Ultra-high pressure（UHP）eclogites that derive from subducted oceanic crust are rarely found at the Earth’s surface because they need to be enclosed in a buoyant host rock such as serpentinites that facilitate exhum...Ultra-high pressure（UHP）eclogites that derive from subducted oceanic crust are rarely found at the Earth’s surface because they need to be enclosed in a buoyant host rock such as serpentinites that facilitate exhumation（Hermann et al.,2000;Guillot et al.,2001）.Under normal subduction geotherms,serpentinites break down just before UHP conditions are reached and therefore most of the exhumed eclogites representing subducted oceanic crust formed under fore-arc conditions.We investigated eclogite blocks enclosed into serpentinites that occur in the southwestern Tianshan oceanic subduction,China.A previous study proved that the serpentinites derive from altered oceanic crust and experienced UHP metamorphism at low temperatures of 510-530°C（Shen et al.,2015）.Three relatively fresh eclogite samples were studied in detail.Sample 129-7 shows the retrograde mineral assemblage of amphibole+biotite+albite+chlorite+minor titanite and peak metamorphic relics of omphacite+garnet±chlorite.Sample C107-23 is mainly composed of amphibole+albite+chlorite+zoisite+muscovite+minor titanite as a retrograde assemblage and garnet+phengite as the peak metamorphic relics with omphacite only found as inclusions in garnet.Similar to sample C107-23,sample C11066 preserves large-grained euhedral to subhedral garnet relics with omphacite inclusions,and epidote,diopside,amphibole,muscovite,chlorite,albite and biotite are in the matrix belong to the retrograde assemblage.These three retrograde eclogite samples were modelled using thermodynamic calculations in the Mn NCKFMSHO（Mn O-Na;O-Ca O-K;O-FeO-Mg O-Al;O;-SiO;-H;O-Fe;O;）system.Based on the peak assemblage of omphacite+garnet and the crossing of the grossular and pyrope isopleths in garnet,peak P-T conditions of;60-470oC,28-29 kbar（129-7）,450-500oC,28-35 kbar（C107-23）,;75-505oC,26-29 kbar（C11066）were calculated.The retrograde assemblages indicate near isothermal decompression resulting in a clockwise P-T evolution of these eclogites.The peak metamorphic pressures at 500°C are well within UHP conditions（coesite stability field）and are within error the same as peak conditions of the host serpentinites（Shen et al.,2015）.This provides evidence that eclogites and serpentinites shared the same evolution.We infer that the subducted low-density serpentinites were assembled with the high-density eclogites during subdution and helped the latter to exhume back to the surface.The studied eclogites thus represent rare examples of relics of oceanic crust that was subducted to sub-arc depth.展开更多
Ultra-high pressure(UHP)eclogites that derive from subducted oceanic crust are rarely found at the Earth’s surface because they need to be enclosed in a buoyant host rock such as serpentinites that facilitate exhumation
High-Al chromite from the Kudi chromitites contains a wide range of mineral inclusions. They include clinopyroxene, amphibole, phlogopite, olivine, orthopyroxene, apatite, base-metal sulfides, calcite and brucite. The...High-Al chromite from the Kudi chromitites contains a wide range of mineral inclusions. They include clinopyroxene, amphibole, phlogopite, olivine, orthopyroxene, apatite, base-metal sulfides, calcite and brucite. The modal abundance of inclusions vary greatly among different grains of chromite. The common inclusions are clinopyroxene and amphibole, which occur as monomineral or polymineral associated with other minerals. The shapes of these inclusions tend to follow the growth plane of host chromite. Mineral assemblages and textures demonstrate that some inclusions（olivine, clinopyroxene） are trapped during magmatic stage, and most of the inclusions（e.g., amphibole, phlogopite） are trapped during recrystallization of chromite. Sulfide inclusions are pentlandite, chalcopyrite and cubanite. They occur either as isolated grains or together with silicate minerals, and formed from the separation of sulfide-bearing liquid from silicate magma. The parental magma of chromitites contains Al2O3 15.0wt%–16.5wt%, TiO20.30wt%–1.05wt% based on calculation with the composition of chromite, similar to parental magma of high-Al chromitites from elsewhere and the estimated melt composition is comparable with that of MORB. Considering the high-Mg olivine in disseminated chromitite and abundant hydrous inclusions, we propose that Kudi chromitites formed beneath a volcanic front during the subduction initiation of Proto-Tethys.展开更多
文摘Ultra-high pressure（UHP）eclogites that derive from subducted oceanic crust are rarely found at the Earth’s surface because they need to be enclosed in a buoyant host rock such as serpentinites that facilitate exhumation（Hermann et al.,2000;Guillot et al.,2001）.Under normal subduction geotherms,serpentinites break down just before UHP conditions are reached and therefore most of the exhumed eclogites representing subducted oceanic crust formed under fore-arc conditions.We investigated eclogite blocks enclosed into serpentinites that occur in the southwestern Tianshan oceanic subduction,China.A previous study proved that the serpentinites derive from altered oceanic crust and experienced UHP metamorphism at low temperatures of 510-530°C（Shen et al.,2015）.Three relatively fresh eclogite samples were studied in detail.Sample 129-7 shows the retrograde mineral assemblage of amphibole+biotite+albite+chlorite+minor titanite and peak metamorphic relics of omphacite+garnet±chlorite.Sample C107-23 is mainly composed of amphibole+albite+chlorite+zoisite+muscovite+minor titanite as a retrograde assemblage and garnet+phengite as the peak metamorphic relics with omphacite only found as inclusions in garnet.Similar to sample C107-23,sample C11066 preserves large-grained euhedral to subhedral garnet relics with omphacite inclusions,and epidote,diopside,amphibole,muscovite,chlorite,albite and biotite are in the matrix belong to the retrograde assemblage.These three retrograde eclogite samples were modelled using thermodynamic calculations in the Mn NCKFMSHO（Mn O-Na;O-Ca O-K;O-FeO-Mg O-Al;O;-SiO;-H;O-Fe;O;）system.Based on the peak assemblage of omphacite+garnet and the crossing of the grossular and pyrope isopleths in garnet,peak P-T conditions of;60-470oC,28-29 kbar（129-7）,450-500oC,28-35 kbar（C107-23）,;75-505oC,26-29 kbar（C11066）were calculated.The retrograde assemblages indicate near isothermal decompression resulting in a clockwise P-T evolution of these eclogites.The peak metamorphic pressures at 500°C are well within UHP conditions（coesite stability field）and are within error the same as peak conditions of the host serpentinites（Shen et al.,2015）.This provides evidence that eclogites and serpentinites shared the same evolution.We infer that the subducted low-density serpentinites were assembled with the high-density eclogites during subdution and helped the latter to exhume back to the surface.The studied eclogites thus represent rare examples of relics of oceanic crust that was subducted to sub-arc depth.
文摘Ultra-high pressure(UHP)eclogites that derive from subducted oceanic crust are rarely found at the Earth’s surface because they need to be enclosed in a buoyant host rock such as serpentinites that facilitate exhumation
基金financially supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.41472051) to J.Wanga grant from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada to K.Hattori+1 种基金supported by grants from the China Geological Survey (Nos.1212011121088 12120114044401)
文摘High-Al chromite from the Kudi chromitites contains a wide range of mineral inclusions. They include clinopyroxene, amphibole, phlogopite, olivine, orthopyroxene, apatite, base-metal sulfides, calcite and brucite. The modal abundance of inclusions vary greatly among different grains of chromite. The common inclusions are clinopyroxene and amphibole, which occur as monomineral or polymineral associated with other minerals. The shapes of these inclusions tend to follow the growth plane of host chromite. Mineral assemblages and textures demonstrate that some inclusions（olivine, clinopyroxene） are trapped during magmatic stage, and most of the inclusions（e.g., amphibole, phlogopite） are trapped during recrystallization of chromite. Sulfide inclusions are pentlandite, chalcopyrite and cubanite. They occur either as isolated grains or together with silicate minerals, and formed from the separation of sulfide-bearing liquid from silicate magma. The parental magma of chromitites contains Al2O3 15.0wt%–16.5wt%, TiO20.30wt%–1.05wt% based on calculation with the composition of chromite, similar to parental magma of high-Al chromitites from elsewhere and the estimated melt composition is comparable with that of MORB. Considering the high-Mg olivine in disseminated chromitite and abundant hydrous inclusions, we propose that Kudi chromitites formed beneath a volcanic front during the subduction initiation of Proto-Tethys.
