Eclogites have been recently discovered in the Xitieshan area in the middlesegment of the northern margin of the Qaidam basin. These eclogites, together with those recognizedearlier in the Yuka area of the western segment of the northern margin of the Qaidam basin and inthe Dulan area of the eastern segment of the northern margin of the Qaidam basin, form an eclogitebelt with a length of 350 km. A comparison of the eclogites from the Yuka and Xitieshan areassuggests that they show different country rocks, microtextures, mineral assemblages, and especially,different peak temperatures, PT paths during decompression and isotopic features. Eclogites fromthe Yuka area bear evidence of prograde metamorphism, such as prograde mineral relics in garnet andgrowth zoning of garnet, and hairpin-shaped PT paths with coincidence of the baric and thermal peaksof metamorphism, which reflect rapid burial and uplift. Sm-Nd isotopic determination shows obviousSm-Nd disequilibrium, and no isochron ages of Early Paleozoic metamorphism was obtained. On thecontrary, the Xitieshan eclogite was subjected to metamorphism of higher eclogite-facies andpost-eclogite-facies temperatures, showing an obvious granulite-facies overprint. A tentative PTpath for the Xitieshan area suggests that the baric peak preceded the thermal culmination. Wholerock-garnet-omphacite Sm-Nd isotopic data give an isochron age in the Early Paleozoic. Thedifferences between the two eclogites imply their different tectonic-thermal history during theirburial and uplift.
Ultrahigh pressure (UHP) metamorphism refers to metamorphism that has occurred at pressures for the stability of coesite. The polycrystalline quartz inclusions showing the characteristic texture within garnets of eclogites indicates the pre-existence of coesites under the peak meta-morphic condition. The unusual exsolution textures in om-pacites and apatites, and the pressure estimations of phengite-bearing eclogites have been taken to provide further proof of eclogite formation under the UHP conditions. Combined with the fact that coesites have been observed in country rocks of eclogites in North Qaidam Mountains, another UHP metamorphic belt cut by the large-scale strike-slip fault in the Altun-North Qaidam area of China is confirmed.
Jianxin ZhangJingsui YangZhiqin XuFancong MengHaibing LiRendeng Shi
