Effects of H2O on the Disequilibrium Breakdown of Muscovite+Quartz

We have examined in detail the effect of H₂O on the texturesand mechanisms produced during the breakdown of muscovite+quartzunder experimental disequilibrium conditions using low-porosityrock samples. Under H₂O conditions (1 wt.% H₂O added) muscovitereacts completely in <5 months at 757?C to a metastable assemblageof peraluminous meltmullite+biotite, a reaction which delaysthe formation of the stable equilibrium assemblage. In contrast,muscovite in the H₂O undersaturated experiments breaks downby both the stable dehydration reaction producing K feldspar+sillimanite+biotiteand by metastable melting reactions in the same sample. Thecom position of the metastable melt is controlled by a numberof kinetic factors which change as a function of time and reactionprogress. Early melts are highly siliceous and sodic due tothe rapid dissolution of quartz relative to muscovite, coupledwith the incongruent melting of the paragonite component ofmuscovite and crystallization of biotite. The delayed nucleationof mullite results in Al supersaturation of the melt, whichinhibits the rate of the melting reaction. Once mullite nucleatesthe degree of Al melt supersaturation is decreased and the rateof muscovite dissolution increases. After complete reactionof muscovite the melt chemistry continues to change as Si diffusesinto the pseudomorphs from adjacent quartz. Even after 5 monthsat 757?C large compositional gradients in Si and Al still persistwithin the melt. In the H₂O experiments metastable melting occursinitially, catalysed by traces of grain boundary fluid or byfluid released from the dehydration of muscovite. However, oncemelting starts any fluid is strongly fractionated into the meltphase, reducing µH₂O Under these conditions further meltingis inhibited and the stable dehydration reaction will continue.Examination of examples of natural muscovite reacted under disequilibriumconditions in xenolithic and contact metamorphic rocks at lowpressures suggests that metastable melting is an important processunder certain geological conditions. It is possible that itis widespread in contact metamorphic rocks, but the texturesindicative of metastable melting reactions are obscured duringthe extended cooling histories of such rocks.     

大陆碰撞过程中的巴罗式变质作用及原地深熔作用:以南阿尔金为例

南阿尔金吐拉地区所出露的变质泥质岩和变质基性岩普遍经历了中压麻粒岩相变质作用,其中变泥质岩以出现石榴子石+夕线石+长石+黑云母+石英为特征,而基性麻粒岩则以石榴子石+单斜辉石+紫苏辉石+斜长石+石英为特征,具有典型中压相系的麻粒岩相变质作用矿物组合,即显示"巴罗式"变质作用特征。野外宏观特征显示这套变泥质岩普遍经历了原地深熔作用,并局部发生混合岩化作用。岩相学观察结果显示泥质片麻岩保留了关键的深熔作用显微结构证据:(1)石榴子石内部发育有钾长石、石英和斜长石组成的矿物集合体,可能代表了早期熔体的假象;(2)黑云母颗粒边界发育尖锐的、不规则的微斜长石,而且黑云母边界溶蚀明显,形成锯齿状不规则的边界,指示深熔作用可能与黑云母的分解密切相关,即黑云母可能为深熔作用的主要反应相;(3)石英、斜长石或石榴子石颗粒边界发育圆珠状不规则的钾长石,而且颗粒边界或三联点中尖锐状钾长石与周围矿物的形成较小的二面角,有些甚至相互连通呈网络状,这也与它们继承了熔体结构特征一致;(4)不规则钾长石(或微斜长石)分布在石榴子石和夕线石附近,指示石榴子石和夕线石可能为深熔作用的残留相。锆石U-Pb定年结果显示麻粒岩相变质作用和相关深熔作用时代基本一致,主要发生在~450Ma。因此,吐拉地区的中压麻粒岩相变质作用和深熔作用明显要晚于南阿尔金地区榴辉岩和高压麻粒岩的峰期变质时代40~50Myr,而是与榴辉岩折返过程中麻粒岩相叠加变质作用的时代较为接近。但南阿尔金~450Ma的变质作用、深熔作用和岩浆作用是否为独立的构造热事件抑或深俯冲板片折返阶段的产物,这还需要今后进一步的工作验证。     

Experimental investigation of the formation of cordierite-orthopyroxene parageneses in pelitic rocks

Cordierite and orthopyroxene (or orthoamphibole) are widespread in migmatitic terranes, and partial melting of pelitic rocks may be important in their production. In particular, the reaction quartz +albite+biotite+garnet+water vapor = cordierite +orthopyroxene or orthoamphibole+melt was among reactions discussed by Grant (1973) but poorly constrained in pressure-temperature space.This reaction involves too many phases to be readily studied experimentally. Therefore simpler melting and dehydration reactions involving quartzalbite-biotite-cordierite-orthopyroxene were investigated.In conjunction with the work of Hoffer (1976, 1978) these experiments place useful constraints on the above reaction and on the reaction quartz+albite+aluminosilicate+biotite+vapor = cordierite+garnet+melt. In pelitic rocks near the second illimanite isograd, cordierite and garnet may coexist with melt as low as 660° C and cordierite and orthopyroxene may coexist with melt at temperatures less than 675° C. In the absence of significant Mn or Ca, in pelitic rocks within the realm of melting, biotite+garnet assemblages are probably limited to pressures greater than 2kb and aluminosilicate+biotite assemblages to pressures greater than 3kb.     

华北克拉通阜平杂岩的深熔和混合岩化作用

华北克拉通的阜平杂岩长英质岩石中常产出显著的浅色体、岩脉和花岗岩侵入体,并形成广泛的混合岩化作用。通过矿物自形晶的形成、黑云母向角闪石的转换和大量钠长石净边的出现以及其它与熔体活动有关结构的分析,浅色脉体和混合岩化作用的发生与外来熔体的注入有关。在长英质片麻岩中可出现明显的熔体注入,在一些不易片理化的岩石如石英岩中亦可形成浸染状熔体渗入。熔体汇集可形成浅色体、岩脉,直至花岗岩侵入体。而深熔作用本身形成熔体的作用在本区几乎可以忽略不计。在遭受渗透式混合岩化作用的过程中,岩石成分发生了改变,形成开放系统。随着渗透熔体的结晶,可形成一些岩浆锆石,在副片麻岩中则很容易被当作碎屑锆石。     

Spatially-focussed melt formation in aluminous metapelites from Broken Hill, Australia

Large garnet poikiloblasts hosted by leucosome in metapelitic gneiss from Broken Hill reflect complex mineral–melt relationships. The spatial relationship between the leucosomes and the garnet poikiloblasts implies that the growth of garnet was strongly linked to the production of melt. The apparent difficulty of garnet to nucleate a large number of grains during the prograde breakdown of coexisting biotite and sillimanite led to the spatial focussing of melting reactions around the few garnet nuclei that formed. Continued reaction of biotite and sillimanite required diffusion of elements from where minerals were reacting to sites of garnet growth. This diffusion was driven by chemical potential gradients between garnet‐bearing and garnet‐absent parts of the rock. As a consequence, melt and peritectic K‐feldspar also preferentially formed around the garnet. The diffusion of elements led to the chemical partitioning of the rock within an overall context in which equilibrium may have been approached. Thus, the garnet‐bearing leucosomes record in situ melt formation around garnet porphyroblasts rather than centimetre‐scale physical melt migration and segregation. The near complete preservation of the high‐grade assemblages in the mesosome and leucosome is consistent with substantial melt loss. Interconnected networks between garnet‐rich leucosomes provide the most likely pathway for melt migration. Decimetre‐scale, coarse‐grained, garnet‐poor leucosomes may represent areas of melt flux through a large‐scale melt transfer network.     

Type-locality granulites: high-pressure rocks formed at eclogite-facies conditions

Summary The type-locality granulites from the Granulitgebirge of Saxony, Germany, are rocks of broadly granitic composition containing minor garnet and kyanite within a commonly mylonitised matrix of feldspars and quartz. Petrographic evidence indicates a primary assemblage of ternary feldspar + quartz + garnet + kyanite + rutile, most likely resulting from partial melting of a granitic protolith, for which equilibrium temperature and pressure conditions of >1000 °C and >1.5 GPa have been deduced. These extreme (for crustal rocks) conditions, and the inferred peak assemblage, are supported by the newly-developed Zr-in-rutile geothermometer and experimental studies on the same bulk composition, respectively. As these conditions lie above those required for plagioclase stability in quartz tholeiites, they are thus in the eclogite facies. Widespread modification of the peak assemblage, for example mesoperthite formation after ternary feldspar, deformation-induced recrystallisation of perthites to two-feldspar + quartz aggregates, biotite replacing garnet, Ca-loss at garnet rims, sillimanite replacing kyanite or secondary garnet growth, makes reliable interpretation of equilibrium assemblages and compositions very difficult and explains the spread of published pressure-temperature values and consequent confusion about formation depths and the validity of tectonometamorphic models. Such extreme metamorphic conditions in rock compositions typical for the upper continental crust, reflecting a hot subduction environment, has important consequences for understanding some collisional orogens.     

Fluid-absent Melting of High-grade Semi-pelites: P-T Constraints on Orthopyroxene Formation and Implications for Granulite Genesis

Rocks of semi-pelitic composition are common in high-grade terranes.The first appearance of orthopyroxene in these rocks marks thetransition from amphibolite- to granulite-facies conditions,and is commonly attributed to the process of fluid-absent partialmelting. We have conducted fluid-absent melting experimentson two natural semi-pelitic rocks (quartz, plagioclase, alkalifeldspar, biotite and garnet) with the specific objective ofdetermining the pressure–temperature conditions necessaryto produce orthopyroxene. In contrast to previous experimentalstudies, our starting materials were obtained from a transitionalamphibolite–granulite terrane. Importantly, the high TiO₂(>5 wt %) and F (>1 wt %) contents of biotite in our experimentsare more representative of biotite found in rocks on the vergeof granulite-facies conditions than those used in earlier studies.Experiments were conducted in a piston-cylinder apparatus at800–1050°C and 7–15 kbar. We reversed the firstappearance of orthopyroxene in two-stage experiments at 7 and10 kbar. Fluid-absent melting of biotite began at     

High‐temperature,low‐pressure metamorphism and development of prograde symplectites,Marble Hall Fragment,Bushveld Complex (South Africa)

Metapelitic rocks from the Marble Hall Fragment, enclosed in the granites of the magmatic Bushveld Complex, record a two‐stage, low‐pressure, high‐temperature metamorphism. An early paragenesis containing chiastolitic andalusite, cordierite, biotite and quartz ± garnet crystallized in most rocks and equilibrated at 550–600 °C, 0.2 GPa. It was transformed during the second, peak event into various parageneses that commonly coexist within a single thin section. These include garnet–cordierite–biotite–K‐feldspar–quartz, sillimanite–cordierite–K‐feldspar–quartz and spectacular quartz‐undersaturated cordierite–spinel symplectites replacing the chiastolite porphyroblasts. Based on a detailed phase diagram analysis, we argue that these parageneses result from rapid heating at an approximately constant pressure to temperatures of more than about 720 °C. At these temperatures, the internally buffered activity of water was reduced by incipient water‐saturated partial melting, while only minor quantities of melt were produced. Subsequent dry conditions inhibited large‐scale equilibration and, together with local inhomogeneities in mineral distribution, led to the development of contrasting parageneses and symplectite textures. No signs of widespread fluid‐absent melting of biotite were found, and so the temperature probably did not exceed 760 °C. The peak metamorphic event is attributed to the emplacement of the hot Nebo granite, whereas the early metamorphism was probably caused by the intrusion of one of the phases of the Rustenburg Layered Suite. We infer the conditions of development of the cordierite–spinel intergrowths and we show that, although symplectites are commonly associated with retrograde processes (cooling and/or decompression), they can record a prograde metamorphic evolution. Furthermore, our contribution emphasizes the importance of the concept of reduced equilibration volume for the understanding and interpretation of some particular textures and parageneses in common rocks.     

Spinel–cordierite symplectites replacing andalusite: evidence for melt-assisted diapirism in the Bushveld Complex, South Africa

Spinel–cordierite symplectites partially replacing andalusite occur in metapelitic rocks within the cores of several country rock diapirs that have ascended into the upper levels of layered mafic/ultramafic rocks in the Bushveld Complex. We investigate the petrogenesis of these symplectites in one of these diapirs, the Phepane dome. Petrographic evidence indicates that at conditions immediately below the solidus the rocks were characterized by a cordierite‐, biotite‐ and K‐feldspar‐rich matrix and 5–10 mm long andalusite porphyroblasts surrounded by biotite‐rich fringes. Phase relations in the MnNCKFMASHT model system constrain the near‐solidus prograde path to around 3 kbar and imply that andalusite persisted metastably into the sillimanite + melt field, where the fringing relationship between biotite and andalusite provided spatially restricted equilibrium domains with silica‐deficient effective bulk compositions that focused suprasolidus reaction. MnNCKFMASHT pseudosections that model these compositional domains suggest that volatile phase‐absent melting reactions consuming andalusite and biotite initially produced a moat of cordierite surrounding andalusite; reaction progressed until all quartz was consumed. Spinel is predicted to grow with cordierite at around 720 °C. Formation of the aluminous solid products was strongly controlled by the receding edge of andalusite grains, with symplectites forming at the andalusite‐cordierite moat interface. Decompression due to melt‐assisted diapiric rise of the floor rocks into the overlying mafic/ultramafic rocks occurred close to the thermal peak. Re‐crossing of the solidus at P = 1.5–2 kbar, T > 700 °C resulted in preservation of the symplectites. Two features of the silica‐deficient domains inhibited resorption of spinel. First, the cordierite moat armoured the symplectites from reaction with crystallizing melt in the outer part of the pseudomorphs. Second, an up‐T step in the solidus at low‐P, which may be in excess of 100 °C higher than the quartz‐saturated solidus, resulted in high‐T crystallization of melt on decompression. Even in metapelitic rocks where melt is retained, preservation of spinel is favoured by decompression.     

Aluminous granulites from the Pulur complex, NE Turkey: a case of partial melting, efficient melt extraction and crystallisation

In the Pulur complex, NE Turkey, a heterogeneous rock sequence ranging from quartz-rich mesocratic gneisses to silica- and alkali-deficient, Fe-, Mg- and Al-rich melanocratic rocks is characterized by granulite-facies assemblages involving garnet, cordierite, sillimanite, ilmenite, ±spinel, ±plagioclase, ±quartz, ±biotite, ±corundum, rutile and monazite. Textural evidence for partial melting in the aluminous granulites, particularly leucosomes, is largely absent or strongly obliterated by a late-stage hydrothermal overprint. However, inclusion relations, high peak P–T conditions, the refractory modes, bulk and biotite compositions of the melanocratic rocks strongly support a model of partial melting. The melt was almost completely removed from the melanocratic rocks and crystallised within the adjacent mesocratic gneisses which are silica-rich, bear evidence of former feldspar and show a large range in major element concentrations as well as a negative correlation of most elements with SiO₂. Peak conditions are estimated to be ≥800 °C and 0.7–0.8 GPa. Subsequent near-isothermal decompression to 0.4–0.5 GPa at 800–730 °C is suggested by the formation of cordierite coronas and cordierite–spinel symplectites around garnet and in the matrix. Sm–Nd, Rb–Sr and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar isotope data indicate peak conditions at 330 Ma and cooling below 300 °C at 310 Ma.     

High to ultrahigh temperature contact metamorphism and dry partial melting of the Tasiuyak paragneiss,Northern Labrador

Contact aureoles of the anorthositic to granitic plutons of the Mesoproterozoic Nain Plutonic Suite (NPS), Labrador, are particularly well developed in the Palaeoproterozoic granulite facies, metasedimentary, Tasiuyak gneiss. Granulite facies regional metamorphism (M_R), c. 1860 Ma, led to biotite dehydration melting of the paragneiss and melt migration, leaving behind biotite‐poor, garnet–sillimanite‐bearing quartzofeldspathic rocks. Subsequently, Tasiuyak gneiss within a c. 1320 Ma contact aureole of the NPS was statically subjected to lower pressure, but higher temperature conditions (M_C), leading to a second partial melting event, and the generation of complex mineral assemblages and microstructures, which were controlled to a large extent by the textures of the M_R assemblage. This control is clearly seen in scanning electron microscopic images of thin sections and is further supported by phase equilibria modelling. Samples collected within the contact aureole near Anaktalik Brook, west of Nain, Labrador, mainly consist of spinel–cordierite and orthopyroxene–cordierite (or plagioclase) pseudomorphs after M_R sillimanite and garnet, respectively, within a quartzofeldspathic matrix. In addition, some samples contain fine‐grained intergrowths of K‐feldspar–quartz–cordierite–orthopyroxene inferred to be pseudomorphs after osumulite. Microstructural evidence of the former melt includes (i) coarse‐grained K‐feldspar–quartz–cordierite–orthopyroxene domains that locally cut the rock fabric and are inferred to represent neosome; (ii) very fine‐ to medium‐grained cordierite–quartz intergrowths interpreted to have formed by a reaction involving dissolution of biotite and feldspar in melt; and (iii) fine‐scale interstitial pools or micro‐cracks filled by feldspar interpreted to have crystallized from melt. Ultrahigh temperature (UHT) conditions during contact metamorphism are supported by (i) solidus temperatures >900 °C estimated for all samples, coupled with extensive textural evidence for contact‐related partial melting; (ii) the inferred (former) presence of osumilite; and (iii) titanium‐in‐quartz thermometry indicating temperatures within error of 900 °C. The UHT environment in which these unusual textures and minerals were developed was likely a consequence of the superposition of more than one contact metamorphic event upon the already relatively anhydrous Tasiuyak gneiss.     

Monazite as a monitor for melt‐rock interaction during cooling and exhumation

Granulite facies cordierite–garnet–biotite gneisses from the southeastern Reynolds Range, central Australia, contain both orthopyroxene‐bearing and orthopyroxene‐free quartzofeldspathic leucosomes. Mineral reaction microstructures at the interface of gneiss and leucosome observed in outcrop and petrographically, reflect melt‐rock interaction during crystallization. Accessory monazite, susceptible to fluid alteration, dissolution and recrystallization at high temperature, is tested for its applicability to constrain the chemical and P–T–time evolution of melt‐rock reactions during crystallization upon cooling. Bulk rock geochemistry and phase equilibria modelling constrain peak pressure and temperature conditions to 6.5–7.5 kbar and ~850°C, and U–Pb geochronology constrains the timing of monazite crystallization to 1.55 Ga, coeval with the Chewings Orogeny. Modelling predicts the presence of up to 15 vol.% melt at peak metamorphic conditions. Upon cooling below 800°C, melt extraction and in situ crystallization of melt decrease the melt volume to less than 7%, at which time it becomes entrapped and melt pockets induce replacement reactions in the adjacent host rock. Replacement reactions of garnet, orthopyroxene and K‐feldspar liberate Y, REE, Eu and U in addition to Mg, Fe, Al, Si and K. We demonstrate that distinguishing between monazite varieties solely on the basis of U–Pb ages cannot solve the chronological order of events in this study, nor does it tie monazite to the evolution of melt or stability of rock‐forming minerals. Rather, we argue that analyses of various internal monazite textures, their composition and overprinting relations allow us to identify the chronology of events following the metamorphic peak. We infer that retrograde reactions involving garnet, orthopyroxene and K‐feldspar can be attributed to melt‐rock interaction subsequent to partial melting, which is reflected in the development of compositionally distinct monazite textural domains. Internal monazite textures and their composition are consistent with dissolution and precipitation reactions induced by a high‐T melt. Monazite rims enriched in Y, HREE, Eu and U indicate an increased availability of these elements, consistent with the breakdown of orthopyroxene, garnet and K‐feldspar observed petrographically. Our study indicates that compositional and textural analysis of monazite in relation to major rock‐forming minerals can be used to infer the post‐peak chemical evolution of partial melts during high‐ to ultrahigh‐temperature metamorphism.     

Prograde Metamorphic Assemblage Evolution during Partial Melting of Metasedimentary Rocks at Low Pressures: Migmatites from Mt Stafford, Central Australia

The Mt Stafford area in central Australia preserves a low-pressuregreenschist- to granulite-facies regional aureole. The metasedimentarysequence has been divided into five zones from greenschist (Zone1) to granulite facies (Zone 4) and a zone of hybrid diatexiteformed from the introduction of granitic magma into the high-grademigmatites (Zone 5). Melt production was dominated by a seriesof multivariant biotite breakdown reactions, not the univariantreactions suggested by previous studies. Although the threemain metasedimentary rock types produced similar amounts ofmelt at the highest grades, their melt production historiesdiffered markedly as a function of temperature. Aluminous metapelitesproduced more melt at lower temperatures (Zones 2 and 3), whereasmetapsammite and cordierite granofels experienced an additionalmajor melt-producing step at higher temperatures (upper Zone3 and Zone 4). This melting step involved the breakdown of biotiteto produce garnet, K-feldspar and melt, and in some rocks theproduction of orthopyroxene. Melt production in Zone 4 exceeded25 mol %, resulting in the formation of in situ diatexites.Complex relationships involving aluminosilicate porphyroblastsresulted in the breakdown of biotite and aluminosilicate beingdrawn out over a wide temperature range, from subsolidus conditionsto temperatures close to 750°C. Initially, much of the meltingdeveloped around the aluminosilicate porphyroblasts during thebreakdown of coexisting biotite, aluminosilicate and quartz.However, much of the rock was chemically isolated from the porphyroblastsand could not react to produce melt. As temperatures rose, thepresence of the large isolated aluminosilicate porphyroblastscontrolled the spatial development of quartz-absent, spinel-presentcompositional domains, the formation of spinel being governedby the silica-undersaturated breakdown of coexisting biotiteand aluminosilicate. KEY WORDS: NCKFMASHTO; metapelite; granulite facies; petrogenetic grid; partial melting; THERMOCALC     

Partial melting of metagreywacke: a calculated mineral equilibria study

Greywacke occurs in most regionally metamorphosed orogenic terranes, with depositional ages from Archean to recent. It is commonly the dominant siliciclastic rock type, many times more abundant than pelite. Using calculated pseudosections in the Na₂O–CaO–K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O–TiO₂–O system, the partial melting of metagreywacke is investigated using several natural protolith compositions that reflect the main observed compositional variations. At conditions appropriate for regional metamorphism at mid‐crustal depths (6–8 kbar), high‐T subsolidus assemblages are dominated by quartz, plagioclase and biotite with minor garnet, orthoamphibole, sillimanite, muscovite and/or K‐feldspar (±Fe–Ti oxides). Modelled solidus temperatures are dependent on bulk composition and vary from 640 to 690 °C. Assuming minimal melting at the H₂O‐saturated solidus, initial prograde anatexis at temperatures up to ～800 °C is characterized by very low melt productivity. Significant melt production in commonly occurring (intermediate) metagreywacke compositions is controlled by the breakdown of biotite and production of orthopyroxene (±K‐feldspar) across multivariant fields until biotite is exhausted at 850–900 °C. Assuming some melt is retained in the source, then at temperatures beyond that of biotite stability, melt production occurs via the consumption of plagioclase, quartz and any remaining K‐feldspar as the melt becomes progressively more Ca‐rich and H₂O‐undersaturated. Melt productivity with increasing temperature across the melting interval in metagreywacke is generally gradational when compared to metapelite, which is characterized by more step‐like melt production. Comparison of the calculated phase relations with experimental data shows good consistency once the latter are considered in terms of the variance of the equilibria involved. Calculations on the presumed protolith compositions of residual granulite facies metagreywacke from the Archean Ashuanipi subprovince (Quebec) show good agreement with observed phase relations. The degree of melt production and subsequent melt loss is consistent with the previously inferred petrogenesis based on geochemical mass balance. The results show that, for temperatures above 850 °C, metagreywacke is sufficiently fertile to produce large volumes of melt, the separation from source and ascent of which may result in large‐scale crustal differentiation if metagreywacke is abundant.     

Genetic Mechanism of Mineral Inclusions in Zircons from the Khondalite Series, Southeastern Inner Mongolia

The early Precambrian khondalite series is widely distributed in the Jining-Zhuozi-Fengzhen-Liangcheng area, southeastern Inner Mongolia. The khondalite series mainly consists of sillimanite garnet potash feldspar (or two-feldspar) gneiss and garnet biotite plagioclase gneiss. These gneissic rocks have commonly experienced granulite-facies metamorphism. In zircons separated from sillimanite garnet potash feldspar gneisses, many mineral inclusions, including Sil, Grt, Ky, Kfs, Qtz and Ap, have been identified by the Laser Raman spectroscopy. Generally, prograde metamorphic mineral inclusion assemblages such as Ky + Kfs + Qtz + Ap and Ky + Grt + Kfs + Qtz are preserved in the core of zircon, while peak granulite-facies metamorphic minerals including Sil + Grt + Kfs + Qtz and Sil + Grt + Kfs + Qtz + Ap are identified in the mantle and rim of the same zircon. However, in some zircons are only preserved the peak metamorphic minerals such as Sil + Grt + Kfs + Qtz and Sil + Grt + Kfs + Qtz + Ap from core to ri     

P–T–t evolution of granulite facies metamorphism and partial melting in the Winding Stair Gap,Central Blue Ridge,North Carolina,USA

The Winding Stair Gap in the Central Blue Ridge province exposes granulite facies schists, gneisses, granofelses and migmatites characterized by the mineral assemblages: garnet–biotite–sillimanite–plagioclase–quartz, garnet–hornblende–biotite–plagioclase–quartz ± orthopyroxene ± clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene–biotite–quartz. Multiple textural populations of biotite, kyanite and sillimanite in pelitic schists support a polymetamorphic history characterized by an early clockwise P–T path in which dehydration melting of muscovite took place in the stability field of kyanite. Continued heating led to dehydration melting of biotite until peak conditions of 850 ± 30 °C, 9 ± 1 kbar were reached. After equilibrating at peak temperatures, the rocks underwent a stage of near isobaric cooling during which hydrous melt ± K‐feldspar were replaced by muscovite, and garnet by sillimanite + biotite + plagioclase. Most monazite crystals from a pelitic schist display patchy zoning for Th, Y and U, with some matrix crystals having as many as five compositional zones. A few monazite inclusions in garnet, as well as Y‐rich cores of some monazite matrix crystals, yield the oldest dates of c. 500 Ma, whereas a few homogeneous matrix monazites that grew in the main foliation plane yield dates of 370–330 Ma. Culling and analysis of individual spot dates for eight monazite grains yields three age populations of 509 ± 14 Ma, 438 ± 5 Ma and 360 ± 5 Ma. These data suggest that peak‐temperature metamorphism and partial melting in the central Blue Ridge occurred during the Salinic or Taconic orogeny. Following near isobaric cooling, a second weaker thermal pulse possibly related to intrusion of nearby igneous bodies resulted in growth of monazite c. 360 Ma, coinciding with the Neoacadian orogeny.     

Orthophosphate and biotite chemistry from orthopyroxene-bearing migmatites from California and South India: The role of a fluid-phase in the evolution of granulite-facies migmatites

Migmatites from Cone Peak, California, USA and the Satnur-Sangam road, Southern Karnataka, India contain coarser grained orthopyroxene-bearing leucosomes with subordinate biotite in finer grained hornblende-biotite-pyroxene-bearing hosts. At both localities the leucosomes are enriched in quartz and feldspar and have a higher ratio of pyroxene to hornblende + biotite compared to the host rocks. Biotite grains in leucosomes along the Satnur-Sangam road are concentrated at the margins of orthopyroxene grains and have lower abundances of Ti, Fe, and Cl and a higher abundance of F than biotite grains from the host rock. Fluorapatite grains in all rocks from both localities contain monazite inclusions similar to those produced experimentally by metasomatically induced dissolution and reprecipitation. Some fluorapatite grains at both localities are partially rimmed by allanite. The only compositional differences found between fluorapatite grains in the leucosomes and host rocks were higher concentrations of Cl in grains in leucosomes from Cone Peak. The mineralogies of the rocks suggest that the leucosomes formed by dehydration melting reactions that consumed feldspar, quartz, hornblende, and biotite and produced orthopyroxene. Allanite rims at the margins of fluorapatite grains may have formed by the later retrogression of monazite rims formed by incongruent dissolution of fluorapatite in the melt. Biotite grains at the margins of orthopyroxene crystals in the leucosomes from the Satnur-Sangam road apparently formed by retrogression of orthopyroxene upon the solidification of the anatectic melt. A similar high-grade retrogression did not affect orthopyroxene crystals at Cone Peak, indicating that H₂O was removed from the crystallizing leucosomes probably in a low H₂O activity fluid. Compositional differences between the paleosome and neosomes at Cone Peak are best explained by metasomatic interaction with concentrated brines while elevated Cl concentrations in fluorapatites in the leucosome suggest interaction with a Cl-bearing fluid. Brines may have been responsible for an exchange of elements between the host rock along the Satnur-Sangam road and zones of melt generation now marked by leucosomes, but fluid flow appears to have been less vigorous than at Cone Peak.     

MnNCKFMASH phase relations in cordierite-orthopyroxene migmatitic gneisses, southern india: implications for low-pressure crustal melting under granulite-facies

Cordierite-orthopyroxene migmatitic gneisses exposed in Achankovil unit of the Kerala Khondalite Belt, southern India show evidences of melting, melt extraction and in-situ crystallization of melt under granulite-facies conditions. The sequential mineral assemblages garnet + biotite + orthopyroxene + plagioclase + quartz (± melt) in the mesosomes and garnet + biotite + orthopyroxene + cordierite + plagioclase + K-feldspar + quartz + melt in the melanosomes makes the Achankovil cordierite-orthopyroxene migmatitic gneisses a good example of anatectic rocks, where substantial melt fractions remained in-situ during decompression and cooling. Therefore, the rocks provide an opportunity to investigate deep crustal processes and record of rheological (thermal and mechanical) reequilibration prevailed during the final stages of orogeny. The significance of cordierite formation and its possible relationship with melt formation are investigated applying theoretical calculations in the MnO-Na₂O-CaO-K₂O-FeO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂O (MnNCKFMASH) system. Results of numerical modelling of the mineral assemblages in pressure-temperature-composition (P-T-X) pseudosections using Perple_X infer that the sequence of reactions involving formation of cordierite-orthopyroxene-melt assemblage is consistent with an isothermal decompression (with a pressure drop of >1.5 kbars) at high temperatures (>800 °C), forming leucosomes. Biotite dehydration melting reactions, occurring above 4.5 kbars constrain prograde arm of the P-T trajectory and is interpreted as a product of crustal thickening, which was followed by rapid decompression. The final stage of exhumation is characterized by rehydration of cordierites in the melanosome by melt-solid interactions at exceptionally low-pressure (??3.2 kbars) conditions. The high-temperature isothermal decompression inferred from the mineral reactions and P-T-X pseudosections constitute a clockwise P-T path for the exhumation of the lower crust. This clockwise P-T path is consistent with the common tectonic model accepted for the genesis of granulite-facies migmatites during crustal thickening and later unroofing, accompanied with arc-continent collision. Our conclusions indicate low-P metamorphism and anatexis can be traced to convergent setting, where melt buoyancy considerably decreases density of the lithosphere and modifies rheology leading to rapid exhumation of the lower crust. Therefore, the crustal evolution in the Kerala Khondalite Belt is correlated with two stage processes: (i) thickening of the crust in relation to a continental-arc setting, followed by (ii) exhumation along a high-temperature stable geotherm with sufficient pressure release associated with syn- to post-convergence transpression and transtension.     

Analysis of Equilibrium in Garnet-Biotite-Sillimanite Gneisses from Quebec

An analysis is presented of equilibrium in six specimens ofgarnet—biotite—sillimanite—plagioclase—potashfeldspar—quartz ... gneiss from a metamorphic terrainin south-western Quebec. A nearly uniform Ti content of biotite may be accounted forby an equilibrium (a) involving biotite, sillimanite, quartz,garnet, potash feldspar, and H₂O. The nature of the distributionof Fe and Mg between garnet and biotite may be accounted forby another equilibrium (b) involving the same mineral suite,or by a simple exchange equilibrium (c) involving only garnetand biotite. The distribution of Mn between garnet and biotiteis accounted for by an exchange equilibrium (d). A nearly uniformvalue of the ratio Ca content of plagioclase/Ca content of garnetmay be accounted for by an equilibrium (e) involving plagioclase,garnet, sillimanite, and quartz. A proposed equilibrium (f)involving biotite, quartz, ilmenite, potash feldspar, sillimanite,and H₂O conflicts with equilibrium (a) and was evidently notestablished in the gneisses. The factors governing the Ca contentof biotite remain largely unknown. Some of these equilibria form potential indicators of relativegeologic temperature, pressure, and chemical potential of H₂O.     

The Occurrrence of Garnet in the Granulite-Facies Terrane of the Addirondack Highlands and Elsewhere, an Amplification and a Reply

Elaborating on the theme of a previous paper (1965) and in responseto Buddington‘s criticism (1966) the present discussionis primarily concerned with the high-grade meta-morphic reactionsand regional-metamorphic zoning in the Adirondacks. The hypersthene isograd, delineated by the first appearanceof orthopyroxene as a product of P_w-T-controlted reactions involvinghornblende and biotite in quartz-buartz-bearing rocks. separatesthe almandite-amphibolite-facies terrane of the lowlands fromthe granulite-facies region of the highlands. In the almandite-amphibolite facies of the lowlands at leastone isograd, the orthoclase-garnet isograd, (Ruddington's lstgarnet isograd), can be recognized which is delineated by theP_w-T-controlled appearance of these minerals at the expenseof muscovite and part of the biotite and quartz. The granulite-facies terrane of the highlands is characterizedby the predominance of assemblages of the hornblende-granulitefacies in which orthopyroxene cocxists with hydrous mineralssuch as biotite and hornblende in apparent equilibrium. In theAdlrondacks there is no sizeable, regional development of thepyroxene-granulite facies where hydrous minerals are virtuallyabsent. Within the hornblende-granulite-facies terrane two isogradscan be recognized. The garent-clinopyroxene isograd (Buddington's3rd garnet isograd) delineates the regional development of garnet,clinopyroxene, and quartz by P₁-T-controlled reaction betweenorthopyroxene and plagioclase. The isograd defines in the easternAdirondack a region of the hornblende-clinopyroxene-almanditesubfacies of the honblende-granulite facies. In the westernAdirondacks, near the hypersthene isograd, a yet uncharted cordieriteisograd may define the areal extent of the biotite-cordierite-almanditesubfacies of the hornblende-granulite facies. The central portionof the Adirondacks, where cordierite is absent and garnet andclinopyroxene do not coexist except in silica-deficient rocks,is the region of the hornblende-orthopyroxene-plagioclase subfaciesof the hornblende-granulite facies.