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

Significantly different peak pressure-temperature (P-T) conditions (18-26 kbar and 630-760(degrees)C versus 29-37 kbar and 750-940(degrees)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). K alpha Cr 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(degrees)C (Gt1) and 23 +/- 2 kbar at 700 +/- 25(degrees)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.