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Eclogites were relatively recently found in the Belomorian Mobile Belt (BMB) (Volodichev et al., 2004; Shchipanskii et al., 2005; Konilov et al., 2004). The very first isotopic dates (Volodichev et al., 2004; Mints et al., 2010) were obtained for these rocks in the northwestern (in the Salma and Kuru-Vaara areas) and central (Gridino area) portions of BMB and corresponded to the Archean: approximately 2.72-2.87 Ga. Because no crustal eclogites older that 2.0 Ga (Möller et al., 1995) had been known before these dates were obtained, these eclogites were regarded as unique. It is commonly believed that no crustal eclogites could be formed in the Archean because the crust was then relatively thin (Kröner, 2010), and hence, the find of crustal eclogites of Archean age in BMB called for a fundamental revision of geodynamic reconstructions of the crustal evolution and was one of the main arguments invoked to support the hypothesis that currently operating geodynamic mechanisms of plate tectonic can be extrapolated to the Early Precambrian (Rozen et al., 2008). However, these finds were practically immediately followed by serious doubts that the primary estimates of the timing of the eclogite metamorphism in the Belomorian Belt may be incorrect (Mitrofanov et al., 2009; and others). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the mineralogy of grothite. It states that mineralogy of titanite is explained by the new possibility of application of this mineral for radioisotope dating of the rock age and thermodynamic calculation of mineral-forming processes, as well as by the fact that some titanites contain high concentrations of rare-earth elements. It mentions that titanites with prevailing hydroxyl ion in their structure are attributed to the vuagnatite group, which is typical for metasomatic rocks and metamorphic formations of low-grade metamorphism.

The Lanterman Fault Zone, a major terrane boundary in northern Victoria Land, displays a polyphase structural evolution. After west-over-east thrusting, it experienced sinistral strike-slip shearing. Sheared metabasites from the Wilson Terrane (inboard terrane) preserve a record of retrograde metamorphic evolution. Shearing took place under amphibolite-facies metamorphic conditions (roughly comparable to those reached during regional metamorphism) which later evolved to greenschist-facies conditions. In contrast, the Bowers Terrane (outboard terrane) preserves a prograde metamorphic evolution which developed from greenschist-facies to amphibolite-facies metamorphism during shearing, followed by greenschist-facies metamorphism during the late deformational stages. Laser step-heating 40Ar–39Ar analyses of syn-shear amphibolite-facies amphiboles yielded ages of 480–460 Ma, in agreement with a ∼480-Ma age obtained from a biotite aligned along the mylonitic foliation. These ages are younger than those (∼492 to ∼495 Ma) obtained from pre-shear amphibole relics linked to regional metamorphism of the Wilson Terrane. Results attribute the structural and metamorphic reworking during shearing to the late stages of the Cambrian-Ordovician Ross Orogeny and to the Middle-Late Ordovician probably in relation to the beginning of deformation in the Lachlan Orogen, thus precluding any appreciable impact of the Devonian-Carboniferous Borchgrevink event in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]