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The spatial distribution of isolated ultra-high-temperature (UHT) granulites in Sri Lanka corresponds to the exposure level of the deepest granulites of the Highland Complex (HC). Their spatial distribution, and that of ultramafic bodies in the HC, defines a relatively thin (several km) lowermost crustal layer that has been folded into a N-plunging asymmetric fold (F3 in our scheme), Z-shaped looking N. We postulate that the UHT granulites represent suitable lithologies within this lowermost crustal layer above an ultrahot palaeo-Moho. Prior to D3, this layer had already been imbricated and intensely folded with the HT granulites and with ultramafic units after peak metamorphism, leading to a thick package of HT granulites with isolated UHT assemblages. This concept has some important implications for granulite terrains in general: (i) UHT granulites elsewhere may also represent a thin zone above an ultrahot palaeo-Moho and overlain by HT granulite terrains, and their spatial relationships may have been complicated by ductile deformation during early cooling; (ii) many other HT granulite terrains may be underlain by a similar zone of UHT granulites, and, if so, new discoveries of UHT terrains may be expected.

Here we attempt to constrain the P–T evolution of ultrahigh-temperature granulites using textures coupled with multiple thermobarometric approaches. Sapphirine-bearing granulites were collected from a quarry in the central part of the Highland Complex of Sri Lanka. Three sapphirine-bearing domains were selected and petrographically studied. Homogeneous sample domains were thermodynamically modelled using their bulk compositions (forward phase equilibria modelling). One heterogeneous sample from a single domain, composed of irregularly distributed residuum and melt, was also used. The bulk composition of its residual part was calculated using mineral compositions and their respective modes. Equilibrium T–X(Fe 2O 3) phase diagrams were constructed in the chemical system NCKFMASHTO to estimate the bulk ferric/ferrous iron ratio, and conventional geothermometers (garnet–orthopyroxene and Al in orthopyroxene) were applied. The Ti in zircon trace element thermometer was also applied to calculate peak metamorphic conditions. Modal abundance isopleths of each mineral in equilibrium phase diagrams and textural observations were combined to constrain the retrograde P–T path. Our hybrid approach of forward and inverse phase equilibria modelling and conventional thermobarometric calculations indicate that the sapphirine-bearing granulites have reached their peak T of 920–940°C at P ~10 kbar under relatively highly oxidizing conditions. Subsequently, the rocks followed a near-isobaric cooling path down to 890–860°C, prior to near-isothermal decompression up to 6 kbar. The results highlight the importance of dealing with Fe 3+. Multiple thermobarometric approaches on carefully observed mineral textures are required to retrieve the most reliable P–T conditions of HT/UHT mineral assemblages.