Metamorphic evolution and thermobaric structure of the subduction-related Bacariza high-pressure granulite formation (Cabo Ortegal Complex, NW Spain)

The high-pressure Bacariza granulite formation comprises various lithostratigraphic units of granulite orthogneisses, ultramafic, Mg-rich mafic, intermediate and common mafic granulites, as well as of more exotic intercalations. Mineral assemblages in equilibrium in ultramafic- to intermediate rocks contain garnet, clinopyroxene and plagioclase, with different amounts of zoisite/clinozoisite, kyanite, quartz, scapolite, rutile and ilmenite depending on the granulite lithotype, whereas granulite orthogneisses contain garnet, phengite, biotite, K-feldspar, antiperthitic plagioclase, quartz and rutile as primary phases. Thermobarometry of these rocks supports the existence of a high-pressure metamorphism for which near-peak P–T conditions have been estimated at ca. 790 °C and 1.6 GPa. The preserved fabrics and structures enable us to relate the metamorphism to coeval polyphasic deformational processes. Dynamic retrogression began under still high-pressure granulite facies conditions (1.4 GPa and ca. 740 °C) and is postdated by symplectitization (1.3 GPa and ca. 715 °C). Subsequent retrogression under medium pressure amphibolite facies conditions at similar temperature was either widespread and static or localized and dynamic as a result of intense deformation partitioning during uplift. Loading/heating and subsequent decompression/cooling are related to a single cycle in a subduction conduit setting. This study suggests that high-pressure granulite metamorphism might not be as uncommon in the high-pressure metamorphic series as previously thought. Moreover, it might constitute a diagnostic feature of convergent lithospheric settings, whether or not associated with eclogite facies metamorphism in adjacent units.