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The Saxon granulites, the type granulite locality, were deeply buried, extremely heated and then rapidly exhumed during the Variscan Orogeny; thus their evolution differs from many granulites elsewhere. The peak-metamorphic assemblages of layered felsic-mafic granulites from a 500 m deep borehole consist of garnet, kyanite, rutile, ternary feldspar and quartz in felsic granulite, and garnet, omphacite, titanite, ternary feldspar and quartz in mafic granulite. A minimum temperature of 1000-1020degreesC, calculated from reintegrated hypersolvus feldspar in felsic and mafic granulites, is consistent with the highest temperature estimates from garnet-clinopyroxene equilibria. Various equilibria in felsic and mafic granulites record a peak pressure of about 23 kbar. Diffusion zoning and local homogenisation of minerals reflect near-isothermal decompression that preceded cooling and partial hydration at medium- to low-pressure. U-Pb dating of titanite yields an age of peak metamorphism at 340.7+/-0.8 Ma (2sigma). However, chemical inheritance from precursor rutile and post-peak Pb loss are also evident, suggesting a protolith age of 499+/-2 Ma (2sigma) and partial resetting down to an age of 333+/-2 Ma (2sigma). Rb-Sr mica ages of 333.2+/-3.3 Ma (2sigma) are interpreted as dating cooling through about 620degreesC. Hence the Saxon granulites were exhumed to the upper crust during the short period of 6-11 Ma, which corresponds to average exhumation and cooling rates of 10 mm/year and 50degreesC/Ma, respectively. Such rapid exhumation is inconsistent with recent numerical models that assume foreland- directed transport of the Saxon granulites in the lower crust followed by extensional unroofing. Instead, high-pressure rocks of the Saxon Granulite Massif and the nearby Erzgebirge experienced a buoyant rise to the middle crust and subsequent juxtaposition with structurally higher units along a series of medium- to low-pressure detachment faults
Different tectonic episodes from Late Triassic to recent times in the eastern Binalud Mountains have resulted from convergence and transpression between the Turan and Central Iran plates. Heterogeneous deformation and variable portions of pure and simple shear, demonstrated by finite strain and vorticity analysis in the Mashhad metamorphic rocks, indicate strain partitioning during the first tectonic episode. Modern strain partitioning is characterized by reverse and strike-slip faulting along the Neyshabur fault system and Shandiz fault zone in the southern and northern flanks of the eastern Binalud, respectively. Time-transgressive regional deformation migrated from the hinterland of the belt into the foreland basin, from northeast to the southwest of the mountains. Different generations of deformation resulted in obliteration of the subduction-related accretionary wedge, and growth of an orogenic wedge resulted from collision between the Central Iran and Turan plates.
The International Union of Geological Sciences (JUGS) is evaluating whether there are additional geoscientific activities that would be beneficial in helping mitigate the impacts of tsunami. Public concerns about poor decisions and inaction, and advances in computing power and data mining call for new scientific approaches. Three fundamental requirements for mitigating impacts of natural hazards are defined. These are: (1) improvement of process-oriented understanding, (2) adequate monitoring and optimal use of data, and (3) generation of advice based on scientific, technical and socio-economic expertise. International leadership/coordination is also important.
To increase the capacity to predict and mitigate the impacts of tsunami and other natural hazards a broad consensus is needed. The main needs include the integration of systematic geological inputs - identifying and studying paleo-tsunami deposits for all subduction zones; optimising coverage and coordination of geodetic and seismic monitoring networks; underpinning decision making at national and international scales by developing appropriate mechanisms for gathering, managing and communicating authoritative scientific and technical advice information; international leadership for coordination and authoritative statements of best approaches. All these suggestions are reflected in the Sendai Agreement, the collective views of the experts at the International Workshop on Natural Hazards, presented later in this volume.
Albian-Turonian subduction-accretionary complexes are exposed widely in the Central Pontides. A major portion of the accretionary complexes is made up of a metaflysch sequence consisting of slate/phyllite and metasandstone intercalation with blocks of marble, Na-amphibole bearing metabasite, and serpentinite. The metaflysch sequence represents distal parts of a large Lower Cretaceous submarine turbidite fan deposited on the Laurasian active continental margin that was subsequently accreted and metamorphosed during the Albian. Raman spectra of carbonaceous material of the metapelitic rocks revealed that the metaflysch consists of metamorphic packets with distinct peak metamorphic temperatures. The majority of the metapelites are low-temperature (ca. 330 degrees C) slates characterized by lack of differentiation of the graphite (G) and D2 defect bands. They possibly represent offscraped distal turbidites along the toe of the Albian accretionary wedge. Other phyllites are characterized by a slightly pronounced G band with a D2 defect band occurring on its shoulder. Peak metamorphic temperatures of these phyllites are constrained to 370-385 degrees C. The phyllites are associated with a strip of incipient blueschist facies metabasites and are found as a sliver within the offscraped distal turbidites. We interpret the phyllites as underplated continental sediments together with oceanic crustal basalt along the basal decollement. Tectonic emplacement of the underplated rocks into the offscraped distal turbidites was possibly achieved by out-of-sequence thrusting causing tectonic thickening and uplift of the wedge.
The tectono-metamorphic signature of detachments in high-pressure mountain belts, Tethyan examples
(1998)
The sidi Mohamed peridotites (Edough Massif, NE Algeria) - evidence for an upper mantle origin
(2013)
The Hercynian Edough massif is the easternmost crystalline massif of the Algerian coast. It consists of two tectonically superposed units composed of micaschists, gneisses, and peridotite. This study concentrates on the small and isolated Sidi Mohamed peridotite outcrop area (0.03 km(2)). The Sidi Mohamed peridotite is composed mainly of harzburgites (Mg-rich olivine and orthopyroxene as major minerals). The Ni (2051-2920 ppm), Cr (2368-5514 ppm) and MgO (similar to 28-35 wt.%) whole-rock composition and the relative depletion in Nb make these harzburgites comparable to depleted peridotites related to a subduction zone. We suggest that the Sidi Mohamed ultramafic body was derived directly from the upper mantle and tectonically incorporated into the gneiss units of the Edough metamorphic core complex in a subduction environment.
The Sabzevar ophiolites mark the Neotethys suture in east-north-central Iran. The Sabzevar metamorphic rocks, as part of the Cretaceous Sabzevar ophiolitic complex, consist of blueschist, amphibolite and greenschist. The Sabzevar blueschists contain sodic amphibole, epidote, phengite, calcite +/- A omphacite +/- A quartz. The epidote amphibolite is composed of sodic-calcic amphibole, epidote, albite, phengite, quartz +/- A omphacite, ilmenite and titanite. The greenschist contains chlorite, plagioclase and pyrite, as main minerals. Thermobarometry of a blueschist yields a pressure of 13-15.5 kbar at temperatures of 420-500 A degrees C. Peak metamorphic temperature/depth ratios were low (similar to 12 A degrees C/km), consistent with metamorphism in a subduction zone. The presence of epidote in the blueschist shows that the rocks were metamorphosed entirely within the epidote stability field. Amphibole schist samples experienced pressures of 5-7 kbar and temperatures between 450 and 550 A degrees C. The presence of chlorite, actinolite, biotite and titanite indicate greenschist facies metamorphism. Chlorite, albite and biotite replacing garnet or glaucophane suggests temperatures of > 300 A degrees C for greenschist facies. The formation of high-pressure metamorphic rocks is related to north-east-dipping subduction of the Neotethys oceanic crust and subsequent closure during lower Eocene between the Central Iranian Micro-continent and Eurasia (North Iran).
The North Tabriz Fault is seismologically an active fault with current right lateral strike-slip movements. Restricted mafic to intermediate Fate Cretaceous igneous rocks are exposed along the North Tabriz Fault. Whole rock and clinopyroxene phenocrysts geochemistry were studied in order to characterize the petrogenesis of these mafic rocks and their possible relation to an oceanic crust. The results indicate a tholeiitic parental magma that formed in an evolved mid-ocean ridge tectonic setting similar to the Iceland mid-Atlantic ridge basalts. The ocean floor basalt characteristics give evidence of an oceanic crust along the North Tabriz Fault. Therefore, the trend of the North Tabriz Fault more likely marks a suture zone related to the closure of a branch of the Neo-Tethys Ocean in the NW Iran. This fault, in addition to the Caucasus and Zagros suture zones, compensates an important part of the convergence between the Arabian and Eurasian plates resulting from the Red Sea divergence. It is concluded that the North Tabriz Fault appears to be possible southeastern continuation of the North Anatolian suture zone.
The Garzn Complex of the Garzn Massif in SW Colombia is composed of the Vergel Granulite Unit (VG) and the Las Margaritas Migmatite Unit (LMM). Previous studies reveal peak temperature conditions for the VG of about 740 A degrees C. The present study considers the remarkable exsolution phenomena in feldspars and pyroxenes and titanium-in-quartz thermometry. Recalculated ternary feldspar compositions indicate temperatures around 900-1,000 A degrees C just at or above the ultra-high temperature-metamorphism (UHTM) boundary of granulites. The calculated temperatures range of exsolved ortho- and clinopyroxenes also supports the existence of an UHTM event. In addition, titanium-in-quartz thermometry points towards ultra-high temperatures. It is the first known UHTM crustal segment in the northern part of South America. Although a mean geothermal gradient of ca 38 A degrees C km(-1) could imply additional heat supply in the lower crust controlling this extreme of peak metamorphism, an alternative model is suggested. The formation of the Vergel Granulite Unit is supposed to be formed in a continental back-arc environment with a thinned and weakened crust behind a magmatic arc (Guapotn-Mancagua Gneiss) followed by collision. In contrast, rocks of the adjacent Las Margaritas Migmatite Unit display "normal" granulite facies temperatures and are formed in a colder lower crust outside the arc, preserved by the Guapotn-Mancagu Gneiss. Back-arc formation was followed by inversion and thickening of the basin. The three units that form the modern-day Garzn Massif, were juxtaposed upon each other during collision (at ca. 1,000 Ma) and exhumation. The collision leading to the deformation of the studied area is part of the Grenville orogeny leading to the amalgamation of Rodinia.
To address one of the central questions of plate tectonics-How do large transform systems work and what are their typical features?-seismic investigations across the Dead Sea Transform (DST), the boundary between the African and Arabian plates in the Middle East, were conducted for the first time. A major component of these investigations was a combined reflection/ refraction survey across the territories of Palestine, Israel and Jordan. The main results of this study are: (1) The seismic basement is offset by 3-5 km under the DST, (2) The DST cuts through the entire crust, broadening in the lower crust, (3) Strong lower crustal reflectors are imaged only on one side of the DST, (4) The seismic velocity sections show a steady increase in the depth of the crust-mantle transition (Moho) from 26 km at the Mediterranean to 39 km under the Jordan highlands, with only a small but visible, asymmetric topography of the Moho under the DST. These observations can be linked to the left-lateral movement of 105 km of the two plates in the last 17 Myr, accompanied by strong deformation within a narrow zone cutting through the entire crust. Comparing the DST and the San Andreas Fault (SAF) system, a strong asymmetry in subhorizontal lower crustal reflectors and a deep reaching deformation zone both occur around the DST and the SAF. The fact that such lower crustal reflectors and deep deformation zones are observed in such different transform systems suggests that these structures are possibly fundamental features of large transform plate boundaries
High-pressure/low-temperature (HP/LT) chloritoid-bearing micaschists crop out widely in the central part of northern Turkey and represent deep-seated subduction-accretionary complexes. Three peak metamorphic assemblages are identified in the area studied: (1) garnet-chloritoid-glaucophane with pseudomorphs after lawsonite; (2) chloritoid with pseudomorphs after glaucophane; and (3) chloritoid with pseudomorphs after jadeite in addition to phengite, paragonite, quartz, chlorite, rutile, and apatite. The latter is interpreted as transformation of a chloritoid + glaucophane assemblage to chloritoid + jadeite with increasing pressure; PT modeling indicates similar to 17 and 22-25 kbars for the two peak parageneses. The diversity of peak metamorphic assemblages and the PT estimates suggest that basal accretion occurred at different depths within the wedge. The depth of the basal accretion is possibly controlled by the slab-mantle decoupling depth. Stretching and thinning of the lithospheric fore arc induced by the slab rollback possibly caused shallowing of the slab-mantle decoupling depth which limited depth of the basal accretion from 70-80km to similar to 55km within the subduction channel. A slab-mantle coupling depth-controlled basal accretion may also explain the scarcity of eclogite and high-grade blueschist facies metamorphic rocks in active intraoceanic subduction zones. Because the overriding plate is young and hot in intraoceanic subductions, the slab and mantle are coupled at a relatively shallow depth before eclogitization of the oceanic crust. This prevents accretion and exhumation of eclogite along the subduction channel.
Well-preserved primary contact relationships between a Late Proterozoic metasedimentary and the metagranitic core and Palaeozoic cover series of the Menderes Massif have been recognized in the eastern part of the Cine submassif on a regional-scale. Metaconglomerates occur as laterally discontinuous channel-fill bodies close the base of the metaquartzarenite directly above the basement. The pebbles in the metaconglomerates consist mainly of different types of tourmaline-rich leucocratic granitoids, tourmalinite and schist in a sandy matrix. Petrographic features, geochemical compositions and zircon radiometric ages (549.6 +/- 3.7-552.3 +/- 3.1 Ma) of the diagnostic clasts of the metaconglomerates (e.g. leucocratic granitoids and tourmalinites) show excellent agreement with their in situ equivalents (549.0 +/- 5.4 Ma) occurring in the Pan-African basement as stocks and veins.
The correlation between clasts in the metaconglomerates and granitoids of the basement suggests that the primary contact between the basement and cover series is a regional unconformity (supra-Pan-African Unconformity) representing deep erosion of the Pan-African basement followed by the deposition of the cover series. Hence the usage of 'core-cover' terminology in the Menderes Massif is valid. Consequently, these new data preclude the views that the granitic precursors of the leucocratic orthogneisses are Tertiary intrusions.
Anatolia’s high-pressure metamorphic belts are characterized in part by a Neotethyan stratigraphic succession that includes a mid-Cretaceous hemi-pelagic marble sequence. This unit contains, towards its stratigraphic top, dm-to-m-long radiating calcitic rods forming rosette-like textures. Here, we refer to these features as “Rosetta Marble”. The remarkable textural similarity of non-metamorphic selenite crystals and radiating calcite rods in the Rosetta Marble strongly suggests that these textures represent pseudomorphs after selenites. Metamorphosed hemi-pelagic limestones, dominated by Rosetta selenite pseudomorphs, are alternating with siliceous meta-sediments containing relictic radiolaria tests. This stratigraphic pattern is indicative of transient phases characterized by evaporites precipitated from basinal brines alternating with non-evaporative hemi-pelagic deposition from normal-marine seawater. The regional distribution of Rosetta Marble exposures over 600 km is indicative of basin-scale evaporitic intervals. High-pressure, low-temperature metamorphism of these rocks is witnessed by Sr-rich (up to 3500 ppm), fibrous calcite pseudomorphs after aragonite and isolated aragonite inclusions in quartz. Peak metamorphic conditions of 1.2 GPa and 300–350 °C are attested by high-Si white mica thermobarometry. The Rosetta Marble case example examines the potential to unravel the complete history from deposition to diagenesis and metamorphism of meta-sedimentary rocks.
Understanding the relationships between density and spatio-thermal variations at convergent plate boundaries is important for deciphering the present-day dynamics and evolution of subduction zones. In particular, the interaction between densification due to mineralogical phase transitions and slab pull forces is subject to ongoing investigations. We have developed a two-dimensional subduction zone model that is based on thermodynamic equilibrium assemblage calculations and includes the effects of melting processes on the density distribution in the lithosphere. Our model calculates the "metamorphic density" of rocks as a function of pressure, temperature and chemical composition in a subduction zone down to 250 km. We have used this model to show how the hydration, dehydration, partial melting and fractionation processes of rocks all influence the metamorphic density and greatly depend on the temperature field within the subduction system. These processes are largely neglected by other approaches that reproduce the density distribution within this complex tectonic setting. Our model demonstrates that the initiation of edogitization (i.e., when crustal rocks reach higher densities than the ambient mantle) of the slab is not the only significant process that makes the descending slab denser and generates the slab pull force. Instead, the densification of the lithospheric mantle of the sinking slab starts earlier than eclogitization and contributes significantly to slab pull in the early stages of subduction. Accordingly, the complex metamorphic structure of the slab and the mantle wedge has an important impact on the development of subduction zones. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Precambrian meta-pelites of the Poshtuk area in northwest Iran contain the prograde mineral assemblage staurolite-garnet-chloritoid-muscovite-biotite that was replaced by the assemblage garnet-staurolite-chlorite-muscovite-biotite at peak metamorphic condition.
Whole-rock compositions reveal that high Fe, Al and Mn contents of their protolith rendered them prone to form these assemblages. Pseudosections calculated in KFMASH, MnKFMASH, and MnNCKFMASHO systems were used to investigate the P-T evolution of the samples. They clearly show the significant effect of MnO on the stability of the chloritoid-bearing assemblages and the formation of garnet through consumption of chlorite and chloritoid. The pseudosection in a T- aH(2)O diagram shows that the studied assemblage could be stable only at a(H2O)>0.8. X-Mg isopleths for garnet and biotite point to peak P-T conditions of about 3.75 kbar and 575 degrees C. Chloritoid stability is overstepped with such conditions. This can be attributed to thermal perturbation due to plutonism. It is concluded, metamorphism was primarily controlled by advective heat from magmatic intrusions in the Poshtuk area. The Precambrian basement complexes were extensively overprinted by the Pan-African Orogeny as well as younger magmatic and metamorphic activities associated to Alpine Orogeny during convergence of Arabian and Eurasian plate.