P-T-t evolution of ultrahigh-temperature granulites from the Saxon Granulite Massif, Germany. Part I: Petrology

Abstract

The granulites of the Saxon Granulite Massif equilibrated at high pressure and ultrahigh temperature and were exhumed in large part under near-isothermal decompression. This raises the question of whether P-T-t data on the peak metamorphism may still be retrieved with confidence. Felsic and mafic granulites with geochronologically useful major and accessory phases have provided a basis to relate P-T estimates with isotopic ages presented in a companion paper. The assemblage garnet + clinopyroxene in mafic granulite records peak temperatures of 1010-1060°C, consistent with minimum estimates of around 967°C and 22·3 kbar obtained from the assemblage garnet + kyanite + ternary feldspar + quartz in felsic granulite. Multiple partial overprint of these assemblages reflects a clockwise P-T evolution. Garnet and kyanite in the felsic granulite were successively overgrown by plagioclase, spinel + plagioclase, sapphirine + plagioclase, and biolite + plagioclase. Most of this overprinting occurred within the stability field of sillimanite. Garnet + clinopyroxene in the mafic granulite were replaced by clinopyroxene + amphibole + plagioclase + magnetite. The high P-T conditions and the absence of thermal relaxation features in these granulites require a short-lived metamorphism with rapid exhumation. The ages of peak metamorphism (342 Ma) and shallow-level granitoid intrusions (333 Ma) constrain the time span for the exhumation of the Saxon granulites to ~ 9 my.