The estimation of the peak metamorphic temperature by Raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material (RSCM) is influenced by several bias sources grouped in measuring conditions, spectral processing and sample heterogeneity. The measuring conditions (selected excitation wavelength) and the operator bias during spectral processing have a pronounced impact on the temperature estimate and thus on the comparability and portability of thermometric data obtained by RSCM. Several calibration lines of RSCM geothermometers are published already, but no standardised approach exists. Samples of carbonaceous material bearing metasediments with well‐established metamorphic conditions of the central and western Alps compile a reference series. By applying an automated, iterative and randomised curve‐fitting approach, a consistent and user input‐independent RSCM geothermometer is presented, which covers peak metamorphic temperatures from ca. 160 to 600 °C. The method is hardware independent because the measuring conditions bias is excluded by the use of the reference series and the automated curve‐fitting approach reduces the spectral processing bias effectively, increasing the method's comparability and portability. By distributing the reference series and the automated curve‐fitting software, a laboratory will be able to derive a laboratory specific calibration line for the RSCM geothermometer.

Raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material (RSCM) is frequently used to determine metamorphic peak temperatures from the structural order of carbonaceous material enclosed in metasediments. This method provides a quick, robust and relatively cheap geothermometer. However, the comparability of the RSCM parameter is low as there are at least three major sources of biasing factors. These sources are the spectral curve-fitting procedure, the sample characteristics itself and the experimental design including the used Raman system. To assess the impacts of the biasing factors on RSCM, a series of experiments was performed. The experiments showed that curve-fitting is strongly influenced by individual operator-bias and the degrees of freedom in the model, implying the need for a standardised curve-fitting procedure. Due to the diversity of components (optics, light detection device, gratings, etc.) and their combinations within the Raman systems, different Raman instruments generally give differing results. Consequently, to estimate comparable metamorphic temperatures from RSCM data, every Raman instrument needs its own calibration. This demands a reference material series that covers the entire temperature calibration range. Although sample heterogeneity will still induce some variation, a reference material series combined with standardised curve-fitting procedures will significantly increase the overall comparability of RSCM data from different laboratories.

Morphology and reflectance of carbonaceous material (CM) in Late Carboniferous metasediments of the eastern Greywacke Zone (Eastern Alps) indicate a mixture of vitrinite, grainy textured and lamellar shaped particles. As imaged by high-resolution atomic-force microscopy, vitrinite and the grainy textured particles show mesophase structures which can be described as facetted nanocrystals within the carbon matrix. Highresolution transmission electron microscopy has revealed two types of microtextures representing different degrees of graphitization. The first type is characterized by elongated ring-shaped microtextures, whereas the second type is characterized by graphite lamellae and polygonal flakes with long-range ordered aromatic layers. In spite of the heterogeneity of the CMs, the geographical distribution of quantitative metamorphic parameter (Raman spectra parameter, X-ray diffraction pattern, microscopic reflectance) suggests a graphitization process which is promoted by advective heat transport during post-collisional processes. In a tentative pressure-time path, Late Cretaceous thrusting results in a turbostratic ordering of the aromatic layer. Ordering to long-range ordered aromatic layers was achieved during the Late Cretaceous-Paleogene exhumation of mid-crustal rocks beneath the eastern Greywacke Zone.

The metamorphic conditions and the age of thermal overprint were determined in meta-pelites, metaarenites and metabasites of the Tethyan Himalayan Sequence (THS) in SE Tibet using Kübler Index and vitrinite reflectance data and applying thermobarometrical (Thermocalc and PERPLEX) and geochronological methods (illite/muscovite K-Ar and zircon and apatite (U-Th)/He chronology). The multiple folded thrust pile experienced a thermal overprint reaching locally peak conditions between the diagenetic stage (c. 170 °C) and the amphibolite facies (c. 600 °C at 10 kbar). Burial diagenesis and heating due to Early Cretaceous dyke emplacement triggered the growth of illite in the metapelites. Eocene collision-related peak metamorphic conditions have been reached at c. 44 Ma. During collision the different tectonic blocks of the THS were tectonically buried to different structural levels so that they experienced maximum green-schist to amphibolite facies metamorphism. Later, during Oligocene to Miocene times the entire THS underwent anchi- to epizonal metamorphic conditions, probably associated to continuous deformation in the flysch fold-thrust-system. This period terminated at c. 24-22 Ma. Adjacent to the north Himalayan metamorphic domes, the base of the THS was metamorphosed during Miocene times (c. 13 Ma). Post-metamorphic cooling below c. 180 °C lasted until Late Miocene and took place at different times

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