SmNd Garnet Ages from the Uluguru Granulite Complex of Eastern Tanzania: Further Evidence for Post-metamorphic Slow Cooling in the Mozambique Belt

Abstract
Two samples from the Uluguru granulite complex yield garnet SmNd ages of 633 ± 7 and 618 ± 16 Ma, similar to previously published hornblende 40Ar39Ar and KAr ages. The similarity of the SmNd to the KAr age suggests that the closure temperature of garnet to Nd diffusion is similar to that of hornblende to Ar diffusion. Assuming that published zircon UPb ages of about 700 Ma date peak granulite-facies metamorphism, a mean post-metamorphic cooling rate of 2–3°C/Ma can be calculated for the time interval 700 to 630 Ma. Such slow cooling rates imply thermal relaxation with a thickness length-scale greater than the thickness of average continental crust. This, in turn, implies that the thermal perturbation responsible for metamorphism was preceded by regional crustal thickening probably in a collisional orogen.
Description
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Citation
Maboko, M.A.H. and Nakamura, E., 1995. Sm Nd garnet ages from the Uluguru granulite complex of eastern Tanzania: further evidence for post-metamorphic slow cooling in the Mozambique belt. Precambrian Research, 74(4), pp.195-202.