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Alternating layers of pelitic and basic bands with occasional semi-pelitic band, millimeter to centimeter in width, occur between the epidote-amphibolite (metagabbro) and the pelitic schist in the epidote-amphibolite facies region of the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt, central Shikoku. The whole-rock major, trace, and rare earth element compositions of the semi-pelitic band are intermediate between those of the basic and pelitic bands. The peak metamorphic conditions were estimated at 1.0-1.2 GPa/600-630 °C for the mineral assemblage of the pelitic and semi-pelitic bands. The evolution of the CO.sub.2-rich fluid [X(CO.sub.2) = CO.sub.2/(CO.sub.2 + H.sub.2O)] at the lithologic boundary between the epidote-amphibolite and the pelitic schist, during the Sanbagawa prograde metamorphism, is discussed in the context of a titanite, rutile, calcite, dolomite, and quartz assemblage. The X(CO.sub.2) of the semi-pelitic band and basic and the pelitic bands increased during prograde metamorphism from the stability field of titanite to those of rutile + dolomite + amphibole + quartz and rutile + calcite + amphibole + quartz, respectively. The X(CO.sub.2) values of the metamorphic fluid at the peak metamorphic stage estimated by the matrix assemblages were higher in the order of the pelitic schist and epidote-amphibolite (less than 0.12-0.23), basic and pelitic bands (0.23-0.38), and semi-pelitic band (0.38-0.57), suggesting variations in the fluid compositions on a millimeter to centimeter scale. The CO.sub.2-rich fluid in the alternating layers, especially in the semi-pelitic band, was probably generated by a redox reaction between Fe.sup.3+-bearing silicate phases, such as amphibole and epidote in the basic band and carbonaceous material in the pelitic band. This reaction is thought to have been triggered by the chemical and/or mechanical mixing of these two bands during prograde metamorphism, resulting in the formation of the semi-pelitic band., Author(s): Masaki Enami [sup.1], Yuki Wakasugi [sup.1], Motohiro Tsuboi [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.27476.30, 0000 0001 0943 978X, Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, , Chikusa-ku, 464-8601, Nagoya, Japan [...]

The Higashi-akaishi garnet-bearing ultramafic body in the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt, Southwest Japan, represents a rare example of oceanic-type ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism. The body of 2 km × 5 km is composed mostly of anhydrous dunite with volumetrically minor lenses of clinopyroxene-rich rocks. Dunite samples contain high Ir-type platinum group elements (PGE) and Cr in bulk rocks, high Mg and Ni in olivine, and high Cr in spinel. On the other hand, clinopyroxene-rich rocks contain low concentrations of Ir-type PGE and Cr, high concentrations of fluid-mobile elements in bulk rocks, and low Ni and Mg in olivine. Clinopyroxene is diopsidic with low Al2O3. The compositions of bulk rocks and mineral chemistry of spinel, olivine, and clinopyroxene suggest that the olivine-dominated rocks are residual mantle peridotites after high degrees of influx partial melting, and that the clinopyroxene-rich rocks are cumulates of subduction-related melts. Thus, the Higashi-akaishi ultramafic body originated from the interior of the mantle wedge, most likely the forearc upper mantle. It was then incorporated into the Sanbagawa subduction channel by a mantle flow, and underwent high pressure metamorphism to a depth greater than 100 km. Such a strong active flow in the mantle wedge is likely facilitated by the lack of serpentinites along the interface between the slab and the overlying mantle, as it was too hot for serpentine. These unusually hot conditions and strong active mantle flow may reflect conditions in the earliest stage of development of subduction, and may have been maintained by massive upwelling and subsequent eastward flow of asthenospheric mantle in the northeastern Asian continent in Cretaceous time when the Sanbagawa belt began to form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemical Th-U-total Pb isochron method (CHIME) has been applied to determine the ages of monazite grains from metasediments of greenscshist-amphibolite facies in the Altai orogen, northwest China. The area of distribution of these metamorphic rocks is divided into the Permian (261–268 Ma) central-western and Devonian (377–382 Ma) eastern units on the basis of their metamorphic ages. The Devonian CHIME ages are consistent with the Pb–Pb ages of granitoid in the eastern unit, and support the idea that emplacement of the granitoids was synchronous with regional metamorphism at deep levels. The Permian metamorphic ages (the present study) and igneous ages previously reported from the central-western unit can be interpreted in terms of subduction of crustal material and oceanic plate, and rapid exhumation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jadeite-bearing eclogites and associated blueschists locally crop out in a greenschist facies area at Kuldkourla, near the Akeyazhi River in the western Chinese Tianshan region, northwestern China. Garnet in these metamorphic rocks shows prograde zoning with increasing Mg and decreasing Mn from the crystal center towards the rim, and is divided into Ca-poor/Fe-rich core and Ca-rich/Fe-poor mantle parts. The garnet cores include the assemblages of (i) jadeite/omphacite (Xjd = 0.34–0.96) + barroisite/taramite; and (ii) omphacite + barroisite/pargasite, with paragonite, epidote, rutile and quartz as major phases with rare albite. The garnet mantles rarely contain inclusions of omphacite, glaucophane, epidote, rutile and quartz. Major matrix phases of the pre-exhumation stage are omphacite, glaucophane, paragonite, rutile and quartz. These mineral parageneses give pressure ( P)-temperature ( T) conditions of 0.9 GPa/390°C−1.4 GPa/560°C for the stage of the garnet core formation, 1.8 GPa/520°C for the stage of the garnet mantle formation, and 2.2 GPa/495°C-2.4 GPa/535°C for the peak eclogite facies assemblage in the matrix. The estimated P-T conditions and continuous changes of mineral parageneses imply a counterclockwise P-T path which is a combination of (i) an early prograde stage of high-pressure/low-temperature ( HP/LT) blueschist facies and/or LP/LT eclogite facies; (ii) a later prograde stage involving compression with minimal heating; and (iii) a climax-of-subduction stage characterized by a slight decrease of temperature with increasing pressure. The negative dP/dT of the latest subduction stage is possibly a record of the following events after a continuous subduction and ridge approach: (i) material migration within the upper part of the subducting slab, which has an inverse thermal gradient caused by ductile flow and/or slab break during subduction; and/or (ii) temporary cooling of the wedge mantle–slab interface by continuous subduction of a relatively cold slab following subduction of a hotter ridge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Garnet grains in Sanbagawa quartz eclogites from the Besshi region, central Shikoku commonly show a zoning pattern consisting of core and mantle/rim that formed during two prograde stages of eclogite and subsequent epidote–amphibolite facies metamorphism, respectively. Garnet grains in the quartz eclogites are grouped into four types (I, II, III, and IV) according to the compositional trends of their cores. Type I garnet is most common and sometimes coexists with other types of garnet in a thin section. Type I core formed with epidote and kyanite during the prograde eclogite facies stage. The inner cores of types II and III crystallized within different whole‐rock compositions of epidote‐free and kyanite‐bearing eclogite and epidote‐ and kyanite‐free eclogite at the earlier prograde stage, respectively. The inner core of type IV probably formed during the pre‐eclogite facies stage. The inner cores of types II, III, and IV, which formed under different P–T conditions of prograde metamorphism and/or whole‐rock compositions, were juxtaposed with the core of type I, probably due to tectonic mixing of rocks at various points during the prograde eclogite facies stage. After these processes, they have shared the following same growth history: (i) successive crystal growth during the later stage of prograde eclogite facies metamorphism that formed the margin of the type I core and the outer cores of types II, III, and IV; (ii) partial resorption of the core during exhumation and hydration stage; and (iii) subsequent formation of mantle zones during prograde metamorphism of the epidote–amphibolite facies. The prograde metamorphic reactions may not have progressed under an isochemical condition in some Sanbagawa metamorphic rocks, at least at the hand specimen scale. This interpretation suggests that, in some cases, material interaction promoted by mechanical mixing and fluid‐assisted diffusive mass transfer probably influences mineral reactions and paragenesis of high‐pressure metamorphic rocks. Garnet grains in the quartz eclogites are grouped into four types (I, II, III, and IV) according to the compositional trends of their cores. Type I garnet is the most common and sometimes coexists with other types of garnet in a thin section. The coexistence of the different types of garnet is probably due to deformation‐induced lithological mixing at various points during the prograde eclogite facies stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]