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In continental crust, rapid melt flow through macroscopic conduits is usually envisaged as the most efficient form of melt transport. In contrast, there is growing evidence that in hot continental crust, grain‐scale to meso‐scale porous melt flow may operate over long distances and over millions of years. Here, we investigate the dynamics of such porous melt flow by means of two‐dimensional thermo‐mechanical numerical models using the code ASPECT. Our models are crustal‐scale and describe the network of pores through which the melt flows by permeability that depends on the spacing of the pores. Our results suggest that assuming realistic material properties, melt can slowly migrate in the hot and thick continental crust through pores with a characteristic spacing of 1 mm or larger. Despite its low velocity (millimeters to centimeters per year), over millions of years, such flow can create large partially molten zones in the middle‐lower crust and significantly affect its thermal state, deformation, and composition. We examined the role of the permeability, melt and solid viscosities, the slope of the melting curve and temperature conditions. We obtained contrasting styles of melt distribution, melt flow, and solid deformation, which can be categorized as melt‐enhanced convection, growth of partially molten diapirs and melt percolation in porosity waves. Our numerical experiments further indicate that grain‐scale porous flow is more likely in rocks where the melt productivity increases slowly with temperature, such as in metaigneous rocks. Plain Language Summary: Continental crust contains a significant proportion of rocks that can melt relatively easily. Geophysical methods that measure, for example, seismic velocities or electric conductivity revealed large partially molten regions in the continental crust. In addition, solidified melt pathways (veins, dykes) are often observed in rocks that were formerly in hot continental interiors. Usually, melt flow through macroscopic pathways is assumed to be the most efficient type of melt transport. However, several geological studies have shown that melt may flow through much finer (microscopic) pores, which form a network along boundaries of rock grains. The question arises, how efficient this microscopic melt flow is, and how it affects the properties of the continents. We address this issue using numerical models. According to our models, microscopic melt flow is very slow—melt moves millimeters to centimeters per year. Despite its low velocity, over millions of years, it forms large partially molten zones, significantly increases the temperature in the crust, changes its composition and softens it. The style of this process varies notably depending on the rock properties and temperature conditions. For example, in some models, kilometer‐sized melt batches move through nearly immobile rock, while in others, melt and rock both move together as a stirred mush. Key Points: Numerical thermo‐mechanical models simulate porous melt flow through hot felsic continental crustMelt can propagate through pores with the spacing of 1 mm or larger with a velocity of millimeters to centimeters per year and form large partially molten zonesStyle of melt flow and solid deformation vary between melt‐enhanced convection, diapirism, and porosity waves depending on model parameters [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mongolian Altai Zone of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt has been traditionally interpreted as a mosaic of Paleozoic magmatic arcs, back‐arcs, and Precambrian continental terranes. In order to define its architecture and its tectonic evolution, three domains previously interpreted as terranes were investigated. The findings show that the Northern and Central domains are formed by a metamorphic sequence characterized by Barrovian S1 fabric transposed by recumbent folds and dominant sub‐horizontal amphibolite facies S2 schistosity. The latter is associated with the intrusions of late Devonian syntectonic granite sheets and anatexis in the south. The Southern domain is formed by early Permian migmatites and anatectic granites separated from the metamorphic envelope by amphibolite to green‐schist facies D3 shear zone cross‐cutting S2 fabrics. All domains have been reworked by E‐W upright folds associated with axial‐planar greenschist facies cleavage, reflecting the final mid‐Permian to Triassic D4 shortening. Lithological, geochemical, and U‐Pb zircon analyses of metasediments of all domains indicate that they are formed by Ordovician mature quartzite derived from Precambrian basement intruded by Cambrian‐Ordovician continental arc and Silurian immature graywacke which originated through erosion of an oceanic arc. Altogether, the whole sequence represents a fore‐arc basin in front of a migrating arc affected by thickening and late Devonian extension. The Southern domain is interpreted as an early Permian core complex amplified by mid‐Permian to Triassic compression. The apparent "terrane" architecture of the Mongol Altai Zone originated due to Devonian and Permian heterogeneous reworking of a giant Ordovician to Silurian fore‐arc basin. Key Points: The Mongolian Altai Zone is an Ordovician to Silurian fore‐arc basin affected by Barrovian prograde metamorphismLate Devonian extension resulted in intrusion of sub‐horizontal, syntectonic granite sheets and partial melting in deep crustal levelsEarly Permian extension resulted in the formation of metamorphic core complex later amplified by regional mid‐Permian to Triassic compression [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kinematic significance and time scales of geodynamic processes forming the Altai Orogenic Belt are addressed through structural and petrological analysis combined with zircon and monazite geochronology. The study area is composed of orogenic lower crust represented by a Devonian migmatite‐magmatite complex and orogenic middle and upper crust formed by an amphibolite‐facies Ordovician sedimentary sequence and a weakly to unmetamorphosed Devonian volcano‐sedimentary cover, respectively. The orogenic lower and middle crust were first affected by moderate thickening, which formed subhorizontal Barrovian metamorphic schistosity. This fabric was reworked by deep crustal melting and intrusion of granite sheets during horizontal extension at 400–380 Ma. Soon after, this horizontal fabric was affected by NW‐SE shortening generating crustal‐scale upright folding associated with subvertical flow of still partially molten orogenic lower crust. During this event, the orogenic lower and middle crust were tightly juxtaposed with upper crustal sedimentary rocks. The last event was related with a NE‐SW oriented convergence resulting in large‐scale folding and megafold interference pattern in the Permian at 280–273 Ma. Combined with existing regional data, our results allow proposing a Devonian tectonic switching from compression to extension and back to compression, as a response to variations of subduction dynamics between slab advance and retreat in a Pacific‐type suprasubduction system. The Permian folding was associated with the progressive northward exhumation of thermally softened crust. This tectonic evolution is in response to the indentation of the rigid Junggar arc domain into the weak Altai wedge. Key Points: The Chinese Altai was affected by pre‐Devonian crustal thickening, Mid‐Devonian (400‐380 Ma) extension, and Late Devonian NW‐SE shorteningThe Devonian edifice was affected by NW‐SE zones of high‐temperature deformation and upright folding in the Permian at 280‐273 MaDevonian events reflect suprasubduction tectonic switching, while Permian folding indicates the Junggar‐Chinese Altai collision [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During continental collision, a part of the lower‐plate material can be subducted, emplaced at the base of the upper plate, and eventually incorporated into its crust. This mechanism of continental‐crust transformation is called relamination, and it has been invoked to explain occurrences of high‐pressure felsic rocks in different structural positions of several orogenic systems. In the present study we reproduced relamination during continental collision in a thermomechanical numerical model. We performed a parametric study and distinguished three main types of evolution regarding the fate of the subducted continental crust: (i) return along the plate interface in a subduction channel or wedge, (ii) flow at the bottom of the upper‐plate lithosphere and subsequent translithospheric exhumation near the arc or in the back‐arc region (“sublithospheric relamination”), and (iii) nearly horizontal flow directly into the upper‐plate crust (“intracrustal relamination”). Sublithospheric relamination is preferred for relatively quick convergence of thin continental plates. An important factor for the development of sublithospheric relamination is melting of the subducted material, which weakens the lithosphere and opens a path for the exhumation of the relaminant. In contrast, a thick and strong overriding plate typically leads to exhumation near the plate interface. If the overriding plate is too thin or weak, intracrustal relamination occurs. We show that each of these evolution types has its counterpart in nature: (i) the Alps and the Caledonides, (ii) the Himalayan‐Tibetan system and the European Variscides, and (iii) pre‐Cambrian ultrahot orogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic accretionary processes of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt have been evaluated so far mainly using the geology of ophiolites and/or magmatic arcs. Thus, the knowledge of the nature and evolution of associated sedimentary prisms remains fragmentary. We carried out an integrated geological, geochemical, and zircon U-Pb geochronological study on a giant Ordovician metasedimentary succession of the Mongolian Altai Mountains. This succession is characterized by dominant terrigenous components mixed with volcanogenic material. It is chemically immature, compositionally analogous to graywacke, and marked by significant input of felsic to intermediate arc components, pointing to an active continental margin depositional setting. Detrital zircon U-Pb ages suggest a source dominated by products of early Paleozoic magmatism prevailing during the Cambrian-Ordovician and culminating at circa 500 Ma. We propose that the Ordovician succession forms an 'Altai sedimentary wedge,' the evolution of which can be linked to the geodynamics of the margins of the Mongolian Precambrian Zavhan-Baydrag blocks. This involved subduction reversal from southward subduction of a passive continental margin (Early Cambrian) to the development of the 'Ikh-Mongol Magmatic Arc System' and the giant Altai sedimentary wedge above a north dipping subduction zone (Late Cambrian-Ordovician). Such a dynamic process resembles the tectonic evolution of the peri-Pacific accretionary Terra Australis Orogen. A new model reconciling the Baikalian metamorphic belt along the southern Siberian Craton with peri-Pacific Altai accretionary systems fringing the Mongolian microcontinents is proposed to explain the Cambro-Ordovician geodynamic evolution of the Mongolian collage system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subduction and exhumation dynamics can be investigated through analysis of metamorphic and deformational evolution of associated high-grade rocks. The Erzgebirge anticline, which forms at the boundary between the Saxothuringian and Teplá-Barrandian domains of the Bohemian Massif, provides a useful study area for these processes owing to the occurrence of numerous meta-basites preserving eclogite facies assemblages, and coesite and diamond bearing quartzofeldspathic lithologies indicating subduction to deep mantle depths. The prograde and retrograde evolution of meta-basite from the Czech portion of the Erzgebirge anticline has been constrained through a combination of thermodynamic modelling and conventional thermobarometry. Garnet growth zoning indicates that the rocks underwent burial and heating to peak conditions of 2.6 GPa and at least 615 °C. Initial exhumation occurred with concurrent cooling and decompression resulting in the growth of amphibole and zoisite poikiloblasts overgrowing and including the eclogite facies assemblage. The development of clinopyroxene-plagioclase-amphibole symplectites after omphacite and Al-rich rims on matrix amphibole indicate later heating at the base of the lower crust. Omphacite microstructures, in particular grain size analysis and lattice-preferred orientations, indicate that the prograde evolution was characterized by a constrictional strain geometry transitioning into plane strain and oblate fabrics during exhumation. The initial constrictional strain pattern is interpreted as being controlled by competing slab pull and crustal buoyancy forces leading to necking of the subducting slab. The transition to plane strain and flattening geometries represents transfer of material from the subducting lithosphere into a subduction channel, break-off of the dense slab and rebound of the buoyant crustal material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rift-related regional metamorphism of passive margins is usually difficult to observe on the surface, mainly due to its strong metamorphic overprint during the subsequent orogenic processes that cause its exposure. However, recognition of such a pre-orogenic evolution is achievable by careful characterization of the polyphase tectono-metamorphic record of the orogenic upper plate. A multidisciplinary approach, involving metamorphic petrology, P-T modelling, structural geology and in situ U-Pb monazite geochronology using laser-ablation split-stream inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, was applied to unravel the polyphase tectono-metamorphic record of metapelites at the western margin of the Teplá-Barrandian domain in the Bohemian Massif. The study resulted in discovery of three tectono-metamorphic events. The oldest event M1 is L P- H T regional metamorphism with a geothermal gradient between 30 and 50 °C km−1, peak temperatures up to 650 °C and of Cambro-Ordovician age ( c. 485 Ma). The M1 event was followed by M2-D2, which is characterized by a Barrovian sequence of minerals from biotite to kyanite and a geothermal gradient of 20-25 °C km−1. D2-M2 is associated with a vertical fabric S2 and was dated as Devonian ( c. 375 Ma). Finally, the vertical fabric S2 was overprinted by a D3-M3 event that formed sillimanite to chlorite bearing gently inclined fabric S3 also of Devonian age. The high geothermal gradient of the M1 event can be explained as the result of an extensional, rift-related tectonic setting. In addition, restoration of the deep architecture and polarity of the extended domain before the Devonian history - together with the supracrustal sedimentary and magmatic record - lead us to propose a model for formation of an Ordovician passive continental margin. The subsequent Devonian evolution is interpreted as horizontal shortening of the passive margin at the beginning of Variscan convergence, followed by detachment-accommodated exhumation of lower-crustal rocks. Both Devonian shortening and detachment occurred in the upper plate of a Devonian subduction zone. The tectonic evolution presented in this article modifies previous models of the tectonic history of the western margin of the Teplá-Barrandian domain, and also put constraints on the evolution of the southern margin of the Rheic ocean from the passive margin formation to the early phases of Variscan orogeny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New petrographic and microstructural observations, mineral equilibria modelling and U/Pb (monazite) geochronological studies were carried out to investigate the relationships between deformation and metamorphism across the Rehamna massif (Moroccan Variscan belt). In this area, typical Barrovian (muscovite to staurolite) zones developed in Cambrian to Carboniferous metasedimentary rocks that are distributed around a dome-like structure. First assemblages are characterized by the presence of locally preserved andalusite, followed by prograde evolution culminating at 6 kbar and 620 °C in the structurally deepest staurolite zone rocks. This Barrovian sequence was subsequently uplifted to supracrustal levels, heterogeneously reworked at greenschist facies conditions, which was followed locally by static growth of andalusite, indicating heating to 2.5-4 kbar and 530-570 °C. The 206Pb/238U monazite age of 298.3 ± 4.1 Ma is interpreted as minimum age of peak metamorphic conditions, whereas the ages of 275.8 ± 1.7 Ma and 277.0 ± 1.1 Ma date decompression and heating at low pressure, in agreement with previous dating of Permian granitoids intruding the Rehamna massif. The prograde metamorphism occurred during thickening and associated horizontal flow in the deeper crust (S1 horizontal schistosity). The horizontally disposed metamorphic zones were subsequently uplifted by a regional scale antiform during ongoing N-S compression. The re-heating of the massif follows late massive E-W shortening, refolding and retrograde shearing of all previous fabrics coevally with regionally important intrusions of Permian granitoids. We argue that metamorphic evolution of the Rehamna massif occurred several hundred kilometres from the convergent plate boundaries in the interior of continental Gondwanan plate. The tectonometamorphic history of the Rehamna massif is put into Palaeozoic plate tectonic perspective and Late Carboniferous reactivation of (Devonian)-Early Carboniferous basins formed during stretching of the north Gondwana margin and formation of the Palaeotethys Ocean. The inherited heat budget of these magma-rich basins plays a role in the preferential location of this intracontinental orogen. It is shown that rapid transition from lithospheric stretching to compression is characterized by specific HT type of Barrovian metamorphism, which markedly differs from similar Barrovian sequences along Palaeozoic plate boundaries reported from Variscan Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Granitoid magmatism and its role in differentiation and stabilization of the Paleozoic accretionary wedge in the Chinese Altai are evaluated in this study. Voluminous Silurian-Devonian granitoids intruded a greywacke-dominated Ordovician sedimentary succession (the Habahe Group) of the accretionary wedge. The close temporal and spatial relationship between the regional anatexis and the formation of granitoids, as well as their geochemical similarities including rather unevolved Nd isotopic signatures and the strong enrichment of large-ion lithophile elements relative to many of the high field strength elements, may indicate that the granitoids are product of partial melting of the accretionary wedge rocks. Whole-rock geochemistry and pseudosection modeling show that regional anatexis of fertile sediments could have produced a large amount of melts compositionally similar to the granitoids. Such process could have left a high-density garnet- and/or garnet-pyroxene granulite residue in the deep crust, which can be the major reason for the gravity high over the Chinese Altai. Our results show that melting and crustal differentiation can transform accretionary wedge sediments into vertically stratified and stable continental crust. This may be a key mechanism contributing to the peripheral continental growth worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Variscan orogeny can be compared to the Tibetan-Himalayan system for three main reasons: (1) The Variscan belt originated through progressive amalgamation of Gondwanan blocks that were subsequently squeezed between the Laurussia and Gondwana continents. Similarly, the Tibetan-Himalayan orogen results from amalgamated Gondwanan blocks squeezed between Asia and India. (2) The duration of the collisional period and the scale of the two orogens are comparable. (3) In both cases the collisional process resulted in formation of a thick crustal root and long lasting high-pressure granulite facies metamorphism. Recent petrological data allow a more detailed comparison pointing to similarities also in the midcrustal re-equilibration of the granulites and their association with specific (ultra)potassic magmatic rocks. In both orogens, the origin of the granulites was attributed to relamination and thermal maturation of lower crustal allochthon below upper plate crust. Subsequent evolution was explained by midcrustal flow eventually leading to extrusion of the high-grade rocks. We propose that the lower and middle crustal processes in hot orogens are connected by gravity overturns. Such laterally forced gravity-driven exchanges of material in the orogenic root were already documented in the Variscides, but the recent data from Tibet and Himalaya show that this process may have occurred also elsewhere. Using numerical models, we demonstrate that the exchange of the lower and middle crust can be efficient even for a minor density inversion and various characteristics of the crustal layers. The modeled pressure-temperature paths are compatible with two-stage metamorphism documented in Tibet and Himalaya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The Chandman massif, a typical structure of the Mongolian Altai, consists of a migmatite-magmatite core rimmed by a lower grade metamorphic envelope of andalusite and cordierite-bearing schists. The oldest structure in the migmatite-magmatite core is a subhorizontal migmatitic foliation S1 parallel to rare granitoid sills. This fabric is folded by upright folds F2 and transposed into a vertical migmatitic foliation S2 that is syn-tectonic, with up to several tens of metres thick granitoid sills. Sillimanite-ilmenite-magnetite S1 inclusion trails in garnet constrain the depth of equilibration during the S1 fabric to 6-7 kbar at 710-780 °C. Reorientation of sillimanite into the S2 fabric indicates that the S1-S2 fabric transition occurred in the sillimanite stability field. The presence of cordierite, and garnet rim chemistry point to decompression to 3-4 kbar and 680-750 °C during development of the S2 steep fabric, and post-tectonic andalusite indicates further decompression to 2-3 kbar and 600-650 °C. Widespread crystallization of post-tectonic muscovite is explained by the release of H2O from crystallizing partial melt. In the metamorphic envelope the subhorizontal metamorphic schistosity S1 is heterogeneously affected by upright F2 folds and axial planar subvertical cleavage S2. In the north, the inclusion trails in garnet are parallel to the S1 foliation, and the garnet zoning indicates nearly isobaric heating from 2.5 to 3 kbar and 500-530 °C. Cordierite contains crenulated S1 inclusion trails and has pressure shadows related to the formation of the S2 fabric. The switch from the S1 to the S2 foliation occurred near 2.5-3 kbar and 530-570 °C; replacement of cordierite by fine-grained muscovite and chlorite indicates further retrogression and cooling. In the south, andalusite containing crenulated inclusion trails of ilmenite and magnetite indicates heating during the D2 deformation at 3-4 kbar and 540-620 °C. Monazite from a migmatite analysed by LASS yielded elevated HREE concentrations. The grain with the best-developed oscillatory zoning is 356 ± 1.0 [±7] Ma (207Pb-corrected 238U/206Pb), considered to date the crystallization from melt in the cordierite stability ~680 °C and 3.5 kbar, whereas the patchy BSE-dark domains give a date of 347 ± 4.2 [±7] Ma interpreted as recrystallization at subsolidus conditions. The earliest sub-horizontal fabric is associated with the onset of magmatism and peak of P-T conditions in the deep crust, indicating important heat input associated with lower crustal horizontal flow. The paroxysmal metamorphic conditions are connected with collapse of the metamorphic structure, an extrusion of the hot lower crustal rocks associated with vertical magma transfer and a juxtaposition of the hot magmatite-migmatite core with supracrustal rocks. This study provides information about tectono-thermal history and time-scales of horizontal flow and vertical mass and heat transfer in the Altai orogen. It is shown that, similar to collisional orogens, doming of partially molten rocks assisted by syn-orogenic magmatism can be responsible for the exhumation of orogenic lower crust in accretionary orogenic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural, petrological and textural studies are combined with phase equilibria modelling of metapelites from different structural levels of the Roc de Frausa Massif in the Eastern Pyrenees. The pre-Variscan lithological succession is divided into the Upper, Intermediate and Lower series by two orthogneiss sheets and intruded by Variscan igneous rocks. Structural analysis reveals two phases of Variscan deformation. D1 is marked by tight to isoclinal small-scale folds and an associated flat-lying foliation (S1) that affects the whole crustal section. D2 structures are characterized by tight upright folds facing to the NW with steep NE- SW axial planes. D2 heterogeneously reworks the D1 fabrics, leading to an almost complete transposition into a sub-vertical foliation (S2) in the high-grade metamorphic domain. All structures are affected by late open to tight, steeply inclined south-verging NW- SE folds (F3) compatible with steep greenschist facies dextral shear zones of probable Alpine age. In the micaschists of the Upper series, andalusite and sillimanite grew during the formation of the S1 foliation indicating heating from 580 to 640 °C associated with an increase in pressure. Subsequent static growth of cordierite points to post-D1 decompression. In the Intermediate series, a sillimanite-biotite-muscovite-bearing assemblage that is parallel to the S1 fabric is statically overgrown by cordierite and K-feldspar. This sequence points to ~1 kbar of post-D1 decompression at 630-650 °C. The Intermediate series is intruded by a gabbro-diorite stock that has an aureole marked by widespread migmatization. In the aureole, the migmatitic S1 foliation is defined by the assemblage biotite-sillimanite-K-feldspar-garnet. The microstructural relationships and garnet zoning are compatible with the D1 pressure peak at ~7.5 kbar and ~750 °C. Late- to post-S2 cordierite growth implies that F2 folds and the associated S2 axial planar leucosomes developed during nearly isothermal decompression to <5 kbar. The Lower series migmatites form a composite S1-S2 fabric; the garnet-bearing assemblage suggests peak P-T conditions of >5 kbar at suprasolidus conditions. Almost complete consumption of garnet and late cordierite growth points to post-D2 equilibration at <4 kbar and <750 °C. The early metamorphic history associated with the S1 fabric is interpreted as a result of horizontal middle crustal flow associated with progressive heating and possible burial. The upright F2 folding and S2 foliation are associated with a pressure decrease coeval with the intrusion of mafic magma at mid-crustal levels. The D2 tectono-metamorphic evolution may be explained by a crustal-scale doming associated with emplacement of mafic magmas into the core of the dome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ordovician metasedimentary rocks are the oldest and most extensive sedimentary sequence in the Chinese Altai. They experienced two major episodes of deformation (D1 and D2) resulting in the formation of juxtaposed Barrovian-type and migmatite domains. D1 is characterized by a penetrative sub-horizontal fabric (S1), and D2 is marked by upright folds (F2) with NW- SE-trending axial planes in shallow crustal levels and by sub-vertical transposition foliations (S2) in the high-grade cores of large-scale F2 antiforms. In the Barrovian-type domain, successive growth of biotite, garnet and staurolite is observed in the S1 fabric. Kyanite included in garnet and plagioclase in the migmatite domain is interpreted to have formed also in S1. In the biotite and garnet zones, the spaced S2 cleavage is marked by biotite and muscovite, and in the staurolite and kyanite zones, the penetrative S2 fabric is characterized by sillimanite, locally with late cordierite. Phase equilibria modelling indicates that the S1 fabric was associated with an increase in pressure and temperature under Barrovian-type conditions in both domains. The S2 fabric was related to decompression, in which rocks in the biotite and garnet zones well preserve the peak assemblage, and the higher grade rocks in the staurolite and kyanite zones re-equilibrated to different degrees under high-temperature/low-pressure ( H T/ L P) conditions. The D1 metamorphic history is attributed to the progressive burial related to Early-Middle Palaeozoic crustal thickening and the metamorphism associated with D2 is interpreted to result from exhumation by vertical extrusion. The extrusion of hot rocks was contemporaneous with the formation of gneiss domes accompanied by the intrusion of juvenile magmas at middle crustal levels during the Middle Palaeozoic. Consequently, there is a genetic link between the Barrovian-type and migmatite domains related to continuous transition of the Barrovian-type fabric into the H T/ L P one during development of domal structures in the southern Altai orogenic belt. This study has a broad impact on the understanding of the thermo-mechanical behaviour of accretionary orogenic systems worldwide. The lower crustal flow and doming of hot crust, so far reported only in continental collisional settings, seems to be also an integral mechanism responsible for both horizontal and vertical redistribution of accreted material prior to continental collision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A section of the orogenic middle crust (Orlica-Śnieżnik Dome, Polish/Czech Central Sudetes) was examined to constrain the duration and significance of deformation (D) and intertectonic (I) phases. In the studied metasedimentary synform, three deformation events produced an initial subhorizontal foliation S1 (D1), a subsequent subvertical foliation S2 (D2) and a late subhorizontal axial planar cleavage S3 (D3). The synform was intruded by pre-, syn- and post-D2 granitoid sheets. Crystallization-deformation relationships in mica schist samples document I1-2 garnet-staurolite growth, syn-D2 staurolite breakdown to garnet-biotite-sillimanite/andalusite, I2-3 cordierite blastesis and late-D3 chlorite growth. Garnet porphyroblasts show a linear Mn-Ca decrease from the core to the inner rim, a zone of alternating Ca-Y- and P-rich annuli in the inner rim, and a Ca-poor outer rim. The Ca-Y-rich annuli probably reflect the occurrence of the allanite-to-monazite transition at conditions of the staurolite isograd, whereas the Ca-poor outer rim is ascribed to staurolite demise. The reconstructed P- T path, obtained by modelling the stability of parageneses and garnet zoning, documents near-isobaric heating from ~4 kbar/485 °C to ~4.75 kbar/575 °C during I1-2. This was followed by a progression to 4-5 kbar/580-625 °C and a subsequent pressure decrease to 3-4 kbar during D2. Pressure decrease below 3 kbar is ascribed to I2-3, whereas cooling below ~500 °C occurred during D3. In the dated mica schist sample, garnet rims show strong Lu enrichment, oscillatory Lu zoning and a slight Ca increase. These features are also related to allanite breakdown coeval with staurolite appearance. As Lu-rich garnet rims dominate the Lu-Hf budget, the 344 ± 3 Ma isochron age is ascribed to garnet crystallization at staurolite grade, near the end of I1-2. For the dated sample of amphibole-biotite granitoid sheet, a Pb-Pb single zircon evaporation age of 353 ± 1 Ma is related to the onset of plutonic activity. The results suggest a possible Devonian age for D1, and a Carboniferous burial-exhumation cycle in mid-crustal rocks that is broadly coeval with the exhumation of neighbouring HP rocks during D2. In the light of published ages, a succession of telescoping stages with time spans decreasing from c. 10 to 2-3 Ma is proposed. The initially long period of tectonic quiescence (I1-2 phase, c. 10 Ma) inferred in the middle crust contrasts with contemporaneous deformation at deeper levels and points to decoupled P- T- D histories within the orogenic wedge. An elevated gradient of ~30 °C km−1 and assumed high heating rates of c. 20 °C Ma−1 are explained by the protracted intrusion of granitoid sheets, with or without deformation, whereas fast vertical movements (2-3 Ma, D2 phase) in the crust require the activity of deformation phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We combine structural observations, petrological data and 40Ar-39Ar ages for a stack of amphibolite facies metasedimentary units that rims high- P ( HP) granulite facies felsic bodies exposed in the southern Bohemian Massif. The partly migmatitic Varied and Monotonous units, and the underlying Kaplice unit, show a continuity of structures that are also observed in the adjacent Blanský les HP granulite body. They all exhibit an earlier NE− SW striking and steeply NW-dipping foliation (S3), which is transposed into a moderately NW-dipping foliation (S4). In both the Varied and Monotonous units, the S3 and S4 foliations are characterized by a Sil-Bt-Pl-Kfs-Qtz-Ilm±Grt assemblage, with occurrences of post-D4 andalusite, cordierite and muscovite. In the Monotonous unit, minute inclusions of garnet, kyanite, sillimanite and biotite are additionally found in plagioclase from a probable leucosome parallel to S3. The Kaplice unit shows rare staurolite and kyanite relicts, a Sil-Ms-Bt-Pl-Qtz±Grt assemblage associated with S3, retrogressed garnet−staurolite aggregates during the development of S4, and post-D4 andalusite, cordierite and secondary muscovite. Mineral equilibria modelling for representative samples indicates that the Varied unit records conditions higher than ~7 kbar at 725 °C during the transition from S3 to S4, followed by a P−T decrease from ~5.5 kbar/750 °C to ~4.5 kbar/700 °C. The Monotonous unit shows evidence of partial melting in the S3 fabric at P−T above ~8 kbar at 740-830 °C and a subsequent P−T decrease to 4.5-5 kbar/700 °C. The Kaplice unit preserves an initial medium- P prograde path associated with the development of S3 reaching peak P−T of ~6.5 kbar/640 °C. The subsequent retrograde path records 4.5 kbar/660 °C during the development of S4. 40Ar-39Ar geochronology shows that amphibole and biotite ages cluster at c. 340 Ma close to the HP granulite, whereas adjacent metasedimentary rocks preserve c. 340 Ma amphibole ages, but biotite and muscovite ages range between c. 318 and c. 300 Ma. The P− T conditions associated with S3 imply an overturned section of the orogenic middle crust. The shared structural evolution indicates that all mid-crustal units are involved in the large-scale folding cored by HP granulites. The retrograde P- T paths associated with S4 are interpreted as a result of a ductile thinning of the orogenic crust at a mid-crustal level. The 40Ar-39Ar ages overlap with U-Pb zircon ages in and around the HP granulite bodies, suggesting a short duration for the ductile thinning event. The post-ductile thinning late-orogenic emplacement of the South Bohemian plutonic complex is responsible for a re-heating of the stacked units, reopening of argon system in mica and a tilting of the S4 foliation to its present-day orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continental core complexes are generally interpreted to result from extensional doming due to gravity-driven upflow of lower crust. In contrast, the Vepor Dome is characterized by the lack of inverted density profile and relatively cold metamorphic field gradient which precludes an activation of Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Instead, the crustal structure of the Vepor Unit is marked by dense and weak metapelitic lower crust and light and strong granitoid upper crust inherited from Variscan nappe stacking. It is shown that the Cretaceous Eo-Alpine tectonic evolution of the Vepor Dome is controlled by the dynamics of two neighboring mechanically strong continental blocks, i.e., the overthrusting of the suprastructural Gemer Unit from the south and the underthrusting of the Fatric basement from the north. Structural, metamorphic and geochronological data from the Vepor Unit imply two main phases of the convergent process: (1) Lower Cretaceous crustal thickening due to overthrusting and internal deformation of the Gemer Unit together with upper crustal folding in the Vepor Unit led to the progressive development of the orogenic front parallel pressure gradient. The instantaneous response of the lower crustal and low-viscosity metapelites led to an along-strike lower crustal flow accompanied by prograde Barrovian-type metamorphism. (2) As the south vergent underthrusting of the Fatric basement propagated to greater depths during the Upper Cretaceous, the convergent process switched from top driven to bottom driven, and the exhumation of the lower crust occurred via polyharmonic folding. Overall doming of the Vepor Unit induced upper crustal detachment faulting and eastward unroofing of the dome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A microstructural and metamorphic study of a naturally deformed medium- to high-pressure granitic orthogneiss (Orlica-Śnieżnik dome, Bohemian Massif) provides evidence of behaviour of the felsic crust during progressive burial along a subduction-type apparent thermal gradient (∼10 °C km−1). The granitic orthogneisses develops three distinct microstructural types, as follows: type I - augen orthogneiss, type II - banded orthogneiss and type III - mylonitic orthogneiss, each representing an evolutionary stage of a progressively deformed granite. Type I orthogneiss is composed of partially recrystallized K-feldspar porphyroclasts surrounded by wide fronts of myrmekite, fully recrystallized quartz aggregates and interconnected monomineralic layers of recrystallized plagioclase. Compositional layering in the type II orthogneiss is defined by plagioclase- and K-feldspar-rich layers, both of which show an increasing proportion of interstitial minerals, as well as the deformation of recrystallized myrmekite fronts. Type III orthogneiss shows relicts of quartz and K-feldspar ribbons preserved in a fine-grained polymineralic matrix. All three types have the same assemblage (quartz + plagioclase + K-feldspar + muscovite + biotite + garnet + sphene ± ilmenite), but show systematic variations in the composition of muscovite and garnet from types I to III. This is consistent with the equilibration of the three types at different positions along a prograde P−T path ranging from <15 kbar and <700 °C (type I orthogneiss) to 19-20 kbar and >700 °C (types II and III orthogneisses). The deformation types thus do not represent evolutionary stages of a highly partitioned deformation at constant P−T conditions, but reflect progressive formation during the burial of the continental crust. The microstructures of the type I and type II orthogneisses result from the dislocation creep of quartz and K-feldspar whereas a grain boundary sliding-dominated diffusion creep regime is the characteristic of the type III orthogneiss. Strain weakening related to the transition from type I to type II microstructures was enhanced by the recrystallization of wide myrmekite fronts, and plagioclase and quartz, and further weakening and strain localization in type III orthogneiss occurred via grain boundary sliding-enhanced diffusion creep. The potential role of incipient melting in strain localization is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Garnet (10 vol.%; pyrope contents 34-44 mol.%) hosted in quartzofeldspathic rocks within a large vertical shear zone of south Madagascar shows a strong grain-size reduction (from a few cm to ∼300 μm). Electron back-scattered diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscope imaging coupled with quantitative analysis of digitized images (PolyLX software) have been used in order to understand the deformation mechanisms associated with this grain-size evolution. The garnet grain-size reduction trend has been summarized in a typological evolution (from Type I to Type IV). Type I, the original porphyroblasts, form cm-sized elongated grains that crystallized upon multiple nucleation and coalescence following biotite breakdown: biotite + sillimanite + quartz = garnet + alkali feldspar + rutile + melt. These large garnet grains contain quartz ribbons and sillimanite inclusions. Type I garnet is sheared along preferential planes (sillimanite layers, quartz ribbons and/or suitably oriented garnet crystallographic planes) producing highly elongated Type II garnet grains marked by a single crystallographic orientation. Further deformation leads to the development of a crystallographic misorientation, subgrains and new grains resulting in Type III garnet. Associated grain-size reduction occurs via subgrain rotation recrystallization accompanied by fast diffusion-assisted dislocation glide. This plastic deformation of garnet is associated with efficient recovery as shown by the very low dislocation densities (1010 m−3 or lower). The rounded Type III garnet experiences rigid body rotation in fine-grained matrix. In the highly deformed samples, the deformation mechanisms in garnet are grain-size- and shape-dependent: dislocation creep is dominant for the few large grains left (>1 mm; Type II garnet), rigid body rotation is typical for the smaller rounded grains (300 μm or less; Type III garnet) whereas diffusion creep may affect more elliptic garnet (Type IV garnet). The P-T conditions of garnet plasticity in the continental crust (≥950 °C; 11 kbar) have been identified using two-feldspar thermometry and GASP conventional barometry. The garnet microstructural and deformation mechanisms evolution, coupled with grain-size decrease in a fine-grained steady-state microstructure of quartz, alkali feldspar and plagioclase, suggests a separate mechanical evolution of garnet with respect to felsic minerals within the shear zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eclogite, felsic orthogneiss and garnet-staurolite metapelite occur in a 5 km long profile in the area of Międzygórze in the Orlica-Śnieżnik dome (Bohemian Massif). Petrographic observations and mineral equilibria modelling, in the context of detailed structural work, are used to document the close juxtaposition of high-pressure and medium-pressure rocks. The structural succession in all lithologies shows an early shallow-dipping fabric, S1, that is folded by upright folds and overprinted by a heterogeneously developed subvertical foliation, S2. Late recumbent folds associated with a weak shallow-dipping axial-plane cleavage, S3, occur locally. The S1 fabric in the eclogite is defined by alternation of garnet-rich (grs = 22-29 mol.%) and omphacite-rich (jd = 33-36 mol.%) layers with oriented muscovite (Si = 3.26-3.31 p.f.u.) and accessory kyanite, zoisite, rutile and quartz, indicating conditions of ∼19-22 kbar and ∼700-750 °C. The assemblage in the retrograde S2 fabric is formed by amphibole, plagioclase, biotite and relict rutile surrounded by ilmenite and sphene that is compatible with decompression and cooling from ∼9 kbar and ∼730 °C to 5-6 kbar and 600-650 °C. The S3 fabric contains in addition domains with albite, chlorite, K-feldspar and magnetite indicating cooling to greenschist facies conditions. The metapelites are composed of garnet, staurolite, muscovite, biotite, quartz, ilmenite and chlorite. Chemical zoning of garnet cores that contain straight ilmenite and staurolite inclusion trails oriented perpendicular to the external S2 fabric indicates prograde growth, from ∼5 kbar and ∼520 °C to ∼7 kbar and ∼610 °C, during the formation of the S1 fabric. Inclusion trails parallel with the S2 fabric at garnet and staurolite rims are interpreted to be a continuation of the prograde path to ∼7.5 and ∼630 °C in the S2 fabric. Matrix chlorite parallel to the S2 foliation indicates that the subvertical fabric was still active below 550 °C. The axial planar S2 fabrics developed during upright folding are associated with retrogression of the eclogite under amphibolite facies conditions, and with prograde evolution in the metapelites, associated with their juxtaposition. The shared part of the eclogite and metapelite P- T paths during the development of the subvertical fabric reflects their exhumation together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contribution of lateral forces, vertical load, gravity redistribution and erosion to the origin of mantled gneiss domes in internal zones of orogens remains debated. In the Orlica−Śnieżnik dome (Moldanubian zone, European Variscan belt), the polyphase tectono-metamorphic history is initially characterized by the development of subhorizontal fabrics associated with medium- to high-grade metamorphic conditions in different levels of the crust. It reflects the eastward influx of a Saxothuringian-type passive margin sequence below a Teplá-Barrandian upper plate. The ongoing influx of continental crust creates a thick felsic orogenic root with HP rocks and migmatitic orthogneiss. The orogenic wedge is subsequently indented by the eastern Brunia microcontinent producing a multiscale folding of the orogenic infrastructure. The resulting kilometre-scale folding is associated with the variable burial of the middle crust in synforms and the exhumation of the lower crust in antiforms. These localized vertical exchanges of material and heat are coeval with a larger crustal-scale folding of the whole infrastructure generating a general uplift of the dome. It is exemplified by increasing metamorphic conditions and younging of 40Ar/39Ar cooling ages toward the extruded migmatitic subdomes cored by HP rocks. The vertical growth of the dome induces exhumation by pure shear-dominated ductile thinning laterally evolving to non-coaxial detachment faulting, while erosion feeds the surrounding sedimentary basins. Modeling of the Bouguer anomaly grid is compatible with crustal-scale mass transfers between a dense superstructure and a lighter infrastructure. The model implies that the Moldanubian Orlica−Śnieżnik mantled gneiss dome derives from polyphase recycling of Saxothuringian material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a Barrovian metamorphic sequence, garnetiferous mica schists document a heterogeneously developed superposition of sub-orthogonal fabrics and multiple garnet growth episodes. In the variably deformed domains, four types of garnet porphyroblasts have been defined based on inclusion trail patterns. Modelled garnet zoning in the MnNCKFMASHTO system indicates a prograde evolution from 4-4.5 kbar and 490-510 °C to 5-6 kbar and 520-550 °C in the earliest subhorizontal fabric progressing towards 6.5-7.5 kbar and 560-590 °C in the subsequent subvertical foliation. This fabric is heterogeneously deformed into a shallow-dipping retrograde foliation associated with garnet resorption. In situ electron backscatter diffraction measurements of ilmenite inclusions in individual garnet grains yield precise data on included planar and linear elements. Consistent orientations of internal foliations, lineations and foliation intersection axis sets indicate a superposition of three sub-orthogonal foliation systems. Weak variations of internal records with increasing intensity of deformation suggest that a moderate buckling stage occurred, but apparent lack of porphyroblast rotation is interpreted as a result of dominant passive flow. Coupling the orientation of internal fabric sets with P-T estimates is used to complement the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the thickened crust. We demonstrate that garnet porphyroblasts preserve features which reflect large-scale tectonic processes in orogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Orlica-Śnieżnik Dome (NE Bohemian massif), alternating belts of orthogneiss with high-pressure rocks and belts of mid-crustal metasedimentary-metavolcanic rocks commonly display a dominant subvertical fabric deformed into a subhorizontal foliation. The first macroscopic foliation is subvertical, strikes NE-SW and is heterogeneously folded by open to isoclinal folds with subhorizontal axial planes parallel to the heterogeneously developed flat-lying foliation. The metamorphic evolution of the mid-crustal metasedimentary rocks involved successive crystallization of chlorite-muscovite-ilmenite-plagioclase-garnet, followed by staurolite-bearing and then kyanite-bearing assemblages in the subvertical fabric. This was followed by garnet retrogression, with syntectonic crystallization of sillimanite and andalusite parallel to the shallow-dipping foliation. Elsewhere, andalusite and cordierite statically overgrew the flat-lying fabric. With reference to a P-T pseudosection for a representative sample, the prograde succession of mineral assemblages and the garnet zoning pattern with decreasing grossular, spessartine and X are compatible with a P- T path from 3.5-5 kbar/490-520 °C to peak conditions of 6-7 kbar/∼630 °C suggesting burial from 12 to 25 km with increasing temperature. Using the same pseudosection, the retrograde succession of minerals shows decompression to sillimanite stability at ∼4 kbar/∼630 °C and to andalusite-cordierite stability at 2-3 kbar indicating exhumation from 25 km to around 9-12 km. Subsequent exhumation to ∼6 km occurred without apparent formation of a deformation fabric. The structure and petrology together with the spatial distribution of the metasedimentary-metavolcanic rocks, and gneissic and high-pressure belts are compatible with a model of burial of limited parts of the upper and middle crust in narrow cusp-like synclines, synchronous with the exhumation of orogenic lower crust represented by the gneissic and high-pressure rocks in lobe-shaped and volumetrically more important anticlines. Converging P- T- D paths for the metasedimentary rocks and the adjacent high-pressure rocks are due to vertical exchanges between cold and hot vertically moving masses. Finally, the retrograde shallow-dipping fabric affects both the metasedimentary-metavolcanic rocks and the gneissic and high-pressure rocks, and indicates that the ∼15-km exhumation was mostly accommodated by heterogeneous ductile thinning associated with unroofing of a buoyant crustal root. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study answers the question of origin and evolution of a granulitic microstructure typically developed in felsic granulites of the European Variscan belt. It shows that the precursor of the Variscan felsic granulites was a high-pressure alkali feldspar-rich coarse-grained layered orthogneiss. Its S1 subhorizontal layering is defined by the alignment of alkali feldspar porphyroclasts alternating with monomineralic bands of quartz and bands rich in plagioclase and garnet. The alkali feldspar porphyroclasts contain inclusions of quartz, garnet, kyanite, biotite and rutile, reflecting peak P-T conditions of 1.6-1.8 GPa and 850 °C during S1 formation. Superimposed steep folds and steep cleavage, S2, are associated with recrystallization of alkali feldspar, plagioclase and quartz, and garnet chemistry modifications that correspond to 0.9-1.0 GPa and 800 °C. During exhumation, involving 0.8 GPa decompression and cooling, the probably perthitic alkali feldspar underwent an unusual process of heterogeneous decomposition along irregular reaction fronts forming a fine-grained matrix composed of plagioclase and K-feldspar grains. Regular grain distributions in the matrix, nucleation-dominated crystal size distribution and preservation of lattice orientation of the parental perthite crystals are all explained by a discontinuous precipitation process. This heterogeneous decomposition of alkali feldspar solid solution is controlled by chemically and strain induced grain-boundary migration. During exhumation and decompression, the fine-grained matrix underwent viscous deformation, forming the typical microstructure of the Variscan granulites. Random phase distributions, minor coarsening and feldspar textures are interpreted as a result of strain softening due to diffusion creep-accommodated grain-boundary sliding. Subordinate large quartz ribbons were rheologically stronger than the feldspar-dominated matrix due to the activity of different deformational mechanisms. Finally, in mid-crustal levels, the subvertical structure was overprinted by a perpendicular steep fabric associated with the growth of sillimanite, heterogeneous hydration and local partial melting, development of aggregate phase distributions and significant coarsening. This evolution is accompanied with the development of a strong lattice preferred orientation of quartz, K-feldspar and plagioclase, reflecting a switch to dislocation creep mechanism and a general hardening of the granulites under amphibolite facies conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure of the Moldanubian domain is marked by felsic granulites of Ordovician protolith age forming the cores of domes that are separated from mid-crustal Neoproterozoic and Palaeozoic metasedimentary rocks that occur in synclines by a late Ordovician to Silurian metabasic unit. Reflection and refraction seismic sections combined with gravity inversion modelling suggest the presence of a low density layer at the bottom of the crust (interpreted as felsic granulite) overlain by a denser layer (interpreted as amphibolite) with layers of intermediate density at the top (interpreted as metasedimentary rocks). It is proposed that the granulite domes surrounded by middle crustal rocks reflect transposed horizontal layering originally similar to that preserved in the deep crust and imaged by the geophysical surveys. This geological and geophysical structure is considered to be a result of Viséan gravity redistribution initiated by radioactive heating of felsic crust tectonically emplaced at the bottom of a Palaeozoic orogenic root. The radioactive layer with heat production of 4 μW m corresponds geochemically and isotopically to Ordovician felsic metaigneous rocks of the Saxothuringian domain that have been emplaced at Moho depth under thickened crust during late Devonian-early Carboniferous continental subduction. Part of the continental crust continued to be subducted and produced fluids/low-volume melts which directly contaminated and enriched the local lithospheric mantle by lithophile elements, most notably Cs, Rb, Li, Pb, U, Th and K. Thermal incubation of 10-15 Myr was sufficient to heat and convert the underplated felsic layer into granulites via dehydration melting and melt segregation. The process of melt loss was responsible for the removal of radioactive elements and for switching off the heat at the beginning of the exhumation process. At the same time, the metasomatized underlying mantle was heated producing characteristic ultrapotassic magmas. Gravitational instability was then induced by the density contrast between the light granulites and the overlaying denser mafic lower crustal layer and a viscosity drop related to thermal weakening and partial melting of the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one the thermal-mechanical development of active continental margins, and another on the dissolution and growth of zircon.

Reflection seismic section, field structural analysis and gravimetric modelling of orogenic lower crust in the core of a Carboniferous orogenic root reveal details of the polyphase process of exhumation. Subvertical amphibolite facies fabrics strike parallel to former plate margins that collided in the NW. The fabrics are developed in both mid-crustal and lower crustal high-pressure granulite units as a result of intensive NW-SE intraroot horizontal shortening driven probably by the west-directed collision. In granulites, the steep fabrics originated as a result of extrusion of orogenic lower crust in a ∼20 km wide vertical ascent channel from lower crustal depths at 350-340 Ma. The large granulite bodies preserve older granulite facies fabrics documenting a two-stage evolution during the exhumation process. Surface exposures of granulites coincide with the absence of subhorizontal seismic reflectors at depth, suggesting preservation of the ∼20 km wide subvertical tabular structure reaching Moho depths. Horizontal seismic reflectors surrounding the vertical channel structure corroborate a dominant flat migmatitic fabric developed in all tectonic units. This structural pattern is interpreted in terms of subhorizontal spreading of partially molten orogenic lower crust in mid-crustal levels (765 °C and 0.76 GPa) at 342-337 Ma. Large massifs of extruded and progressively dismembered felsic granulites disturbed mid-crustal fabrics in the surrounding horizontally flowing partially molten crust. The horizontal mid-crustal flow resulted in collapse of the supra-crustal Teplá-Barrandian Unit (interpreted as the orogenic lid) along a large-scale crustal detachment above the extruded lower crustal dome. The presence of felsic granulites at the bottom of the orogenic root is considered to be a key factor controlling the exhumation of orogenic lower crust in large hot orogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Newly discovered eclogites, Early Cambrian carbonates and chloritoid-bearing metapelites form the Tsakhir Uul accretionary wedge, which was thrust during the Early Cambrian over the Mesoproterozoic Dzabkhan-Baydrag continent. The rock association of the wedge forms a tectonic window emerging through the hangingwall Khantaishir ophiolite unit, which preserves a typical Tethyan-type ophiolitic sequence. The eclogites correspond geochemically to T-MORB modified by fluid circulation. They are composed of garnet, omphacite, amphibole, rutile ±muscovite ±quartz ±epidote and exhibit well-equilibrated matrix textures. Jadeite content of the omphacite reaches up to 45 mol.%, the Si content of muscovite is between 3.40 and 3.45 p.f.u., amphibole is winchite to barroisite, but reaches tschermakitic composition at some rims, and garnet composition is grs, alm, py, sps, . The peak assemblage, together with the composition of garnet rims, omphacite, amphibole and muscovite, correspond in a pseudosection to 20−22.5 kbar and 590−610 °C. The tschermakitic rim of amphibole is interpreted as partial reequilibration on decompression below 16 kbar and ∼600−630 °C. Two muscovite separates from the eclogite yielded an Ar-Ar plateau age of 543.1 ± 3.9 Ma (1σ) and a mean age of 547.9 ± 2.6 Ma (1σ), whereas muscovite from an interbedded garnet-chloritoid micaschist yielded an Ar-Ar plateau age of 536.9 ± 2.7 Ma (1σ); these ages are interpreted as cooling ages. The P- T data, geochemistry of eclogites and cooling ages suggest an affinity between the Tsakhir Uul wedge and the Gorny Altai and the north Mongolian blueschist belt, which are believed typical for subduction of warm oceanic lithosphere and closure of small oceanic basins. Thus, the discovery of the Tsakhir Uul eclogites represents an important finding suggesting extension of the Early Cambrian subduction system of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt far to the east in a region where it was not expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migmatites with sub-horizontal fabrics at the eastern margin of the Variscan orogenic root in the Bohemian Massif host lenses of eclogite, kyanite-K-feldspar granulite and marble within a matrix of migmatitic paragneiss and amphibolite. Petrological study and pseudosection modelling have been used to establish whether the whole area experienced terrane-wide exhumation of lower orogenic crust, or whether smaller portions of higher-pressure lower crust were combined with a lower-pressure matrix. Kyanite-K-feldspar granulite shows peak conditions of 16.5 kbar and 850 °C with no clear indications of prograde path, whereas in the eclogite the prograde path indicates burial from 10 kbar and 700 °C to a peak of 18 kbar and 800 °C. Two contrasting prograde paths are identified within the host migmatitic paragneiss. The first path is inferred from the presence of staurolite and kyanite inclusions in garnet that contains preserved prograde zoning that indicates burial with simultaneous heating to 11 kbar and 800 °C. The second path is inferred from garnet overgrowths of a flat foliation defined by sillimanite and biotite. Garnet growth in such an assemblage is possible only if the sample is heated at 7–8 kbar to around 700–840 °C. Decompression is associated with strong structural reworking in the flat fabric that involves growth of sillimanite in paragneiss and kyanite-K-feldspar granulite at 7–10 kbar and 750–850 °C. The contrasting prograde metamorphic histories indicate that kilometre-scale portions of high-pressure lower orogenic crust were exhumed to middle crustal levels, dismembered and mixed with a middle crustal migmatite matrix, with the simultaneous development of a flat foliation. The contrasting P– T paths with different pressure peaks show that tectonic models explaining high-pressure boudins in such a fabric cannot be the result of heterogeneous retrogression during ductile rebound of the whole orogenic root. The P– T paths are compatible with a model of heterogeneous vertical extrusion of lower crust into middle crust, followed by sub-horizontal flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrothermal polymetallic veins of the Gemeric unit of the Western Carpathians are oriented coherently with the foliation of their low-grade Variscan basement host. Early siderite precipitated from homogeneous NaCl-KCl-CaCl2-H2O brines with minor CO2, while immiscible gas–brine mixtures are indicative of the superimposed barite, quartz–tourmaline and quartz–sulphide stages. The high-salinity aqueous fluid (18–35 wt%) found in all mineralization stages corresponds to formation water modified by interaction with crystalline basement rocks at temperatures between 140 and 300°C. High brominity (around 1000 ppm in average) resulted from evaporation and anhydrite precipitation in a Permo-Triassic marine basin, and from secondary enrichment by dissolution of organic matter in the marine sediments at diagenetic temperatures. Sulphate depletion reflects thermogenic reduction during infiltration of the formation waters into the Variscan crystalline basement. Crystallization temperatures of the siderite fill (140–300°C) and oxygen isotope ratios of the parental fluids (4–10‰) increase towards the centre of the Gemeric cleavage fan, probably as a consequence of decreasing water/rock ratios in rock-buffered hydrothermal systems operating during the initial stages of vein evolution. In contrast, buoyant gas–water mixtures, variable salinities and strongly fluctuating P–T parameters in the successive mineralization stages reflect transition from a closed to an open hydrothermal system and mixing of fluids from various sources. Depths of burial were 6–14 km (1.7–4.4 kbar, in a predominantly lithostatic fluid regime) during the siderite and barite sub-stages of the north-Gemeric veins, and up to 16 km (1.6–4.5 kbar, in a hydrostatic to lithostatic fluid regime) in the quartz–tourmaline stage of the south-Gemeric veins. The fluid pressure decreased down to approximately 0.6 kbar during crystallization of sulphides. U-Pb-Th, 40Ar/39Ar and K/Ar geochronology applied to hydrothermal muscovite–phengite and monazite, as well as cleavage phyllosilicates in the adjacent basement rocks and deformed Permian conglomerates corroborated the opening of hydrothermal veins during Lower Cretaceous thrusting and their rejuvenation during Late Cretaceous sinistral transpressive shearing and extension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrasting compositions and densities of fluid inclusions were revealed in siderite–barite intergrowths of the Droždiak polymetallic vein hosted in Variscan basement of the Gemeric unit (Central European Carpathians). Primary two-phase aqueous inclusions in siderite homogenized between 101 and 165 °C, total salinity ranged between 18 and 27 wt%, and CaCl2/(NaCl + CaCl2) weight ratios were fixed at 0.1–0.3. By contrast, mono- and two-phase aqueous inclusions in barite exhibited total salinities between 2 and 22 wt%, and the CaCl2/NaCl ratios ranged from NaCl- to CaCl2-dominated compositions. The aqueous inclusions in barite were closely associated with very high-density (0.55–0.745 g cm−3) nitrogen inclusions, in some cases containing up to 16 mol.% CO2. Crystallization P–T conditions of siderite (175–210 °C, 1.2–1.7 kbar) constrained by the vertical oxygen isotope gradient along the studied vein, isochores of fluid inclusions and the K/Na exchange thermometer corresponded to minimal palaeodepths between 4.3 and 6.3 km, assuming lithostatic load and average crust density of 2.75 g cm−3. Maximum fluid pressure during barite crystallization attained 3.6–4.4 kbar at 200–300 °C, and the most dense nitrogen inclusions maintained without decrepitation the residual internal pressure of 2.2 kbar at 25 °C. Contrasting fluid compositions, increasing depths of burial (∼4–14 km) and decreasing thermal gradients (∼40–15 °C km−1) during initial mineralization stages of the Droždiak vein reflect Alpine orogenic processes, rather than an incipient Permian rifting suggested in previous metallogenetic models. Siderite crystallized at rising P–T in a closed, rock-buffered hydrothermal system developed in the Variscan basement during the north-vergent Cretaceous thrusting and thickening of the Gemeric crustal wedge. Variable salinities of the barite-hosted inclusions reflect a fluid mixing in open hydrothermal system, and re-equilibration textures (lengths of decrepitation cracks proportional to fluid inclusion sizes) correspond to retrograde crystallization trajectory coincidental with transpression or unroofing. Maximum recorded fluid pressures indicate ∼12-km-thick pile of imbricated nappe units accumulated over the Gemeric basement during the Cretaceous collision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large database of structural, geochronological and petrological data combined with a Bouguer anomaly map is used to develop a two-stage exhumation model of deep-seated rocks in the eastern sector of the Variscan belt. An early sub-vertical fabric developed in the orogenic lower and middle crust during intracrustal folding followed by the vertical extrusion of the lower crustal rocks. These events were responsible for exhumation of the orogenic lower crust from depths equivalent to 18−20 kbar to depths equivalent to 8−10 kbar, and for coeval burial of upper crustal rocks to depths equivalent to 8–9 kbar. Following the folding and vertical extrusion event, sub-horizontal fabrics developed at medium to low pressure in the orogenic lower and middle crust during vertical shortening. Fabrics that record the early vertical extrusion originated between 350 and 340 Ma, during building of an orogenic root in response to SE-directed Saxothuringian continental subduction. Fabrics that record the later sub-horizontal exhumation event relate to an eastern promontory of the Brunia continent indenting into the rheologically weaker rocks of the orogenic root. Indentation initiated thrusting or flow of the orogenic crust over the Brunia continent in a north-directed sub-horizontal channel. This sub-horizontal flow operated between 330 and 325 Ma, and was responsible for a heterogeneous mixing of blocks and boudins of lower and middle crustal rocks and for their progressive thermal re-equilibration. The erosion depth as well as the degree of reworking decreases from south to north, pointing to an outflow of lower crustal material to the surface, which was subsequently eroded and deposited in a foreland basin. Indentation by the Brunia continental promontory was highly noncoaxial with respect to the SE-oriented Saxothuringian continental subduction in the Early Visean, suggesting a major switch of plate configuration during the Middle to Late Visean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A detailed field study reveals a gradual transition from high‐grade solid‐state banded orthogneiss via stromatic migmatite and schlieren migmatite to irregular, foliation‐parallel bodies of nebulitic migmatite within the eastern part of the Gföhl Unit (Moldanubian domain, Bohemian Massif). The orthogneiss to nebulitic migmatite sequence is characterized by progressive destruction of well‐equilibrated banded microstructure by crystallization of new interstitial phases (Kfs, Pl and Qtz) along feldspar boundaries and by resorption of relict feldspar and biotite. The grain size of all felsic phases decreases continuously, whereas the population density of new phases increases. The new phases preferentially nucleate along high‐energy like–like boundaries causing the development of a regular distribution of individual phases. This evolutionary trend is accompanied by a decrease in grain shape preferred orientation of all felsic phases. To explain these data, a new petrogenetic model is proposed for the origin of felsic migmatites by melt infiltration from an external source into banded orthogneiss during deformation. In this model, infiltrating melt passes pervasively along grain boundaries through the whole‐rock volume and changes completely its macro‐ and microscopic appearance. It is suggested that the individual migmatite types represent different degrees of equilibration between the host rock and migrating melt during exhumation. The melt topology mimicked by feldspar in banded orthogneiss forms elongate pockets oriented at a high angle to the compositional banding, indicating that the melt distribution was controlled by the deformation of the solid framework. The microstructure exhibits features compatible with a combination of dislocation creep and grain boundary sliding deformation mechanisms. The migmatite microstructures developed by granular flow accompanied by melt‐enhanced diffusion and/or melt flow. However, an AMS study and quartz microfabrics suggest that the amount of melt present did not exceed a critical threshold during the deformation to allow free movements of grains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gneisses and migmatites of the Gföhl unit (Moldanubian Zone, Bohemian Massif) range from banded mylonitic orthogneiss with recrystallized monomineralic bands, through stromatic (metatexite) and schlieren (inhomogeneous diatexite) migmatite, to isotropic nebulite (homogeneous diatexite). This sequence was classically attributed to increasing degree of anatexis. Under the microscope, the evolution is characterized by progressive destruction of the monomineralic banding that characterizes the original mylonitic orthogneiss. Throughout, the mineral assemblage is biotite–K-feldspar–plagioclase–quartz ± garnet ± sillimanite, but the mineral compositions exhibit systematic changes with progressive disintegration of the layering. From banded orthogneiss to nebulite, the garnet composition changes systematically, Alm75→94Prp17→0.8Grs2.5→1.2Sps2→11 and XFe = 0.45→0.99 and for biotite, XFe = 0.80→1. This is consistent with a decrease in equilibration temperature and pressure of 790 °C and 8.5–6 kbar, to 690 °C and 5–4 kbar respectively. There is also a systematic change of whole-rock composition, marked by an increase in SiO2 (71→77 wt%) and XFe (0.62→0.85) and by a decrease in Al2O3 (16→13 wt%) and CaO (1.50→0.43 wt%). Assuming that the rocks started with the same composition, these systematic changes indicate open-system behaviour. The predicted consequences of various open-system processes are assessed using thermodynamic modelling. The observed variations are interpreted as being a consequence of melt flow through, and interaction with the rocks, and, to change the rock composition sufficiently, a large volume of melt must have been involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the eastern margin of the Bohemian Massif (Variscan belt of Central Europe), large bodies of felsic granulite preserve mineral assemblages and structures developed during the early stages of exhumation of the orogenic lower continental crust within the Moldanubian orogenic root. The development of an early steep fabric is associated with east–west-oriented compression and vertical extrusion of the high-grade rocks into higher crustal levels. The high-pressure mineral assemblage Grt-Ky-Kfs-Pl-Qtz-Liq corresponds to metamorphic pressures of ∼18 kbar at ∼850 °C, which are minimum estimates, whereas crystallization of biotite occurred at 13 kbar and ∼790 °C during decompression with slight cooling. The late stages of the granulite exhumation were associated with lateral spreading of associated high-grade rocks over a middle crustal unit at ∼4 kbar and ∼700 °C, as estimated from accompanying cordierite-bearing gneisses. The internal structure of a contemporaneously intruded syenite is coherent with late structures developed in felsic granulites and surrounding gneisses, and the magma only locally explored the early subvertical fabric of the felsic granulite during emplacement. Consequently, the emplacement age of the syenite provides an independent constraint on the timing of the final stages of exhumation and allows calculation of exhumation and cooling rates, which for this part of the Variscan orogenic root are 2.9–3.5 mm yr−1 and 7–9.4 °C Myr−1, respectively. The final part of the temperature evolution shows very rapid cooling, which is interpreted as the result of juxtaposition of hot high-grade rocks with a cold upper-crustal lid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A structural, metamorphic and geochronological study of the Staré Město belt implies the existence of two distinct metamorphic events of similar peak P–T conditions (700–800 °C, 8–10 kbar) during the Cambro-Ordovician and the Carboniferous tectonometamorphic events. The hypothesis of two distinct periods of metamorphism was suggested on the basis of structural discordance between an undoubtedly Carboniferous granodiorite sill intrusion and earlier Cambro-Ordovician fabrics of a banded amphibolite complex. The analysis of crystal size distribution (CSD) shows high nucleation density ( N0) and low average growth rate ( Gt) for Carboniferous mylonitic metagabbros and mylonitic granodiorites. The parameter N0 decreases whereas the quantity Gt increases towards higher temperatures progressively approaching the values obtained from the Cambro-Ordovician banded amphibolite complex. The spatial distribution of amphibole and plagioclase shows intense mechanical mixing for lower-temperature mylonitic metagabbros. In high-temperature mylonites a strong aggregate distribution is developed. Cambro-Ordovician amphibolites unaffected by Carboniferous deformation show a regular to anticlustered spatial distribution resulting from heterogeneous nucleation of individual phases. This pattern, together with CSD, was subsequently modified by the grain growth and textural equilibration controlled by diffusive mass transfer during Carboniferous metamorphism. The differences between the observed textures of the amphibolites are interpreted to be a consequence of the different durations of the Carboniferous and Cambro-Ordovician thermal events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exhumation of eclogite facies granulites (Omp–Plg–Grt–Qtz–Rt) in the Rychleby Mts, eastern Czech Republic, was a localised process initiated by buckling of crustal layers in a thickened orogenic root. Folding and post-buckle flattening was followed by the main stage of exhumation that is characterized by vertical ductile extrusion. This process is documented by structural data, and the vertical ascent of rocks from a depth of c. 70 to c. 35 km is documented by metamorphic petrology. SHRIMP 206Pb/238U and 207Pb/206Pb evaporation zircon ages of 342 ± 5 and 341.4 ± 0.7 Ma date peak metamorphic conditions. The next stage of exhumation was associated with sideways flat thrusting associated with lateral viscous spreading of granulites and surrounding rocks over indenting adjacent continental crust at a depth of c. 35–30 km. This stage was associated with syntectonic intrusion of a granodiorite sill at 345–339 Ma, emplaced at a crustal depth of c. 25 km. The time required for cooling of the sill as well as for heating of the country rocks brackets this event to a maximum of 250 000 years. Therefore, similar ages of crystallization for the granodiorite magma and the peak of eclogite facies metamorphism of the granulite suggest a very short period of exhumation, limited by the analytical errors of the dating methods. Our calculations suggest that the initial exhumation rate during vertical extrusion was 3–15 mm yr−1, followed by an exhumation rate of 24–40 mm yr−1 during further uplift along a magma-lubricated shear zone. The extrusion stage of exhumation was associated with a high cooling rate, which decreased during the stage of lateral spreading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]