Three high-grade tectonic blocks, including jadeite-bearing retrograded eclogite, pumpellyite-rich retrograded eclogite, and clinopyroxene-bearing garnetamphibolite, are newly described in the jadeitite-bearing New Idria serpentinite body. Petrologic analyses reveal two contrasting peak metamorphic stages—eclogite facies metamorphism (M \batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(_{1}^{E}\) \end{document} ) characterized by garnet + omphacite (∼48 mol% jadeite) + rutile ± epidote + quartz, and amphibolite-facies metamorphism (M \batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(_{1}^{A}\) \end{document} ) characterized by garnet + hornblende + augite (∼14 mol% jadeite) + rutile + quartz. Both peak metamorphic events are overprinted by very low -T blueschist-facies minerals (M 2), which include glaucophane, lawsonite, pumpellyite, jadeitite (up to 94 mol% jadeite), chlorite, and titanite. Garnet-clinopyroxene geothermometry yields T = ∼580–620 °C at P > 1.3 GPa for the M \batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(_{1}^{E}\) \end{document} stage and T = ∼630–680 °C at P = ∼0.8–1.0 GPa for the M \batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(_{1}^{A}\) \end{document} stage. The jadeite- and lawsonite-bearing phase equilibria constrain metamorphic conditions of P > 1.0 GPa at T = ∼250–300 °C for the M 2 stage that is probably synchronous with the formation of nearby jadeitite within serpentinite. The presence of eclogite blocks suggests that the New Idria serpentinite diapir was initiated at mantle depths. The wide range of P-T conditions of tectonic blocks supports the idea that the New Idria serpentinite diapir rose from mantle depths and enclosed tectonic blocks at various mantle-crustal levels during diapiric upwelling and extrusion.

New sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Pb zircon ages from eclogite and associated peridotite near Rongcheng, Sulu terrane, eastern China, indicate that eclogite within peridotite experienced Triassic metamorphism at the same time as the surrounding host gneiss. Cathodoluminescence (CL) images reveal that most of the zircons from two eclogites and one dunite have unzoned, homogeneous or slightly mottled patterns, typical of metamorphic zircons. Some zircons from eclogite sample CJ4C have distinct nonluminescent U-rich cores and luminescent U-poor rims, but similar ages were obtained from both domains. SHRIMP U-Pb zircon analyses of one dunite (MC5A) and two eclogites (CJ4A, 4C) yielded ages of 242 ± 8 Ma, 238 ± 3 Ma, and 232 ± 7 Ma, respectively, which are considered to be the peak metamorphic ages. A much younger age (218 ± 5 Ma) was obtained from eclogite CJ4D, but no petrological evidence for a retrograde event was found in this sample, and therefore this age is also considered to reflect eclogite-facies growth. Thus, new geochronological data confirm that these mantle-derived mafic-ultramafic bodies were emplaced into the subducting slab in the Triassic and experienced the ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism together with the adjacent supracrustal rocks.

Early Cretaceous lawsonite eclogites and related high-pressure rocks occur as tectonic inclusions within serpentinite mélange south of the Motagua fault zone, Guatemala. Petrologic and microtextural analyses of mafic high-pressure rocks reveal three metamorphic stages linked to several deformational textures. The prograde stage represents an incipient eclogitization and is preserved in prograde garnet, along with an older S 1 –S 2 foliation. The prograde assemblage is garnet (X Mg = ∼0.22) + omphacite (∼52 mol% jadeite) or jadeite (∼83 mol % jadeite) + lawsonite + chlorite + rutile + quartz ± phengite (3.6 Si p.f.u.); some rocks also have ilmenite and rare ferro-glaucophane. Lawsonite in garnet of some lawsonite eclogites contains rare pumpellyite inclusions. The presence of synmetamorphic brittle deformation, inclusions of pumpellyite, Fe 2+ -Mg distribution coefficients between omphacite inclusions and adjacent garnet with Ln(K D) = 2.7–4.5, and garnet-clinopyroxene-phengite thermobarometry suggest that eclogitization initiated at temperature (T) = ∼300 °C and pressure (P) > 1.1 GPa, and continued to T = ∼480 °C and P = ∼2.6 GPa. In contrast, the retrograde eclogite-facies assemblage is characterized by reversely zoned garnet rims and omphacite ± glaucophane + lawsonite + rutile + quartz ± phengite (3.5 Si p.f.u.) along the S 3 foliation. Garnet-phengite-clinopyroxene thermobarometry yields P = ∼1.8 GPa and T = ∼400 °C. The youngest, blueschist-facies assemblage (glauco-phane + lawsonite + chlorite + titanite + quartz ± phengite) locally replaces earlier mineral assemblages along S 4 crenulations. The inferred prograde P - T trajectory lies near a geotherm of ∼5 °C km −1 , comparable to the calculated thermal and petrologic structure of the NE Japan subduction zone. These petrologic characteristics indicate: (1) the basalt-eclogite transformation may occur at T = ∼300 °C in cold subduction zones, (2) glaucophane-bearing prograde assemblages are rare during incipient eclogitization in cold subduction zones, and (3) the chlorite-consuming reactions that form Fe-Mg-Mn garnet are more effective than the lawsonite-consuming reaction that forms a grossular component. At depths of ∼100 km in cold subduction zones, dehydration embrittlement may be caused by such chlorite-consuming reactions.

The Haiyangsuo area of the NE Sulu ultrahigh-pressure terrane, eastern China, consists of gneisses with minor granulite and amphibolite layers, metagabbros, and granitic dikes. The peak-stage assemblages of the granulites (garnet + orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + plagioclase ± pargasite ± biotite ± quartz) formed at >750 °C and 9–11 kbar and were overprinted by amphibolite-facies phases characterized by well-developed corona layers of | garnet | amphibolite + quartz | at contacts between plagioclase and clinopyroxene or orthopyroxene, as well as by the exsolution of (orthopyroxene + ilmenite + amphibole) from clinopyroxene. These textures indicate a near-isobaric cooling history of the granulite-bearing gneiss terrane. The metagabbro preserves a relict igneous assemblage (orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + plagioclase + pargasite ± ilmenite ± quartz) in its core, but in its margins has a metamorphic corona texture similar to the granulite that formed at ∼600–700 °C and 7–10 kbar. Sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Pb dating of zircons indicates that the protolith age of the garnetbiotite gneiss is older than 2500 Ma, whereas the granulite-facies metamorphism (the first regional metamorphic event) occurred at 1846 ± 26 Ma. Gabbro intrusion took place at 1734 ± 5 Ma, and the formation of amphibolite assemblages in both metagabbro and granulite occurred at ca. 340–370 Ma. Both gneiss and metagabbro were intruded by granitic dikes, with one dated at 158 ± 3 Ma. These data, together with a lack of eclogitic assemblages, suggest that this granulite-amphibolite–facies complex is exotic relative to the Triassic Sulu high-pressure–ultrahigh-pressure terrane; juxtaposition took place in Jurassic time.