Petrology and Geochemistry of the lawsonite (pseudomorph)-bearing eclogite in Yuka terrane, North Qaidam UHPM belt: An eclogite facies metamorphosed oceanic slice

Abstract Although lawsonite eclogite is predicted to be common at depth of ~ 45–300 km in subduction zones, it is rarely exposed at Earth's surface. In this study, we identified a lawsonite (pseudomorph)-bearing eclogite in Yuka terrane, North Qaidam UHPM belt. It is mainly composed of garnet, amphibole, clinozoisite, quartz and rutile with minor omphacite relics and talc. Petrographic investigation identified abundant rectangular- or rhombic- shaped mineral aggregates composed of polycrystalline clinozoisite or polyphase clinozoisite + paragonite ± phengite ± quartz and clinozoisite + amphibole ± quartz ± Na-rich plagioclase occurring in garnet porphyroblasts. The peculiar shape, mineral assemblages and reconstructed compositions of these aggregates show that they are pseudomorphs after lawsonite. Phase equilibrium modeling predicts that the lawsonite (pseudomorph)-bearing eclogite experienced a clockwise P–T evolution with a peak stage at 570 °C, 27 kbar, near the quartz–coesite transition boundary. Geochemical data show that the lawsonite (pseudomorph)-bearing eclogite has a MORB-like affinity with flat Chondrite–normalized rare earth element (REE) distribution patterns. Zircons from this sample have similar δ 18 O values (5.38 ± 0.10‰) with the normal mantle (5.3 ± 0.3‰), indicating that the protolith of the lawsonite (pseudomorph)-bearing eclogite is derived directly from mantle rock without continental crust contamination. The MORB-like character and zircon O isotopic composition of the lawsonite (pseudomorph)-bearing eclogite indicate that its protolith is likely to be an oceanic crustal slice. SIMS and LA–ICP–MS zircon U–Pb dating yielded a 436–438 Ma eclogite-facies metamorphic age for the lawsonite (pseudomorph)-bearing eclogite, similar to the continental subduction age of the North Qaidam UHPM belt, but did not obtain its protolith age. These data indicate that the protolith of the lawsonite (pseudomorph)-bearing eclogite may be either a piece of Proterozoic ocean that was emplaced in the active continental margin of the Qaidam block during the amalgamation of the Rodinia supercontinent, or the early Paleozoic oceanic crust in the transition zone between the Qilian Ocean and the Qaidam block.