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UHP metamorphism recorded by coesite-bearing metapelite in the East Kunlun Orogen (NW China)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2019

Hengzhe Bi ,
Shuguang Song Open the ORCID record for Shuguang Song [Opens in a new window] ,
Liming Yang ,
Mark B. Allen ,
Shengsheng Qi  and
Li Su
Hengzhe Bi
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belt and Crustal Evolution, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Shuguang Song*
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belt and Crustal Evolution, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Liming Yang
Affiliation:
MOE Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belt and Crustal Evolution, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Mark B. Allen
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
Shengsheng Qi
Affiliation:
Qinghai Bureau of Geological Survey, Xining 810012, China
Li Su
Affiliation:
Institute of Earth Science and State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
*
Author for correspondence: Shuguang Song, Email: sgsong@pku.edu.cn
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Abstract

The East Kunlun Orogen (EKO) is the NW part of the Central China Orogenic Belt, which records the evolutionary history of the Proto- and Palaeo-Tethys Oceans from the Cambrian to the Triassic. An Early Palaeozoic eclogite belt has been recognized in recent years, which extends discontinuously for ∼500 km as three eclogite-bearing terranes. In this study, we report an integrated study of zircon grains from mica-schists accompanying the eclogites, in terms of mineral inclusions, U–Pb age systematics and P–T conditions. The presence of coesite is identified, as inclusions within the metamorphic domain of zircons, which provides unambiguous evidence for subducted terrigenous clastic rocks of the Proto-Tethys Ocean exhumed from coesite-forming depths. U–Pb dating of the metamorphic zircons yields a concordia age of 426.5 ± 0.88 Ma, which is likely to be the time of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism in the Kehete terrane. P–T calculations suggest that metapelite may have experienced a clockwise P–T path with peak P/T conditions of 685 ± 41 °C and >28 kbar, and equilibrated at 482–566 °C and 5.6–8.9 kbar during subsequent exhumation. The high-pressure – ultrahigh-pressure (HP-UHP) metamorphic belt within the EKO may have formed by collision between the Qaidam Block and the South Kunlun Block, as a consequence of the closure of the Proto-Tethys Ocean.

Keywords

coesite inclusionsUHP metamorphismzircon U–Pb datingP–T pseudosectionProto-Tethys OceanEast Kunlun Orogen
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 157 , Issue 2 , February 2020 , pp. 160 - 172
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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