Unraveling the nature of crustal growth and mountain building processes across Earth’s dynamic history relies on integrated studies involving the reconstruction of pressure-temperature-time (P-T-t) -paths from preserved metamorphic assemblages and their textures. This session aims to deepen our understanding of petrogenetic processes preserved in metamorphic rocks from a diversity of tectonic settings, ranging from ancient greenstone sequences and ophiolite terrains, to the youngest of orogenic belts. Deciphering metamorphic events requires studying microscale compositional variations in textural context, and in this session we aim to celebrate recent advances in metamorphic petrology from microscale to mountain belts.

We would like to invite a wide range of integrated field and petrological contributions that may include, but are not restricted to, research in ultra-high pressure, blueschist-eclogite and amphibolite-granulite facies metamorphic terrains. The session also aims to include the study of very low - low temperature tectonic, diagenetic and hydrothermal environments as well as newly discovered metamorphic crustal processes. Special focus is given to the development and application of novel petrological tools, in-situ geochemical and geochronological techniques. These may include new quantitative microscale mapping methods (e.g. Raman microspectroscopy, EMPA), high-resolution U-Pb dating techniques (petrochronology), thermodynamic modeling (both forward and inverse modeling), melt and fluid inclusion analyses, in-situ stable isotope analyses, and XANES/synchrotron measurements.

Invited talks 2015:

* Richard White: "Using quantitative phase petrology to understand metamorphism”
* Thomas Mueller: “From crystal lattice to field scale – Using diffusion modelling to constrain time scales of metamorphic processes: An example from the Granulite Massif, Germany”
* Clare Warren: “How and when does argon redistribute during a metamorphic cycle?“
* Philippe Agard: “Metamorphic probing of subduction dynamics and rheology”



This session is linked to the workshop "SC36: Thermodynamic modelling in the Earth Sciences" (organiser: Tamer Abu-Alam)

Presenters: Richard White (Mainz) & Evangelos Moulas (ETH Zurich)