Petrogenetic constraints and phase equilibria modelling on amphibole-bearing high-grade metamafic rocks from the Maku ophiolite (NW Iran): implications for metamorphism along the central Neo-Tethyan suture

We present an integrated petrological, mineral-chemical, whole-rock geochemical, microstructural, and phase-equilibrium study of the West Maku metamafics (WMM), an ophiolite-related mafic unit in NW Iran. The WMM comprises garnet amphibolites and amphibole-bearing high-grade metamafic rocks containing almandine-rich garnet, tschermakite-ferro-tschermakite, andesine, epidote/zoisite, annite, muscovite-phengite, spinel, ilmenite, chlorite, quartz, and K-feldspar. Immobile element systematics indicate a tholeiitic, MORB-like basaltic protolith; LILE and crust-sensitive element enrichment likely reflect inherited crustal/sediment-derived components and metamorphic redistribution during subduction-accretion and/or m & eacute;lange assembly. P-T modelling defines four relative stages: M1, upper greenschist-facies metamorphism at ca. 6.4 kbar and 360 degrees C; M2, prograde heating to 8.0-8.4 kbar and 700-720 degrees C; M3, peak upper-amphibolite- to granulite-facies conditions at 9.0-9.8 kbar and up to 810 degrees C, with localized anatexis; and M4, retrogression at ca. 3.8 kbar and 520 degrees C. The clockwise path records the burial and heating of MORB-derived crust in a subduction-accretionary setting, followed by collision-related thermal relaxation/crustal thickening and subsequent uplift. Regional comparisons indicate thermally heterogeneous evolution along the central Neo-Tethyan suture across Armenia, SE T & uuml;rkiye, NE Iraq and NW Iran.