Experimental reactions of amphibolite with boron-bearing aqueous fluids at 200 MPa: implications for tourmaline stability and partial melting in mafic rocks

Reactions between hornblende-plagioclase amphibolite and acidic and alkaline B-bearing aqueous fluids have been investigated by experiments at 475°–600° C and 200 MPa. At 600° C, hornblende+calcic plagioclase react to form tourmaline+danburite+clinopyroxene+quartz in acidic fluids containing 0.5–1.0 wt% B₂O₃.Tourmaline is precipitated directly from acidic fluids, and the reaction is driven by neutralization of fluids by Na±Ca derived from the breakdown of reactant solids. The concentration of B₂O₃ in fluids needed to stabilize tourmaline increases as pH increases (above approximately 6.0), and tourmaline is unstable in alkaline fluids (pH > approximately 6.5–7.0) regardless of B concentration. In addition to acid-base relations, tourmaline stability is favored by comparatively higher activity coefficients for Al species in acidic fluids. The concentrations of Al and Si in fluid increase with alkalinity, with the eventual production of felsic borosilicate melts through partial melting of the plagioclase component of the amphibolite. In seeded experiments, tourmaline also contributes components to melt. Partial melting is evident in the range 500°–525° C at 200 MPa in experiments with 8wt% B₂O₃ in fluid as Na₂B₄O₇. The experimental results are applied primarily to metasomatic reactions between mafic rocks and borate fluids derived from granitic magmas, but tourmaline stability and partial melting in mafic regional metamorphic systems are also discussed briefly.