Low- and Very-Low-Grade Metamorphism: From Minerals and Isotopic Characterization to Tectonic Implication

Dear Colleagues,

The study of orogenic belts involves the characterization of different tectonic units both from a stratigraphic and tectono-metamorphic point of view. High-temperature (HT)–high-pressure (HP) metamorphic units have been studied in detail for many decades, and therefore, their peak PT conditions, acquired during the processes of subduction and collision, have been defined with good approximation. Only in much more recent times and thanks to technological progress has the PTt evolution of low-grade units involved in the subduction and collision processes received growing attention.

Metamorphic rocks recording LT-blueschist and -greenschist conditions, together with rocks affected by late-orogenic (hydrothermal) fluid circulation, are still a challenging research topic because of a frequent lack of equilibrium of metamorphic reactions, small-scale minerals, and frequent mineralogical/geochemical inheritance from protoliths. Thanks to advances in methods based on mineral chemistry (new geothermometers and geobarometers), isotopic dating, and fluid inclusions studies—just to cite some—it is possible to more precisely define the tectono-metamorphic history of tectonic units characterized by low-grade to very-low-grade metamorphism that crop up in the orogenic chains.

This Special Issue aims to collect original research and reviews focused on the study and definition of low-to very-low-grade metamorphic units (PT conditions, age, PTdt trajectories, etc.) to decipher the processes activated in the medium-shallow crustal levels during all tectonic stages of an orogeny. We therefore welcome minero-petrographical, geochemical, and geochronological studies that also fit their results within the tectonic framework and contribute to enriching the knowledge of tectonic evolution.

Dr. Maria Di Rosa
Dr. Laura Federico
Guest Editors

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