Electron backscatter analyses of omphacite to constrain eclogite exhumation in the Blue Ridge of western North Carolina

The Lick Ridge eclogite is mapped as large bodies surrounded by accretionary wedge sediments in the Eastern Blue Ridge. The exhumation process of the Lick Ridge eclogite cannot be determined by analogy to other eclogite localities. Elsewhere, large bodies of eclogite are typically enclosed in continental rocks. Eclogite contained within accretionary wedge sediments do not exceed 25 meters in size. The orientation of the eclogite facies fabric can provide insight into the exhumation process.; Two eclogite lineation directions are present, but one is dominant. Compositional and petrographic data show the two lineations were found contemporaneous and most likely reflect a strain heterogeneity during eclogite facies deformation. The pervasive lineation indicates that the different Lick Ridge eclogite blocks were exhumed within a coherent terrane rather than as large blocks within a flowing melange.