M. Santosh talks with
ScienceWatch.com and answers a few questions about
this month's Fast Breaking Paper in the field of
Geosciences. The author has also sent along images of
their work.
Article Title: Discovery of sapphirine-bearing
Mg-Al granulites in the North China Craton: Implications
for paleoproterozoic ultrahigh temperature
metamorphism
Authors: Santosh,
M;Tsunogae, T;Li, JH;Liu, SJ
Journal: GONDWANA RES
Tectonic framework of China
showing the major Precambrian cratons
and younger orogens. The study area
within the North China Craton is
shown..
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Rock thin section
photomicrographs of sapphirine-bearing
granulites from North China Craton. (a)
Bluish sapphirine scattered in
quartzo-feldspathic layer of sample
06660. (b) Left: Equilibrium sapphirine
+ quartz assemblage. Right: Same as the
left photograph, crossed polars. (c)
Sapphirine and quartz separated by
K-feldspar and plagioclase. (d) Same as
(c), crossed polars. (e) Spinel
surrounded by plagioclase and
K-feldspar in quartzo-feldspathic
portion of the gneiss. (f)
Poikiloblastic garnet with sapphirine,
spinel, and biotite in melanocratic
portion.
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Figure 3:
Figure 3:
Backscattered electron images of
representative monazite grains in the
matrix of the ultrahigh-temperature
granulites from North China Craton. The
spot ages (in million years) obtained
from U-Pb-Th electron microprobe method
are also shown. The area covered by
each analytical spot in the figure
represents the cross-sectional area of
the excitation volume by the electron
beam. The numbers on the lower right
indicate sample number (top) and grain
analysis number (bottom)..
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