Partial melting of deeply subducted eclogite from the Sulu orogen in China

Lu Wang (), Timothy M. Kusky, Ali Polat, Songjie Wang, Xingfu Jiang, Keqing Zong, Junpeng Wang, Hao Deng and Jianmin Fu
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Lu Wang: State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences Wuhan
Timothy M. Kusky: State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences Wuhan
Ali Polat: Center for Global Tectonics, China University of Geosciences Wuhan
Songjie Wang: Center for Global Tectonics, China University of Geosciences Wuhan
Xingfu Jiang: Center for Global Tectonics, China University of Geosciences Wuhan
Keqing Zong: State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences Wuhan
Junpeng Wang: Center for Global Tectonics, China University of Geosciences Wuhan
Hao Deng: Center for Global Tectonics, China University of Geosciences Wuhan
Jianmin Fu: Center for Global Tectonics, China University of Geosciences Wuhan

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract We report partial melting of an ultrahigh pressure eclogite in the Mesozoic Sulu orogen, China. Eclogitic migmatite shows successive stages of initial intragranular and grain boundary melt droplets, which grow into a three-dimensional interconnected intergranular network, then segregate and accumulate in pressure shadow areas and then merge to form melt channels and dikes that transport magma to higher in the lithosphere. Here we show, using zircon U–Pb dating and petrological analyses, that partial melting occurred at 228–219 Myr ago, shortly after peak metamorphism at 230 Myr ago. The melts and residues are complimentarily enriched and depleted in light rare earth element (LREE) compared with the original rock. Partial melting of deeply subducted eclogite is an important process in determining the rheological structure and mechanical behaviour of subducted lithosphere and its rapid exhumation, controlling the flow of deep lithospheric material, and for generation of melts from the upper mantle, potentially contributing to arc magmatism and growth of continental crust.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6604

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