern dabie high pressure quartz eclogite bearing terrane at a major southerly dipping shear zone along which late orogenic extensional collapse appears to have eliminated at least 20 km of crustal section

common humpback whale megaptera novaeangliae sound types for passive acoustic monitoring humpback whales megaptera novaeangliae are one of several baleen whale species in the northwest atlantic that coexist with vessel traffic and anthropogenic noise passive acoustic monitoring strategies can be used in conservation management but the first step toward understanding the acoustic behavior of a species is a good description of its acoustic repertoire digital acoustic tags dtags were placed on humpback whales in the stellwagen bank national marine sanctuary to record and describe the non song sounds being produced in conjunction with foraging activities peak frequencies of sounds were generally less than 1 khz but ranged as high as 6 khz and sounds were generally less than 1 s in duration cluster analysis distilled the dataset into eight groups of sounds with similar acoustic properties the two most stereotyped and distinctive types wops and grunts were also identified aurally as candidates for use in passive acoustic monitoring this identification of two of the most common sound types will be useful for moving forward conservation efforts on this northwest atlantic feeding ground

what brought them up exhumation of the dabie shan ultrahigh pressure rocks metamorphic coesite and diamond in the dabie shan eastern china testify to subduction of continental crust to 100 km depth exhumation of these ultrahigh pressure rocks through the crust encompassed two stages 1 south dipping foliation southeast plunging stretching lineation lineation parallel isoclinal folds and boudins indicate extreme subhorizontal shortening and subvertical extension during top to northwest shearing at 200 180 ma syntectonic recrystallization occurred at eclogite and amphibolite facies temperatures and at pressures below coesite stability 2 northwest southeast subhorizontal extension from 133 to 122 ma was concentrated within an asymmetric structural dome in a magmatic complex that forms the northern half of the dabie shan pluton cores at deep structural levels have weak hypersolidus fabrics and pluton carapaces are mylonitic gneisses formed at upper amphibolite facies conditions deformation is concentrated in greenschist facies mylonites and ultramylonites along the xiaotian mozitang detachment fault at the northern topographic limit of the dabie shan our preferred exhumation model involves two stages triassic indentation vertical extrusion and erosion followed by cretaceous plate margin transtension

plastic flow of coesite eclogite in a deep continent subduction regime microstructures deformation mechanisms and rheologic implications abstract ultrahigh pressure uhp metamorphic rocks are continental crust that once has been subducted to mantle depth and subsequently exhumed to the surface in collisional orogenic belts despite the long distance transport of the uhp rocks in a deep subduction channel and the fast strain rate required for rapid exhumation little evidence for uhp deformation is found in the exhumed uhp terrains so far identified some uhp rocks have even preserved primary igneous and volcanic structures these observations have led to the postulation that the stress level is low a few mpa in the deep subduction zones deformation microstructures of some eclogite mylonites from a ductile shear complex in the sulu uhp metamorphic belt eastern china provide for the first time convincing evidence that dislocation creep is the predominant deformation mechanism for the major constituent minerals of the uhp rocks in a highly strain localized shear zone at the uhp conditions omphacite phengite and kyanite are the main strain accommodating phases and are dynamically recrystallized through progressive subgrain rotation and grain boundary migration coesite is either fractured with irregular extinction in the moderately deformed eclogite or pseudomorphed by polycrystalline quartz aggregates that have a foam structure garnet does not show optically discernable plastic deformation p t conditions for the deformation are estimated to be p 3 3 gpa and t 624 c using garnet omphacite kyanite phengite coesite quartz thermobarometry suggesting that deeply subducted continental crust remains cold at the upper mantle depths large part of the deeply subducted crust remains relatively undeformed strain is strongly localized into narrow shear zones stress level in the deep subduction channel is extrapolated on the order of tens of mpa much higher than it was previously thought

35 ma old ultrahigh pressure metamorphism and evidence for very rapid exhumation in the dora maira massif western alps abstract ion microprobe shrimp data on zircons from various rock types of an ultrahigh pressure uhp metamorphic whiteschist type pyrope quartzite lens of the dora maira massif dmm consistently show domains giving a late eocene age of 35 4 1 0 ma which is taken as the age of uhp metamorphism these domains partially replace the older oscillatory zoning pattern of the zircons formed during primary magmatic crystallization at about 275 ma zircons of a metagranitic country rock next to the uhp metamorphic lens have these primary features best preserved all zircons measured also yield intermediate ages between 275 and 35 ma with a statistical concentration between 260 and 210 ma thus the uniformity of the initial zircon population both in the lens and the country rock evidences a common protolith that is a granite intruded during the late herynian while the intermediate ages are at least partly due to incomplete resetting of the zircons during uhp metamorphism those in the 260 210 ma range may be related to rifting episodes in the permotriassic the mg rich chemistry of the whiteschist lenses is due to local metasomatic alterations of the granite perhaps by fluids derived from evaporitic sediments dating as early as the permotriassic as well the more pervasive resetting of zircon ages during uhp metamorphism in the pyrope quartzite lenses is explained by the ubiquity of fluids and or melts produced during subduction by a series of dehydration reactions that occurred only in the more hydrous mg rich protoliths and not in their drier granitic neighborhood fission track ages determined partly on the same zircon samples yielding 29 9 1 4 ma mark the time when the uhpm unit had reached about 290 c at a shallow location within the crust thus exhumation over a vertical distance of about 120 km must have occurred within about 5 6 ma indicating an average uplift rate of about 20 24 km ma and an average cooling rate of about 85 100 c ma the radiometric data obtained do not lend any support to an eo alpine cretaceous subduction event so that deep subduction and immediately following exhumation all took place during early to mid tertiary time this scenario seems to apply to large portions of the western and central alps as well calling for drastic geodynamic reinterpretations of these parts of the alps

deformation induced clinopyroxene fabrics from eclogites abstract clinopyroxene omphacite microfabric studies in eclogites are useful in characterizing the deformation that has affected deeper parts of subduction zones we present the microfabrics and tem structures of four samples representative of the various deformation types known in eclogites the 001 axis tends to be parallel to the lineation while the 010 plane is close to the foliation but these general features undergo strong variations in relation to the shape fabric in strongly lineated samples 010 tends to be spread out in a great circle normal to the lineation whereas 001 is dispersed in the foliation in the case of strongly foliated samples the slip systems identified by tem are 001 100 001 110 and 1 2 110 110 operation of dislocation creep is testified by the presence of dislocations and dislocation walls but this process alone cannot explain all the observed features particularly some aspects of the crystallographic preferred orientation hence other deformation mechanisms must be involved these may be dynamic migration recrystallization by grain boundary migration as well as mass transfer processes this study illustrates that not every crystallographic mineral preferred orientation can be explained by dislocation glide and or twinning processes alone in addition it also demonstrates that eclogite microfabrics can be used to unravel deformation parameters in subduction and or collision zones

an experimental study into the rheology of synthetic polycrystalline coesite aggregates coesite has been found as a relic in ultrahigh pressure metamorphic uhpm crust worldwide and is expected to play a major role in the mechanical behavior of continental crust at uhpm conditions we performed triaxial compression tests on synthetic polycrystalline coesitite in a solid medium apparatus at confining pressures of 3 1 to 3 7 gpa temperatures of 700 to 1160 c and strain rates betweeen 6 10 7 and 1 10 3 s 1 the problem of the limited stress resolution of the solid medium apparatus was addressed by applying two extreme friction corrections that yield lower and upper bounds to the differential stress the correlation between the mechanical data and the microstructural record of the deformed samples as a function of temperature and imposed strain rate is consistent with deformation by dislocation creep we deduced parameters of a power law as n 3 1 and q 275 50 kj mol 1 extrapolation of the experimental data to natural conditions cannot be constrained by comparison with natural microstructures due to the lack of preserved coesite other than as single crystal inclusions nevertheless the extrapolation indicates a low strength of order 10 mpa for natural strain rates at typical uhpm conditions absent deformation of the uhpm brossasco granite dora maira massif western alps thus implies low stresses deformation must have been localized in very weak shear zones during burial and exhumation

dynamic recrystallization of quartz correlation between natural and experimental conditions quartz veins in the eastern tonale mylonite zone italian alps were deformed in strike slip shear due to the synkinematic emplacement of the adamello pluton a temperature gradient between 280 c and 700 c was effected across this fault zone the resulting dynamic recrystallization microstructures are characteristic of bulging recrystallization subgrain rotation recrystallization and grain boundary migration recrystallization the transitions in recrystallization mechanisms are marked by discrete changes of grain size dependence on temperature differential stresses are calculated from the recrystallized grain size data using paleopiezometric relationships deformation temperatures are obtained from metamorphic reactions in the deformed host rock flow stresses and deformation temperatures are used to determine the strain rate of the tonale mylonites through integration with several published flow laws yielding an average rate of approximately 10 14s 1 to 10 12s 1 the deformation conditions of the natural fault rocks are compared and correlated with three experimental dislocation creep regimes of quartz of hirth tullis linking the microstructures of the naturally and experimentally deformed quartz rocks a recrystallization mechanism map is presented this map permits the derivation of temperature and strain rate for mylonitic fault rocks once the recrystallization mechanism is known

dislocation creep regimes in quartz aggregates abstract using optical and tem microscopy we have determined that three regimes of dislocation creep occur in experimentally deformed quartz aggregates depending on the relative rates of grain boundary migration dislocation climb and dislocation production within each regime a distinctive microstructure is produced due primarily to the operation of different mechanisms of dynamic recrystallization at lower temperatures and faster strain rates the rate of dislocation production is too great for diffusion controlled dislocation climb to be an effective recovery mechanism in this regime recovery is accommodated by strain induced grain boundary migration recrystallization with an increase in temperature or decrease in strain rate the rate of dislocation climb becomes sufficiently rapid to accommodate recovery in this regime dynamic recrystallization occurs by progressive subgrain rotation with a further increase in temperature or decrease in strain rate dislocation climb remains sufficiently rapid to accommodate recovery however in this regime grain boundary migration is rapid thus recrystallization occurs by both grain boundary migration and progressive subgrain rotation the identification of the three regimes of dislocation creep may have important implications for the determination of flow law parameters and the calibration of recrystallized grain size piezometers in addition the identification of a particular dislocation creep regime could be useful in helping to constrain the conditions at which a given natural deformation has occurred

exhumation tectonics of the ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks in the qinling orogen in east china new petrological structural radiometric insights from the shandong peninsula 1 in eastern china the sulu area is recognized as the eastern extension of the qinling dabie belt which is famous for its ultrahigh pressure uhp metamorphism although numerous petrologic and geochemical works are available structural data are still rare this paper provides the first extensive study of bulk geometry and kinematic analysis of the shandong peninsula the study area is divided into three tectonic areas by cretaceous faults namely a southern uhp belt or sulu area a northern migmatite area and an eastern eclogite and migmatite area or weihai area conversely to the deeply entrenched idea that the later area belongs to the north china belt and the two others to the south china block scb we argue that all three areas are parts of the scb structural petrologic 40ar 39ar and u pb data comply with this new interpretation in the north shandong area mafic granulites enclosed as blocks within gneissic migmatites do not significantly differ from the sulu and weihai eclogites which also experienced a granulite facies overprint before migmatization the circa 210 200 ma age of the main ductile deformation is related to an extensional event during the triassic or indosinian orogeny this date corresponds to the temperature climax but the time of the pressure peak i e the real age of the uhp metamorphism is discussed