The partial equilibration of garnet porphyroblasts in pelitic schists and its control on prograde metamorphism,Glen Roy,Scotland

Garnet porphyroblasts in sillimanite‐bearing pelitic schists contain complex textural and compositional zoning, with considerable variation both within and between adjacent samples. The sillimanite‐bearing schists locally occur in regional Barrovian garnet zone assemblages and are indicative of a persistent lack of equilibrium during prograde metamorphism. Garnet in these Dalradian rocks from the Scottish Highlands preserves evidence of a range of metamorphic responses including initial growth and patchy coupled dissolution–reprecipitation followed by partial dissolution. Individual porphyroblasts each have a unique and variable response to prograde metamorphism and garnet with mainly flat compositional profiles co‐exists with those containing largely unmodified characteristic bell‐shaped Mn profiles. This highlights the need for caution in applying traditional interpretations of effective volume diffusion eliminating compositional variation. Cloudy garnet with abundant fluid inclusions is produced during incomplete modification of the initial porphyroblasts and these porous garnet are then particularly prone to partial replacement in sillimanite‐producing reactions. The modification of garnet via a dissolution–reprecipitation process releases Ca into the effective whole‐rock composition, displacing the pressure–temperature positions of subsequent isograd reactions. This represents the first report of internal metasomatism controlling reaction pathways. The behaviour of garnet highlights the importance of kinetic factors, especially deformation and fluids, in controlling reaction progress and how the resulting variability influences subsequent prograde history. The lack of a consistent metamorphic response, within and between adjacent schists, suggests that on both local and regional scales these rocks have largely not equilibrated at peak metamorphic conditions.     

Metasomatic albitites and related biotite-rich schists from a low-pressure polymetamorphic terrane, Snake Creek Anticline, Mount Isa Inlier, north-eastern Australia: microstructures and P–T–d paths

Rocks of the Snake Creek Anticline are mainly pelitic schists, psammitic schists and quartzites that were metamorphosed during multiple high‐T/low‐P events extending from D1 to D5, with the metamorphic peak occurring late to post‐D3. Albitites are widespread, but are concentrated in five areas. They are typically fine‐ to medium‐grained, and consist of albite, with or without combinations of quartz, biotite, staurolite, cordierite, garnet, andalusite, sillimanite, kyanite, gedrite and tourmaline. From the presence or absence of albite inclusions in porphyroblasts, the albitites are interpreted as forming early in the D3 event as a result of infiltration of external fluids. Psammitic schists and quartzites were preferentially altered, but pelitic schists were also albitized in localities where the alteration was more extreme, with the replacement of muscovite total and the replacement of quartz and biotite variable. Structural controls on albitization include fracturing and syn‐D3 shear zones in fold hinges. Biotite schists with abundant porphyroblasts (combinations of staurolite, garnet, andalusite and cordierite) occur adjacent to albitites, and it is argued that they formed by the addition of Fe and Mg sourced from the albitites. In several albitite‐rich areas, cordierite grew early in D3 and was partly or entirely replaced during or after D3 by combinations of biotite, andalusite, tourmaline, staurolite and sillimanite. A postulated P–T–d path involved an increase in pressure (with or without a decrease in temperature) subsequent to early D3 albitization, followed by an increase in temperature up to the metamorphic peak (late D3 to early D4. The metamorphism was contemporary in part with the emplacement of the Williams Batholith (c. 1550–1500 Ma), which probably supplied the Na‐rich fluids.     

Controls on metamorphic equilibration: the importance of intergranular solubilities mediated by fluid composition

A dramatic demonstration of the role of intergranular solubility in promoting chemical equilibration during metamorphism is found in the unusual zoning of garnet in pelitic schist exposed at Harpswell Neck, Maine, USA. Many garnet crystals have irregular, patchy distributions of Mn, Cr, Fe and Mg in their inclusion‐rich interiors, transitioning to smooth, concentric zoning in their inclusion‐poor outer rims; in contrast, zoning of Ca and Y is comparatively smooth and concentric throughout. We re‐assess the disputed origin of these zoning features by examining garnet growth in the context of the thermal and structural history of the rocks, and by evaluating the record of fluid–rock interaction revealed in outcrop‐scale veining and fluid‐inclusion assemblages. The transition in the character of garnet zoning correlates with the onset of a synkinematic, simple‐shear‐dominated phase of garnet growth and with a shift in the composition of the intergranular fluid from CO₂‐rich to H₂O‐rich. Compositional variations in garnet are therefore best explained by a two‐stage growth history in which intergranular diffusive fluxes reflect differences in the concentration of dissolved species in these two contrasting fluids. Interiors of garnet crystals grew in the presence of a CO₂‐rich fluid, in which limited solubility for Mn and Cr (and perhaps Fe and Mg) produced patchy disequilibrium overprint zoning, while appreciable solubility for Ca and Y permitted their rock‐wide equilibration. Rims grew in the presence of an H₂O‐rich fluid, in which high intergranular concentrations for all elements except Cr enabled diffusion over length scales sufficient for rock‐wide equilibration. This striking example of partial chemical equilibrium during reaction and porphyroblast growth implies that thermal effects may commonly be subsidiary in importance to solubilities in the intergranular medium as determinants of length scales for metamorphic equilibration.     

Garnet re‐equilibration by coupled dissolution–reprecipitation: evidence from textural,major element and oxygen isotope zoning of ‘cloudy’ garnet

The analysis of texture, major element and oxygen isotope compositions of cloudy garnet crystals from a metapelite sampled on Ikaria Island (Greece) is used to assess the model of growth and re‐equilibration of these garnet crystals and to reconstruct the pressure–temperature–fluid history of the sample. Garnet crystals show complex textural and chemical zoning. Garnet cores (100–200 μm) are devoid of fluid inclusions. They are characterized by growth zoning demonstrated by a bell‐shaped profile of spessartine component (7–3 mol.%), an increase in grossular from 14 to 22 mol.% and δ¹⁸O values between 9.5 ± 0.3‰ and 10.4 ± 0.2‰. Garnet inner rims (90–130 μm) are fluid inclusion‐rich and show a decreasing grossular component from 22 to 5 mol.%. The trend of the spessartine component observed in the inner rim allows two domains to be distinguished. In contrast to domain I, where the spessartine content shows the same trend as in the core, the spessartine content of domain II increases outwards from 2 to 14 mol.%. The δ¹⁸O values decrease towards the margins of the crystals to a lowest value of 7.4 ± 0.2‰. The outer rims (<10 μm) are devoid of fluid inclusions and have the same chemical composition as the outermost part of domain II of the inner rim. Garnet crystals underwent a four‐stage history. Stage 1: garnet growth during the prograde path in a closed system for oxygen. Garnet cores are remnants of this growth stage. Stage 2: garnet re‐equilibration by coupled dissolution–reprecipitation at the temperature peak (630 < T < 650 °C). This causes the creation of porosity as the coupled dissolution–reprecipitation process allows chemical (Ca) and isotopic (O) exchange between garnet inner rims and the matrix. The formation of the outer rim is related to the closure of porosity. Stage 3: garnet mode decreases during the early retrograde path, but garnet is still a stable phase. The resulting garnet composition is characterized by an increasing Mn content in the inner rim’s domain II caused by intracrystalline diffusion. Stage 4: dissolution of garnet during the late retrograde path as garnet is not a stable phase anymore. This last stage forms corroded garnet. This study shows that coupled dissolution–reprecipitation is a possible re‐equilibration process for garnet in metamorphic rocks and that intra‐mineral porosity is an efficient pathway for chemical and isotopic exchange between garnet and the matrix, even for otherwise slow diffusing elements.     

Staurolite porphyroblast controls on local bulk compositional and microstructural changes during decompression of a St–Bt–Grt–Crd–And schist (Ancasti metamorphic complex,Sierras Pampeanas,W Argentina)

The staurolite–biotite–garnet–cordierite–andalusite–plagioclase–muscovite–quartz metapelitic mineral assemblage has been frequently interpreted in the literature as a result of superimposition of various metamorphic events, for example, in polymetamorphic sequences. The assemblage was identified in schists from the Ancasti metamorphic complex (Sierras Pampeanas of Argentina) where previous authors have favoured the polymetamorphic genetic interpretation. A pseudosection in the MnNCKFMASH system for the analysed XRF bulk composition predicts the stability of the sub‐assemblage staurolite–biotite–garnet–plagioclase–muscovite–quartz, and the compositional isopleths also agree with measured mineral compositions. Nevertheless, the XRF pseudosection does not predict any field with staurolite, andalusite and cordierite being stable together. As a result of more detailed modelling making use of the effective bulk composition concept, our interpretation is that the staurolite–biotite–garnet–plagioclase–muscovite–quartz sub‐assemblage was present at peak metamorphic conditions, 590 °C and 5.2 kbar, but that andalusite and cordierite grew later along a continuous P–T path. These minerals are not in mutual contact and are observed in separate microstructural domains with different proportions of staurolite. These domains are explained as a result of local reaction equilibrium subsystems developed during decompression and influenced by the previous peak crystal size and local modal distribution of staurolite porphyroblasts that have remained metastable. Thus, andalusite and cordierite grew synchronously, although in separate microdomains, and represent the decompression stage at 565 °C and 3.5 kbar.     

Reaction softening by dissolution–precipitation creep in a retrograde greenschist facies ductile shear zone,New Hampshire,USA

We describe strain localization by a mixed process of reaction and microstructural softening in a lower greenschist facies ductile fault zone that transposes and replaces middle to upper amphibolite facies fabrics and mineral assemblages in the host schist of the Littleton Formation near Claremont, New Hampshire. Here, Na‐poor muscovite and chlorite progressively replace first staurolite, then garnet, and finally biotite porphyroblasts as the core of the fault zone is approached. Across the transect, higher grade fabric‐forming Na‐rich muscovite is also progressively replaced by fabric‐forming Na‐poor muscovite. The mineralogy of the new phyllonitic fault‐rock produced is dominated by Na‐poor muscovite and chlorite together with late albite porphyroblasts. The replacement of the amphibolite facies porphyroblasts by muscovite and chlorite is pseudomorphic in some samples and shows that the chemical metastability of the porphyroblasts is sufficient to drive replacement. In contrast, element mapping shows that fabric‐forming Na‐rich muscovite is selectively replaced at high‐strain microstructural sites, indicating that strain energy played an important role in activating the dissolution of the compositionally metastable muscovite. The replacement of strong, high‐grade porphyroblasts by weaker Na‐poor muscovite and chlorite constitutes reaction softening. The crystallization of parallel and contiguous mica in the retrograde foliation at the expense of the earlier and locally crenulated Na‐rich muscovite‐defined foliation destroys not only the metastable high‐grade mineralogy, but also its stronger geometry. This process constitutes both reaction and microstructural softening. The deformation mechanism here was thus one of dissolution–precipitation creep, activated at considerably lower stresses than might be predicted in quartzofeldspathic rocks at the same lower greenschist facies conditions.     

Interplay between equilibrium and kinetics in prograde metamorphism of pelites: an example from the Nelson aureole, British Columbia

The distribution of metapelitic mineral assemblages in the Nelson aureole, British Columbia, generally conforms to what is predicted from phase equilibria. However, in detail, the sequence and spacing of isograds, mineral textures and mineral compositions and mineral chemical zoning do not. Two of the main disequilibrium features in the aureole are: (i) delay in the onset and progress of several reactions, i.e. overstepping in temperature; and (ii) unreactivity of staurolite and especially garnet porphyroblasts when they are reactants in prograde reactions. The thermal overstepping is ascribed to difficulty of nucleation of the product porphyroblasts and sluggishness of dissolution of porphyroblasts when they are reactants. The extent to which these kinetic barriers delay the onset of reaction is related to the reaction affinity of each reaction, defined herein as the Gibbs free‐energy difference between the thermodynamically stable, but not‐yet‐crystallized, products and the metastable reactants. For oversteps in temperature (ΔT), reaction affinity is, in turn, related to the difference in entropy (ΔS) between these two states through the relation A = ΔT * ΔS. Mineral reactions which release large quantities of H₂O, such as chlorite‐consuming reactions, have a higher entropy change per unit of temperature overstep, and therefore a higher reaction affinity, than those which release little or no H₂O, such as the chlorite‐free staurolite‐consuming reaction. Thermal overstepping is consequently expected to be less for the former than for the latter, as was estimated in the aureole where 0 to 30 °C overstepping was required for garnet, staurolite and andalusite growth from a muscovite + chlorite‐bearing precursor rock and ～70 °C overstepping was required for the growth of Al₂SiO₅ from a staurolite‐bearing, chlorite‐free precursor. In all cases, reaction progress was strongly influenced by the presence or absence of fluid, with presence of fluid lowering kinetic barriers to nucleation and growth and therefore the degree of thermal overstepping. Textural features of rocks from the nearly coincident garnet, staurolite and andalusite isograds are suggestive of a fluid‐catalysed ‘cascade effect’ in which reaction took place in a narrow temperature interval; several competing muscovite + chlorite‐consuming reactions, some metastable, appear to have occurred in parallel. Metamorphic reaction, fluid release and possibly fluid presence in general in the aureole were episodic rather than continuous, and in several cases well removed from equilibrium conditions. The extent to which these findings apply to regional metamorphism depends on several factors, a major one being enhanced deformation, which is expected to lower kinetic barriers to nucleation and growth.     

Metamorphism of metapelites: calculations of equilibrium assemblages and numerical simulations of the crystallization of garnet

Abstract This work uses a simplified model of equilibrium to predict the assemblage sequence and compositional zoning in garnet that should result from prograde metamorphism of common bulk compositions of pelitic rocks. An internally-consistent set of model thermodynamic data are derived for natural mineral compositions from natural assemblages. Equilibrium assemblages can be calculated for pelitic compositions with excess quartz and either muscovite or K-feldspar at any pressure and water pressure. The compositions and abundances of phases in equilibrium assemblages can be calculated where the elements Mg, Fe and Mn are exchanged among phases. The prograde metamorphic assemblage sequences and the effects of pressure on assemblages, predicted by the simulation method presented here, are similar enough to natural observations to suggest that the simulations can be used to analyse natural equilibrium and growth processes. The calculated phase diagrams at moderate and high crustal pressures explain the mineral assemblage sequence produced by prograde metamorphism in common pelitic compositions. Garnet appears by continuous reaction of biotite and chlorite as the garnet-biotite-chlorite divariant field migrates toward higher Mg/Fe ratios over the bulk composition. Staurolite appears in common bulk compositions when garnet and chlorite become incompatible. An aluminum silicate phase can appear when staurolite and chlorite react. Staurolite breaks down at an extremum point to produce garnet. Continuous reaction of biotite and sillimanite causes growth of abundant garnet. The reaction sequence involving garnet, staurolite and aluminum silicates is probably different at low pressure, but the main reason that staurolite and garnet are rare is the restricted compositional range over which their assemblages exist. Andalusite appears by the divariant reaction of chlorite and cordierite appears at low temperature in low pressure assemblages for common bulk compositions by the extremumpoint breakdown reaction of chlorite. Compositional zoning of garnet and the systematic variation of biotite composition in metamorphic sequences indicate that garnet is probably fractionated during growth. Fractionation of garnet causes garnet-consuming, univariant reactions to become multivariant. The metastable persistence of garnet should reduce the abundance and stability range of staurolite. Fractionation of even small quantities of garnet should deplete the equilibrating bulk composition of Mn, but have little effect otherwise. The simulations show that the prograde assemblage sequence in pelitic rocks can be complex in detail, with some assemblages lasting over temperature intervals of only a few degrees. The major prograde reactions that release water are the breakdown of chlorite to form garnet at low grade and the breakdown of muscovite at high grade. The volume of water released by formation of garnet at high grade is also important. These reactions have the capacity to buffer water pressure. The density of anhydrous pelitic rock increases markedly when chlorite breaks down and by the continuous reaction forming garnet at high grade. The heat content is controlled principally by heat capacity and continuous reactions. Discontinuous reactions have little thermal buffering capacity. Simulations of garnet fractionation show that commonly-observed garnet zoning profiles can be formed by garnet growth in the assemblage garnet-biotite-chlorite in common bulk compositions. A reversal of Fe-zoning in garnet can occur when garnet resumes growth above staurolite grade in the assemblage garnetbiotite-sillimanite. Discontinuities in zoning profiles can be caused only by disequilibrium. The disequilibrium can be due to either metastable persistence during a hiatus in growth or to growth by irreversible reaction. Because the appearance of garnet is controlled by a continuous rather than a discontinuous reaction, the appearance of garnet is very sensitive to bulk composition. The early development of garnet is also sensitive to the pressure and water pressure of metamorphism. As a consequence the first garnet isograd is of limited thermometric value. Metastable persistence of kyanite and manite at high grades could reduce the abundance of garnet and allow biotite to persist. Metastable persistence would also limit the of cordierite formation.     

Petrology of pelitic schists in the oligoclase-biotite zone of the Sanbagawa metamorphic terrain, Japan: phase equilibria in the highest grade zone of a high-pressure intermediate type of metamorphic belt

The oligoclase-biotite zone of the Bessi area, central Shikoku is characterized by sodic plagioclase (X_Ca= 0.10–0.28)-bearing assemblages in pelitic schists, and represents the highest-grade zone of the Sanbagawa metamorphic terrain. Mineral assemblages in pelitic schists of this zone, all with quartz, sodic plagioclase, muscovite and clinozoisite (or zoisite), are garnet + biotite + chlorite + paragonite, garnet + biotite + hornblende + chlorite, and partial assemblages of these two types. Correlations between mineral compositions, mineral assemblages and mineral stability data assuming PH₂O = P_solid suggests that metamorphic conditions of this zone are about 610 ± 25°C and 10 ± 1 kbar.
Based upon a comparative study of mineralogy and chemistry of pelitic schists in the oligoclase-biotite zone of the Sanbagawa terrain with those in the New Caledonia omphacite zone as an example of a typical high-pressure type of metamorphic belt and with those in a generalized'upper staurolite zone'as an example of a medium-pressure type of metamorphic belt, progressive assemblages within these three zones can be related by reactions such as:     

Prograde pressure–temperature paths in the pelitic schists of the Sambagawa metamorphic belt, SW Japan

Prograde P–T paths recorded by the chemistry of minerals of subduction‐related metamorphic rocks allow inference of tectonic processes at convergent margins. This paper elucidates the changing P–T conditions during garnet growth in pelitic schists of the Sambagawa metamorphic belt, which is a subduction related metamorphic belt in the south‐western part of Japan. Three types of chemical zoning patterns were observed in garnet: Ca‐rich normal zoning, Ca‐poor normal zoning and intrasectoral zoning. Petrological studies indicate that normally‐zoned garnet grains grew keeping surface chemical equilibrium with the matrix, in the stable mineral assemblage of garnet + muscovite + chlorite + plagioclase + paragonite + epidote + quartz ± biotite. Pressure and temperature histories were inversely calculated from the normally‐zoned garnet in this assemblage, applying the differential thermodynamic method (Gibbs' method) with the latest available thermodynamic data set for minerals. The deduced P–T paths indicate slight increase of temperature with increasing pressure throughout garnet growth, having an average dP/dT of 0.4–0.5 GPa/100 °C. Garnet started growing at around 470 °C and 0.6 GPa to achieve the thermal and baric peak condition near the rim (520 °C, 0.9 GPa). The high‐temperature condition at relatively low pressure (for subduction related metamorphism) suggests that heating occurred before or simultaneously with subduction.     

Metamorphic record of the Asemi‐gawa eclogite unit in the Sanbagawa belt,southwest Japan: Constraints from inclusions study in garnet porphyroblasts

The Sanbagawa belt is one of the famous subduction‐related high‐pressure (HP) metamorphic belts in the world. However, spatial distributions of eclogite units in the belt have not yet satisfactorily established, except within the Besshi region, central Shikoku, southwest Japan because most eclogitic rocks were affected by lower pressure overprinting during exhumation. In order to better determine the areal distribution of the eclogite units and their metamorphic features, inclusion petrography of garnet porphyroblasts using a combination of electron probe microanalyser and Raman spectroscopy was applied to pelitic and mafic schists from the Asemi‐gawa region, central Shikoku. All pelitic schist samples are highly retrogressed, and include no index HP minerals such as jadeite, omphacite, paragonite, or glaucophane in the matrix. Garnet porphyroblasts in pelitic schists occur as subhedral or anhedral crystals, and show compositional zoning with irregular‐shaped inner segments and overgrown outer segments, the boundary of which is marked by discontinuous changes in spessartine. This feature suggests that a resorption process of the inner segment occurred prior to the formation of the outer segment, indicating discontinuous crystallization between the two segments. The inner segment of some composite‐zoned garnet grains displays Mn oscillations, implying infiltration of metamorphic fluid during the initial exhumation stage. Evidence for an early eclogite facies event was determined from mineral inclusions (e.g., jadeite, paragonite, glaucophane) in the garnet inner segments. Mafic schists include no index HP minerals in the matrix as with pelitic schists. Garnet grains in mafic schists show simple normal zoning, recording no discontinuous growth during crystal formation. There are no index HP mineral inclusions in the garnet, and thus no evidence suggesting eclogite facies conditions. Quartz inclusions in garnet of the pelitic and mafic schists show residual pressure values (?ω₁) of >8.5 cm^?1 and <8.5 cm^?1 respectively. The combination of Raman geobarometry and conventional thermodynamic calculations gives peak P–T conditions of 1.6–2.1 GPa at 460–520°C for the pelitic schists. The ?ω₁ values of quartz inclusions in mafic schists are converted to a metamorphic pressure of 1.2–1.4 GPa at 466–549°C based on Raman geothermometry results. These results indicate that a pressure gap definitely exists between the mafic schists and the almost adjacent pelitic schists, which have experienced a different metamorphic history. Furthermore, the peak P–T values of the Asemi‐gawa eclogite unit are compatible with those of Sanbagawa eclogite unit in the Besshi region of central Shikoku, suggesting that these eclogite units share a similar P–T trajectory. The Asemi‐gawa eclogite unit exists in a limited area and is composed of mostly pelitic schists. We infer that these abundant pelitic schists played a key role in buoyancy‐driven exhumation by reducing bulk rock density and strength.     

Growth zoning of garnet porphyroblasts: Grain boundary and microtopographic controls

Chemical zoning in the outer few 10s of microns of garnet porphyroblasts has been investigated to assess the scale of chemical equilibrium with matrix minerals in a pelitic schist. Garnet porphyroblasts from the Late Proterozoic amphibolite facies regional metamorphic mica schists from Glen Roy in the Scottish Highlands contain typical prograde growth zoning patterns. Edge compositions have been measured via a combination of analysis of traverses across the planar edges of porphyroblast surfaces coupled to X-ray mapping of small areas within polished thin sections at the immediate edge of the porphyroblasts. These approaches reveal local variation in garnet composition, especially of grossular (Ca) and almandine (Fe) components, with a range at the edge from <7 mol.% grs to >16 mol.% grs, across distances of less than 50 µm. This small-scale patchy compositional zoning is as much variation as the core–rim compositional zoning across the whole of a 3 mm porphyroblast. Ca and Fe heterogeneity occurs on a scale suggesting a combination of inefficient diffusive exchange across grain boundaries during prograde growth and the evolving microtopography of the porphyroblast surface control garnet composition. The latter creates haloes of compositional zoning adjacent to some inclusions, which typically extend from the inclusion towards the porphyroblast edge during further growth. The lack of a consistent equilibrium composition at the garnet edge is also apparent in the internal zoning of the porphyroblast and so processes occurring during entrapment of some mineral inclusions have a profound influence on the overall chemical zoning. Garnet compositions and associated zoning patterns are widely used by petrologists to reconstruct P–T–t paths for crustal rocks. The evidence of extremely localized (10–50 µm scale) equilibrium during growth further undermines these approaches.     

Stable isotope constraints on the Al2SiO5'triple-point' rocks from the Proterozoic Priest pluton contact aureole, New Mexico, USA

The Priest pluton contact aureole in the Manzano Mountains, central New Mexico preserves evidence for upper amphibolite contact metamorphism and localized retrograde hydrothermal alteration associated with intrusion of the 1.42 Ga Priest pluton. Quartz–garnet and quartz–sillimanite oxygen isotope fractionations in pelitic schist document an increase in the temperatures of metamorphism from 540 °C, at a distance of 1 km from the pluton, to 690 °C at the contact with the pluton. Comparison of calculated temperature estimates with one‐dimensional thermal modelling suggests that background temperatures between 300 and 350 °C existed at the time of intrusion of the Priest pluton. Fibrolite is found within 300 m of the Priest pluton in pelitic and aluminous schist metamorphosed at temperatures >580 °C. Coexisting fibrolite and garnet in pelitic schist are in oxygen isotope equilibrium, suggesting these minerals were stable reaction products during peak metamorphism. The fibrolite‐in isograd is coincident with the staurolite‐out isograd in pelitic schist, and K‐feldspar is not observed with the first occurrence of fibrolite. This suggests that the breakdown of staurolite and not the second sillimanite reaction controls fibrolite growth in staurolite‐bearing pelitic schist. Muscovite‐rich aluminous schist locally preserves the Al₂SiO₅ polymorph triple‐point assemblage – kyanite, andalusite and fibrolite. Andalusite and fibrolite, but not kyanite, are in isotopic equilibrium in the aluminous schist. Co‐nucleation of fibrolite and andalusite at 580 °C in the presence of muscovite and absence of K‐feldspar suggests that univariant growth of andalusite and fibrolite occurred. Kyanite growth occurred during an earlier regional metamorphic event at a temperature nearly 80 °C lower than andalusite and fibrolite growth. Quartz–muscovite fractionations in hydrothermally altered pelitic schist and quartzite are small or negative, suggesting that late isotopic exchange between externally derived fluids and muscovite, but not quartz, occurred after peak contact metamorphism and that hydrothermal alteration in pelitic schist and quartzite occurred below the closure temperature of oxygen self diffusion in quartz (<500 °C).     

Epitaxial quartz inclusions in corundum from a sapphirine–garnet boudin,Bamble Sector,SE Norway: SiO2–Al2O3 miscibility at high P–T dry granulite facies conditions

An Al‐rich, SiO₂‐deficient sapphirine–garnet‐bearing rock occurs as a metapelitic boudin within granulite facies Proterozoic charnockitic gneisses and migmatites on the island of Hisøy, Bamble Sector, SE Norway. The boudin is made up of peraluminous sapphirine, garnet, corundum, spinel, orthopyroxene, sillimanite, cordierite, staurolite and biotite in a variety of assemblages. Thermobarometric calculations based on coexisting sapphirine–spinel, garnet–corundum–spinel–sillimanite, sapphirine–orthopyroxene, and garnet–orthopyroxene indicate peak‐metamorphic conditions near to 930 °C at 10 kbar. Corundum occurs as single 200 to 3000 micron sized skeletal crystal intergrowths in cores of optically continuous pristine garnet porphyroblasts. Quartz occurs as 5–60 micron‐sized euhedral to lobate inclusions in the corundum where it is in direct contact with the corundum with no evidence of a reaction texture. Some crystal inclusions exhibit growth zoning, which indicates that textural equilibrium was achieved. Electron Back‐Scatter Diffraction (EBSD) studies reveal that the quartz inclusions share a common c‐axis with the host corundum crystal. The origin of the quartz inclusions in corundum is enigmatic as recent experimental studies have confirmed the instability of quartz–corundum over geologically realistic P–T ranges. The combined EBSD and textural observations suggest the presence of a former silica‐bearing proto‐corundum, which underwent exsolution during post‐peak‐metamorphic uplift and cooling. Exsolution of quartz in corundum is probably confined to fluid‐absent conditions where phase transitions by coupled dissolution–precipitation mechanisms are prevented.     

Prograde reactions and garnet zoning reversals in staurolite schist, British Columbia: significance for thermobarometric interpretations

Abstract An outcrop of staurolite-bearing pelitic schist from the Solitude Range in the south-western Rocky Mountains, British Columbia, was examined in order to determine the nature of prograde garnet- and staurolite-producing reactions using information from garnet zoning and inclusion mineralogy. Although not present as a matrix phase, chloritoid is present as inclusions in garnet and is interpreted to have participated in the simultaneous growth of garnet and staurolite by a reaction such as chloritoid + quartz = garnet + staurolite + H₂O.
A garnet zoning trend reversal, which is most pronounced with respect to almandine and grossular components, is present in the outer core of garnets. The location of the zoning reversal corresponds to the outer limit of chloritoid inclusions in garnet. As there is no evidence for polymetamorphism, the zoning reversal is interpreted to indicate continued garnet growth by prograde reaction(s) during a single metamorphic event after the exhaustion of chloritoid as a matrix phase.
Metamorphic conditions recorded by mineral rim compositions are 550–600° C at 6–7 kbar. Because there is no evidence for partial resorption of garnet during production of staurolite, we interpret these results to represent peak conditions.     

Variscan relicts in Alpine high-P pelitic rocks from Samos (Greece): evidence from multi-stage garnet and its included minerals

Porphyroblastic garnet schists from northern Samos contain in their matrix the assemblage Ca‐rich garnet + phengite + paragonite ± chloritoid equilibrated at ～530 °C and ～19 kbar during early Tertiary metamorphism. These high‐pressure/low‐temperature (HP‐LT) metapelitic rocks also exhibit mineralogical and microstructural evidence of an older, higher temperature metamorphism. Large, centimetre‐sized Fe‐rich garnet showing growth zoning developed discontinuous, <0.5 mm thick, Ca‐rich and Mn‐poor overgrowths, compositionally matching small (<1 mm) high‐P matrix garnet. Because the discontinuous garnet rims are in textural and chemical equilibrium with Alpine high‐P minerals, the central parts of the garnet porphyroblasts were found to have formed prior to the Tertiary metamorphism. This is supported by electron microprobe U‐Th‐Pb dating of monazite inclusions yielding partly reset Variscan ages between 360 and 160 Ma. Monazite‐xenotime and garnet‐muscovite thermometry applied to inclusions in the pre‐Alpine garnet yielded temperatures of 600–625 °C (at 3–8 kbar). Prismatic Al‐rich pseudomorphs, possibly after kyanite/sillimanite, and inclusions in garnet composed of white K‐Na mica + quartz ± albite ± K feldspar, interpreted as possible replacements of an intermediate K‐Na feldspar, further support Variscan amphibolite facies conditions. The Samos metapelites thus experienced higher temperatures during the Variscan than during Alpine metamorphism. Diffusional relaxation was very limited between pre‐Alpine garnet and Alpine garnet; both were filled with Alpine garnet along overgrowths and fractures. Fluid‐mediated intergranular element transport, enhanced by deformation, appears crucial in transforming the Variscan garnet into a grossular richer composition during Alpine subduction‐zone metamorphism. At such conditions, dissolution–reprecipitation appears to be a much more effective mechanism for modifying garnet compositions than diffusion. Amphibolite facies conditions are typical for Variscan basement relics exposed in central Cycladic and Dodecanese islands as well as in eastern Crete. The Samos metapelites studied comprise a north‐eastern extension of these basement occurrences.     

Polymetamorphism, zircon growth and retention of early assemblages through the dynamic evolution of a continental arc in Fiordland, New Zealand

The Marguerite Amphibolite and associated rocks in northern Fiordland, New Zealand, contain evidence for retention of Carboniferous metamorphic assemblages through Cretaceous collision of an arc, emplacement of large volumes of mafic magma, high‐P metamorphism and then extensional exhumation. The amphibolite occurs as five dismembered aluminous meta‐gabbroic xenoliths up to 2 km wide that are enclosed within meta‐leucotonalite of the Lake Hankinson Complex. A first metamorphic event (M1) is manifest in the amphibolite as a pervasively lineated pargasite–anorthite–kyanite or corundum ± rutile assemblage, and as diffusion‐zoned garnet in pelitic schist xenoliths within the amphibolite. Thin zones of metasomatically Al‐enriched leucotonalite directly at the margins of each amphibolite xenolith indicate element redistribution during M1 and equilibration at 6.6 ± 0.8 kbar and 618 ± 25 °C. A second phase of recrystallization (M2) formed patchy and static margarite ± kyanite–staurolite–chlorite–plagioclase–epidote assemblages in the amphibolite, pseudomorphs of coronas in gabbronorite, and thin high‐grossular garnet rims in the pelitic schists. Conditions of M2, 8.8 ± 0.6 kbar and 643 ± 27 °C, are recorded from the rims of garnet in the pelitic schists. Cathodoluminescence imaging and simultaneous acquisition of U‐Th‐Pb isotopes and trace elements by depth‐profiling zircon grains from one pelitic schist reveals four stages of growth, two of which are metamorphic. The first metamorphic stage, dated as 340.2 ± 2.2 Ma, is correlated with M1 on the basis that the unusual zircon trace element compositions indicate growth from a metasomatic fluid derived from the surrounding amphibolite during penetrative deformation. A second phase of zircon overgrowth coupled with crosscutting relationships date M2 to between 119 and 117 Ma. The Early Carboniferous event has not previously been recognized in northern Fiordland, whereas the latter event, which has been identified in Early Cretaceous batholiths, their xenoliths, and rocks directly at batholith margins, is here shown to have also affected the country rock. However, the effects of M2 are fragmentary due to limited element mobility, lack of deformation, distance from a heat source and short residence time in the lower crust during peak P and T. It is possible that many parts of the Fiordland continental arc achieved high‐P conditions in the Early Cretaceous but retain earlier metamorphic or igneous assemblages.     

攀西地区低级和中级泥砂质片岩中的契尔马克替换

攀西中元古结晶片岩系遭受了前进区域变质作用。盐边和米易的砂屑岩和泥质岩分别可划出:绿泥石、黑云母、铁铝榴石、十字石和夕线石带以及绿泥石、黑云母-石榴子石、红柱石和夕线石带。在中、低级泥砂质岩石中,白云母的Na/(Na+K)比值随变质级增高。白云母、绿泥石和黑云母中的契尔马克替换范围大体上随变质级增高而降低。白云母和绿泥石之间契尔马克替换交换反应的分配系数,大致是白云母的绿鳞石含量的函数,并随变质温度升高而降低,在夕线石带,该分配系数变得很小。黑云母和白云母契尔马克替换交换反应的分配系数有类似的趋势。     

Pseudomorphs and associated microstructures of western Maine,USA

In metapelitic rocks of western Maine, a pluton-related M3 metamorphic gradient ranging in grade from garnet to upper sillimanite zone was superposed on a fairly uniform M2 regional metamorphic terrain characterized by the assemblage andalusite+staurolite+biotite+/−garnet. As a result, M2 assemblages re-equilibrated to the P, T, and aH₂O conditions of M3, and both prograde and retrograde pseudomorphism of M2 porphyroblasts occurred. The type of pseudomorph and degree of development is directly related to the rock's position within the M3 metamorphic gradient, a function of its proximity to the Mooselookmeguntic pluton. Several ‘hinge’ zones occur in which the M3 minerals that pseudomorphed a particular M2 phase change. For example, M2 garnet was replaced by M3 chlorite or biotite, depending on its position within the M3 gradient. Similarly, in a transition zone between M3 upper staurolite and lower sillimanite zones, M2 staurolite was stable and shows M3 growth rims. Downgrade from this transition zone, staurolite was pseudomorphed by chlorite and muscovite, whereas upgrade, the pseudomorphs contain muscovite and some biotite. M3 pseudomorphs commonly retain crystal shapes of the original M2 porphyroblasts, reflecting relatively low regional deviatoric stress during and after M3. Although evidence for textural disequilibrium is common, chemical equilibrium was closely approached during M3. This study demonstrates for M3 that: (1) the pseudomorphic replacement was a constant volume process, and (2) fabrics produced by tectonic events can be erased by subsequent deformation and/or sufficiently intense subsequent recrystallization.     

Bulk chemical control on metamorphic monazite growth in pelitic schists and implications for U–Pb age data

Several petrographic studies have linked accessory monazite growth in pelitic schist to metamorphic reactions involving major rock‐forming minerals, but little attention has been paid to the control that bulk composition might have on these reactions. In this study we use chemographic projections and pseudosections to argue that discrepant monazite ages from the Mount Barren Group of the Albany–Fraser Orogen, Western Australia, reflect differing bulk compositions. A new Sensitive High‐mass Resolution Ion Microprobe (SHRIMP) U–Pb monazite age of 1027 ± 8 Ma for pelitic schist from the Mount Barren Group contrasts markedly with previously published SHRIMP U–Pb monazite and xenotime ages of c. 1200 Ma for the same area. All dated samples experienced identical metamorphic conditions, but preserve different mineral assemblages due to variable bulk composition. Monazite grains dated at c. 1200 Ma are from relatively magnesian rocks dominated by biotite, kyanite and/or staurolite, whilst c. 1027 Ma grains are from a ferroan rock dominated by garnet and staurolite. The latter monazite population is likely to have grown when staurolite was produced at the expense of garnet and chlorite, but this reaction was not intersected by more magnesian compositions, which are instead dominated by monazite that grew during an earlier, greenschist facies metamorphic event. These results imply that monazite ages from pelitic schist can vary depending on the bulk composition of the host rock. Samples containing both garnet and staurolite are the most likely to yield monazite ages that approximate the timing of peak metamorphism in amphibolite facies terranes. Samples too magnesian to ever grow garnet, or too iron‐rich to undergo garnet breakdown, are likely to yield older monazite, and the age difference can be significant in terranes with a polymetamorphic history.