Eclogite occurrences in the southern Tianshan high-pressure belt, Xinjiang, western China

Eclogite pods and layers of eclogites in mafic blueschists are the most prominent witnesses of eclogite facies metamorphism in the southern Tianshan high-pressure belt of Western China. The P-T evolution was deciphered in order to understand the geotectonic framework of these rocks. Geothermobarometric evaluation for matrix assemblages reveals peak metamorphic condition between 14 and 21 kbar at 500 to 600 degrees C. Prograde growth zoning and mineral inclusions in garnet are evidence for a clockwise P-T path. The presence of intimate eclogite/metabasic blueschist interlayering and the high P-T estimates suggest that the eclogite-facies rocks from the southern Tianshan high-pressure belt formed in a tectonic regime similar to the Franciscan type. Therefore the southern Tianshan high-pressure belt is most important in order to resolve the Paleozoic tectonic evolution of central Asia.