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Supracrustal rocks of the Yilgarn orogen underwent deep burial, and later syn-shortening exhumation. Archean exhumation processes were likely less efficient that today, so that complete exhumation of high-pressure rocks was rare and accidental.

[Display omitted] • UHT peak conditions with counterclockwise P–T paths were constrained. • The UHT metamorphism might have persisted for more than 20 Myr (2.52–2.50 Ga). • Vertical sagduction process may be responsible for the Neoarchean UHT metamorphism. Archean supracrustal rocks that occur as rafts within tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) gneisses can reach ultra-high temperature (UHT) conditions. Their metamorphic P–T paths and geodynamic regimes are debated. Herein, we present detailed analyses of UHT pelitic migmatites (JD1730 and JD1733) from the East Hebei, North China Craton, using petrology, phase equilibria modelling, and zircon dating, to recover the metamorphic history. Sample JD1730 is a sillimanite–orthopyroxene–cordierite migmatite that contains the sillimanite + orthopyroxene (+cordierite) symplectites, which are interpreted to be the pseudomorphs after sapphirine. JD1733 is a corundum-bearing garnet–cordierite–sillimanite migmatite that contains the corundum + spinel ± ilmenite/rutile aggregates, representing a stable mineral association of low pressures in local Si-unsaturated domains. The two rocks record consistent counterclockwise P–T paths involving pre-peak up- P processes to the UHT peak conditions followed by cooling. The pre-peak up- P processes occurred at 5–7 kbar and > 970 °C constrained from the textural relations involving (i) spinel enveloped by sillimanite and cordierite and mantled by the Sil + Opx symplectites in JD1730, and (ii) the inclusion variation in garnet of JD1733 with the Spl + Crn (±Ilm) aggregates embayed by sillimanite in the core and mantle, and worm-like quartz in the rim. The UHT peak conditions can be constrained to be 7–8 kbar, 980–1060 °C based on the stability of the inferred peak mineral assemblages in P–T pseudosections added with the plots of the re-integrated anorthite contents from perthite. The post-peak cooling processes to 5–8 kbar / 820–850 °C are marked by the growth of biotite in leucosomes of both samples. Zircon dating and geothermometry results suggest that the UHT metamorphism might have persisted for more than 20 Myr from ∼ 2.52 Ga to ∼ 2.50 Ga and the post-UHT cooling continued another 20 Myr or even 40 Myr. Considering the geological features in the terrane, a vertical sagduction regime was preferred for the Neoarchean tectonic evolution of the East Hebei terrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oldest known evolved (felsic) rocks on Earth (c. 4.03 Ga) are found in the Acasta Gneiss Complex (AGC) in north‐western Canada and represent a fundamental keystone in unravelling the geological processes governing crustal growth and differentiation during the Hadean and early Archean. Although the timing of multiple episodes of magmatism, metamorphism and deformation in these tonalitic gneisses has been investigated extensively, the metamorphic pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions recorded by the rocks are poorly constrained. Here, we use phase equilibrium modelling coupled with in situ garnet Lu–Hf geochronology and trace element analysis for two garnet‐bearing tonalitic gneisses to decipher the metamorphic history of the AGC. The observed mineral assemblages are consistent with peak metamorphic conditions of T = 725–780°C and P = 4.5–6.2 kbar and the generation of a small amount of melt (<7 vol.%). Garnet geochronology constrains the age of metamorphism to 3.3–3.2 Ga, consistent with previous evidence for a late Paleoarchean tectono‐metamorphic event in the AGC. Subsequent isotopic disturbance of garnet at c. 1.9 Ga is interpreted to correspond to a modification of the primary Lu–Hf systematics in response to garnet resorption/recrystallization during the Paleoproterozoic Wopmay orogeny, resulting in significant scatter between these two age components. Our study adds to the small number of published P–T data for metamorphic rocks older than 2.8 Ga and shows that tonalitic gneisses in the AGC record a high apparent thermal gradient of ~140°C/kbar in the late Paleoarchean. This thermal gradient is the highest among the limited dataset, but is broadly similar to data from other Paleoarchean‐Mesoarchean crustal rocks in recording high T/P ratios (>77.5°C/kbar). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bulk rock composition of granitoids reflects the composition of their source and the conditions of partial melting, which are functions of the geodynamic setting in which they formed. Granitoids in active continental margins (continental arcs) are dominated by calc-alkaline rocks with subordinate alkaline compositions, although how these different magma compositions formed is not well understood. Neoproterozoic magmatic rocks are widely distributed along the western margin of the Yangtze Block in South China to form the >1000-km long Panxi continental arc system, which is dominated by granitoids with minor mafic–ultramafic and intermediate plutons. The granitoids are subdivided into sodic and potassic variants that occur as belts along the western and eastern sides of the continental arc, respectively. Sodic granitoids from the western part consist of tonalite, granodiorite, and monzogranite with crystallisation ages ranging from 870 Ma to 740 Ma. They have low K2O/Na2O ratios (0.1–1.0) and high Na2O contents (3.5–6.7 wt%), high but variable SiO2 (61–75 wt%) concentrations, and negative to positive whole-rock εNd(t) values (−1.7 to +2.9). Zircon grains from the sodic granitoids have εHf(t) values ranging from +0.3 to +9.6 and δ18O from 3.90‰ to 7.71‰. The potassic granitoids from the eastern side consist of monzogranite and syenogranite with crystallisation ages from 820 Ma to 790 Ma. They have high K2O/Na2O ratios (0.6–2.2), K2O (2.6–5.9 wt%) and SiO2 contents (69–78 wt%), but whole-rock εNd(t) (−0.9 to +2.9) and zircon εHf(t) (+1.8 to +12.9), and δ18O values (2.98‰ to 6.41‰) similar to those of the sodic granitoids. The isotopic compositions of both the sodic and potassic granitoids are similar to those of spatially- and temporally-related mantle-derived (mafic to ultramafic) rocks, and are considered to have been derived from juvenile mafic continental crust. Phase equilibrium modelling shows that the H2O content of the granitoid source rocks played a key role in their petrogenesis, both in lowering solidus temperatures and in controlling the compositions of the derived partial melts. Our results indicate that calc-alkaline sodic granitoids can be formed by water-fluxed melting of juvenile mafic crust at 750–900°C and 9–12 kbar in which the required H2O was derived from the dewatering of underplating mafic arc magmas. By contrast, the potassic granitoids were generated by fluid-absent (H2O-undersaturated) partial melting of a similar juvenile mafic source at 725–900°C and 6–9 kbar. We conclude that the sodic granitoids were derived from partial melting of the newly-formed mafic lower crust in the continental arc, whereas the potassic granitoids were likely generated in the back-arc setting induced by upwelling of asthenospheric mantle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]