Arclogites and their role in continental evolution; Part 1: Background,
locations, petrography, geochemistry, chronology and thermobarometry
Abstract
Arclogites, or clinopyroxene-, garnet-, amphibole-, and Fe-Ti
oxide-bearing cumulates and restites (collectively representing
residues) to andesitic continental arc magmas, are reviewed here and in
a companion paper (Ducea et al., 2020). Experimental petrology and
petrologic observations suggest that these eclogite facies rocks form
magmatically in deep crustal hot zones beneath arcs with crustal
thicknesses exceeding 35-40 km. Volcanic and plutonic products of
thinner arcs may instead be entirely extracted from amphibolite to
granulite facies and garnet-free pyroxenite residues. Arclogites are
perhaps best known as xenoliths, with notable examples from young
(Sierra Nevada and Central Arizona) and modern (Colombia) sub-arc
environments. We suspect that arclogite occurs more commonly than
currently recognized in the xenolith record from orogenic and cratonic
domains. Arclogite is also found as discrete intervals in the deepest
exposures of the Kohistan arc and as small volume inclusions in
tectonically exposed peridotite massifs (e.g., Beni Bousera, Morocco).
Geochemically, these rocks are low silica (SiO2 < 50%)
assemblages with low Nb/Ta and Sr/Y ratios and enrichments in heavy REEs
such that they represent the complement to the andesitic-dacitic liquids
that make up the surface volcanics and batholiths of most arcs.
Virtually all rock-forming minerals in arclogites are of similar or
greater density than the underlying mantle, making them ideal candidates
for foundering. Arclogites are formed in the lowermost crust of arcs at
35-70 km depth and record high temperatures (~800-1000
0C) at the time of formation which then cool and metamorphose at
~650-750 0C if they remain attached to the crust for an
extended period of time. Ages of these rocks are obtainable by Sm-Nd and
Lu-Hf garnet isochron geochronology as well as titanite or rutile U-Pb
geochronology, although these ages can be reset through long-term
storage in hot lower crustal environments. Recent discovery of zircon
accessory minerals in arclogites makes these rocks datable with greater
precision and greater chance of preserving crystallization ages by U-Pb
chronology.