Newly discovered eclogite in the southern Appalachian orogen, northwestern North Carolina

Details Newly discovered eclogite in the southern Appalachian orogen, northwestern North Carolina Newly discovered eclogite in the southern Appalachian orogen, northwestern North Carolina

May 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994e%26psl.123...61w&link_type=abstract

Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 123, Issue 1-3, p. 61-70.

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Scientific paper

Recent detailed geologic mapping in the Blue Ridge belt of northwestern North Carolina has revealed the first reported eclogite (sensu stricto) in the southern Appalachian orogen. The eclogite occurs at the base of the Ashe Metamorphic Suite within a shear zone that separates the Spruce Pine thrust sheet from the underlying Grenville-age basement rocks. This contact juxtaposes rocks of apparent oceanic affinities (predominantly metapelite, metabasite, and meta-ultramafic rocks) with rocks of the ancient North American craton. The primary metamorphic assemblage in the eclogite is garnet + omphacite + quartz + rutile. Hornblende and plagioclase occur only as retrograde amphibolite facies phases in the eclogite. Pressure-temperature estimates for the primary eclogite assemblage are consistent with minimum pressures of 13-17 kbar at 625-790°C, while the retrograde amphibolite facies assemblage suggests conditions of 8.5-12 kbar and 650-730°C. Ultramafic blocks also occur within the shear zone containing the eclogite. The presence of high-pressure metamorphic rocks associated with ultramafic rocks and pelitic schists within a shear zone separating continental rocks from oceanic rocks is strong evidence for an ancient subduction event and indicates that at least part of the Ashe Metamorphic Suite is a subduction-related, accretionary mélange.

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