High-pressure granulite-facies metagabbros in the Ubendian Belt of SW Tanzania: preliminary petrography and P-T estimates

The Ubende terrane is one of the eight structural blocks constituting the Palaeoproterozoic Ubendian Belt of southwest Tanzania. The Ubende terrane is made up of high-pressure granulite-facies rocks, which occur in association with amphibolites and hornblende gneisses. Preliminary mineralogical studies of the granulite-facies metagabbros indicate that they were derived from rocks, which originally consisted of clinopyroxene and intergranular plagioclase. The mineralogy of these metagabbros consists principally of sodian augite and garnets (50% almandine, 30% pyrope and 20% grossular). Plagioclase, hornblende, quartz, rutile and haematite occur as accessory components. The sodian augite is slightly zoned with Mg content increasing towards the margin and Fe, Al and Na concentrations decrease towards its rim. Thermobarometric calculations indicate that the metagabbros were formed at metamorphic conditions of about 840-900 °C and pressures of 12.2-13.7 kbar. Presence of supersiliceous clinopyroxene (quartz lamellae in clinopyroxene) and decompositional textures suggest that these granulite-facies metagabbros might be retrogressed eclogites.