Andrzej Muszyński

Blueschist-facies metamorphism in the Kaczawa Mountains (Sudetes, SW Poland) of the Central-European Variscides: P-T constraints from a jadeite-bearing metatrachyte

Abstract Sodic pyroxene is reported from an Ordovician metatrachyte of the Kaczawa Mountains, SW Poland. Its composition ranges from Jd0.98Ae0.02 to Jd0.15Ae0.85. Relict jadeite and phengite (up to 3.75 Si atoms per fomula unit) belong to the peak-pressure assemblage of an early HP-LT event. Later greenschist-facies stages are represented by riebeckite, biotite, chlorite, low-Si potassic white mica and actinolite. P-T pseudosections calculated for the range 200-450°C, 3-13 kbar allow evaluation of the conditions of formation of jadeite in the metatrachyte and derivaton of a P-T path. Considering the position of prograde, peak and retrograde metamorphic assemblages and respective mineral compositions, we can derive the following equilibration stages: 8.5±0.5 kbar, 270±20°C for the pressure maximum, 6.0±1.0 kbar, 310±20°C for the temperature maximum and 3.5±0.5 kbar, 280-20°C as well as <3.5 kbar, <280°C for the retrograde stages. The metamorphic gradient for the peak-pressure is estimated at ~10°C/km, which is typical of a subduction setting involving subducted continental crust, in particular of an exhumation channel within a collision zone of a microplate. Based on earlier structural observations, the ESE-oriented subduction in the NE Bohemian Massif was confined with WNW thrusting and followed by extension and ESE backward normal faulting during Devonian-Early Carboniferous times.

A Lower Palaeozoic shallow water sequence in the eastern European Variscides (SW Poland): provenance and depositional history

The Gackowa Formation of inferred Cambrian —Ordovician age is part of the metamorphosed pre-Variscan basement of the southern Kaczawa Mountains of the Sudetes region, south-west Poland. Previously variously interpreted as lavas, tuffs and sandstones, it is shown to consist of about 200 m of originally well-sorted siliclastic sedimentary rocks within a sequence of predominantly mafic volcanic rocks. Four facies have been distinguished based on relict sedimentary structures and textures and these suggest that deposition took place on a storm-dominated shelf, mostly above the wave base. The petrography, detrital zircon morphologies and geochemistry suggest affinity with, and derivation in large part from, acid volcanic rocks at a comparable stratigraphic position in a separate tectonostratigraphic unit to the south. The Gackowa Formation and its acid volcanic source rocks have a clear continental geochemical signature, in contrast with the mantle-derived basic/bimodal volcanic rocks below and above; it is suggested that the parent acid magma originated by crustal melting during the ascent of these mantle-derived magmas. A continental crust setting is inferred for the deposition of the Gackowa Formation sandstones, thus suggesting a continental setting for the associated within-plate basalts. The entire volcanic/sedimentary succession resembles elements of the Lower Palaeozoic of Germany, and all may have formed in an initial rift setting during Late Precambrian to Ordovician times.

Mantle rock exposures at oceanic core complexes along mid-ocean ridges

Abstract The mantle is the most voluminous part of the Earth. However, mantle petrologists usually have to rely on indirect geophysical methods or on material found ex situ. In this review paper, we point out the in-situ existence of oceanic core complexes (OCCs), which provide large exposures of mantle and lower crustal rocks on the seafloor on detachment fault footwalls at slow-spreading ridges. OCCs are a common structure in oceanic crust architecture of slow-spreading ridges. At least 172 OCCs have been identified so far and we can expect to discover hundreds of new OCCs as more detailed mapping takes place. Thirty-two of the thirty-nine OCCs that have been sampled to date contain peridotites. Moreover, peridotites dominate in the plutonic footwall of 77% of OCCs. Massive OCC peridotites come from the very top of the melting column beneath ocean ridges. They are typically spinel harzburgites and show 11.3–18.3% partial melting, generally representing a maximum degree of melting along a segment. Another key feature is the lower frequency of plagioclase-bearing peridotites in the mantle rocks and the lower abundance of plagioclase in the plagioclase-bearing peridotites in comparison to transform peridotites. The presence of plagioclase is usually linked to impregnation with late-stage melt. Based on the above, OCC peridotites away from segment ends and transforms can be treated as a new class of abyssal peridotites that differ from transform peridotites by a higher degree of partial melting and lower interaction with subsequent transient melt.

Thin crust and exposed mantle control sulfide differentiation in slow-spreading ridge magmas

16 Gabbroic veins enclosed in mantle peridotite from ocean core complexes next to 17 oceanic transform faults demonstrate sub-crustal crystallization of silicate minerals from 18 a MORB-like melt. Cooler lithosphere there may also affect sulfide crystallization and 19 the metal budget of the lower and upper crust but the related sulfide behavior is poorly 20 understood. Here, we use chalcophile elements to trace sulfide crystallization in a suite of 21 MORBs erupted at the Kane Megamullion south of the Kane Fracture Zone along the 22 Manuscript Click here to download Manuscript Revision_manuscript.docx

High-level volcanic-granodioritic intrusions from Zelezniak Hill (Kaczawa Mountains, Sudetes, SW Poland)

Abstract New petrological and geochemical data on high level (c. 2 km2) silicic lava domes and laccoliths from the Kaczawa Mountains, Sudetes, SW Poland, are presented. The system comprises a carapace facies of exposed ignimbrites and spherlulitic rhyolites. Recovered core (drilled to 55 m) includes volcanic rocks ranging in composition from andesite to rhyodacite, and a plutonic facies of microgranite and granodiorite. Country rocks (greenschist-facies metavolcanogenic rocks) are contact metamorphosed to hornfels and cut by kersantite veins and a pipe breccia of diatremic origin. New 206Pb-238U zircon mineral ages from the volcanic and granitic rocks yield ages of 315 to 316 Ma, making the Zelezniak Hill complex the oldest magmatic rocks so far dated in Avalonia.

Shock veins in the Sahara 02500 ordinary chondrite

Shock veins in the Sahara 02500 ordinary chondrite A specimen of the Sahara 02500 ordinary chondrite contains shock-produced veins consisting of recrystallised fine-grained pyroxenes that include small droplets of Ni-rich metal. Non-melted olivines and pyroxenes show planar deformations filled by shock-melted and -polluted metal and troilite. Shock-melted feldspathic glass is present close to the shock veins. Geothermometric estimations indicate that the meteorite locally experienced moderate shock metamorphism with a minimum local peak temperature above 1400°C, resulting in partial melting of Ca-poor pyroxene and full melting of feldspars, metal and sulphides. The mineral assemblage in the shock veins suggests a pressure during melt recrystallisation below 10 GPa.