Compositional relations among hornblende and pyroxenes in basic granulites and an application to the origin of garnets

Three new sets of mineral and rock chemical data on basic granulites confirm the trends in compositional relationships, with respect to magnesium and iron, among hornblende, orthopyroxene and calcic pyroxene advanced by Sen (1970) and Ray and Sen (1970). Analysing the interrelationships among magnesium-iron distribution coefficients between hornblende-orthopyroxene and hornblende-calcic pyroxene, tetrahedral aluminium contents of hornblendes, and temperature of equilibration, it can be shown that equilibrium temperatures are higher with the Mg/(Mg+Fe) ratios of hornblendes increasing. An application of these relations to ferromagnesian phases of some garnet-bearing basic granulites points to formation of garnets in response to decreasing temperature.