Widespread fluid infiltration during metamorphism of the Witwatersrand goldfields: generation of chloritoid and pyrophyllite

Abstract Chloritoid and pyrophyllite occur together in all major goldfields of the Witwatersrand Basin and are widespread in virtually all rock types of the upper Witwatersrand Supergroup, including metaconglomeratic reefs and altered mafic rocks. Both minerals are particularly characteristic of the pelitic horizons intimately associated with reef packages, but they are also developed locally in the regionally persistent metapelites that have basin-wide extent. Pyrophyllite is particularly common in foliated zones, adjacent to quartz veins, and near unconformably overlying auriferous conglomerates. The wide distribution of chloritoid and pyrophyllite in metapelites of the Witwatersrand Basin is attributed to alteration of chlorite-rich shales, rather than to unusual premetamorphic starting materials. This alteration event involved the redistribution of many elements, with up to 40% volume loss, mainly due to removal of silica. Removal of most of the Mg and some Fe accounts for the stabilization of chloritoid and pyrophyllite. Relatively immobile elements included Al, Ti, Nb, Cr, V, P, La and Ce, whereas Si, Fe, Mn, Zn, Co, Ni, Cu, Mg and Ca were lost, and K, Rb and Ba were introduced by an infiltrating fluid. The alteration event is inferred to have been within the chloritoid and pyrophyllite stability field (and thus syn-metamorphic) as bulk chemical changes in metapelites are from chlorite directly towards chloritoid and then pyrophyllite, rather than to lower grade minerals such as kaolinite. Muscovite–chlorite–chloritoid and muscovite–chloritoid–pyrophyllite assemblages are attributed to fluid buffering along appropriate curves, as their production by metamorphism of lower grade mineral mixes is considered unlikely, based on the present bulk rock compositional data. A metamorphic timing for the alteration accounts for the correlation of strongly foliated areas with greater degrees of inferred alteration. The transitions from chlorite to chloritoid to pyrophyllite define zones of increasing alteration. Widespread infiltration as part of peak metamorphism is suggested by the distribution of chloritoid and pyrophyllite, quartz veining and textures. Fluid:rock ratios calculated from a silica budget in one metapelitic horizon exceed 100:1 over many square kilometres. These values need not imply multi-pass fluid flow, as much of the silica migration may be redistribution on a scale of a few metres, from source rocks into veins. Although infiltration during metamorphism may have affected much of the upper Witwatersrand succession, channelized fluid flow within reef packages, along faults and unconformities and in certain metaconglomerates and metapelites is inferred.     

Microfabric analyses applied to the Witwatersrand gold- and uranium-bearing conglomerates: constraints on the provenance and post-depositional modification of rock and ore components

Microfabrics of detrital quartz grains and quartz cement of four gold- and uranium-bearing conglomerates of various goldfields of the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa, were investigated by optical and cathodoluminescence microscopy. The study revealed that the vast majority of quartz grains (<5 mm) originate from felsic magmatic source rocks. Cherts and polymineralic mineral grains, pointing to greenschist to amphibolite facies metasedimentary rocks, follow in abundance, whereas diagenetic to weakly metamorphosed quartzites are subordinate. Material from hydrothermal vein quartz is almost completely lacking, both in the sand and in the pebble fraction. No obvious relationships are discernible between the varying proportions of detrital siliciclastic components of the different reefs and their ore grades. Assuming a sedimentological control of gold distribution, this finding supports multiple sources for the detrital components, which were thoroughly mixed during transport. The post-depositional history of the sediments is characterized by a complex polyphase succession of deformation, cementation and hydrothermal alteration events. Both fragmentation and pressure solution features within detrital quartz, quartz cement and round grains of pyrite, zircon, chromite and uraninite demonstrate that these materials were present in the conglomerates during diagenesis, and, thus, are true detrital grains with abraded, rounded grain morphologies. By analogy, it is assumed that gold is also a detrital component, although most of the gold grains display characteristics of hydrothermal overprinting. During subsequent metamorphism, micro-shear zones are developed, and brittle-ductile crystal-plastic deformation and limited quartz recrystallization occur. Maximum temperatures of about 350 °C were reached on the prograde metamorphic path. Recrystallization and redistribution of detrital siliciclastic and ore minerals took place, and various hydrothermal/metamorphic minerals including chlorite, sericite, pyrophyllite and chloritoid were formed. These redistribution processes involved existing detrital minerals only and were generally isochemical because little evidence exists for the development of a secondary porosity and permeability that would allow major external inputs into the Witwatersrand conglomerates. Most of the gold grains have hydrothermal characteristics, as evidenced by their authigenic, crystalline shapes and their chemical compositions. However, these features are regarded to result from overprinting. Most likely, the gold grains experienced more drastic modifications relative to other ore components because of the ductile and mobile nature of gold. The retrograde metamorphic path is characterized by percolating radioactive fluids at T<300 °C, recorded by radiation damage indicated by cathodoluminescence alteration rims along quartz grain boundaries and microcracks. The degrees of radiation damage observed are proportional to the uranium contents of the conglomerate ores. The collective evidence of our study supports the modified placer model for the genesis of the Witwatersrand ores. This model explains most of the observations on the detrital mineral assemblage and its post-depositional modification elegantly and in a satisfactory manner.     

Petrology of Fe-Mg-carpholite-bearing metasediments from NE Oman

Abstract Fe-Mg carpholite occurs in metasediments of tectonically disrupted basement, shelf and foreland basin units that structurally underlie the Semail ophiolite in NE Oman. In the lower grade, structurally higher units, Fe-rich carpholite coexists with paragonite, quartz, illite, kaolinite and chlorite, whereas in deeper units, Fe-Mg carpholite occurs with pyrophyllite, sudoite, phengite and/or chloritoid. Mineral compositions in these units indicate that chlorite is more magnesian than coexisting Fe-Mg carpholite at low temperatures and pressures but, at higher metamorphic grades, X_Mg decreases in the order sudoite > carpholite > chlorite > chloritoid. This suggests a reversal in Fe-Mg partitioning between Fe-Mg carpholite and chlorite at temperatures below or close to those of the breakdown of kaolinite + quartz to pyrophyllite and at X_Mg= 0.35.
Phase relations and mineral equilibria indicate that the P-T conditions of formation of the Fe-Mg-carpholite-bearing rocks of NE Oman range from 280–315° C, 3–6 kbar for the structurally highest units to 325–440° C, 6–9.5 kbar for the deepest units, indicating a systematic down-section increase in metamorphic grade. Textural relations in these rocks, interpreted in the context of pertinent equilibria, are consistent with the clockwise P-T paths previously constrained for these units from petrological studies of interlayered isofacial mafic rocks.     

Chemographic analysis of assemblages involving pyrophyllite, chloritoid, chlorite, kaolinite, kyanite, quartz: application to metapelites in the Witwatersrand goldfields, South Africa

The Witwatersrand goldfields contain abundant assemblages that include pyrophyllite, chloritoid, chlorite, kaolinite and/or kyanite, with quartz. A chemographic analysis of the system Fe(Mg)-Al-Si-O-H involving these minerals yields 22 potential phase diagrams. Using orientation criteria and thermodynamic calculations as further constraints, this list has been reduced to three possible diagrams. New thermodynamic data favour one of these in particular.
This chemographic analysis demonstrates that formation of chloritoid is not restricted to the breakdown reaction of kaolinite plus chlorite in the F(M)ASH system, as stated by previous studies, but could be from pyrophyllite + chlorite → chloritoid + quartz + H₂O.
The metamorphic temperature variation between Witwatersrand goldfields exceeded 65 C, based on chlorite and chloritoid compositions. The lower and upper pressure limits are constrained by the andalusite to kyanite, and the sudoite/chlorite to carpholite boundaries, i.e. 1.5–2.8, and 7 kbar, respectively. The widespread pyrophyllite, chlorite and Fe-chloritoid in all the Witwatersrand goldfields, and the local occurrence of sudoite indicate a consistent low-pressure environment in which Mg-chloritoid would not be stable.     

Phase equilibrium, geothermobarometric and xenotime age dating constraints on the Alpine metamorphism recorded in chloritoid schists from the southern part of the Tisia Mega-Unit (Slavonian Mts., NE Croatia)

The chloritoid schists from the Slavonian Mts., which are attributed to the basal part of Devonian to Permian “Hercynian Semimetamorphic Complex,” represent a very rare lithology, not only in the Tisia Mega-Unit outcrops in Croatia, but also in the wider area. The investigated outcrop in the Kutjeva?ka Rijeka transect (Mt. Papuk) encompasses chloritoid-bearing metapelitic and metapsammitic lithologies. Both contain K-white mica, chlorite, chloritoid (10–15 vol.%), quartz and minor K-feldspar, plagioclase (albite), opaque minerals and pyrophyllite, together with accessory zircon, rutile, xenotime. The Th–U–Pb age dating on xenotime grains within the K-white mica + chlorite + quartz matrix and on inclusions found inside the chloritoids gave an average age 120 ± 36 Ma. Peak metamorphic conditions during the Alpine chloritoid-forming event reached 3.5–4 kbar and 340–380 °C, based on phengite barometry, chlorite–chloritoid thermometry and intersection of chlorite and chloritoid isopleths in the KFMASH quantitative phase diagram. The post-tectonic character of lath- and rosette-shaped chloritoids with respect to two foliations in the rock, together with the older age of 219 ± 81 Ma obtained on Yb-rich xenotime core domain(s), implies a possible existence of older low-grade metamorphic phase(s). The chemistry of the chloritoid schists bears the signature of upper continental crustal felsic rocks as potential protoliths, probably the felsic rocks of the nearby Papuk Complex of Slavonian Mts. The evidence presented here for the chloritoid-bearing low-grade metamorphic rocks from the Slavonian Mountains clearly show that the prograde Alpine metamorphic event had a more significant influence on the evolution of the southern part of Tisia Mega-Unit than previously considered.     

Regional distribution of Al-silicates and metamorphic zonation in the low-grade Verrucano metasediments from the Northern Apennines, Italy

Abstract Mineralogical and petrological studies of Triassic Verrucano metasediments of the Northern Apennines are reported. The widespread occurrence of Al-silicates allows the delineation of four metamorphic zones with increasing metamorphic grade: (1) kaolinite zone (well Perugia 2, Umbria); (2) kaolinite-pyro-phyllite zone (Monte Argentario and part of the Verrucano of the Monticiano-Roccastrada area and Monti Leoni); (3) pyrophyllite zone (Monti Pisani, Iano, Monti Leoni, the Monticiano-Roccastrada area and some wells in the Larderello region); (4) kyanite zone (Massa area and some wells in the Larderello area).
The four metamorphic zones correspond to temperatures ranging from 300°C to about 450°C. On the basis of the Si content of muscovite and geological arguments, pressures of between 3 and 5 kbar are estimated. The metamorphic zones are located more or less parallel to the bent north-west-south-east trending structural zonation of the Northern Apennines, with the concave side towards the Tyhrrenian Sea.
During the Alpine orogeny, the Verrucano metasediments underwent three folding phases each of which has produced an axial plane schistosity (S₁, S₂, S₃). During the first folding phase the Verrucano sediments were buried increasingly deeply within the crust from east to west. The climax of Alpine metamorphism was attained prior to the second folding phase with crystallization of porphyroblasts of kyanite and chloritoid in a central area located between Massa and Larderello. The inferred paleo-temperature distribution pattern resembles an asymmetric thermal high defined by the kyanite zone, and surrounded by the pyrophyllite zone. A similar pattern is still present in the Tuscan crust, as indicated by a series of geothermal anomalies passing through the Northern Apennines.     

Garnet–chloritoid equilibria in eclogitic pelitic rocks from the Sesia zone (Western Alps): their bearing on phase relations in high pressure metapelites

Abstract A detailed study of garnet–chloritoid micaschists fom the Sesia zone (Western Alps) is used to constrain phase relations in high pressure (HP) metapelitic rocks. In addition to quartz, phengite, paragonite and rutile, the micaschists display two distinct parageneses, namely garnet + chloritoid + chlorite and garnet + chloritoid + kyanite. Talc has never been observed. Garnet and chloritoid are more magnesian when chlorite is present instead of kyanite. The distinction of the two equilibria results from different bulk rock chemistries, not from P–T conditions or redox state. Estimated P–T conditions for the eclogitic metamorphism are 550–600°C, 15–18 kbar.
The presence of primary chlorite in association with garnet and chloritoid leads us to construct two possible AFM topologies for the Sesia metapelites. The paper describes a KFMASH multisystem for HP pelitic rocks, which extends the grid of Harte & Hudson (1979) towards higher pressures and adds the phase talc. Observed parageneses in HP metapelites are consistent with predicted phase relations. Critical associations are Gt–Ctd–Chl and Gt–Ctd–Ky at relatively low temperatures and Gl–Chl–Ky and Gt–Tc–Ky at relatively high temperatures.     

Chloritoid and staurolite stability: implications for metamorphism in the Archaean Yilgarn Block, Western Australia

Abstract The stability of quartz-chloritoid-staurolite-almandine-cordierite and aluminium silicates is used to constrain both metamorphic conditions and pressure-temperature trajectories for two localities within the 2700 Ma Archaean Yilgarn Block in Western Australia. Available experimental data are used to calculate thermodynamic data for a self-consistent set of equilibria between these minerals. A lower amphibolite facies locality from the margin of a lower strain area contains assemblages including quartz-chloritoid-staurolite-garnet-biotite with altered cordierite replacing chloritoid, quartz-staurolite-andalusite, and quartz-cordierite-andalusite-biotite. This locality was heated to 530–560°C in the andalusite field, at 4.2 kbar. A sample from a mid- to upper-amphibolite facies, highly strained locality contains relict staurolite enclosed by andalusite, in turn replaced by cordierite and muscovite with biotite and sillimanite in the matrix. The assemblage was heated isobarically from conditions near the maximum experienced by the lower grade locality of 560°C at 4.2 kbar to temperatures in excess of the andalusite-sillimanite transition but within the quartz plus muscovite stability field (600–650°C). The higher grade locality is close to a granitoid dome and sections based on gravity profiles reveal that this locality is underlain by granitoid at shallow depths. The higher grade metamorphism apparently reflects superposition of the thermal aureole on regional metamorphic conditions similar to those in the lower grade areas.     

The metamorphic paragenesis of cordierite in pelitic rocks

A petrogenetic grid is constructed for mineral assemblages occurring in metapelitic rocks, particularly those involved in the paragenesis of cordierite. The most useful assemblages for estimating pressures and temperatures are staurolite-cordierite, cordierite-biotite-Al₂SiO₅ and cordierite-hypersthene. Cordierite is stable with kyanite, sillimanite or andalusite. At high pressures cordierite is Mg-rich so that pelitic rocks typically do not contain the phase. Cordierite is stable at temperatures less than 500° C but does not commonly appear in metapelitic rocks until the garnet-chlorite, chlorite-staurolite or chlorite-Al₂SiO₅ tie-lines are broken. At high metamorphic grades, the assemblage garnet-hypersthene-cordierite indicates relatively low pressures, and the assemblage hypersthene-cordierite-sillimanite relatively high pressures. It is clear however, that the absence of cordierite is of little use in characterizing a metamorphic facies unless an alternate mineral assemblage can be shown to be more stable.     

Anti-clockwise P–T paths in the lower crust: an example from a kyanite-bearing regional aureole, George Sound, New Zealand

The George Sound Paragneiss (GSP) represents a rare Permo-Triassic unit in Fiordland that occurs as a km-scale pillar to gabbroic and dioritic gneiss of c . 120 Ma Western Fiordland Orthogneiss (WFO). It is distinguished from Palaeozoic paragneiss common in western Fiordland (Deep Cove Gneiss) by SHRIMP and laser-ablation U–Pb ages as young as c . 190 Ma and ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Lu >0.2828 for detrital zircon grains. The Mesozoic age of the GSP circumvents common ambiguity in the interpretation of Cretaceous v. Palaeozoic metamorphic assemblages in the Deep Cove Gneiss. A shallowly dipping S₁ foliation is preserved in the GSP distal to the WFO, cut by 100 m scale migmatite contact zones. All units preserve a steeply dipping S₂ foliation. S₁ staurolite and sillimanite inclusions in the cores of metapelitic garnet grains distal to the WFO preserve evidence for prograde conditions of T  <   650 °C and P <  8 kbar. Contact aureole and S₂ assemblages include Mg-rich, Ca-poor cores to garnet grains in metapelitic schist that reflect WFO emplacement at ≈760 °C and ≈6.5 kbar. S₂ kyanite-bearing matrix assemblages and Ca-enriched garnet rims reflect ≈650 °C and ≈11 kbar. Poorly oriented muscovite–biotite intergrowths and rare paragonite reflect post-S₂ high- P retrogression and cooling. Pseudosection modelling in NCKFMASH defines a high- P anti-clockwise P–T history for the GSP involving: (i) mid- P amphibolite facies conditions; preceding (ii) thermal metamorphism adjacent to the WFO; followed by (iii) burial to high- P and (iv) high- P cooling induced by tectonic juxtaposition of cooler country rock.     

Phase relations in andalusite-sillimanite type Fe-rich metapelites: Tono contact metamorphic aureole, northeast Japan

Mineral assemblages in metapelites of the contact aureole of the Tono granodiorite mass, northeast Japan, change systematically during progressive metamorphism along an isobaric path at 2-3 kbar. The bulk rock compositions of metapelites are aluminous with A' values on an AFM projection larger than that of the chlorite join. The metapelites commonly contain paragonite in the low-grade zone. With increasing temperatures, andalusite is formed by the breakdown of paragonite. The importance of pyrophyllite as a source of Al₂SiO₅ polymorphs is limited in typical pelitic rocks.
The most common type of metapelite in the study area has FeO/(FeO + MgO) = 0.5–0.6, and develops assemblages involving chlorite, andalusite, biotite, cordierite, K-feldspar, sillimanite and almandine, with paragenetic changes similar to other andalusite-sillimanite type aureoles. Rocks with FeO/(FeO + MgO) > 0.8 progressively develop chloritoid-bearing assemblages from Bt-Chl-Cld, And-Bt-Cld, to And-Bt at temperatures between the breakdown of paragonite and the appearance of cordierite in the more common pelitic rocks in the aureole. The paragenetic relations are explained by a KFMASH univariant reaction of Chl + Cld = And + Bt located to the low-temperature side of the formation of cordierite by the terminal equilibrium of chlorite. A P-T model depicting the relative stability of chloritoid and staurolite at low- and medium-pressure conditions, respectively, is proposed, based on the derived location of the Chl + Cld = And + Bt reaction combined with the theoretical phase relations among biotite, chlorite, chloritoid, garnet and staurolite.     

Granulites and garnet–cordierite gneisses from Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

Abstract The central sector of Mühlig-Hofmannfjellet (3°E/71°S) in western Dronning Maud Land (East Antarctic shield) is dominated by large intrusive bodies of predominantly orthopyroxene-bearing quartz syenites (charnockites). Metasedimentary rocks are rare; however, two distinct areas with banded gneiss–marble–quartzite sequences of sedimentary origin were found during the Norwegian Antarctic Research Expedition NARE 1989/90. Cordierite-bearing metapelitic gneisses from two different localities contain the characteristic mineral assemblage: cordierite + garnet + biotite + K-feldspar + plagioclase + quartz ± sillimanite ± spinel. Thermobarometry indicates equilibration conditions of about 650°C and 4 kbar. Associated orthopyroxene–garnet granulites, on the other hand, revealed pressures of about 8 kbar and temperatures of 750°C. The earlier granulite facies metamorphism is not well preserved in the cordierite gneisses as a result of excess K-feldspar combined with interaction with an H₂O-rich fluid phase, probably released by the cooling intrusives. These two features allowed the original high-grade K-feldspar + garnet assemblages to recrystallize as cordierite–biotite–sillimanite gneisses, completely re-equilibrating them. Phase relationships indicate that the younger metamorphic event occurred in the presence of a fluid phase that varied in composition between the lithologies.     

Quantitative determination of metamorphic reaction history: mass balance relations between groundmass and mineral inclusion assemblages in metamorphic rocks

Qualitative and quantitative information about metamorphic reaction history and PT paths may be obtained from mineral inclusions in garnet by comparing the mineralogy, distribution, and compositions of paragenetically-related inclusions with minerals in the groundmass assemblage. Using the algebraic technique of singular value decomposition (SVD), we document mass balance relations between inclusion and groundmass assemblages in metapelitic rocks from two metamorphic terranes that experienced different peak metamorphic conditions, and whose transition from inclusion to groundmass assemblage records different PT path segments relative to peak conditions. We calculate mass balances relating an inclusion assemblage consisting in part of armored relics of chloritoid to groundmass mineral assemblages in a kyanite-staurolite mica schist from the Solitude Range, British Columbia, and an inclusion assemblage of kyanite, staurolite, and rutile to groundmass minerals in a sillimanite-cordierite gneiss from the Skagit Gneiss, North Cascade Range, Washington. Mass balances for each rock are consistent with reaction histories inferred from petrographic observations. In the Solitude Range schist, the results of mass balance calculations are consistent with the growth of staurolite and garnet at the expense of chloritoid during prograde metamorphism and suggest that chlorite, although not preserved as an inclusion, was involved in initial staurolite growth. In the Skagit sillimanite gneiss, mass balance relations exist between the inclusion suite, which formed during high pressure metamorphism, and the associated groundmass assemblage, which equilibrated at high temperature but much lower pressure. Mass balance does not exist between the groundmass of the Skagit sillimanite gneiss and the groundmass of a nearby kyanite-staurolite schist that has been proposed as a possible lower-grade equivalent of the sillimanite-bearing rocks. These results indicate that, although compositional modification and selective preservation of minerals must be taken into account, mineral inclusion suites may nevertheless preserve enough compositional information to allow reconstruction of complete or nearly complete pre-existing assemblages. This information may not be retrievable from any other source if no lower-grade equivalents of the rocks of interest are exposed.     

Amphibole-derived evidence of medium <Emphasis Type="Italic">P/T</Emphasis> metamorphic ratio in Alpujárride and Federico “H<Emphasis Type="Italic">P</Emphasis>” units (Western Betic-Northern Rif,Spain and Morocco): possible interpretations

The significance of zoned Ca-amphibole found in metapelites, quartzites, and synfolial veins of the Internal Zone of the Betic-Rif range (Federico units from Northern Rif and Alpujárride units from Western Betic) in the Alpine tectono-metamorphic evolution of these units is discussed for first time. Typical Al-rich metapelites from both areas show assemblages consisting of white mica and chlorite, with sporadic kyanite and chloritoid. Nevertheless, in the Rif zone, phyllites and synfolial veins of Permo-Triassic units show the assemblage pumpellyite + epidote + actinolite. In the Jubrique area (Betic zone), Ca-rich phyllites, fine-grained quartzites, and quartz veins show assemblages consisting of Ca-amphibole, plagioclase, epidote, titanite, chlorite, and quartz. The Al-in-amphibole thermobarometer defines clockwise pressure–temperature paths with a range of prograde temperatures and pressures between 272°C-1.2 kbar and 484°C-3.2 kbar for the Federico unit and between 274°C-1.1 kbar and 620°C-6.1 kbar in the Jubrique unit. Amphiboles from both areas define prograde pressure–temperature paths typical of Barrovian-type metamorphism. This finding contrasts with previous estimates, which deduced high-pressure conditions in both areas. The described amphiboles indicate metamorphic conditions similar to those found in the tectonically deepest complex (Veleta complex) of the Betic Internal Zone and suggest formation during a medium P/T Alpine event, which has not been previously identified in the Alpujárride complex.     

Oxygen and hydrogen isotope study of minerals from metapelitic rocks, staurolite to sillimanite zones, Mica Creek, British Columbia

Abstract Oxygen and hydrogen isotope analyses have been made of coexisting quartz, ilmenite, muscovite, and biotite from Late Precambrian metapelitic rocks, staurolite-kyanite to K-feldspar-muscovite-sillimanite zones, from Mica Creek, British Columbia. The δ¹⁸O and †D values of these minerals are generally uniform and do not decrease significantly with increasing metamorphic grade. This implies that there has not been significant infiltration of deep crustal, possibly magmatic, fluids into the metapelites that has been suggested for other high-grade metamorphic terranes. The uniformity of oxygen isotope compositions of the Mica Creek metapelite rocks may reflect isotopic uniformity in the sedimentary protolith rather than widespread exchange with an isotopically homogeneous metamorphic pore fluid.
Temperature estimates based upon ¹⁸O exchange thermometry for samples below the sillimanite zone are in reasonable agreement with the results of garnet-biotite Fe–Mg exchange thermometry. In the higher grade rocks, the oxygen isotope and garnet-biotite thermometry yield results which disagree by about 100°C. The highest temperatures recorded by oxygen isotope thermometry, 595°C, are at least 60°C below the minimum temperatures required by phase equilibria. These discrepancies appear to result from pervasive equilibrium retrograde exchange of oxygen isotopes between coexisting minerals. In addition, there are problems with calibration of garnet-biotite thermometry at higher temperatures. Retrograde oxygen isotope exchange may be a general characteristic of high-grade metamorphic rocks and oxygen isotope thermometry may not usually record peak metamorphic temperatures if they significantly exceed 600°C.     

Phase petrology and P-T conditions of mafic blueschists from the Meliata unit, West Carpathians, Slovakia

Abstract Blueschists occurring as layers in calcite marbles of the Meliata unit occur along the so-called Roznava tectonic line situated in the southern part of the Gemericum, Slovakia. Mineral assemblages and compositions from seven blueschists localities and one occurrence of amphibolite facies rocks overprinted by blueschist metamorphism were investigated. The most common minerals in the blueschists are blue amphibole, epidote and albite. Some Fe²⁺- and Al-rich rocks also contain garnet and chloritoid, respectively. Na-pyroxene with a maximum 50% jadeite component was also found. The blue amphiboles correspond mostly to crossite and also to glaucophane and ferroglaucophane in some samples. Almandine- and spessartine-rich garnet has very low MgO content (<3 wt%). The Si content in phengite ranges between 3.3 and 3.5 pfu calculated on the basis of 11 oxygens. The zoning patterns of blue amphibole, garnet and chloritoid suggest their formation during a prograde stage of metamorphism. The P-T conditions of metamorphism are estimated to be about 380–460° C and 10–13 kbar. Pressures of 7.5–8.5 kbar and temperatures of 350–370° C were obtained for some actinolite- and aegirine-rich rocks. Apart from chlorite, other mafic minerals formed during retrograde metamorphism are biotite and occasionally also actinolite.     

A polycyclic two-stage corona growth in the Iforas Granulitic Unit (Mali)

Abstract Retrograde and prograde mineral assemblages from metapelitic and metabasic rocks of the Iforas Granulitic Unit (Mali) were generated by the superimposition of two granulite facies metamorphic events. They clearly result from a polycyclic evolution and can be related to a late Eburnean unroofing followed by a Pan-African burial.
Thermobarometry on Pan-African garnet-bearing assemblages yields ( P, T ) estimates of 620±50°C and 5± Ikbar. The nearly anhydrous conditions produced in the Eburnean appear to be the direct cause of the unusually lowtemperature granulite-facies metamorphism in the Pan-African. These P, T estimates are compared with those obtained on the underlying unit (Kidal Assemblage) upon which the Iforas Granulitic Unit was thrust. A P-T-t path, during the Pan-African orogeny, is proposed and discussed for both the Iforas Granulites and Kidal Assemblage.     

Progressive Low-Grade Metamorphism of a Black Shale Formation, Central Swiss Alps, with Special Reference to Pyrophyllite and Margarite Bearing Assemblages

The unmetamorphosed equivalents of the regionally metamorphosedclays and marls that make up the Alpine Liassic black shaleformation consist of illite, irregular mixed-layer illite/montmorillonite,chlorite, kaolinite, quartz, calcite, and dolomite, with accessoryfeldspars and organic material. At higher grade, in the anchizonalslates, pyrophyllite is present and is thought to have formedat the expense of kaolinite; paragonite and a mixed-layer paragonite/muscovitepresumably formed from the mixed-layer illite/montmorillonite.Anchimetamorphic illite is poorer in Fe and Mg than at the diageneticstage, having lost these elements during the formation of chlorite.Detrital feldspar has disappeared. In epimetamorphic phyllites, chloritoid and margarite appearby the reactions pyrophyllite + chlorite = chloritoid + quartz+ H₂O and pyrophyllite + calcite ± paragonite = margarite+ quartz + H₂O + CO₂, respectively. At the epi-mesozone transition,paragonite and chloritoid seem to become incompatible in thepresence of carbonates and yield the following breakdown products:plagioclase, margarite, clinozoisite (and minor zoisite), andbiotite. The maximum distribution of margarite is at the epizone-mesozoneboundary; at higher metamorphic grade margarite is consumedby a continuous reaction producing plagioclase. Most of the observed assemblages in the anchi-and epizone canbe treated in the two subsystems MgO (or FeO)-Na₂O–CaO–Al₂O₃–(KAl₃O₅–SiO₂–H₂O–CO₂).Chemographic analyses show that the variance of assemblagesdecreases with increasing metamorphic grade. Physical conditions are estimated from calibrated mineral reactionsand other petrographic data. The composition of the fluid phasewas low in X_CO2 throughout the metamorphic profile, whereasX_CH4 was very high, particularly in the anchizone where a_H2Owas probably as low as 0.2. P-T conditions along the metamorphicprofile are 1–2 kb/200–300 °C in the anchizone(Glarus Alps), and 5 kb/500–550 °C at the epi-mesozonetransition (Lukmanier area). Calculated geothermal gradientsdecrease from 50 °C/km in the anchimetamorphic Glarus Alpsto 30 °C/km at the epi-mesozone transition of the Lukmanierarea.     

Metamorphic and Thermal History of a Fore-Arc Basin: the Fossil Bluff Group, Alexander Island, Antarctica

The Himalia Ridge Formation (Fossil Bluff Group), AlexanderIsland is a 2·2-km-thick sequence of Upper Jurassic–LowerCretaceous conglomerates, sandstones and mudstones, derivedfrom an andesitic volcanic arc and deposited in a fore-arc basin.The metamorphic and thermal history of the formation has beendetermined using authigenic mineral assemblages and vitrinitereflectance measurements. Metamorphic effects include compaction,pore-space reduction, cementation and dissolution and replacementof detrital grains by clay minerals (smectite, illite/smectite,corrensite and kaolinite), calcite, chlorite, laumontite, prehnite,pumpellyite, albite and mica, with less common quartz, haematite,pyrite and epidote. The authigenic mineral assemblages exhibita depth-dependence, and laumontite and calcite exhibit a strongantipathetic relationship. Detrital organic matter in the argillaceouslayers has vitrinite reflectance values (R_o) ranging from 2·3to 3·7%. This indicates considerable thermal maturation,with a systematic increase in reflectivity with increasing depth.There is good correlation of metamorphic mineral assemblageswith chlorite crystallinity and vitrinite reflectance values—allindicating temperatures in the range of 140 ± 20°Cat the top of the sequence to 250 ± 10°C at the baseof the sequence. The temperatures suggest a geothermal gradientof 36–64°C/km and a most likely gradient of 50°C/km.It is suggested that this higher-than-average gradient for afore-arc basin resulted either from rifting during basin formationor from a late-stage arc migration event. KEY WORDS: Antarctica; diagenesis; fore-arc basin; low-temperature metamorphism; vitrinite reflectance     

Granulite facies metamorphism in the Mallee Bore area, northern Harts Range: implications for the thermal evolution of the eastern Arunta Inlier, central Australia

The Mallee Bore area in the northern Harts Range of central Australia underwent high-temperature, medium- to high-pressure granulite facies metamorphism. Individual geothermometers and geobarometers and average P–T  calculations using the program Thermocalc suggest that peak metamorphic conditions were 705–810 °C and 8–12 kbar. Partial melting of both metasedimentary and meta-igneous rocks, forming garnet-bearing restites, occurred under peak metamorphic conditions. Comparison with partial melting experiments suggests that vapour-absent melting in metabasic and metapelitic rocks with compositions close to those of rocks in the Mallee Bore area occurs at 800–875 °C and >9–10 kbar. The lower temperatures obtained from geothermometry imply that mineral compositions were reset during cooling. Following the metamorphic peak, the rocks underwent local mylonitization at 680–730 °C and 5.8–7.7 kbar. After mylonitization ceased, garnet retrogressed locally to biotite, which was probably caused by fluids exsolving from crystallizing melts. These three events are interpreted as different stages of a single, continuous, clockwise P–T  path. The metamorphism at Mallee Bore probably occurred during the 1745–1730 Ma Late Strangways Orogeny, and the area escaped significant crustal reworking during the Anmatjira and Alice Springs events that locally reached amphibolite facies conditions elsewhere in the Harts Ranges.