Low- and Very-Low-Grade Metamorphism: From Minerals and Isotopic Characterization to Tectonic Implication

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Geochemistry and Geochronology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 2414

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Interests: thermobarometry; geochronology; metamorphic petrology; mineral chemistry; geological mapping; tectonics; structural analysis; regional geology; stratigraphy
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Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell’Ambiente e della Vita, University of Genova, 16132 Genova, Italy
Interests: geological mapping; structural geology; tectonics of orogenic areas; geochronology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The study of orogenic belts involves the characterization of different tectonic units both from a stratigraphic and tectono-metamorphic point of view. High-temperature (HT)–high-pressure (HP) metamorphic units have been studied in detail for many decades, and therefore, their peak PT conditions, acquired during the processes of subduction and collision, have been defined with good approximation. Only in much more recent times and thanks to technological progress has the PTt evolution of low-grade units involved in the subduction and collision processes received growing attention.

Metamorphic rocks recording LT-blueschist and -greenschist conditions, together with rocks affected by late-orogenic (hydrothermal) fluid circulation, are still a challenging research topic because of a frequent lack of equilibrium of metamorphic reactions, small-scale minerals, and frequent mineralogical/geochemical inheritance from protoliths. Thanks to advances in methods based on mineral chemistry (new geothermometers and geobarometers), isotopic dating, and fluid inclusions studies—just to cite some—it is possible to more precisely define the tectono-metamorphic history of tectonic units characterized by low-grade to very-low-grade metamorphism that crop up in the orogenic chains.

This Special Issue aims to collect original research and reviews focused on the study and definition of low-to very-low-grade metamorphic units (PT conditions, age, PTdt trajectories, etc.) to decipher the processes activated in the medium-shallow crustal levels during all tectonic stages of an orogeny. We therefore welcome minero-petrographical, geochemical, and geochronological studies that also fit their results within the tectonic framework and contribute to enriching the knowledge of tectonic evolution.

Dr. Maria Di Rosa
Dr. Laura Federico
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • mineral chemistry
  • geochronology
  • low-grade metamorphism
  • application of geothermometers and geobarometers
  • thermodynamic modeling

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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22 pages, 7776 KiB  
Article
Insights into the Subduction of the Ligure-Piemontese Oceanic Basin: New Constraints from the Metamorphism in the Internal Ligurian Units (Northern Apennines, Italy)
by Edoardo Sanità, Maria Di Rosa, Michele Marroni, Francesca Meneghini and Luca Pandolfi
Minerals 2024, 14(1), 64; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14010064 - 4 Jan 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1956
Abstract
In the Northern Apennines, the Internal Ligurian Units are considered deformed and metamorphosed fragments of the Ligure-Piemontese oceanic basin. In this paper, we report on the temperature and pressure conditions of the metamorphic peak for four Internal Ligurian Units, estimated using different geothermometers [...] Read more.
In the Northern Apennines, the Internal Ligurian Units are considered deformed and metamorphosed fragments of the Ligure-Piemontese oceanic basin. In this paper, we report on the temperature and pressure conditions of the metamorphic peak for four Internal Ligurian Units, estimated using different geothermometers and geobarometers based on the white mica and chlorite compositions. These minerals were formed during the D1 deformation phase in the pre-Oligocene. The results indicate that the Portello and Gottero units are both characterized by metamorphic conditions pertaining to low blueschists facies, while the Colli-Tavarone and Bracco-Val Graveglia Units show a lower metamorphic imprint that produces assemblages of prehnite-pumpellyite facies. The estimated geothermal gradient for the metamorphic peak achieved by the analyzed Internal Ligurian Units during the D1 phase is 7–15 °C/Km, which is indicative of deformation in a subduction setting. Under these conditions, the D1 phase developed in these units as a result of underplating at the base of the accretionary wedge during the closure of the Ligure-Piemontese basin. These data indicate a close geodynamic correlation among the Internal Ligurian Units and the ophiolite-bearing units of the Alps. Full article
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