Seven eclogite facies samples from lithologically different units which structurally underlie the Semail ophiolite were dated by the Ar/Ar and Rb–Sr methods. Despite extensive efforts, phengite dated by the Ar/Ar method yielded saddle, hump or irregularly shaped spectra with uninterpretable isochrons. The total gas ages for the phengite ranged from 136 to 85 Ma. Clinopyroxene–phengite, epidote–...

The D’Entrecasteaux Islands of south-eastern Papua New Guinea are active metamorphic core complexes that formed within a region where the plate tectonic regime has transitioned from subduction to rifting. While rapid, post 4 Myr exhumation and cooling of amphibolite and greenschist facies rocks that constitute the footwall of the crustal scale detachment fault system have been previously docume...

Ar–Ar and fission-track dating from four low-grade sections in the Alpujárride Complex sheds light on the timing of the early contractional history of these high-pressure metamorphic units, and their subsequent exhumation during the early Miocene extensional collapse of the Betic orogen. White mica grains from the lowest-grade rocks yield partly reset detrital Ar–Ar ages; where deformation and ...

Garnet-whole rock and garnet-mineral isochrons were determined on granulite facies gneisses and amphibolites from the Archean Pikwitonei Granulite Domain of the Superior Province, and the Proterozoic Central Gneiss Belt and Adirondack Highlands of the Grenville orogen. The Sm-Nd ages obtained from Archean garnets 0.1-0.5 cm in length are 30-110 Ma younger than the U-Pb ages obtained on the same...

The tree of terrestrial life probably roots in non-photosynthetic microbes. Chemoautotrophs were the first primary producers, and the globally dominant niches in terms of primary productivity were determined by availability of carbon dioxide and hydrogen for methanogenesis and sulfite reduction. Methanogen niches were most abundant where CO 2 -rich ocean water flowed through serpentinite. Black...

The determination of metamorphic conditions is critical to the understanding of the formation of mountain belts. However, all collisional mountain belts contain large volumes of accreted sediments generally lacking metamorphic index minerals and are therefore not amenable to conventional petrologic investigations. By contrast, these units are often rich in carbonaceous material, making it possi...

Thermodynamic calculations for selected silicate-oxide-fluorite assemblages indicate that several commonly occurring fluorite-bearing assemblages are restricted to relatively narrow fo,-fF> fields at constant P-T. The presence of fayalite-ferrohedenbergite-fluorite-quartz *magnetite and ferrosalite-fluorite-quartz-magnetite assemblages in orthogneisses from Au Sable Forks, Wanakena and Lake Ple...

In contrast to continent/continent collision, arc-continent collision generates very short-lived orogeny because the buoyancy-driven impedance of the subduction of continental lithosphere, accompanied by arc/suprasubduction-zone ophiolite obduction, is relieved by subduction polarity reversal (flip). This tectonic principle is illustrated by the early Ordovician Grampian Orogeny in the British ...

Metapelitic rocks in the Gasht area include micaschist, kyanite schist, andalusite schist, garnet schist, staurolite schist, cordierite schist and sillimanite schist. Tourmaline occurs as accessory mineral in all of these rock types. These schists are metamorphosed regionally and are affected by contact metamorpism subsequently. Based on the textural relations and the fact that CaO and TiO2 con...