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Diagenetic kaolin minerals are very common in the Permo-Triassic succession from the SE Iberian Range, Spain. The morphology and crystal structure of kaolin minerals has been examined in four size fractions (<1 µm, <2 µm, <6.3 µm and <20 µm) of sandstone samples by means of scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, differential thermal analysis and thermogravimetry. Experimental data reveal that dickite is the dominant kaolin-type mineral in the entire range of size fractions, whereas small amounts of kaolinite coexists with dickite in all size fractions. Dickite appears typically as booklets of pseudo-hexagonal plates with blocky habit. The increase in size fraction is concomitant with the increase in the amount of dickite and the progressive improvement of its structural order. The extensive dickitization is attributed to the high paleogeothermal gradient recorded in the studied area and the increase in H+, presumably resulting from the flux of organic acids derived from the underlying Carboniferous rocks and/or the late Permian succession. These conditions are more likely to be associated with the late Cretaceous post-rift thermal stage of the eastern Iberian Basin. Lately, during the maximum burial depth, the fine crystalline kaolin minerals were slightly illitized. Given the very small feldspar content in the studied sequence, the results reflect the important contribution of mica alteration to the early diagenetic formation of kaolinite as well as the late conversion to dickite.

Garnet from diamondiferous granulites of Ceuta (Betic-Rif cordillera, Spain and Morocco) contains a variety of inclusion types. To better understand the evolution of these rocks during the ultrahigh pressure event, two samples (1 and 2) were selected for the detailed study of garnet. Primary inclusions of apatite, quartz, coesite, rutile and retrograded pyroxene, and exsolution microstructures of rutile characterize garnet from sample 1, whereas exsolution microstructures of quartz, coesite, apatite and rutile, and inclusions formed from a melt characterize garnet from sample 2, indicating that peak metamorphic conditions were recorded by sample 2. In contrast, the chemical patterns of garnet suggest an inverse situation. Garnet from sample 1 has high Ca-and low Mn contents and high X Mg , characteristic of growth at high pressure and temperature whereas garnet from sample 2 shows high Mn and low Ca contents and low X Mg , characteristic of garnet formed at lower temperature and pressure. The contrasting compositions are interpreted as reflecting differences in the position of the metamorphic path followed by both samples relative to the solidus: Garnets from sample 1 are interpreted as formed below the solidus whereas garnets from sample 2 are interpreted as formed in the presence of a melt, which caused notable enrichment of garnet in Mn and depletion in Ca relative to garnet from sample 1. Due to extensive low-pressure Hercynian melting that caused generalized migmatization and melt mobilization, whole-rock composition of the samples notably changed, thus preventing the accurate estimation of the physical conditions characterizing the older ultrahigh pressure event. Estimations based on experimental determinations of the phosphorous solubility in garnet suggest that peak pressure conditions were on the order of 6-7 GPa, which put the origin of the studied crustal rocks at depths greater than 200 km.

Diamond and coesite occur in granulites of the Internal Zone of the Rif belt in northwest Africa. Diamond, identified by optical microscopy, electron microprobe analysis, Raman spectroscopy, cathodoluminescence and microstructural electron backscattered diffraction, is present as inclusions up to 20 μm across in garnet, K-feldspar, coesite relics and quartz. Thermobarometric estimates yield P >4.3 GPa and T >1100°C, which corresponds to a depth of formation >150 km. The estimates suggest that the diamond-bearing peridotites and adjacent crustal rocks experienced similar P–T conditions. If this is correct, there is an old (undated) core in the Betic–Rif cordillera and the current models of the tectonic evolution of the area, which are based on 'full Alpine' evolution, must be revised. This discovery provides further valuable information about the complex geotectonic environment of the southeast Spain and north Moroccan collisional orogen.

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