Earth is the only known planet with subduction zones and plate tectonics, and this fact demonstrates that special conditions are required for this mode of planetary heat loss. Sinking of cold, dense lithosphere in subduction zones is the principal plate-driving force, so plate tectonics could not have begun until Earth cooled sufficiently to allow lithosphere to collapse into the underlying ast...

Activities of titanite (Ttn, CaTiSiO5) and ⁄or rutile (Rt, TiO2) phase components were calculated for 45 well-characterized natural titaniteor rutile-undersaturated epidote–amphibolites by using the equilibria: (i) 3 anorthite + 2 zoisite ⁄ clinozoisite + rutile + quartz = 3 anorthite + titanite + water (referred to as TZARS) and (ii) anorthite + 2 titanite = grossular + 2 rutile + quartz (refe...

The E-vergent Northern Apennines formed by Oligocene-Miocene convergence and westward subduction of Adria beneath Europe. Extension ensued in the Mid-Late Miocene reflecting lower plate roll-back causing opening back-arc Tyrrhenian Sea. Post-orogenic extension is commonly advocated as main driver exhumation belt's inner domain high-pressure/low-temperature (HP-LT) rock units. Acquadolce Subunit...

The B and Pb isotope systems are widely applied tracers of recycling processes occurring during subduction. Studies examining these complementary systems as a pair enjoy considerable success, where B primarily records the thermal and fluid evolution of the subducting slab, whereas the tripartite Pb system constrains the source of subducted material returned to volcanic arcs. However, interpreta...

The distribution of metamorphic rocks throughout the western European Alps indicates subduction-related metamorphism. However, processes by which high-grade exhume remain disputed. Here, we present two-dimensional petrological–thermomechanical numerical models to investigate facies evolution during orogenesis. We model closure an oceanic basin with exhumed mantle bounded passive margins. To ens...

Ophiolites of the Alpine belt derive from closure Mesozoic Tethys Ocean that was interposed between palaeo-Europe and palaeo-Adria continental plates. The orogeny has intensely reworked oceanic rocks into metaophiolites with various metamorphic imprints. In Western Alps, continental-derived units are distributed within two paired bands: An inner band where subduction-related high-pressure (HP) ...