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Metamorphic History of the Larsemann Hills Area

Entry ID: ASAC_105

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Summary

Abstract: Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 105
See the link below for public details on this project.

From the abstracts of some of the referenced papers:

Calc-silicate granulites from the Bolingen Islands, Prydz Bay, East Antarctica, exhibit a sequence of reaction textures that have been used to elucidate their retrograde P-T path. The highest temperature recorded ... in the calc-silicates is represented by the wollastonite- and scapolite-bearing assemblages which yield at least 760 degrees C at 6 kbar based on experimental results. The calc-silicates have partially re-equilibrated at lower temperatures (down to 450 degrees C) as evidenced by the successive reactions: (1) wollastonite + scapolite + calcite = garnet + CO2, (2) wollastonite + CO2 = calcite + quartz, (3) wollastonite + plagioclase = garnet + quartz, (4) scapolite + plagioclase + clacite + quartz, (5) garnet + CO2 + H2O = epidote + calcite + quartz, and (6) clinopyroxene + CO2 + H2O = tremolite + calcite + quartz. The reaction sequence observed indicates that alpha CO2 was relatively low in the wollastonite-bearing rocks during peak metamorphic conditions, and may have been further lowered by local infiltration of H2O from the surrounding migmatitic gneisses on cooling. Fluid activities in the Bolingen calc-silicates were probably locally variable during the granulite facies metamorphism, and large-scale CO2 advesction did not occur. A retrograde P-T path, from the sillimanite stability field (c. 760 degrees C at 6 kbar) into the andalusite stability field (c. 450 degrees C at ~3 kbar), is suggested by the occurrence of secondary andalusite in an adjacent cordierite-sillimanite gneiss in which sillimanite occurs as inclusions in cordierite.

High-grade gneiss in the northern Prince Charles Mountains, East Antarctica, has a complex intrusive and deformational history. Outcrop is dominated by homogenous felsic orthogneiss, which encloses boudinaged mafic and ultramafic units. These boudins preserve structures not seen in the host gneiss, and are interpreted as transposed and boudinaged dykes. A sedimentary protolith is inferred for less homogenous felsic gneiss interlayered with semi-pelite, calc-silicate and rare pelite. These basement lithologies were deformed into a series of flat-lying structures consistent with progressive horizontal shear, and then into a series of upright structures culminating in the development of regional synforms, antiforms and monoclines separated by zones of intense upright fabric. The D3 to D6 time interval was associated with several episodes of partial melting which produced discordant leucogneissbodies, and with the emplacement of mafic dykes and charnockite plutons correlated with 950 to 1000 Ma charnockite elsewhere in East Antarctica. The stability of granulite assemblages throughout the D3 to D6 interval is attributed to a widespread 1000 Ma metamorphic event. Thermobarometry of garnet-orthopyroxene-plagioclase-quartz gneiss and pelite yield peak conditions of 700-800 degrees C and 0.6-0.7 GPa for this proterozoic metamorphism. Petrogenetic grid constraints on calc-silicate assemblages indicate peak temperatures of 830 degrees C, suggesting that the lower temperatures derived by thermometry have been reset. Mineral assemblages in interlayered felsic and calc-silicate units imply H2O-rich conditions during prograde metamorphism, but indicate that peak metamorphism was fluid absent, or associated with volatile fluid buffering on a local scale. Calc-silicate reaction textures reflect a retrograde evolution dominated by cooling, which is supported by mineral zonation trends in the garnet-orthopyroxene- plagioclase-quartz gneiss. Post-D6 intrusive and deformational events reflect a decrease in grade to greenschist facies and a transition from ductile to brittle deformation between 950 and 500 Ma.

Mafic garnet-bearing assemblages from Sostrene Island, 150 km southwest of Davis Station on the coast of Prydz Bay, East Antarctica, exhibit two-stage symplectic coronas on garnet, formed after peak metamorphic conditions. An outer corona of Opx + Pl + minor Hbl mantles a finer-grained inner corona of Opx + Pl + Spl. Both symplectites contain minor ilemenite-magnetite intergrowths. The finer-grained symplectite also occurs along a fracture cleavage in the garnet. The outer corona originated during a second metamorphic event via the reaction Grt + Cpx + SiO2 = Opx + Pl, whereas the inner corona formed later in response to decompression and minor deformation, resulting in the fracture cleavage in the garnet, according to the reaction required for the stoichiometric breakdown by reaction. The mafic rocks are silica undersaturated, and the SiO2 for reaction was most probably derived externally from the surrounding felsic gneisses. Preferred P-T estimated for M1 based on garnet core matrix Opx-Cpx-Hbl pairs are c. 10 kbar at 980 degrees C. The fine-grained symplectite formed post-peak M2 at c. 7 kbar and 850 degrees C. The enclosing felsic gneisses yield pressure estimates of between 5 and 7 kbar, which compare with conditions of c. 6 kbar and 775 degrees C in the nearby Bolingen Islands. These lower P-T estimates are considered to be representative of the widespread 1100-Ma metamorphic event recognised in outcrops along the Prydz Bay coast. The high-P, high-T estimates derived from the garnet relics provide evidence for an earlier, possibly Archaean, high-grade metamorphic event.

Related URL

Link: VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE

Description: Public information for ASAC project 105

Geographic Coverage

(Click for Interactive Map)

Spatial coordinates

N: -67.0

S: -73.0

E: 70.0

W: 62.0

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 1987-09-30

Stop Date: 1995-03-31

Location Keywords

CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA

GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

Science Keywords

SOLID EARTH > ROCKS/MINERALS/CRYSTALS > AGE DETERMINATIONS

SOLID EARTH > ROCKS/MINERALS/CRYSTALS > METAMORPHIC ROCKS

ISO Topic Category

GEOSCIENTIFIC INFORMATION

Quality Dates and latitudes and longitudes provided in temporal and spatial coverage are approximate only.

Access Constraints PDF copies of some of the referenced papers are available for download from the provided URL.

Use Constraints This data set conforms to the PICCCBY Attribution License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference at the provided URL when using these data.

Ancillary Keywords

ANTARCTICA

BOLINGEN ISLANDS

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Data Center

Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia

Data Center URL: http://data.aad.gov.au

Data Center Personnel
Name: DATA OFFICER AADC Phone: +61 3 6232 3244 Fax: +61 3 6232 3351 Email: metadata at aad.gov.au Contact Address: Australian Antarctic Division 203 Channel Highway City: Kingston Province or State: Tasmania Postal Code: 7050 Country: Australia

Distribution

Distribution Media: HTTP

Distribution Size: 21,637 kb

Distribution Format: PDF

Fees: free

Personnel

BASTIAAN HENSEN

Role: INVESTIGATOR

Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT

Phone: +61 2 9697 4272

Fax: +61 2 9313 8883

Email: B.Hensen at unsw.edu.au

Contact Address:

DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED GEOLOGY

PO BOX 1

University Of New South Wales

City: KENSINGTON

Province or State: New South Wales

Postal Code: 2033

Country: Australia

DAVE CONNELL

Role: DIF AUTHOR

Phone: +61 3 6232 3244

Fax: +61 3 6232 3351

Email: dave.connell at aad.gov.au

Contact Address:

Australian Antarctic Division

203 Channel Highway

City: Kingston

Province or State: Tasmania

Postal Code: 7050

Country: Australia

Publications/References

Thost D., Hensen B., Motoyoshi Y. (1991) Two-stage decompression in garnet-bearing mafic granulites from Sostrene Island, Prydz Bay, East Antarctica. Journal of Metamorphic Geology 9. 245-256

Hensen B., Motoyoshi Y. (1988) Sapphirine-quartz-orthopyroxene symplectites after cordierite in granulites from the Napier complex, Antarctica. Terra Cognita 8. 247

Motoyoshi Y., ... Hensen B. (1989) Sapphirine-quartz-orthopyroxene symplectites after cordierite from the Napier Complex, Antarctica: Evidence for a counter clockwise P-T path. European Journal of Minerology 1. 467

Motoyoshi Y., Hensen B., Matsueda H. (1990) Metastable growth of corundum adjacent to quartz in a spinel-bearing quartzite from the Napier complex, Antarctica. Journal of Metamorphic Geology 8. 125

Fitzsimons I.C.W., Thost D.E. (1992) Geological relationships in high-grade basement gneiss of the northern Prince Charles Mountains, East Antarctica. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 39. 173-193

Motoyoshi Y., Thost D.E., Hensen B.J. (1991) Reaction textures in calc-silicate granulites from the Bolingen Islands, Prydz Bay, East Antarctica: implications for the retrograde P-T path. Journal of Metamorphic Geology 9. 293-300

Motoyoshi Y., Hensen B.J., Arima M. (1993) Experimental study of the high pressure stability of osumilite in the system K2O-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2. European Journal of Mineralogy 5. 439

Thost D.E., Hensen B.J., Motoyoshi Y. (1994) The geology of a rapidly uplifted medium and low pressure granulite facies terrane of Pan-African Age: the Bolingen Islands, Prydz Bay, Eastern Antarctica. Petrology 2. 293-316

Hensen B.J., Zhou B., Thost D.E. (1995) Are reaction textures reliable guides to metamorphic histories? Timing constraints from garnet Sm-Nd chronology for 'decompression' textures in granulites from Sostrene Island, Prydz Bay, Antarctica. Geological Journal 30. 261-271

Grew E.S., McGee J.J., Yates M.G., Peacor D.R., Rouse R.C., Huijsmans J.P.P., Shearer C.K., Wiedenbeck M., Thost D.E., Su S.C. (1998) Boralsilite (Al16B6Si2O37): A new mineral related to sillimanite from pegmatites in granulite-facies rocks. American Mineralogist 83. 638-651

Hensen B.J., Zhou B., Thost D.E. (1993) New age constraints for polycyclic, Proterozoic and Palaeozoic, metamorphic events in granulites from Prydz Bay and Northern Prince Charles Mountains areas, eastern Antarctica. CSIRO Technical Report 131-135

Thost D.E., Motoyoshi Y., Hensen B.J. (1992) Mode of occurrence, geochemistry and mineral textures of mafic to ultramafic rocks from the Bolingen Islands, Prydz Bay, East Antarctica. Yoshida Y. Recent Progress in Antarctic Earth Science 113-118

Hensen B.J., Motoyoshi Y. (1992) Osumilite-producing reactions in high temperature granulites from the Napier Complex, East Antarctica: Tectonic implications. Recent Progress in Antarctic Earth Science 87

Thost D.E. (1992) The Geologic Histories of Two Areas in East Antarctica: The Bolingen Islands, South-Eastern Prydz Bay and The Porthos Range, Northern Prince Charles Mountains PhD thesis

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2000-07-18

Last DIF Revision Date: 2010-07-20

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