Organic matter is usually enriched in sediments, and will be transformed from disordered carbonaceous material to fully-ordered crystalline graphite, after being buried and heated to some high temperature during metamorphism. The crystalline order is closely corresponding to the certain temperature condition of metamorphism. The Raman spectroscopy (RS) can reflect the vibrational modes of molecules of carbonaceous material (CM), and to reveal the crystalline degrees of graphite, and thus the metamorphic conditions. The RSCM method is an empirical geothermometer by obtaining and analyzing the Raman parameters like band position, peak intensity, band area and FWHM (full width at half maximum) of carbon or graphite grains from a series of metamorphic samples, whose metamorphic temperatures are already known or can be calculated by other methods. A close correlation between the RSCM and peak metamorphic temperature is very well defined, so as to quantitively calculate the peak temperature of the unknown samples during regional or contact metamorphism. Based on the comparisons with the traditional geothermometers, it is suggested that the RSCM is practicable and reliable, and it shows several advantages such as high efficiency, in situ and nondestructive measurements, wide range of temperature detection, high sensitivity to CM inner structures, being free from later retrograde metamorphism, and wide fields of application. Thus, this method is significant for the reconstruction of regional tectonic and thermal evolution, and crustal thermal state. This paper reviews the study history of the RSCM, introduces the theory on CM Raman spectrum band distribution and its relationship with metamorphic temperature, summarizes some representative studies of natural graphitic carbons by Raman spectroscopy in recent years, and its applications in different fields of Earth Sciences. The research foreground of RSCM is finally prospected.
