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Notes: Seven eclogite facies samples from lithologically different units which structurally underlie the Semail ophiolite were dated by the 40Ar/39Ar and Rb–Sr methods. Despite extensive efforts, phengite dated by the 40Ar/39Ar 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–phengite and whole-rock–phengite Rb–Sr isochrons for the same samples yielded ages of 78 ± 2 Ma. We therefore conclude that the eclogite facies rocks cooled through 500 °C at c. 78 ± 2 Ma, and that the 40Ar/39Ar dates can only constrain maximum ages due to the occurrence of excess Ar inhomogeneously distributed in different sites.Our new results lead us to conclude that high-pressure metamorphism of the Oman margin took place in the Late Cretaceous, contemporaneous with ophiolite emplacement. Previously published structural and petrological data lead us to suggest that this metamorphism resulted from intracontinental subduction and crustal thickening along a NE-dipping zone. Choking of this subduction zone followed by ductile thinning of a crustal mass wedged between deeply subducted continental material and overthrust shelf and slope units facilitated the exhumation of the eclogite facies rocks from depths of c. 50 km to 10–15 km within c. 10 Ma, and led to their juxtaposition against overlying lower grade rocks. Final exhumation of all high-pressure rocks was driven primarily by erosion and assisted by normal faulting in the upper plate.

Notes: Exposed cross-sections of the continental crust are a unique geological situation for crustal evolution studies, providing the possibility of deciphering the time relationships between magmatic and metamorphic events at all levels of the crust. In the cross-section of southern and northern Calabria, U–Pb, Rb–Sr and K–Ar mineral ages of granulite facies metapelitic migmatites, peraluminous granites and amphibolite facies upper crustal gneisses provide constraints on the late-Hercynian peak metamorphism and granitoid magmatism as well as on the post-metamorphic cooling. Monazite from upper crustal amphibolite facies paragneisses from southern Calabria yields similar U–Pb ages (295–293±4 Ma) to those of granulite facies metamorphism in the lower crust and of intrusions of calcalkaline and metaluminous granitoids in the middle crust (300±10 Ma). Monazite and xenotime from peraluminous granites in the middle to upper crust of the same crustal section provide slightly older intrusion ages of 303–302±0.6 Ma. Zircon from a mafic to intermediate sill in the lower crust yields a lower concordia intercept age of 290±2 Ma, which may be interpreted as the minimum age for metamorphism or intrusion. U–Pb monazite ages from granulite facies migmatites and peraluminous granites of the lower and middle crust from northern Calabria (Sila) also point to a near-synchronism of peak metamorphism and intrusion at 304–300±0.4 Ma. At the end of the granulite facies metamorphism, the lower crustal rocks were uplifted into mid-crustal levels (10–15 km) followed by nearly isobaric slow cooling (c. 3 °C Ma−1) as indicated by muscovite and biotite K–Ar and Rb–Sr data between 210±4 and 123±1 Ma. The thermal history is therefore similar to that of the lower crust of southern Calabria. In combination with previous petrological studies addressing metamorphic textures and P–T  conditions of rocks from all crustal levels, the new geochronological results are used to suggest that the thermal evolution and heat distribution in the Calabrian crust were mainly controlled by advective heat input through magmatic intrusions into all crustal levels during the late-Hercynian orogeny.

Notes: Abstract Metagreywackes in the Eastern Belt of the Franciscan Complex contain the assemblage: Qtz + Ab + Lws + Chl + Ph + Pmp + Fgl + Hem ° Cal/Arg or compatible subassemblages. Blue amphibole first appears in the westernmost part of the belt and pumpellyite is absent in the eastern part. The compositions of the coexisting minerals and the nature of the continuous reactions in these low-grade blueschists suggest that the distribution of blue amphibole and pumpellyite in the Eastern Belt of the Franciscan Complex reflects differences of effective bulk composition rather than differences in physical conditions of metamorphism. In rocks lacking pumpellyite, white mica may be essential to the growth of blue amphibole, but carbonate plays only a limited role. The continuous reaction that limits the appearance of blue amphibole and the disappearance of coexisting pumpellyite has the general form: Pmp + Chl + Ab + Qtz + Hem + H2O + FeMg-1= Fgl + Lws. This reaction requires significant hydration as pressure increases in order to produce blue amphibole. Most of the Eastern Belt of the Franciscan Complex formed in limited ranges of temperature and pressure, which are estimated to be 240—280° C, 6.5-7.5 kbar. Pressures in the westernmost part of the area were about 1 kbar lower than in the east. Pressures of about 8.5-10 kbar are estimated for tectonic blocks that contain sodic clinopyroxene.

Notes: In the Orlica-Śnieżnik complex at the NE margin of the Bohemian Massif, high-pressure granulites occur as isolated lenses within partially migmatized orthogneisses. Sm–Nd (different grain-size fractions of garnet, clinopyroxene and/or whole rock) and U–Pb [isotope dilution-thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS) single grain and sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP)] ages for granulites, collected in the surroundings of Červený Důl (Czech Republic) and at Stary Gierałtów (Poland), constrain the temporal evolution of these rocks during the Variscan orogeny. Most of the new ages cluster at c. 350–340 Ma and are consistent with results previously reported for similar occurrences throughout the Bohemian Massif. This interval is generally interpreted to constrain the time of high-pressure metamorphism. A more complex evolution is recorded for a mafic granulite from Stary Gierałtów and concerns the unknown duration of metamorphism (single, short-lived metamorphic cycle or different episodes that are significantly separated in time?). The central grain parts of zircon from this sample yielded a large spread in apparent 206Pb/238U SHRIMP ages (c. 462–322 Ma) with a distinct cluster at c. 365 Ma. This spread is interpreted to be indicative for variable Pb-loss that affected magmatic protolith zircon during high-grade metamorphism. The initiating mechanism and the time of Pb-loss has yet to be resolved. A connection to high-pressure metamorphism at c. 350–340 Ma is a reasonable explanation, but this relationship is far from straightforward. An alternative interpretation suggests that resetting is related to a high-temperature event (not necessarily in the granulite facies and/or at high pressures) around 370–360 Ma, that has previously gone unnoticed. This study indicates that caution is warranted in interpreting U–Pb zircon data of HT rocks, because isotopic rejuvenation may lead to erroneous conclusions.

Notes: In the lower main unit of the Attic-Cycladic crystalline belt (Greece), white mica geochronology (Rb–Sr, K–Ar, 40Ar–39Ar) has established the timing of at least two metamorphic events: well-preserved high-pressure/low-temperature (HP/LT) rocks yielded Eocene ages (c. 53–40 Ma) and their greenschist facies counterparts provided Oligocene–Miocene dates (c. 25–18 Ma). Marbles from Tinos Island contain high-Si phengite with Rb–Sr (phengite–calcite) and 40Ar–39Ar white mica ages between 41 and 24 Ma. All Ar age spectra are disturbed and 40Ar–39Ar total fusion ages generally are 3–6 Ma older than corresponding Rb–Sr ages. Due to the polymetamorphic history, we consider inheritance from the HP stage as the most likely cause for the complex Ar age spectra and the older 40Ar–39Ar dates. This concept also suggests that the Rb–Sr system is more sensitive to modification during overprinting than the Ar isotope system, because resetting of the Sr isotope system can be accomplished more quickly by Sr exchange with other Ca-rich phases, whereas lack of pervasive deformation and/or restricted availability of synmetamorphic fluids has favoured partial inheritance of the Ar isotope system. On Tinos, the lowermost part of the metamorphic succession has experienced a pervasive greenschist facies overprint. Si-rich phengite from marbles representing this lithostratigraphic level yielded Rb–Sr ages of c. 24 Ma. If the earlier metamorphic history is not taken into account, such data sets may lead to the erroneous conclusion of Miocene HP metamorphism. This study indicates that this phengite experienced pervasive rejuvenation of the Rb–Sr isotope system during overprinting, without significant changes in Si content, due to bulk-compositional constraints. This leads to the conclusion that in the absence of critical mineral assemblages the Si value of phengite is not a reliable indicator for metamorphic pressures in impure marbles. Recent studies have reported large displacements (〉100 km) for detachment faults in the Aegean Sea. A critical parameter for such models is the age of HP metamorphism as deduced from white mica dating in the basal units of the Cyclades. We question the underlying idea of Miocene HP metamorphism and suggest, instead, that this age constrains the timing of the greenschist facies overprint and that the existence of mega-detachments in the study area requires further investigation.

Notes: Abstract Petrological, oxygen isotope and 40Ar/39Ar studies were used to constrain the Tertiary metamorphic evolution of the lower tectonic unit of the Cyclades on Tinos. Polyphase high-pressure metamorphism reached pressures in excess of 15 kbar, based on measurements of the Si content in potassic white mica. Temperatures of 450–500° C at the thermal peak of high-pressure metamorphism were estimated from critical metamorphic assemblages, the validity of which is confirmed by a quartz–magnetite oxygen isotope temperature of 470° C. Some 40Ar/39Ar spectra of white mica give plateau ages of 44–40 Ma that are considered to represent dynamic recrystallization under peak or slightly post-peak high-pressure metamorphic conditions. Early stages in the prograde high-pressure evolution may be documented by older apparent ages in the high-temperature steps of some spectra.Eclogite to epidote blueschist facies mineralogies were partially or totally replaced by retrograde greenschist facies assemblages during exhumation. Oxygen isotope thermometry of four quartz–magnetite pairs from greenschist samples gives temperatures of 440–470° C which cannot be distinguished from those deduced for the high-pressure event. The exhumation and overprint is documented by decreasing ages of 32–28 Ma in some greenschists and late-stage blueschist rocks, and ages of 30–20 Ma in the lower temperature steps of the Ar release patterns of blueschist micas. Almost flat parts of Ar–Ar release spectra of some greenschist micas gave ages of 23–21 Ma which are assumed to represent incomplete resetting caused by a renewed prograde phase of greenschist metamorphism.Oxygen isotope compositions of blueschist and greenschist facies minerals show no evidence for the infiltration of a δ18O-enriched fluid. Rather, the compositions indicate that fluid to rock ratios were very low, the isotopic compositions being primarily controlled by those of the protolith rocks. We assume that the fundamental control catalysing the transformation of blueschists into greenschists and the associated resetting of their isotopic systems was the selective infiltration of metamorphic fluid. A quartz–magnetite sample from a contact metamorphic skarn, taken near the Miocene monzogranite of Tinos, gave an oxygen isotope temperature of 555° C and calculated water composition of 9.1%. The value of δ18O obtained from this water is consistent with a primary magmatic fluid, but is lower than that of fluids associated with the greenschist overprint, which indicates that the latter event cannot be directly related to the monozogranite intrusion.

Notes: Summary In order to shed some light on the timing of metamorphic and deformational processes operating during the late stages of exhumation in the Attic-Cycladic Crystalline Belt, the contact metamorphism around Miocene granitoids was studied on Tinos. Based on the occurrence of biotite, plagioclase, diopside and scapolite, four mineral zones were mapped in the thermally overprinted area. An attempt was made to constrain relative temperature variations across the contact aureole by application of tourmaline-biotite geothermometry. While part of the calculated temperatures are broadly in accordance with the mapped mineral isograds of the aureole, temperatures far too low were obtained for certain areas. The latter may be explained by retrograde cation exchange in biotite and refractory behaviour of tourmaline but may also be attributed to systematic shortcomings of this method. New petrological and isotopic data suggest that samples from the outer aureole mostly consist of regional metamorphic phengite with ages unaffected by the thermal overprint. This renders phengite dating unsuitable to determine timing of the contact metamorphism. The hypothesis of cryptic contact metamorphic effects on the radiogenic isotope systems of white mica outside the mapped contact aureole could not be substantiated. Reliable age information for this event is provided by biotite, because most of this phase formed during contact metamorphism and inherited components only cause minimal error on the ages. In the eastern aureole, the thermal overprint is dated at about 14 Ma, corresponding to previously published geochronological results for the granitoids. Younger biotite ages of samples from the western aureole (8–10 Ma) possibly date deformation that affected the marginal parts of the main intrusion. Alternatively, the younger ages may indicate a different cooling history in this part of the contact aureole, caused by an undated magmatic pulse within a composite pluton. The Sr isotope characteristics of regional and contact metamorphic metabasic rocks cannot be distinguished. Thus, the intrusion-related infiltration of large amounts of fluids having a 87Sr/86Sr ratio different from the country rocks can be ruled out.