Chromium in minerals as tracer of the polycyclic evolution of eclogite and related metabasite from the Pohorje Mountains, Slovenian Eastern Alps

Abstract

Significantly different peak pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions (18–26 kbar and 630–760°C versus 29–37 kbar and 750–940°C) have previously been published for eclogite and related metabasites from the south‐eastern flank of the Pohorje Mountains in Slovenia. These rocks can show a bimodal distribution of chromium in the rock‐forming minerals, particularly garnet, the role of which in their metamorphic evolution is unclear. Therefore, we studied an eclogite and a related rock with clinopyroxene containing only 17 mol% jadeite + acmite (sample 18Ca35a). KαCr intensity maps of garnet particularly in sample 18Ca35a show a sharp irregular boundary between the core (Gt1) and the mantle (Gt2). Gt1 of millimetre‐sized garnet in this rock is nearly Cr‐free and unzoned, whereas Gt2 is of different composition (0.22 wt.% Cr2O3) and slightly zoned. Nearly Cr‐free amphibole, (clino)zoisite, kyanite and staurolite inclusions are present in Gt1. The matrix consists of garnet and Cr‐bearing clinopyroxene, (clino)zoisite and amphibole. Thermodynamic modelling suggests peak P–T conditions of 22.5 ± 2 kbar at 710 ± 25°C (Gt1) and 23 ± 2 kbar at 700 ± 25°C (Gt2) in both samples. We interpret these findings to suggest that olivine‐ and hornblende‐bearing gabbros with some chromite experienced early metamorphism in the eclogite facies, when Gt1 formed. The rock was subsequently exhumed and cooled leading to significant garnet corrosion. A second stage of metamorphism, recognized by mappable Cr contents in garnet, led to the growth of Gt2 and other Cr‐bearing minerals at the expense of chromite relics, which survived stage I. The peak P–T conditions of stage II are compatible with those previously derived by same authors and support the view that probably no ultrahigh‐pressure eclogite exists in the Pohorje Mountains. We relate the two metamorphic events to the Cretaceous and Palaeogene high‐pressure events recently reported from micaschists of the Pohorje Mountains.