High-pressure–low-temperature metamorphism of metasedimentary rocks, southern Menderes Massif, western Turkey

Kilometer-scale lenses of quartz-rich metasedimentary rocks crop out in a discontinuous belt along the southern margin of the Menderes Massif, Turkey, and preserve evidence for high-pressure–low-temperature (HP–LT) metamorphism related to subduction of a continental margin during Alpine orogeny. Kyanite schist, quartzite, and quartz veins contain kyanite + phengite + Mg-chlorite, and the veins also contain magnesiocarpholite. A deformed carbonate metaconglomerate juxtaposed with the quartzite-dominated unit does not contain HP index minerals, and likely represents the tectonized boundary of the siliceous rocks with adjacent marble. The HP–LT rocks (10–12 kbar, 470–570 °C) record different pressure conditions than the adjacent, apparently lower pressure Menderes metasedimentary sequence. Despite this difference there is disagreement as to whether these HP–LT rocks are part of the Menderes sequence or are related to the tectonically overlying Cycladic blueschist unit. If the former, the entire southern Menderes Massif experienced HP–LT metamorphism but the evidence has been obliterated from most rocks; if the latter, rocks recording different metamorphic-kinematic conditions experienced different tectonic histories and were tectonically juxtaposed during thrusting. Based on observations and data in this study, the second model better accounts for the differences in P–T-deformation histories of the southern Menderes Massif rocks, and suggests that the HP–LT rocks are not part of the Menderes cover sequence.