麻粒岩相条件下蠕状石成因的一种解释

关于蠕状石的成因，施工地质学家提出各种不同的成因假说，多数人认为是交代生成的。根据蠕状石总是产在麻粒岩相变质岩和相应的混合岩中，并常出现于斜长石，正长石和石英的接触部位，含蠕状石的斜长石的折射率低于不含蠕状石的斜工石以及近年来花岗质岩和石熔融实验研究获得的成果，笔者认为，蠕状石是在麻粒岩相变质条件下，由溶熔作用在变质岩中局部产生的花岗质熔浆于冷却结晶过程中最后共结产生的。     

Mechanisms of myrmekite formation: case study from the Weinsberg granite,Moldanubian zone,Upper Austria

Myrmekites have attracted the attention of petrographers over more than a century, and several genetic models have been proposed. We report on myrmekites from the Weinsberg granite of the Moldanubian zone of Upper Austria. Based on petrographic evidence, fluid-mediated replacement of alkali feldspar by myrmekite during the sub-solidus evolution of the granite is inferred. The replacement was metasomatic on the scale of the myrmekite domains requiring addition of sodium and calcium and removal of potassium from the reaction site. In contrast, silica and aluminum were conserved across the reaction front. Myrmekite formation appears to have been synchronous with and related to the hydration of orthopyroxene and concomitant replacement of primary magmatic plagioclase by biotite at around 500 °C. The evolution of the myrmekite microstructure and a peculiar composition zoning of the plagioclase constituting the myrmekite matrix is qualitatively explained by a model for discontinuous precipitation, which accounts for chemical segregation by diffusion within the reaction front and the propagation of the reaction front with finite mobility as potentially rate limiting processes. Constraints on the underlying reaction rates are derived from the preserved microstructure and chemical pattern. Crystal orientation imaging by electron backscatter diffraction reveals grain-internal deformation, which is primarily concentrated in the quartz and less pronounced in the plagioclase matrix of the myrmekite. This is interpreted as a growth feature related to different transformation strain at the segments of the myrmekite reaction front, where quartz and plagioclase are formed.     

Metasomatic Stages and Scapolitization Effects on Chemical Composition of Pasveh Pluton,NW Iran

Pasveh gabbros are mafic component of a plutonic complex in the northwest Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone.These cumulative rocks are composed of plagioclase and calcic clinopyroxene(Cpx) ,which yield unusually high CaO(>19 wt.%) in whole-rock chemistry.Petrographical and geochemical data suggest that Pasveh gabbros can be divided into two groups:free scapolite and scapolite-bearing gabbros.The second group has higher Na2O,K2O,and P2O5 relative to free scapolite ones and is enriched in LIL(large ion lithophile) and HFS...     

蠕英石的成因

蠕英石常见于中酸性侵入岩和片麻岩中。蠕英石石英含量与蠕英石斜长石An值或岩石中Ca含量呈正比关系。条纹钠长石、甚至钾长石的残余体出现在蠕英石中,说明蠕英石是含钙的销质气液对钾长石发生交代作用的产物。尽管有多种形态和产状的蠕英石,其成因却都是相同的。岩石受变动后形成的蠕英石应晚于未变动时形成的蠕英石。     

Growth of myrmekite coronas by contact metamorphism of granitic mylonites in the aureole of Cima di Vila, Eastern Alps, Italy

In the contact aureole of the Oligocene granodiorite of Cima di Vila, granitic pegmatites of Variscan age were strongly deformed during eo‐Alpine regional metamorphism, with local development of ultramylonites. In the ultramylonite matrix, consisting of quartz, plagioclase, muscovite and biotite, microstructures show grain growth of quartz within quartz ribbons, and development of decussate arrangements of mica. These features indicate that dynamic recrystallization related to mylonite development was followed by extensive static growth during contact metamorphism. K‐feldspar porphyroclasts up to 1.5 cm are mantled by myrmekite that forms a continuous corona with thickness of about 1 mm. In both XZ and YZ sections, myrmekite tubules are undeformed, and symmetrically distributed in the corona, and oligoclase‐andesine hosts have random crystallographic orientation. Myrmekite development has been modelled from the P–T–t evolution of the ultramylonites, assuming that the development of the ultramylonites occurred during eo‐Alpine metamorphism at c. 450 °C, 7.5 kbar, followed by contact metamorphism at c. 530 °C, 2.75 kbar. Phase diagram pseudosections calculated from the measured bulk composition of granitic pegmatite protolith indicate that the equilibrium assemblage changes from Qtz–Phe–Ab ± Zo ± Cpx ± Kfs during the ultramylonite stage to Qtz–Pl(An_30–40)–Ms–Kfs–Bt(Ann₅₅) during the contact metamorphic stage. The thermodynamic prediction of increasing plagioclase mode and anorthite content, change of white mica composition and growth of biotite, occurring during the end of the heating path, are in agreement with the observed microstructures and analysed phase compositions of ultramylonites. Along with microstructural evidence, this supports the model that K‐feldspar replacement by myrmekite took place under static conditions, and was coeval with the static growth accompanying contact metamorphism. Myrmekite associated with muscovite can develop under prograde (up‐temperature) conditions in granites involved in polymetamorphism.     

Myrmekite associated with alkali feldspar megacrysts in felsic rocks from New South Wales

Comparison of myrmekites in undeformed and deformed ‘porphyritic’ felsic rocks shows that they have different morphologies and spatial distributions within their megacrysts. In particular, plagioclase inclusions in the undeformed megacrysts carry myrmekite rims which may be explained by solid-state exsolution, as may the quartz blebs in associated perthitic plagioclase. Myrmekite at the rims of the megacrysts may be due to an interaction between exsolution and metasomatic processes. Stress concentrated at the margins of pre-existing megacrysts in the deformed rocks and the occurrence here of random non-coherent plagioclase nuclei will explain the preponderance of myrmekite at this location.     

Petrological Implication of the Albite Rims in the Felsic Gneisses of the Fuping Complex

The albite rim is present in most felsic gneisses of the Fuping Complex. The presence of the rim indicates the coexistence of plagioclase and K-feldspar in the rock. The rim is formed immediately after the myrmekite, and both textures were derived from the alteration of K-feldspar. The difference is that that there is no quartz present in the rim, and the rim is nearly albite and the anorthite content of the rim plagioclase is substantially lower than that of the myrmekite plagioclase. Formed at 400–500°C the albite rim was derived from the K-feldspar composition adjustment in the late or post-magmatism stage. As the temperature decreased, the equilibrium between K-feldspar and plagioclase could be maintained, and reactions between the minerals occurred. The leucocratic veins in the complex show distinguished magma or migmatitic characteristics. The rim might form in the late magma or deuteric stage. The formation of the rim implies obvious granitic magma- or melt-injection activity. Typical metamorphic rocks cannot produce the rims. Anatexis after medium–high grade metamorphism might be subordinate. If present, the anatexis is water-present, but the rim texture cannot be taken as the symbol of anatexis.     

Microstructural and metamorphic evolution of a high‐pressure granitic orthogneiss during continental subduction (Orlica–Śnieżnik dome,Bohemian Massif)

A microstructural and metamorphic study of a naturally deformed medium‐ to high‐pressure granitic orthogneiss (Orlica–?nie?nik dome, Bohemian Massif) provides evidence of behaviour of the felsic crust during progressive burial along a subduction‐type apparent thermal gradient (～10 °C km^?1). The granitic orthogneisses develops three distinct microstructural types, as follows: type I – augen orthogneiss, type II – banded orthogneiss and type III – mylonitic orthogneiss, each representing an evolutionary stage of a progressively deformed granite. Type I orthogneiss is composed of partially recrystallized K‐feldspar porphyroclasts surrounded by wide fronts of myrmekite, fully recrystallized quartz aggregates and interconnected monomineralic layers of recrystallized plagioclase. Compositional layering in the type II orthogneiss is defined by plagioclase‐ and K‐feldspar‐rich layers, both of which show an increasing proportion of interstitial minerals, as well as the deformation of recrystallized myrmekite fronts. Type III orthogneiss shows relicts of quartz and K‐feldspar ribbons preserved in a fine‐grained polymineralic matrix. All three types have the same assemblage (quartz + plagioclase + K‐feldspar + muscovite + biotite + garnet + sphene ± ilmenite), but show systematic variations in the composition of muscovite and garnet from types I to III. This is consistent with the equilibration of the three types at different positions along a prograde P?T path ranging from <15 kbar and <700 °C (type I orthogneiss) to 19–20 kbar and >700 °C (types II and III orthogneisses). The deformation types thus do not represent evolutionary stages of a highly partitioned deformation at constant P?T conditions, but reflect progressive formation during the burial of the continental crust. The microstructures of the type I and type II orthogneisses result from the dislocation creep of quartz and K‐feldspar whereas a grain boundary sliding‐dominated diffusion creep regime is the characteristic of the type III orthogneiss. Strain weakening related to the transition from type I to type II microstructures was enhanced by the recrystallization of wide myrmekite fronts, and plagioclase and quartz, and further weakening and strain localization in type III orthogneiss occurred via grain boundary sliding‐enhanced diffusion creep. The potential role of incipient melting in strain localization is discussed.     

Myrmekite — one hundred years later

Myrmekite, first detected by Michel-Lévy in 1875 and named by Sederholm in 1899, is an intergrowth between vermicular quartz and (sodic) plagioclase situated next to potash feldspar. In felsic plutonic rocks it occurs as: rims bordering granular plagioclase, intergranular blebs set between adjacent microperthite crystals, lobes associated with muscovite in deformed alkali feldspar megacrysts or as bulbous growths at their margins, and rims on plagioclase inclusions held within orthocalse megacrysts. A literature review based largely on papers published in the past quarter century shows that hypotheses for myrmekite genesis fall mainly into five categories: simultaneous or direct crystallization, replacement of potash feldspar by plagioclase, replacement of plagioclase by potash feldspar, solid-state exsolution, and recrystallizing quartz involved with blastic plagioclase.     

Dynamic Mechanism of Migmatization in the Dabie Complex, Northeastern Hubei, China

On the basis of the detailed field work, compositions and contents of plagioclase and K - feldspar,determination of ordering degree, statistical analysis of plagioclase elongation index, mass-balance calculation and mineral spatial distribution and geochemistry, it is concluded that the migmatites in the Dabie complex are characterized by the presence of thermocenters. There are regular changes in mineral character in the migmatites from the centers outwards. The dominant genetic mechanism is anatexis and metasomatism, whose intensities decrease from the centers outwards. Finally, according to the simulated experiment on Liesegang' s rings and non-linear dynamics (dissipative structure theory), the dynamic mechanism of migmatization is profoundly expouded as consisting of the early-stage metasomatism induced by the thermal anomaly, the cardinal-stage anatexis induced by the early-stage matasomatism and finally the last-stage post-anatexis metasomatism.     

An Anorthosite Suite in a Ring-Complex: Crystallization and Emplacement of an Anorogenic Type from Abontorok, A?r, Niger

Laminated anorthosite grading outwards into leucogabbro, gabbro,and monzogabbro occurs in a 2.6-km-diameter funnel-shaped intrusion,cut by a quartz alkali syenite plug and concentric syenite andgranite ring-dykes. The anorthosite-gabbro series is laminatedbut not modally or otherwise texturally layered. The lamination,defined by large tabular plagioclase crystals, forms a set ofinwarddipping cones, the dips of which decrease from 60–45?in the central anorthosite to < 25? in the outer gabbros.Rocks close to the outer contact are medium-grained isotropicgabbros. Plagioclase, forming >80% of the series, generallyhas homogeneous labradorite cores (An_62–58 in the wholeseries) and thin strongly zoned rims, which follow progressivelylonger solidus paths from the anorthosites to the gabbros. Allrocks contain a late-magmatic alkali feldspar. Plagioclase isthe main or only cumulus phase, the anorthosites being ad- tomesocumulates and the gabbros orthocumulates. Olivine (FO_49–41)is more abundant than clinopyroxene in most of the series. Dependingon quartz content, the syenites and granites are hypersolvusor subsolvus and the depth of crystallization was calculatedto be 5 ? 2 km. A Rb/Sr isochron for the syenites and granites gave an age of399 ? 10 Ma with an initial strontium isotopic ratio of 0.7084? 0.0005. Ten samples from the anorthosite-gabbro scries havean average calculated initial ratio of 0.70582 ? 0-00004 at– 400 Ma, showing that the two series are not comagmatic.The anorthosite-gabbro series has parallel REE trends (La_N/Yb_N{small tilde} 7–10) with decreasing positive Eu anomaliesand increasing total REE contents from anorthosite to gabbro;two monzogabbros have almost no Eu anomaly. The liquid calculatedto be in equilibrium with the lowest anorthosite has almostno Eu anomaly and its normalized REE pattern lies just abovethose for the monzogabbros. The syenites and granites have complementaryREE patterns with negative Eu anomalies. The inferred parental magma was alkalic and leucotroctoliticwith high TiO₂ P₂O₅, Sr and K/Rb and with low MgO, very similarto parental magmas in the Gardar province, South Greenland.It was probably produced at depth by settling of olivine andclinopyroxene but not of plagioclase, which accumulated by flotation.It is suggested that plagioclase crystals from this lower chamberwere progressively entrained (from 0% in the gabbros to 30–40%in the anorthosites), giving rise to the flow lamination inthe upper chamber. The magma in the lower chamber may have beenlayered, because the plagioclase cores in the anorthosite areconsiderably richer in Or than those in the leucogabbros orgabbros. Overall convection did not occur in the upper chamber,whereas compositional convection occurred in the more slowlycooled central anorthositic adcumulates.     

Crustal contamination of Late Neogene basalts in the Dien Bien Phu Basin,NW Vietnam: Some insights from petrological and geochronological studies

Early Pliocene (Zanclean) basalts in the Dien Bien Phu pull-apart basin in NW Vietnam, associated with the presently sinistral Dien Bien Phu Fault Zone, have been dated by the K–Ar method at 4.4–4.9 and 5.4–5.2 Ma. Rapid migration of basaltic magma to the surface in the Dien Bien Phu Fault Zone may be due to Pliocene transtension of the crust in this region, resulting from asthenospheric upwelling induced by lateral displacement of the mantle. The basalts are moderately phyric ( < 10%) and consist of olivine (hyalosiderite), plagioclase (bytownite–labradorite) and orthopyroxene (bytownite–labradorite) phenocrysts, and a fine-grained crystalline matrix (olivine–hortonolite, plagioclase–labradorite, clinopyroxene–pigeonite and augite, K-feldspar). The presence of Fe-rich olivine and orthopyroxene phenocrysts indicates that the basalts are SiO₂-saturated/oversaturated olivine tholeiites which formed under water-undersaturated conditions. The Dien Bien Phu basalts contain both mantle-derived (pyroxenites, dunites, gabbros) and crustal (sillimanite/mullite + Mg–Fe spinel), wallrock xenoliths, indicative of crustal contamination during the ascent of the basaltic magma. The basalts show selective enrichment in some mobile elements (K, Rb, Sr and Th), a feature considered to be a result of metasomatism. These rocks, classified on the basis of their normative composition as quartz tholeiites, could represent primary olivine tholeiites/basalts, in which the geochemical signatures were modified by the processes of contamination.     

An exsolution silica-pump model for the origin of myrmekite

Myrmekite, as defined here, is the microscopic intergrowth between vermicular quartz and modestly anorthitic plagioclase (calcic albite-oligoclase), intimately associated with potassium feldspar in plutonic rocks of granitic composition. Hypotheses previously invoked in explanation of myrmekite include: (1) direct crystallization; (2) replacement; (3) exsolution. The occurrence of myrmekite in paragneisses and its absence in rocks devold of discrete grains of potassium feldspar challenge those hypotheses based on direct crystallization or replacement. However, several lines of evidence indicate that myrmekite may in fact originate in response to kinetic effects associated with the exsolution of calcic alkali feldspar into discrete potassium feldspar and plagioclase phases. Exsolution of potassium feldspar system projected from [AlSi₂O₈] involves the exchange CaAlK_-1Si_-1, in which the AlSi_-1 tetrahedral couple is resistant to intracrystalline diffusion. By contrast, diffusion of octahedral K proceeds relatively easily where it remains uncoupled to the tetrahedral exchange. We suggest here that where the ternary feldspar system is open to excess silica, the exchange reaction that produces potassium feldspar in the ternary plane is aided by the net-transfer reaction K+Si=Orthoclase, leaving behind indigenous Si that reports as modal quartz in the evolving plagioclase as the CaAl component is concomitantly incorporated in this same phase. Thus silica is pumped into the reaction volume from a silica reservoir, a process that enhances redistribution of both Si and Al through the exsolving ternary feldspar.     

Calc-alkaline differentiation trend in the plutonic sequence of the Wadi Haymiliyah section, Haylayn massif, Semail ophiolite, Oman

The Wadi Haymiliyah section, in the Haylayn block (Semail ophiolite, Oman) displays an unusual plutonic sequence closely similar to those of supra-subduction zone harzburgitic ophiolites (“Troodos sub-type”). It comprizes a bottom, 1000 m-thick, coarse-grained layered gabbro unit (MLGU) overlain by a 1000 m-thick, fine-grained, laminated noritic gabbro unit (MLNGU). Taken as a whole, the mineralogical and bulk-rock trends of the Haymiliah plutonic sequence are those of arc-related calc-alkaline plutons. The MLGU layered gabbros are olivine gabbros and gabbros which differ from low-P cumulates of MORB (oceanic gabbros) by Fe³⁺-rich cumulus chrome spinel [Fe³⁺/(Fe³⁺ + Al + Cr) = 0.2-0.3], diopside (Mg# = 85–91) co-crystallized with highly calcic plagioclase (An_96-80) and intercumulus magnesian orthopyroxene (Mg# = 87-80). Plagioclase remains highly calcic at decreasing Fo content, indicating crystallization under high water pressure (> 500 bar). Despite an abrupt decrease in grain size, there exists modal and chemical gradations between MLGU and MLNGU. In the uppermost part of the MLGU, coarse-grained, gabbroic cyclic units culminate with two-pyroxene gabbros containing up to 20 wt.% cumulus Opx. These latter are interbedded over a thickness of ca. 300 m with fine-grained two-pyroxene gabbros and noritic gabbros layers which differ only by slightly higher modal opx and plagioclase contents. The bottom of the MLNGU is marked by norite layers containg up to 80 wt.% plagioclase, cumulus Ti-magnetite and abundant intercumulus Ti-pargasite. Unlike low-pressure differentiates of MORBs, the MLNGU lacks pigeonite and Fe-Ti oxide layers. Cumulus titanomagnetite appears immediately after the orthopyroxene (Mg# = 72–76) in the crystallization order of the norites. The abundance of interstitial Ti-poor pargasite increases at the top of the MLNGU which is brecciated by dioritic differentiates. Both features indicate increasing water pressure and oxygen fugacity (NNO + 2 log units) symptomatic of closed-system magmatic differentiation. Mg#'s of both pyroxenes (70–80) decrease moderately relative to the MLGU coarse-grained gabbros. This and the increase of plagioclase and orthopyroxene modal proportions produce increasing SiO₂-Al₂O₃-Na₂O and Sr contents at nearly constant FeO/MgO in bulk-rock chemistry. This feature similar to the calc-alkaline differentiation trend, is due primarily to a parental tholeiitic magma more hydrated and oxidized than MORBs (ƒ_O2 = NNO instead of NNO-2 to NNO-3 log unit); this trend is fully developed in the Wadi Haymiliah section because closure of the magma reservoir in this region allowed larger extent of magmatic differentiation than in other blocks of the Semail ophiolite. The water-rich and oxidized nature of the parental magmas argues for the evolution of the Semail ophiolite in a marginal basin above a subduction zone rather than at a mature oceanic spreading center.     

Nucleation and growth of myrmekite during ductile shear deformation in metagranites

Myrmekite is extensively developed along strain gradients of continuous, lower amphibolite facies shear zones in metagranites of the Gran Paradiso unit (Western Alps). To evaluate the role of stress, strain energy and fluid phase in the formation of myrmekite, we studied a sample suite consisting of weakly deformed porphyric granites (WDGs), foliated granites (FGs) representative of intermediate strains, and mylonitic granites (MGs). In the protolith, most K‐feldspar is microcline with different sets of perthite lamellae and fractures. In the WDGs, abundant quartz‐oligoclase myrmekite developed inside K‐feldspar only along preexisting perthite lamellae and fractures oriented at a high angle to the incremental shortening direction. In the WDGs, stress played a direct role in the nucleation of myrmekites along interfaces already characterized by high stored elastic strain because of lattice mismatch between K‐feldspar and albite. In the FGs and MGs, K‐feldspar was progressively dismembered along the growing network of microshear zones exploiting the fine‐grained recrystallized myrmekite and perthite aggregates. This was accompanied by a more pervasive fluid influx into the reaction surfaces, and myrmekite occurs more or less pervasively along all the differently oriented internal perthites and fractures independently of the kinematic framework of the shear zone. In the MGs, myrmekite forms complete rims along the outer boundary of the small K‐feldspar porphyroclasts, which are almost completely free of internal reaction interfaces. Therefore, we infer that the role of fluid in the nucleation of myrmekite became increasingly important as deformation progressed and outweighed that of stress. Mass balance calculations indicate that, in Al–Si‐conservative conditions, myrmekite growth was associated with a volume loss of 8.5%. This resulted in microporosity within myrmekite that enhanced the diffusion of chemical components to the reaction sites and hence the further development of myrmekite.     

The origin of oceanic plagiogranites from the karmoy ophiolite,western Norway

Both field relationships and geochemical characteristics indicate two suites of plagiogranitic and related rocks coexisting in the higher parts of the Karmoy ophiolite of western Norway. The plutonic zone of this ophiolite can be subdivided into three complexes; the East-Karmoy Igneous Complex, the Visnes High Level Complex and the Veavagen Igneous Complex and plagiogranitic rocks are well developed in the first two of these.Within the East-Karmoy Igneous Complex, plagiogranites are associated with high temperature, pre-basic dyke, shear zones. Rare earth element modelling indicates that these plagiogranites were derived by anatexis of amphibolite (hydrated diabase) assuming a starting material consisting of 40% hornblende and 60% plagioclase and that batch melting occurred within the stability field of hornblende.In comparison, plagiogranite occurs in a number of bodies in the upper part of the Visnes High Level Complex and forms a sandwich horizon together with biotite diorites and epidosites between a roof assemblage of dykes, microgabbros and magnetite gabbros, and a floor assemblage of layered and non-layered gabbros. The R.E.E. modelling of the petrogenesis of this series of plagiogranites indicates that they were derived by filter pressing of a differentiated interstitial liquid to the vari-textured gabbros, although the distribution of highly hygromagmatophile elements such as K, Rb, Ba, etc. cannot be explained satisfactorily by this model alone. Depletion in these elements appears to be an autometasomatic effect.     

Metamorphism and deformation of mafic and felsic rocks in a magma transfer zone,Stewart Island,New Zealand

In the mingled mafic/felsic Halfmoon Pluton at The Neck, Stewart Island (part of the Median Batholith of New Zealand) some hornblende gabbros and diorites retain magmatic structures, whereas others show evidence of major changes in grain and inclusion shapes, and still others are amphibolite‐facies granofelses with few or no igneous relicts. These mafic to intermediate magmas crystallized in felsic magma relatively quickly, with the result that most deformation occurred at subsolidus conditions. It is suggested that mafic‐intermediate rocks with predominantly igneous microstructures spent less time in the magmatic system. The metamorphism of the mafic rocks appears to be ‘autometamorphic’, in the sense that elevated temperatures were maintained by magmatic heat during subsolidus cooling. Elevated temperatures were maintained because of repeated sheet injection and subconcordant dyke injection of hot basaltic and composite mafic‐felsic magmas, into a dominantly transtensional, km‐scale, outboard‐migrating, magmatic shear zone that operated semi‐continuously for between c. 140 and c. 130 Ma. Complete cooling occurred only when the system evolved to transpressional and the locus of magmatism migrated inboard (southward) between c. 130 and c. 120 Ma, associated with solid‐state mylonitic deformation. Intermingled granitic rocks escaped metamorphism, because they remained magmatic to lower temperatures, and experienced shorter and lower‐temperature subsolidus cooling intervals. However, the felsic rocks underwent relatively high‐temperature solid‐state deformation, as indicated by myrmekite replacing K‐feldspar and chess‐board subgrain patterns in quartz; locally they developed felsic mylonites. The felsic rocks were deformed in the solid state because of their high proportion of relatively weak minerals (quartz and biotite), whereas the mafic rocks mostly escaped subsolidus deformation, except in local high‐strain zones of hornblende‐plagioclase schist, because of their high proportion of relatively strong minerals (hornblende and plagioclase). We suggest that such contrasting microstructural features are diagnostic of long‐lived syntectonic magma transfer zones, and contrast with the more typical complex, batholith‐scale magma chambers of magmatic arcs.     

An electron‐optical study of melt‐related microstructures in granulite facies rocks from the Torngat Orogen

Cordierite–quartz and plagioclase–quartz intergrowths in a paragneiss from northern Labrador (the Tasiuyak Gneiss) were studied using SEM, STEM and TEM. The gneiss experienced granulite facies conditions and partial melting during both regional and, subsequently, during contact metamorphism. The microstructures examined all results from the contact metamorphism. Cordierite–quartz intergrowths occur on coarse and fine scales. The former sometimes exist as a ‘geometric’ intergrowth in which the interface between cordierite and quartz appears planar at the resolution of the optical microscope and SEM. The latter exists in several microstructural variants. Plagioclase is present as a minor component of the intergrowth in some examples of both the coarse and fine intergrowth. Grain boundaries in cordierite–quartz intergrowths are occupied by amorphous material or a mixture of amorphous material and chlorite. Cordierite and quartz are terminated by crystal faces in contact with amorphous material. Chlorite is sometimes found on cordierite surfaces and penetrating into cordierite grains along defects. Quartz contains (former) fluid inclusions 10–20 nm in maximum dimension. The presence of planar interfaces between cordierite and the amorphous phase is reminiscent of those between crystals and glass in volcanic rocks, but in the absence of compelling evidence that the amorphous material represents former melt, it is interpreted as a reaction product of cordierite. Plagioclase–quartz intergrowths occur in a number of microstructural variants and are commonly associated with cordierite–quartz intergrowths. The plagioclase–quartz intergrowths display simple, non‐planar interfaces between plagioclase and quartz. Quartz contains (former) fluid inclusions of dimensions similar to those observed in cordierite–quartz intergrowths. The boundary between quartz and enclosing K‐feldspar is cuspate, with quartz cusps penetrating a few tens of nanometres into K‐feldspar, commonly along defects in K‐feldspar and sometimes with very low dihedral angles at their tips. This cuspate microstructure is interpreted as melt pseudomorphs. The plagioclase–quartz intergrowths share some features with myrmekite, but differ in some respects: the composition of the plagioclase (An₃₇Ab₆₂Or₁–An₃₈Ab₆₁Or₁); the association with cordierite–quartz intergrowths; and microstructures that are atypical of myrmekite (e.g. quartz vermicules shared with cordierite–quartz intergrowths). It is inferred that the plagioclase–quartz intergrowths may have formed from, or in the presence of, melt. Inferred melt‐related microstructures preserved on the nanometre scale suggest that melt on grain boundaries was more pervasive than is evident from light optical and SEM observations.     

Dynamic Mechanism of Migmatization in the Dabie Complex,Northeastern Hubei,China1

Abstract On the basis of the detailed field work, compositions and contents of plagioclase and K-feldspar, determination of ordering degree, statistical analysis of plagioclase elongation index, mass-balance calculation and mineral spatial distribution and geochemistry, it is concluded that the migmatites in the Dabie complex are characterized by the presence of thermocenters. There are regular changes in mineral character in the migmatites from the centers outwards. The dominant genetic mechanism is anatexis and metasomatism, whose intensities decrease from the centers outwards. Finally, according to the simulated experiment on Liesegang' s rings and non-linear dynamics (dissipative structure theory), the dynamic mechanism of migmatization is profoundly expouded as consisting of the early-stage metasomatism induced by the thermal anomaly, the cardinal-stage anatexis induced by the early-stage matasomatism and finally the last-stage post-anatexis metasomatism.     

Plagioclase zonation styles in hornblende gabbro inclusions from Little Glass Mountain,Medicine Lake volcano,California: implications for fractionation mechanisms and the formation of composition gaps

The rhyolite of Little Glass Mountain (73–74% SiO₂) is a single eruptive unit that contains inclusions of quenched andesite liquid (54–61% SiO₂) and partially crystalline cumulate hornblende gabbro (53–55% SiO₂). Based on previous studies, the quenched andesite inclusions and host rhyolite lava are related to one another through fractional crystallization and represent an example of a fractionation-generated composition gap. The hornblende gabbros represent the cumulate residue associated with the rhyolite-producing and composition gap-forming fractionation event. This study combines textural (Nomarski Differential Interference Contrast, NDIC, imaging), major element (An content) and trace element (Mg, Fe, Sr, K, Ti, Ba) data on the style of zonation of plagioclase crystals from representative andesite and gabbro inclusions, to assess the physical environment in which the fractionation event and composition gap formation took place. The andesite inclusions (54–61% SiO₂) are sparsely phyric with phenocrysts of plagioclase, augite and Fe-oxide±olivine, +/–orthopyroxene, +/–hornblende set within a glassy to crystalline matrix. The gabbro cumulates (53–55% SiO₂) consist of an interconnected framework of plagioclase, augite, olivine, orthopyroxene, hornblende and Fe-oxide along with highly vesicular interstitial glass (70–74% SiO₂). The gabbros record a two-stage crystallization history of plagioclase+olivine+augite (Stage I) followed by plagioclase+orthopyroxene+ hornblende+Fe-oxide (Stage II). Texturally, the plagioclase crystals in the andesite inclusions are characterized by complex, fine-scale oscillatory zonation and abundant dissolution surfaces. Compositionally (An content) the crystals are essentially unzoned from core-to-rim. These features indicate growth within a dynamic (convecting?), reservoir of andesite magma. In contrast, the plagioclase crystals in the gabbros are texturally smooth and featureless with strong normal zonation from An₇₄ at the core to around An₃₀. K, and Ba abundances increase and Mg abundances decrease steadily towards the rim. Ti, Fe, and Sr abundances increase and then decrease towards the rim. The trace element variations are fully consistent with the two-stage crystallization sequence inferred from the gabbro mineralogy. These results indicate progressive closed-system in situ crystallization in a quiescent magmatic boundary layer environment located along the margins of the andesite magma body. The fractional crystallization that generated the host rhyolite lava is one of inward solidification of a crystallizing boundary layer followed by melt extraction and accumulation of highly evolved interstitial liquid. This mechanism explains the formation of the composition gap between parental andesite and rhyolite magma compositions.