Empirical tests of carbon isotope thermometry in granulites from southern California

Abstract ‘Peak’metamorphic carbon isotope fractionations between calcite and graphite (Δ_Cal–Gr) in marbles and calc-silicates from the Cucamonga granulite terrane (San Gabriel Mountains, California) range from 3.48 to 2.90%. The data are used to test three previously published calibrations of the calcite–graphite carbon isotope thermometer. An empirical calibration of the calcite–graphite carbon isotope thermometer gives temperatures of 700–750°C; a theoretical–experimental calibration of the system gives temperatures of 760°–870°C; an experimental calibration gives temperatures of 870–1300°C. Temperatures calculated using the empirical calibration are in agreement with those calculated from garnet-based cation exchange thermometry when uncertainty is considered. Temperatures calculated using the theoretical–experimental calibration overlap the upper range of cation exchange thermometry temperatures and range to 50°C higher. The experimental calibration yields temperatures from 50 to 480°C higher than those from cation exchange thermometry. Moreover, temperatures from the experimental calibration are also inconsistent with mineral and melt equilibria in the granulite phase assemblage. Despite the better agreement between cation exchange thermometry and the empirical calibration of the calcite–graphite system, temperatures calculated using the theoretical–experimental calibration may be real peak metamorphic temperatures. If retrograde diffusion partially reset garnet-based cation exchange thermometers by c. 50°C, then the cation exchange temperatures are consistent with those from the theoretical–empirical calibration. Thermometric evidence from biotite dehydration melting equilibria is consistent with either the empirical calibration if melting was fluid-present, or the theoretical–experimental calibration if melting was fluid-absent.