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The Belomorian eclogite province (BEP) of the eastern Fennoscandian Shield (Russia) is one of the oldest eclogite metamorphic complexes on Earth, providing an opportunity to study the most ancient subduction processes. The BEP gained prominence due to the numerous publications on petrology and geochemistry of Archean-Paleoproterozoic HP metamorphic rocks from Gridino, Salma, and Kuru-Vaara areas. Here, we present results from a detailed petrological study of a representative retrograde eclogite sample from a new HP locality in the Kem-Ludy Islands, where eclogites form lenticular bodies and have conformable contacts with country gneisses. The studied retrograde eclogite sample has a massive structure with a fine- to medium-grained granoblastic texture. At least three metamorphic stages were identified in the rock based on the mineral assemblages. The pre-eclogite stage is indicated by epidote inclusions in the cores of garnet porphyroblasts. Garnet, matrix omphacite, and quartz represent peak metamorphism stage. Plagioclase-clinopyroxene symplectites after the omphacite and amphibole-plagioclase kelyphytes around the garnet were formed at the retrograde stage, while peak metamorphism minerals were then replaced to different extents by secondary amphibole during fluid-rock interaction. The application of garnet-clinopyroxene geothermometer and clinopyroxene-plagioclase-quartz geobarometer assessed peak metamorphic temperature of 625-670C and minimum pressure of 1.2-1.3 GPa, respectively. The retrograde stage corresponds to conditions of 600-725C and 0.6-0.7 GPa as determined by garnet-amphibole, amphibole-clinopyroxene, amphibole-plagioclase geothermometers, and clinopyroxene-plagioclase-quartz and amphibole-plagioclase geobarometers. The established P-T metamorphic evolution of the retrograde eclogite from Kem-Ludy area differs from most of the eclogites of Gridino and Salma areas by lower pressure at the peak of metamorphism and a lack of decompressional heating up to the UHT granulite facies conditions. Therefore, Kem-Ludy area likely pertains to another tectonic slice than Gridino and Salma areas, where the Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic ages of HP metamorphism are under debate. Further investigation is needed to clarify the tectonic position of Kem-Ludy area. Financial support of Russian Science Foundation project 23-77-00066.
Grigorieva et al. (Fri,) studied this question.