Chemical and textural equilibration of garnet during amphibolite facies metamorphism: The influence of coupled dissolution–reprecipitation

Metamorphic equilibration requires chemical communication between minerals and may be inhibited through sluggish volume diffusion and or slow rates of dissolution in a fluid phase. Relatively slow diffusion and the perceived robust nature of chemical growth zoning may preclude garnet porphyroblasts from readily participating in low‐temperature amphibolite facies metamorphic reactions. Garnet is widely assumed to be a reactant in staurolite‐isograd reactions, and the evidence for this has been assessed in the Late Proterozoic Dalradian pelitic schists of the Scottish Highlands. The 3D imaging of garnet porphyroblasts in staurolite‐bearing schists reveals a good crystal shape and little evidence of marginal dissolution; however, there is also lack of evidence for the involvement of either chlorite or chloritoid in the reaction. Staurolite forms directly adjacent to the garnet, and its nucleation is strongly associated with deformation of the muscovite‐rich fabrics around the porphyroblasts. “Cloudy” fluid inclusion‐rich garnet forms in both marginal and internal parts of the garnet porphyroblast and is linked both to the production of staurolite and to the introduction of abundant quartz inclusions within the garnet. Such cloudy garnet typically has a Mg‐rich, Mn‐poor composition and is interpreted to have formed during a coupled dissolution–reprecipitation process, triggered by a local influx of fluid. All garnet in the muscovite‐bearing schists present in this area is potentially reactive, irrespective of the garnet composition, but very few of the schists contain staurolite. The staurolite‐producing reaction appears to be substantially overstepped during the relatively high‐pressure Barrovian regional metamorphism reflecting the limited permeability of the schists in peak metamorphic conditions. Fluid influx and hence reaction progress appear to be strongly controlled by subtle differences in deformation history. The remaining garnet fails to achieve chemical equilibrium during the reaction creating distinctive patchy compositional zoning. Such zoning in metamorphic garnet created during coupled dissolution–reprecipitation reactions may be difficult to recognize in higher grade pelites due to subsequent diffusive re‐equilibration. Fundamental assumptions about metamorphic processes are questioned by the lack of chemical equilibrium during this reaction and the restricted permeability of the regional metamorphic pelitic schists. In addition, the partial loss of prograde chemical and textural information from the garnet porphyroblasts cautions against their routine use as a reliable monitor of metamorphic history. However, the partial re‐equilibration of the porphyroblasts during coupled dissolution–reprecipitation opens possibilities of mapping reaction progress in garnet as a means of assessing fluid access during peak metamorphic conditions.     

Stable staurolite–cordierite assemblages in K‐poor metapelitic schists in Aston and Hospitalet gneiss domes of the central Pyrenees (France,Andorra)

Staurolite–cordierite assemblages are common in mica schists of the Aston and Hospitalet gneiss domes of the central Axial Zone, Pyrenees (France, Andorra). Within a 200 m wide zone, staurolite, cordierite and andalusite porphyroblasts contain inclusion trails that preserve the same stage of development of a crenulation cleavage, strongly suggesting that all three phases are contemporaneous. Their syntectonic growth occurred during a short period at the beginning of the formation of the dominant schistosity (S₂) of the domes. Staurolite and cordierite touching each other further indicates an equilibrium relationship. Whole‐rock analyses show that some staurolite–cordierite schists are depleted in K₂O compared to post‐Archean shales (PAAS) and amphibolite facies pelites. Analysis of the st‐crd paragenesis in K‐poor schists without muscovite using KFMASH and MnNCKFMASH petrogentic grids, pseudosections and AFM compatibility diagrams predicts stable conditions at pressures of ~3.5 kbar at 575 °C. For metapelites with intermediate X_Mg values (0.7 >  X_Mg >0.48) a ‘muscovite‐out window’ exists from 550–650 °C at 3.5 kbar in the KFMASH system. Conventional thermobarometry (GB‐GASP, AvT‐AvP) and petrogenetic grids show an isobaric P–T path to peak temperatures of ~650 °C, supported by the presence of sillimanite‐K‐feldspar gneiss and migmatites. LP‐HT metamorphism in the Aston dome is related to early Carboniferous (c. 339 Ma) granitic intrusions into the dome core. As metamorphism is directly linked with the formation of the main S₂ schistosity, the temporal relations demonstrated in this study conflict with previous studies which constrained LP‐HT metamorphism and the development of flat‐lying schistosity to the late Carboniferous (315–305 Ma) – at least in the eastern Axial Zone.     

A long‐lived metamorphic history in the contact aureole of the Mooselookmeguntic pluton revealed by in situ dating of monazite grains preserved as inclusions in staurolite porphyroblasts

Emplacement of the Mooselookmeguntic pluton, located in the western Maine region of the northern Appalachians, was thought to have occurred towards the end of the Acadian deformation at around 370 Ma. Crystallization ages from different parts of the pluton suggest a more sequential emplacement history over a period of c. 20 Myr. Foliation inflection/intersection axes (FIAs) within porphyroblasts from its aureole reveal at least five periods of garnet and staurolite growth. The orientation of FIAs in both garnet and staurolite porphyroblasts trend successively from ESE–WNW, NNW–SSE, E–W, ENE–WSW to NE–SW. Electron probe microanalysis dating of monazite grains included in staurolite porphyroblasts containing one of these five periods of FIA development reveals a succession of apparent ages from 410 Ma to 345 Ma. A similar spread of crystallization ages can be observed for plutons from Maine and adjacent regions. This succession indicates that deformation and metamorphism began well before and continued long after what is classically regarded as the Acadian orogeny. The thermal structure of the orogen progressively evolved to enable pluton emplacement, and it continued to develop afterwards with magmatic fluids still forming at depth.     

Intracrystalline fractionation of Fe in synthetic (Fe, Mg, Zn) - bearing staurolite: a Mössbauer spectroscopic study

⁵⁷Fe-Mössbauer spectra of eleven Fe-Mg-bearing staurolite samples, synthesized at 5, 20 and 25 kbar and 680°C, ranging in composition from x_Fe?=1.00 to x_Fe?=0.15, and of two Zn-Fe-bearing staurolite samples, synthesized at 20 kbar and 700°C with x_Fe?=0.10 and x_Fe?=0.32 were collected at room temperature. The spectra reveal that about 80% of Fe_tot (in case of Fe-Mg-bearing staurolite) and about 70% of Fe_tot (in case of Fe-Zn-bearing staurolite) are located as Fe²⁺ at the three subsites Fe1, Fe2 and Fe3 of the tetrahedral T2-site. The refinement of the spectra results in almost identical values for the isomer shift (IS) (±1.0 mm/s) but significantly different values for the quadropole splitting (QS) for the three subsites which is in accordance with the different distortions of these sites. About 8% of Fe_tot (in case of Fe-Mg-bearing staurolite) and 13% of Fe_tot (in case of Fe-Zn-bearing staurolite) are located as Fe²⁺ at the octahedral M4 site, while the remainder percents of Fe_tot indistinguishably occur as Fe²⁺ at the octahedral M1 and M2 sites of the kyanite-like part of the structure. Within the whole Fe-Mg-staurolite solid solution series the Mössbauer parameters QS of the sites M4 and (M1, M2) vary systematically with composition whereas IS remains constant. There is a high negative correlation of the total Mg-content with Fe-occupation of all the Fe-bearing sites indicating a continuous substitution of Fe²⁺ by Mg on all these sites. Synthetic Fe-staurolites show no increasing occupation of the octahedral sites by two-valent cations with pressure, as was assumed by several authors.     

Metamorphic and structural evolution of the Early Proterozoic Puolankajärvi Formation, Finland – I. Structural and textural relations

The amphibolite facies Puolankajärvi Formation (PjF) occupies the western margin of the Early Proterozoic Kainuu Schist Belt (KSB) of northern Finland. The lower and middle parts of the PjF consist of turbiditic psammites and pelites and tempestitic semipelites. This report concentrates on the pelitic lithologies which include quartz–two-mica–plagioclase schists with variable amounts of garnet, staurolite, andalusite and biotite porphyroblasts as well as sillimanite and cordierite segregations. The KSB forms a major north–south-trending synclinorium between two Archaean blocks. It contains both autochthonous and allochthonous units and is cut by faults and shear zones. The PjF lies on the western side of the KSB and is probably allochthonous. The formation has undergone six major deformation phases (D₁, D₂, D_3a, D_3b, D₄ and D₅). During D_3a-D₅ the maximum principal stress (σ₁) changed in a clockwise direction from south-west to north-east. Between D₂ and D₃ the intermediate principal stress (σ₂) changed from horizontal to vertical and the interval between D₂ and D₃ marks a transition from thrust to strike-slip tectonics. Relict structures in the porphyroblasts indicate the following mineral growth–deformation evolution in the PjF. (1) Throughout the PjF there was a successive crystallization of garnet (syn-D₁), poryphyroblastic biotite (inter-D_3/4) and staurolite (inter-D_3/4) during the pre-D₄ stage. (2) A syn-D₄-inter-D_4/5 crystallization of kyanite, sillimanite (fibrolite), porphyroblastic tourmaline, magnetite, rutile, cordierite and muscovite–biotite–plagioclase pseudomorphs after staurolite was most localized at and near D₄ shear zones. (3) A syn- to post-D₅ generation of andalusite, ilmenohematite and sheet silicates after staurolite and after cordierite occurred near D₅ faults. The evolution outlined here permits the relative dating of the PjF parageneses, which is used in the second part of the study (Tuisku & Laajoki, 1990), and, together with the knowledge of the pressure–temperature conditions during various growth events, makes it possible to compile pressure–temperature–deformation paths for the PjF.     

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.     

Submicron polyphase inclusions in garnet from the Tananao Metamorphic Complex, Taiwan: a key to unravelling otherwise unrecognized metamorphic events

Kyanite and staurolite occur in the Tananao Metamorphic Complex as submicron inclusions in almandine‐rich garnet from a metamorphosed palaeosol weathering horizon, near Hoping, eastern Taiwan. Quartz, rutile/brookite and zircon are also found as associated submicron inclusions in garnet. Employing the reaction ilmenite+kyanite+quartz=almandine+rutile, and the breakdown of staurolite and quartz as thermobarometers, these submicron‐scale minerals formed at >8.3–8.8 kbar and < 660–690 °C. This P–T estimate is different from that (i.e. 5–7 kbar and 530–550 °C) derived from matrix minerals, which include almandine‐rich garnet, muscovite, chlorite, chloritoid, plagioclase, quartz and ilmenite. These results suggest that submicron inclusions in garnet‐like materials may record portions of the otherwise undocumented prograde path or provide information about previous metamorphic events and thus yield new insights into orogenic belts.     

Fan-shaped staurolite in the Bolton syncline, eastern Connecticut: evidence for porphyroblast rotation during growth

Fan‐shaped polycrystalline staurolite porphyroblasts, 3–4 cm in length and 0.5 cm in width, occur together with centimetre‐sized euhedral prismatic staurolite porphyroblasts in pelitic schists of the Littleton Formation on the western overturned limb of the Bolton syncline in eastern Connecticut. The fans consist of intergrown planar splays of [001] elongated prisms, which are crudely radial from a single apex. The apical angles of the radial groupings range up to 70°. The orientations of the individual staurolite prisms are related by a rigid rotation about an axis perpendicular to the fan plane. The zone axes [001] always lie in the plane of the fan. Although the angle between the [100] zone axes of the individual prisms is uniform in each fan, it ranges from +30° to ?30° in different fans. Internally, the fans display: (i) remnants of a passively captured S_i foliation defined by disc‐shaped quartz blebs (type 1 inclusions) and layers of very fine carbonaceous material and tabular ilmenite platelets; (ii) bent staurolite blades and undulose extinction along low‐angle (010) subgrain boundaries near the apex of the fans; (iii) wedge‐shaped dilatational zones containing equigranular inclusion‐free quartz, mica and staurolite, and (iv) growth‐related quartz inclusion trails roughly perpendicular to a crystal face (type 2 inclusions). The S_i inclusion trails are typically perpendicular to the fan surface, radiate parallel to the blades, and show little to no curvature except at the very edge of the fans where they abruptly curve through nearly 90° into parallelism with an external S_e foliation. Careful examination of the three‐dimensional geometry of fans based on U‐stage measurements, serial sections and two‐circle optical goniometric measurements permits a detailed reconstruction of their sequential development. The origin of a fan involves limited intracrystalline deformation and brittle crack dilation, spalling, rotation, and growth of small marginal fragments and of new staurolite along wedge‐shaped zones along the S_i inclusion surfaces. Fans preferentially develop in porphyroblasts in which S_i is subparallel to the 010 cleavage. These internal features reflect the rotation and deformation of a brittle porphyroblast relative to syn‐growth shear stresses.     

High-pressure and ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism at Komateri, northern Madurai Block, southern India

We report for the first time the evidence for prograde high-pressure (HP) metamorphism preceding a peak ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) event in the northernmost part of the Madurai Block in southern India. Mg–Al-rich Grt–Ged rocks from Komateri in Karur district contain poikiloblastic garnet with numerous multi-phase inclusions. Although most of the inclusion assemblages are composed of gedrite, quartz, and secondary biotite, rare staurolite + sapphirine and spinel + quartz are also present. The X_Mg (=Mg/[Fe+Mg]) of staurolite (0.45–0.49) is almost consistent with that reported previously from Namakkal district in the Palghat–Cauvery Shear Zone system (X_Mg = 0.51–0.52), north of the Madurai Block. The HP event was followed by peak UHT metamorphism at T = 880–1040 °C and P = 9.8–12.5 kbar as indicated by thermobarometric computations in the Grt–Ged rock and associated mafic granulite. Symplectic intergrowth of spinel (X_Mg = 0.50–0.59, ZnO < 1.7 wt.%) and quartz, a diagnostic indicator of UHT metamorphism, probably formed by decompression at UHT conditions. The rocks subsequently underwent retrograde metamorphism at T = 720–760 °C and P = 4.2–5.1 kbar. The P–T conditions and clockwise exhumation trajectory of the Komateri rocks, comparable to similar features recorded from the Palghat–Cauvery Shear Zone system, suggest that the Madurai Block and the Palghat–Cauvery Shear Zone system underwent similar HP and UHT metamorphic history probably related to the continent–continent collision during the final stage of amalgamation of Gondwana supercontinent.     

The origin of chloritoid – 3‐mica pseudomorph growth in staurolite–muscovite schist,Bangriposi (Eastern India)

At Bangriposi, variable stages in replacement of staurolite by chloritoid – Na–K–Ca mica shimmer aggregates in muscovite schists provides insight into the complex interplay between fluid flow, mass transfer, and dissolution–precipitation during pseudomorph growth. Idioblastic chloritoid growing into mica caps without causing visible deformation, and monomineralic chloritoid veins (up to 300 μm wide) within shimmer aggregates replacing staurolite attest to chloritoid nucleation in fluid‐filled conduits along staurolite grain boundaries and crystallographic planes. The growth of shimmer aggregates initiated along staurolite margins, and advanced inwards into decomposing staurolite along networks of crystallographically controlled fluid‐filled conduits. Coalescence among alteration zones adjacent to channel fills led to dismemberment and the eventual demise of staurolite. Mass balance calculation within a volume‐fixed, silica‐conserved reference frame indicate the shimmer aggregates grew via precipitation from fluids in response to mass transport that led to the addition of H₂O, K₂O, Na₂O and CaO in the reaction zone, and Al₂O₃ was transported outward from the inward‐retreating margin of decomposing staurolite. This aided precipitation of chloritoid in veins and in the outer collars, and as disseminated grains in the shimmer aggregates at mid‐crustal condition (~520 ± 20 °C, 5.5 ± 2.0 kbar). Computation using one‐dimensional transport equation suggests that staurolite decomposition involved advection dominating over diffusive transport; the permeation of externally derived H₂O caused flattening of chemical potential gradients in H₂O and aqueous species, for example, and , computed using the Gibbs method. This suggests that staurolite decomposition was promoted by the infiltration of a large volume of H₂O that flattened existing chemical potential gradients. In the initial stages of replacement, chloritoid super‐saturation in fluid caused preferential nucleation and growth of chloritoid at staurolite grain boundaries and in crystallographic planes. As reaction progressed, further chloritoid nucleation was halted, but chloritoid continued to grow as the 3‐mica aggregates continued to replace the remaining staurolite in situ, while the chloritoid‐compatible elements were transported in the water‐rich phase facilitating continued growth of the existing chloritoid grains.