UHT granulites of the Highland Complex, Sri Lanka I: Geological and petrological background

The ultrahigh–temperature (UHT) regional metamorphism of Sri Lanka has a significant role in understanding the tectonics and formation of the Gondwana supercontinent. Sri Lanka is specifically important because of its central position in Gondwana, located between southern India, Madagascar and eastern Antarctica. In particular, the Highland Complex has been the focus of several previous studies because of the prominence of metasedimentary rocks that experienced UHT metamorphism. The central Highland Complex of Sri Lanka consists of Spr–bearing Mg–Al rich granulites intercalated with other pelitic, mafic granulites and calc–silicates, which preserve several textural evidences for UHT metamorphism. The calculated peak metamorphic conditions for the Mg–Al rich granulite yielded a temperature range from 910 to 1005 °C at 1.0 GPa, and the pressure varies between 0.9 to 1.2 GPa. The estimated metamorphic P–T conditions and evolution path is in good agreement with previous studies and also to that of similar rock–types from southern Madagascar, southern India and East Antarctica.