Constraining Metamorphic and Tectonic Evolution in Convergent Terranes: How Trace Elements and Mineral Inclusions Shape Mechanical and Reconstructive Models

Conventional thermobarometry in metamorphic systems has been primarily limited to constraining peak temperature (or pressure) along a generalized P-T loop. This is largely attributed to the assumption that mineral assemblages and chemistries achieve a state closest to equilibrium with the maximum thermal (and therefore energetic) input at these peak conditions. However, this traditional approach is limited in providing much information about the evolution of a metamorphic terrane, which is modified by tectonic (kinematic) forces, fluid and component mobility, and heating duration.

The ubiquity of quartz in the continental crust has driven much interest in using the phase for thermobarometric purposes. In this dissertation, I discss the application of elastic theory in reconstructing conditions of inclusion encapsulation through inclusion pressure estimation with Raman spectroscopy. In some instances, overpressuring of quartz inclusions in garnet give evidence for high-pressure formation conditions. When analyses are collected from garnet core to rim, pressure paths along garnet growth can be inferred (if temperature can be reasonably estimated). In high-T, low-P terranes, quartz may become dilated if the inclusion adheres to the host. If a quartz inclusion is sufficiently stretched, transformation to a low-density polymorph may occur.

Trace element uptake, particularly Ti, have been characterized in quartz and understood to be the result of a temperature- (and to a lesser extent, pressure-) sensitive substitution for Si4+. However, the application of the Ti-in-quartz thermobarometer in quartz mylonites has led to mixed results due to the low-Ti resetting that occurs with dynamic recrystallization. We applied defect energy simulations and took a global assessment of deformed quartz trace element chemistries to infer that sweeping grain boundaries provide short pathways that allows localized re-equilibration with a Ti-undersaturated medium, resulting in Ti removal from the quartz lattice. In addition, thermodynamic pseudosection modeling has provided a method to assess Ti activity as a dynamic parameter – one that evolves as the phase stability changes through prograde and retrograde metamorphic reactions. With this understanding, better growth-composition models can be derived to infer complex pressure-temperature-time-deformation (P-T-t-D) histories of metamorphic rocks.

These techniques and results are coupled with conventional thermobarometry techniques to provide a more comprehensive picture of the conditions experienced by a rock through the evolution, from burial to exhumation to the Earth's surface. The thermal evolution is used to provide conceptual thermal-kinematic models to explain tectonic evolution and heat advection in the continental lithosphere in ancient mountain belts.