ON FRACTURE METAMORPHISM

The term"fracture metamorphism" is proposed for the kind of metamorphism that occurs in association with migmatization and granitization of country rocks in some fracture zones in southern China. It is different not only from the cataclastic metamorphism or dynamic metamorphism in that the country rocks within fracture zones have been subject to migmatization and granitization, but also from the regional thermodynamic metamorphism in that it does not occur in orogenic belts but in fracture zones. In this paper, the author describes three fracture metamorphic belts which have been Studied with a relatively high level, summarizes their general characteristics, and finally discusses their origin.