Benjamin Huet

Coupled phengite 40Ar–39Ar geochronology and thermobarometry: P-T-t evolution of Andros Island (Cyclades, Greece)

Andros is a key island for understanding both the timing of high-pressure–low-temperature (HP-LT) metamorphism and the dynamics of crustal-scale detachment systems exhuming high-grade units in the Cyclades (Greece). Using phengite 40Ar–39Ar geochronology coupled with thermobarometry, as well as data from literature, we constrain the pressure–temperature–time (P-T-t) paths of the Makrotantalon and Attic–Cycladic Blueschist units on Andros. Peak conditions of the HP-LT episode in the Makrotantalon unit are 550 °C and 18.5 kbar, dated at 116 Ma. We correlate this episode with Early Cretaceous blueschist facies metamorphism recognized in the Pelagonian zone of continental Greece. This is a new argument favouring a Pelagonian origin for the Makrotantalon unit. In the Attic– Cycladic Blueschist unit, the P-T-t path is characterized by: (1) exhumation after peak conditions in HP-LT conditions between 55 and 35 Ma; (2) isobaric heating at 7 kbar until 30 Ma; and (3) isothermal decompression until 21 Ma. This thermal evolution and timing are similar to those of the neighbouring Tinos Island, emphasizing major thermal re-equilibration at the transition between stable and retreating subduction. Modifications of the crustal thermal state played a major role in the evolution of the North Cycladic Detachment System, below which Andros HP-LT units were exhumed.

The Minimized Power Geometric model: An analytical mixing model for calculating polyphase rock viscosities consistent with experimental data

Here we introduce the Minimized Power Geometric (MPG) model which predicts the viscosity of any polyphase rocks deformed during ductile flow. The volumetric fractions and power law parameters of the constituting phases are the only model inputs required. The model is based on a minimization of the mechanical power dissipated in the rock during deformation. In contrast to existing mixing models based on minimization, we use the Lagrange multipliers method and constraints of strain rate and stress geometric averaging. This allows us to determine analytical expressions for the polyphase rock viscosity, its power law parameters, and the partitioning of strain rate and stress between the phases. The power law bulk behavior is a consequence of our model and not an assumption. Comparison of model results with 15 published experimental data sets on two-phase aggregates shows that the MPG model reproduces accurately both experimental viscosities and creep parameters, even where large viscosity contrasts are present. In detail, the ratio between experimental and MPG-predicted viscosities averages 1.6. Deviations from the experimental values are likely to be due to microstructural processes (strain localization and coeval other deformation mechanisms) that are neglected by the model. Existing models that are not based on geometric averaging show a poorer fit with the experimental data. As long as the limitations of the mixing models are kept in mind, the MPG model offers great potential for applications in structural geology and numerical modeling.

Influence of high strain rate deformation on 40Ar/39Ar mica ages from marble mylonites (Syros, Greece)

Interpreting isotopic ages as deformation ages when they are acquired from moderate-temperature metamorphic environments can be a challenging task. Syros Island (Cyclades, Greece) is famous for Eocene high-pressure metamorphic rocks reworked by localized Miocene greenschist-facies deformation. In this work, we investigate phengites from coarse-grained marbles, which experienced the high-pressure event, and phengites from fine-grained localized marble shear zones attributed to the low-grade Miocene deformation. Based on structural criteria, both events can be easily discriminated because of their opposing kinematics. Laser-heating 40Ar/39Ar analysis on phengite yielded a 40 ± 1.6 Ma age for the host rock and a 37 ± 1.3 Ma age for the shear zone. Both ages are statistically indistinguishable, consistent with the regional Eocene event, and not the Miocene deformation event responsible for the formation of the shear zone. Thermodynamic modeling indicates that the observed high-variance mineral assemblage is stable without compositional change along the pressure-temperature path followed by the rocks of Syros. Although the marble within the shear zone was deformed at extremely fast strain rates (10−10 s–1), we observed no intracrystalline deformation of phengite grains and no resetting in the isotopic system, because strain was mostly accommodated by calcite. Consequently, a high strain rate does not necessarily create deformation ages in rocks with high-variance assemblages, such as marble mylonites.