Garnet peridotites from Pohorje: Petrography, geothermobarometry and metamorphic evolution

Ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism has been recorded in Eo-Alpine garnet peridotites from the PohorjeMts., Slovenia, belonging to the Eastern Alps. The garnet peridotite bodies are found within serpentinized metaultrabasitesin the SE edge of Pohorje and are closely associated with UHP kyanite eclogites. These rocks belongto the Lower Central Austroalpine basement unit of the Eastern Alps, exposed in the proximity of the Periadriaticfault system.Garnet peridotites show signs of a complex four-stage metamorphic history. The protolith stage is represented bya low-P high-T assemblage of olivine + Al-rich orthopyroxene + Al-rich clinopyroxene + Cr-spinel. Due to metamorphism,primary clinopyroxene shows exsolutions of garnet, orthopyroxene, amphibole, Cr-spinel and ilmenite. TheUHP metamorphic stage is defined by the assemblage garnet + olivine + Al-poor orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene +Cr-spinel. Subsequent decompression and final retrogression stage resulted in formation of kelyphitic rims aroundgarnet and crystallization of tremolite, chlorite, serpentine and talc.Pressure and temperature estimates indicate that garnet peridotites reached the peak of metamorphism at 4 GPaand 900 °C, that is well within the UHP stability field. Garnet peridotites in the Pohorje Mountains experiencedUHP metamorphism during the Cretaceous orogeny and thus record the highest-pressure conditions of all Eo-Alpinemetamorphism in the Alps.