Regional Metamorphism of Non-Calcareous Manganiferous Sediments from India and the Related Petrogenetic Grid for a Part of the System Mn-Fe-Si-O

Mineralogical assemblages developed in the non-calcareous manganiferoussediments in India and subjected to regional metamorphism underchlorite to sillimanite grade conditions have been studied indetail. Based on a series of idealized reactions compatiblewith the recorded assemblages in the system Mn-Fe-Si-O, formany of which there is unambiguous textural evidence in therocks, a combined schematic petrogenetic grid consistent withtopological and thermodynamic considerations has been constructed. The inferred petrogenetic grid, coupled with the mineralogicaland textural evidence present in the manganiferous assemblagesand the enclosing rock formations, can be reconciled with thefollowing: (1) The mineralogical reactions attending regionalmetamorphism of the manganiferous sediments buffered the compositionof the coexisting fluid phase. (2) Due to the closed natureof the system as a whole and also due to lack of communicationbetween the different parts thereof, local variations in theinitial proportions of the non-volatile to volatile phases andtheir compositions led to the development of contrasting sequencesof mineralogical reactions and, therefore, fo₂-T gradients evenwithin the same metamorphic grade. (3) Rhodonite, developedas a prograde reaction product in the garnet to sillimanitegrade conditions, was converted to rhodonite-pyroxmangite mixture/intergrowthduring cooling. Compositional variance, resulting from the substitution of Mnby Fe and incorporation of components such as Mg, Ca in thephases, would tend to shift the univariant reaction curves inthe grid towards opposite directions and/or split them intomultivariant intervals in fo₂-T space without altering the generalstyle of the topology or the principal deductions made therefrom.