Carbonate-bearing UHPM rocks from the Tso-Morari region Ladakh, India: Petrological implications

Barun K. Mukherjee, Himanshu K. Sachan*, Yoshihide Ogasawara, Atsumi Muko, Nobuhiro Yoshioka

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    83 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Evidence of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism (UHPM) of subducted Indian continental crust in the form of carbonate-bearing coesite eclogite is preserved in the Tso-Morari Crystalline Complex (TMC) in eastern Ladakh, India. These eclogites, which occur as boudins in kyanite/sillimanite-grade rocks of the Puga Formation, contain essential mineral assemblages (garnet, clinopyroxene-omphacite, phengite, rutile, epidote-zoisite/clinozoisite and quartz), as well as coesite, talc. kyanite, magnesite, aragonite, dolomite, and Mg-calcite. Coesite, magnesite, and dolomite occur as inclusions in zoned garnet. The carbonate-bearing coesite eclogite underwent three stages of metamorphism-prograde, peak, and retrograde. The prograde assemblage is characterized by the presence of magnesite and a SiO2 polymorph, which is stable throughout the metamorphic process from the prograde to retrograde stage. At ultrahigh-pressure (27 kbar) and a temperature of 650°C, quartz transforms to coesite. Peak metamorphism was characterized by the development of coesite in garnet coexisting with high-Si phengite, clinopyroxene, magnesite, aragonite, dolomite, zoisite/clinozoisite, kyanite, and talc at a pressure of >39 kbar and temperature of >750°C. This is in good agreement with the estimated peak pressure and temperature judging from the composition of phengite, jadeite barometry, and garnet-clinopyroxene, garnet-phengite thermometry. Enstatite formed with talc and kyanite at a pressure of >31 kbar and temperature of 75O°C. With a subsequent decrease in pressure, retrogression is constrained by the development of chlorite and chloritoid, which surround the garnet at a minimum pressure of 4-5 kbar and temperature of <500°C. Mineral assemblages in the carbonate-bearing coesite eclogite reveal that prograde metamorphism started with greenschist-facies conditions and reached the ultrahigh-pressure eclogite facies, passing through the intermediate blueschist facies. During UHP metamorphism, pressure abruptly doubled with a slight change of temperature, defining a geothermal gradient of 6-7°C/km. The UHP material was brought back to the surface along a path by rapid and almost isothermal exhumation.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)49-69
    Number of pages21
    JournalInternational Geology Review
    Volume45
    Issue number1
    Publication statusPublished - 2003 Jan

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Geology

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