The first evidence for ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism in the Seve Nappe Complex of the Scandinavian Caledonides is recorded by kyanite-bearing eclogite, found in a basic dyke within a garnet ...peridotite body exposed close to the lake Friningen in northern Jämtland (central Sweden). UHP metamorphic conditions of ~3GPa and 800°C, within the stability field of coesite, are constrained from geothermobarometry and calculated phase equilibria for the peak-pressure assemblage garnet+omphacite+kyanite+phengite. A prograde metamorphic evolution from a lower P–T (1.5–1.7GPa and 700–750°C) stage during subduction is inferred from inclusions of pargasitic amphibole, zoisite and kyanite in garnet cores. The post-UHP evolution is constrained from breakdown textures, such as exsolutions of kyanite and silica from the Ca-Eskola clinopyroxene. Near isothermal decompression of eclogite to lower crustal levels (~0.8–1.0GPa ) led to formation of sapphirine, spinel, orthopyroxene and diopside at granulite facies conditions. Published age data suggest a Late Ordovician (460–445Ma) age of the UHP metamorphism, interpreted to be related to subduction of Baltoscandian continental margin underneath an outboard terrane, possibly outermost Laurentia, during the final stages of closure of the Iapetus Ocean. The UHP rocks were emplaced from the hinterland collision zone during Scandian thrusting of the nappes onto the Baltoscandian foreland basin and platform. The record of P–T conditions and geochonological data from UHP rocks occurring within the allochthonous units of the Scandinavian Caledonides indicate that Ordovician UHP events may have affected much wider parts of the orogen than previously thought, involving deep subduction of the continental crust prior to final Scandian collision between Baltica and Laurentia.
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► First evidence for UHP metamorphism in the Seve Nappe Complex of the Scandinavian Caledonides recorded by kyanite eclogite. ► Subduction of Baltica underneath an outboard terrane during the closure of the Iapetus Ocean in the Late Ordovician. ► UHP rocks emplaced from the hinterland collision zone during Scandian thrusting of the nappes.
The collision of Baltica and Laurentia during the Caledonian Orogeny happened at c. 400–420 Ma. However, subduction and collision processes also took place before this main collisional phase and the ...tectonic history of these is still not fully resolved. The Seve Nappe Complex in Sweden has recorded these earlier phases. The Seve Nappe Complex in Norrbotten (North Swedish Caledonides) comprises four superimposed nappes emplaced by eastward thrusting (from base to top according to the conventional structural interpretation): Lower Seve Nappe, Vaimok, Sarek, and Tsäkkok Lenses. Eclogites occur in the Vaimok and Tsäkkok Lenses. The Vaimok Lens represents rocks of the Baltican continental margin intruded by Neoproterozoic dolerite dikes which were later eclogitized and boudinaged. By contrast, eclogites of the Tsäkkok Lens are former oceanic basalts associated with calcschists, possibly representing the ocean–continent transition between Baltica and Iapetus. Previous age determinations for eclogitization yielded various ages between c. 500 and 480 Ma, in contrast to younger (460–450 Ma) ages of ultra high‐P metamorphism in the Seve Nappe Complex further south in Jämtland. Eclogites from the Vaimok (one sample) and Tsäkkok (three samples) lenses were dated using Lu–Hf garnet geochronology. Garnet from all samples shows prograde zoning of major element and Lu contents and yielded well‐defined isochrons of the following ages: 480.4 ± 1.2 Ma (Vaimok); 487.7 ± 4.6 Ma, 486.2 ± 3.2, 484.6 ± 4.6 Ma (Tsäkkok). The ages from Tsäkkok are interpreted to date the burial of the Iapetus–Baltica ocean–continent transition in a west‐dipping subduction zone around c. 485 Ma, and the age from the structurally deeper Vaimok Nappe the following subduction of the continental margin. Previously reported ages of 500 Ma and older are not supported by this study. The age difference between eclogites in the Seve Nappe Complex in Jämtland (c. 460–450 Ma) and Norrbotten (c. 488–480 Ma) may reflect the collision of an island arc with an irregularly shaped passive continental margin of Baltica or alternatively the collision of a straight margin with a microcontinent (Sarek Lens) accreted to the upper plate.
Kyanite eclogites enclosed in garnet peridotites may provide important information on P-T evolution of orogenic peridotites in deep subduction and collision zones. Kyanite eclogite interlayered with ...garnet peridotite occurs in the borehole T-7, in the Saxothuringian basement of the northern part of the Bohemian Massif. This orogenic peridotite of mantle origin is associated with felsic granulites, which contain diamond as a consequence of deep subduction of the continental crust. Here, we report on the metamorphic evolution of kyanite eclogite, which shows a well-preserved peak-pressure mineral assemblage of garnet, omphacite, kyanite and phengite. Conventional geothermobarometry, average PT method and thermodynamic modelling constrain the metamorphic conditions of this assemblage up to 3.5–4.5GPa at 900–1050°C. Two compositional types of garnet, i.e., Mg-rich and Ca-rich, have been recognised. Thermodynamic modelling shows that the composition of Ca-rich garnet with XCa (0.35–0.37) in the core corresponds to stability of garnet at 3.5–4.5GPa. Amphibole and zoisite are preserved as inclusions in garnet cores, and they are stable below 2.5GPa, indicating that garnet grew at the expense of these phases at increasing P-T conditions during the prograde evolution of the rock. A post-peak metamorphism decompression and cooling are recorded by decrease of Ca-Eskola end-member in omphacite, drop in XMg and XGrs at garnet rim and a very restricted formation of pargasitic amphibole in the matrix. The absence of symplectites after omphacite in the investigated eclogite may be due to a very low content of quartz and possibly also fluid in the rock. Our study suggests that kyanite-bearing eclogite underwent UHP metamorphism as a consequence of subduction, together with interlayered garnet peridotite. Both rocks were incorporated into the subducted continental crust (diamond-bearing granulites) during the Variscan orogeny.
•Kyanite eclogite is associated with garnet peridotite and diamond-bearing granulite•Peak metamorphic assemblage in eclogite is well preserved.•Eclogite records UHP conditions of c. 4GPa at 100°C similar to the granulite.•Eclogite records prograde evolution indicative of subduction.•Both mantle and continental crustal rocks were subducted during Variscan orogeny.
The Variscan basement within the Western Carpathian Alpine architecture generally consists of metaluminous/peraluminous tonalite/granodiorite massifs and high-grade metamorphic complexes of ...metapelites, metaultramafites, and metabasites with relics of eclogites. Unfortunately, the Variscan crystalline basement of the Western Carpathians is only fragmentally exposed. Therefore, the proposed geodynamic evolutionary model for the Variscan granites of the Western Carpathians is primarily based on granite data from the Malá Fatra Mts. with additional dating from the High Tatra Mts. The oldest magmatic age of 362 ± 4 Ma in the Malá Fatra horst was recorded in diatexites from a high-grade metamorphic complex, which is related to crustal anatexis during Variscan subduction. Subsequent collisional event and break-off of the subducted slab promoted exhumation of the diatexites within the high grade metamorphic complex and intrusion of 353 ± 3 Ma old Tournaisian tonalite. Intensive heat input after slab break-off from the rising asthenosphere generated melting of the lower crust and extensive calc-alkaline, Mg-rich granitic magmatism in a short time span from 347 ± 4 to 342 ± 3 Ma. These Visean granitic rocks caused thermal overprint on the roof metamorphic rocks, including diatexites and Tournaisian tonalites at ca. 348 ± 5.6 to 342 ± 3 Ma. The Visean granite formation was controlled by the mixing of hot magmas, which is indicated by the presence of composite oligoclase/andesine plagioclase with preserved labradorite cores, alkali feldspars with Na2O ≥ 2 wt%, zoned apatite, the presence of antiperthite, and quartz ocelli. Elevated contents of mantle-derived elements like V, Ni, Cr, Ba, high Sr/Y ratio of ~44, steep LREE and flat HREE segments of chondrite-normalised patterns document adakite-like feature of the investigated granitic rocks which resulted from melting of a mixed lower-crustal and mantle sources and crystallisation in the presence of garnet. Unusual abundance of Fe–Ti oxides in granodiorites with magmatic cooling temperatures of 735–756 °C supports high-T input from mantle. In the High Tatra Mts., diorite xenolith shows the age of 359.2 ± 3 Ma, and its host granodiorite the age of 350.1 ± 2.6 Ma. The diorite contains acicular zircons, which points to rapid exhumation. Stubby zircon of the host granodiorite shows regular, oscillatory zoning controlled by a gradual temperature decrease. The non-comagmatic relationships between diorite and host granodiorite are indicated also by a difference in zircon Th/U ratio, which is 0.2 for the host granodiorite, but 1.0 for the diorite on average. The presented data show that slab break-off could have been a mechanism that promoted Variscan granitic magmatism in the Western Carpathians.
•Variscan subduction, slab break-off, exhumation and partial melting recorded in the Western Carpathians•Famennian (365-359 Ma), Tournaisian (359-353 Ma), and Visean (348–342 Ma) granitic magmatism recognised•Visean granites with adakitic signature derived from the melting of a mixed lower-crustal and mantle sources
Eclogite lenses and boudins are volumetrically minor, but petrologically important, features of peridotite massifs worldwide. In the Western Gneiss Region of the Scandinavian Caledonides, eclogites ...in the Almklovdalen and Raubergvik peridotites originated as basaltic to picrobasaltic dikes, comprising both olivine–normative and nepheline–normative types, with a wide variation in Mg–number from 34 to 65. Positive anomalies for Pb and Sr and negative anomalies for Zr and Hf reflect a subduction signature in the basic melts, and rare–earth element modelling requires 20% to 70% fractional crystallization, combined with 20% to 70% assimilation of peridotite. Clinopyroxenes in eclogites have a wide variation in εNd(0) from +68 to −26, which is comparable to that for associated garnet peridotites and pyroxenites, +55 to −38, and a range in 87Sr/86Sr from 0.7021 to 0.7099, which is much larger than that in peridotites and pyroxenites, 0.7014 to 0.7033.
Plagioclase and amphibole inclusions in eclogite garnet provide evidence for prograde metamorphism, which attained a maximum temperature of ~775 °C and pressure of ~25 kb. Such conditions are allofacial with those of associated garnet peridotites and pyroxenites, which equilibrated at ~825 °C and ~37 kb. Eclogites yield mixed Sm-Nd isochron ages, as do the peridotites and pyroxenites, but ages in eclogites are <1000 Ma, and those in peridotites and pyroxenites are >1000 Ma. Three eclogites yield Ordovician U-Pb ages for rutile at 440 ± 12, 445 ± 51, and 480 ± 29 Ma, which are coeval with the Taconic Orogeny and are consistent with a Laurentian provenance for the host peridotites.
Eclogites in both Norwegian and Czech peridotites originated from melts passing through a mantle wedge above a subduction zone, and both suites exhibit subduction geochemical signatures, although they differ dramatically in petrogenesis. Eclogites in Norwegian peridotites initially crystallized as relatively low–pressure, plagioclase–bearing basaltic or gabbroic dikes and subsequently recrystallized to high–pressure eclogite, whereas most eclogites in Variscan Moldanubian peridotites crystallized directly from magmas at high pressure to produce eclogite facies assemblages.
•Eclogite layers in Norwegian garnet peridotites originated as basalt or gabbro dikes•AFC modelling yields 20–70% crystallization and 20–70% assimilation of peridotite•The dikes recrystallized to eclogite at 775 °C and 25 kb during the Taconic Orogeny•Eclogite in Czech peridotites originated by HP crystallization of garnet and pyroxene
The Rhodope Metamorphic Complex (RMC) in Bulgaria has been established as a Mesozoic ultra‐high‐pressure metamorphic province by findings of microdiamond in gneisses. Additionally, Variscan ...ultra‐high‐pressure metamorphism has been proposed for the Ograzhden/Vertiskos Unit in the Upper Allochthon of the RMC, based on findings of coesite, graphite pseudomorphs after diamond and indirect age constraints. We confirm ultra‐high‐pressure metamorphism of eclogites in this unit using thermobarometry, phase‐equilibrium modelling and the Variscan age of metamorphism using Lu–Hf garnet–whole‐rock dating. In Belica (southern Rila Mountains), kyanite‐ and phengite‐bearing eclogite enclosed in high‐grade gneisses records P‐T conditions of 3.0–3.5 GPa and 700–750°C. Lu–Hf dating of eclogite samples from Belica and Gega (Ograzhden Mountain), where coesite was found, yielded ages of 334.1 ± 1.8 and 334.0 ± 2.2 Ma, respectively, interpreted as the age of garnet growth during post‐collisional subduction of continental crust after closure of the Rheic Ocean.
The recent discovery of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) mineral parageneses in the far-transported (greater than 400 km) Seve Nappe Complex of the Swedish Caledonides sheds new light on the subduction ...system that dominated the contracting Baltoscandian margin of continental Baltica during the Ordovician and culminated in collision with Laurentia in the Silurian to Early Devonian. High-grade metamorphism of this Neoproterozoic to Cambrian rifted, extended, dike-intruded outer-margin assemblage started in the Early Ordovician and may have continued, perhaps episodically, until collision of the continents at the end of this period. The recent discovery of UHP kyanite eclogite in northern Jamtland (west-central Sweden) yields evidence of metamorphism at depths of 100 km. Although UHP rocks are only locally preserved from retrogression during the long-distance transport onto the Baltoscandian platform, these high-pressure parageneses indicate that deep subduction played an important role in the tectonothermal history of the complex. Based on existing isotopic age data, this UHP metamorphism occurred in the Late Ordovician, shortly before, or during, the initial collision between the continents (Scandian orogeny). In some central parts of the complex, migmatization and hot extrusion occurred in the Early Silurian, giving way to thrust emplacement across the Baltoscandian foreland basin and platform that continued into the Early Devonian. Identification of HP/UHP metamorphism at different levels within the Scandian allochthons, definition of their pressure-temperature-time paths, and recognition of their vast transport distances are essential for an understanding of the deeper structural levels of the orogen in the hinterland (e.g., the Western Gneiss Region), where the attenuated units were reworked together during the Early Devonian.
High‐ and ultrahigh‐pressure rocks occur in the Austroalpine Nappes in a ~400 km long belt from the Texel Complex in the west to the Sieggraben Unit in the east. Garnet growth during pressure ...increase was dated using Lu‐Hf chronometry. The results range between c. 100 and 90 Ma, indicating a short‐lived period of subduction. Combined with already published data, our estimates of metamorphic conditions indicate a field gradient with increasing pressure and temperature from the northwest to the southeast, where the rocks experienced ultrahigh‐pressure metamorphism. The P‐T conditions of the eclogites generally lie on the ‘warm’ side of the global range of subduction‐zone metamorphic conditions. The oldest Cretaceous eclogites (c. 100 Ma) are found in the Saualpe‐Koralpe area derived from widespread gabbros formed during Permian to Triassic rifting. In the Texel Complex garnets showing two growth phases yielded a Variscan‐Eoalpine mixed age indicating re‐subduction of Variscan eclogite‐bearing continental crust during the Eoalpine orogeny. Jurassic blueschist‐facies metamorphism at Meliata in the Western Carpathians and Cretaceous eclogite‐facies metamorphism in the Austroalpine are separated by a time gap of c. 50 Ma and therefore do not represent a transition from oceanic to continental subduction but rather separate events. Thus, we propose that subduction initiation was intracontinental at the site of a Permian rift.
The Seve Nappe Complex of the Scandinavian Caledonides is thought to be derived from the distal passive margin of Baltica which collided with Laurentia in the Scandian Phase of the Caledonian Orogeny ...at 430–400 Ma. Parts of the Seve Nappe Complex were affected by pre-Scandian high- and ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism, in a tectonic framework that is still unclear, partly due to uncertainties about the exact timing. Previous age determinations yielded between ~ 505 and ~ 446 Ma, with a general trend of older ages in the North (Norrbotten) than in the South (Jämtland). New age determinations were performed on eclogite and garnet–phengite gneiss at Tjeliken in northern Jämtland. Thermodynamic modelling yielded peak metamorphic conditions of 25–27 kbar/680–760 °C for the garnet–phengite gneiss, similar to published peak metamorphic conditions of the eclogite (25–26 kbar/650–700 °C). Metamorphic rims of zircons from the garnet–phengite gneiss were dated using secondary ion mass spectrometry and yielded a concordia age of 458.9 ± 2.5 Ma. Lu–Hf garnet-whole rock dating yielded 458 ± 1.0 Ma for the eclogite. Garnet in the eclogite shows prograde major-element zoning and concentration of Lu in the cores, indicating that this age is related to garnet growth during pressure increase, i.e. subduction. The identical ages from both rock types, coinciding with published Sm–Nd ages from the eclogite, confirm subduction of the Seve Nappe Complex in Northern Jämtland during the Middle Ordovician in a fast subduction–exhumation cycle.
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