UHP metamorphism, decompression anatexis and retrogression of garnet-bearing metagranite and granitic gneiss from the Dabie orogen during continental collision

Metamorphosed granitic rocks are commonly volumetrically dominant in continental collisional terranes, which are crucial targets for resolving the metamorphic evolution of deeply subducted continental crust. However, their metamorphic processes in ultrahigh pressure (UHP) belts are often poorly understood, because they are commonly intensely retrogressed and presently dominated by amphibolite-facies minerals with very rare petrological evidences of UHP metamorphism. It is known that, in these lithologies, zircon can potentially preserve evidence of the UHP history; therefore, the P-T-t path of metafelsic rocks may be estimated using a multidisciplinary approach which combines zircon microanalysis with phase equilibria modelling. In the central Dabie UHP metamorphic zone (CDZ) (China), two types of metamorphosed garnet-bearing granitic rocks, i.e. metagranite and granitic gneiss, whose massive vs. gneissic structure reflects a different degree of deformation, are closely associated with eclogites. Opposite to the eclogites, their detailed metamorphic evolution is poorly understood. In this study, a three-stage metamorphic evolution is reconstructed for these lithologies, based on field observation, bulk-rock elemental geochemistry, sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe zircon U-Pb dating, Raman micro-spectroscopy analysis of zircon inclusion, mineral chemistry, conventional thermobarometry and phase equilibria modelling. The first UHP stage is represented by the assemblage coesite-rutile-garnetphengite preserved in the metamorphic domains of zircon and by garnet core in the matrix, revealing minimum peak pressures of 44 kbar and 30 kbar for granitic gneiss and metagranite, respectively, at 231 ± 4 Ma. The second stage is represented by anatexis at 18-20 kbar, 725-870 oC and 222 ± 3 Ma, evidenced by leucosomes at the outcrop scale and by quartzofeldspathic films with low dihedral angles, melt inclusions preserved in peritectic garnet and quartz/K-feldspar/plagioclase- garnet intergrowth at the micro-scale. The third stage is represented by amphibolite-facies overprint at 590-700 oC, 9-14 kbar, at 214-219 Ma, recorded by biotiteplagioclase-quartz symplectites developed at the expenses of phengite, re-equilibration of the peritectic garnet rim, and amphibole-quartz (biotite-titanite) inclusions in zircon overgrowth rims. The resulting P-T-t path overlaps with previous results estimated from other CDZ UHP rocks. Besides, the protoliths of both metagranite and granitic gneiss were emplaced during the mid-Neoproterozoic (683-786 Ma) period, as already documented throughout the Dabie orogen. Compared with previously published data for meta-granitic rocks in the CDZ, the weakly deformed metagranite does not appear to represent low-grade metamorphic rocks. Instead, this study (i) suggests that the two groups of lithologies experienced a coeval metamorphic evolution; (ii) reconstructs a multistage P-T-t history based on zircon microanalysis and pseudosections; (iii) reveals that anatexis, retrogression and deformation facilitate the elimination of (U)HP mineralogical records of metagranitoids. Overall, these results provide new constraints on the metamorphic evolution and exhumation processes of deeply subducted granitic rocks during continental collision.