P-T evolotion and High-temperature deformation of Precambrian eclogite, Sveconorwegian orogen

Abstract: The 1.1-0.9 Ga Sveconorwegian orogen is one of several Grenvillian-aged orogenic belts that mark the amalgamation of supercontinent Rodinia. The highest-pressure rocks in the Sveconorwegian orogen are eclogites in the Eastern Segment (SW Sweden). The eclogites occur in a nappe in the high-grade metamorphic level of the Eastern Segment that represents a window into the deepest part of this Precambrian mountain belt. The aim of this thesis is to reconstruct the metamorphic history of the eclogite-bearing nappe by characterizating the deformation associated with exhumation (Paper I) and by reconstructing the P–T evolution (pressure and temperature; papers II and III).Paper I focuses on the deformation structures in the basal shear zone of the eclogite-bearing nappe. These structures developed during exhumation at high-temperature conditions. Top-to-the-east shear and east-directed flow produced intense folding, interpreted as formed by a combination of simple and pure shear. The interplay of shearing, folding, and melt localization lead to localized shear, high-temperature brittle fracturing, and the formation of high-temperature chevron folds in high-strain zones.Paper II retraces the metamorphic evolution of the eclogite-bearing nappe by thermodynamic modelling (THERMOCALC©) and construction of P–T pseudosections for two different types of eclogite. One of the samples gave information on both the prograde and the retrograde paths, and an estimate of peak metamorphic conditions of 850–900 °C and ~18 kbar. The first stage of the prograde path, representing a medium P/T gradient, is recorded in the core of garnet grains. The second part of the prograde path and the retrograde path are both steep. The chemical growth zoning of garnet is preserved which, together with the shape of the P–T path, reflects short residence time at high temperatures.Paper III reports the results of two independent trace element thermometers, which are based on the Zr-contents in rutile and Ti-contents in quartz. The combination of these two methods confirmed the P–T evolution calculated in Paper II. In particular, Ti-in-quartz thermometry are in agreement with the pseudosection estimates at high temperatures, and the minerals appear unaffected by diffusional resetting. A pseudosection model, showing the changes in modal abundance of different phases along the P–T path, demonstrates that rutile grains in the matrix recrystallized from smaller-sized rutile grains, and that this process was simultaneous with the main dehydration reaction in the rock (continuous breakdown of hornblende and formation of clinopyroxene). This study illustrates that Zr-in-rutile and Ti-in-quartz thermometry cannot only robustly constrain a prograde evolution, but when combined with a pseudosection model can also yield information on recrystallization processes. In fact, the combination of these methods provides an unrivalled tool for petrologic interpretation.The data presented in this thesis testifies to westward tectonic burial of continental crust at ~65 km depth and 890 °C at a late stage of the Sveconorwegian orogenesis. The following foreland-directed tectonic exhumation of the eclogite-bearing nappe was associated with partial melting, ductile flow folding and shearing. The character of both prograde and retrograde P–T paths suggests rapid tectonic burial and exhumation consistent with collision at the end of the Sveconorwegian orogeny.