Tectonometamorphic Evolution of Cycladic Subduction Zone Rocks

Rob Tonnsen, Class of 2000

Department of Geology, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA 99362


The summer of 1999 I went on a Keck Consortium Research Project on the Island of Syros, Greece. For the project, we, as a group, looked at the tectonometamorphic evolution of the Cyclades using rocks sampled from the island of Syros where blueschist metamorphism has occurred. Most of the on-site work involved collecting rock samples and reviewing general geologic history of the area.

Over the next few months, I examined my rock samples under the microscope using thin-sections in order to determine mineral assemblages, modes, mineral reactions, and mineral textures. Analysis of rocks from varying locations on the island will help constrain the metamorphic history of the island. The analysis will likely include graphical representations (ex. Ternary diagrams) of mineral assemblages at high-pressure conditions of metamorphism.


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