Studies of Metamorphic Rocks in China in the 1980s

Recent finds of coesite eclogites, Proterozoic blueschists, and 3.7-Ga granulites have stimulated world-wide attention for the studies of metamorphic rocks in China, which is now generally regarded as one of a few suitable areas to study deep structures of continental collision. The publication of Metamorphic Map of China in 1986 provided a sound basis for the recent successful researches. Recent introduction of quantitative phase petrology and the increase of radiometric age measurements enabled Chinese geologists to depict detailed pressuretemperature-time (PT-t) paths of a metamorphism. The presence or absence of Archean greenstone belts, igneous or sedimentary origin of some felsic gneisses, extent of “migmatization”, and nature of Archean regional granulite-facies metamorphism are unfixed debates, which will be solved in the next decade.