Hydration of eclogite, Pam Peninsula, New Caledonia

Garnet glaucophanite and greenschist facies assemblages were formed by the recrystallization of barroisite-bearing eclogite facies metabasites in northern New Caledonia. The mineralogical evolution can be modelled by calculated P–T and P–X _H2O diagrams for appropriate bulk rock compositions in the model system CaO–Na₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O. The eclogites, having developed in a clockwise P–T path that reached P ≈19 kbar and T  ≈590 °C, underwent decompression with the consumption of free H₂O as the volume of hydrous minerals increased. Eclogite is preserved in domains that experienced no fluid influx following the loss of this fluid. Garnet glaucophanite formed at P ≈16 kbar during semi-pervasive fluid influx. Fluid influx, after further isothermal decompression, was focused in shear zones, and resulted in chlorite–albite-bearing greenschist facies mineral assemblages that reflect P ≈9 kbar.     

Calculated mineral equilibria for eclogites in CaO–Na2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O: application to the Pouébo Terrane, Pam Peninsula, New Caledonia

The high- P , medium- T  Pouébo terrane of the Pam Peninsula, northern New Caledonia includes barroisite- and glaucophane-bearing eclogite and variably rehydrated equivalents. The metamorphic evolution of the Pouébo terrane is inferred from calculated P–T  and P–T  – X H2O pseudosections for bulk compositions appropriate to these rocks in the model system CaO–Na₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O. The eclogites experienced a clockwise P–T  path that reached P ≈19  kbar and T  ≈600  °C. The eclogitic mineral assemblages are preserved because reaction consequent upon decompression consumed the rocks' fluid. Extensive reaction occurred only in rocks with fluid influx during decompression of the Pouébo terrane.     

A calculated petrogenetic grid for the system K2O-FeO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O, with particular reference to contact-metamorphosed pelites

A petrogenetic grid is presented for the system KFMASH (K₂O-FeO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂O), including biotite, muscovite, K-feldspar, chlorite, chloritoid, staurolite, cordierite, garnet, orthoamphibole, orthopyroxene, spinel, andalusite, sillimanite, kyanite, quartz and corundum with H₂O in excess, which was calculated using the computer program THERMOCALC and the Powell and Holland internally consistent thermodynamic dataset. By removing the normal constraint of having quartz in excess, both quartz-bearing and quartz-absent equilibria are shown. Quartz-absent equilibria are particularly relevant at high- T and low- P conditions, because of their common occurrence at these conditions. The calculated mineral assemblage and mineral compositional variations in terms of FeMg-1 and (Fe, Mg)SiAl_-2 exchange vectors are broadly compatible with observations on natural rocks, particularly when non-KFMASH components are taken into account.     

Metamorphic phase relations in orthopyroxene-bearing granitoids: implication for high-pressure metamorphism and prograde melting in the continental crust

In this work, the factors controlling the formation and preservation of high-pressure mineral assemblages in the metamorphosed orthopyroxene-bearing metagranitoids of the Sandmata Complex, Aravalli-Delhi Mobile Belt (ADMB), northwestern India have been modelled. The rocks range in composition from farsundite through quartz mangerite to opdalite, and with varying K₂O, Ca/(Ca + Na)_rock and FeO_tot + MgO contents. A two stage metamorphic evolution has been recorded in these rocks.
An early hydration event stabilized biotite with or without epidote at the expense of magmatic orthopyroxene and plagioclase. Subsequent high-pressure granulite facies metamorphism (∼15 kbar, ∼800 °C) of these hydrated rocks produced two rock types with contrasting mineralogy and textures. In the non-migmatitic metagranitoids, spectacular garnet ± K-feldspar ± quartz corona was formed around reacting biotite, plagioclase, quartz and/or pyroxene. In contrast, biotite ± epidote melting produced migmatites, containing porphyroblastic garnet incongruent solids and leucosomes.
Applying NCKFMASHTO T–M (H₂O) and P–T pseudosection modelling techniques, it is demonstrated that the differential response of these magmatic rocks to high-pressure metamorphism is primarily controlled by the scale of initial hydration. Rocks, which were pervasively hydrated, produced garnetiferous migmatites, while for limited hydration, the same metamorphism formed sub-solidus garnet-bearing coronae. Based on the sequence of mineral assemblage evolution and the mineral compositional zoning features in the two metagranitoids, a clockwise metamorphic P–T path is constrained for the high-pressure metamorphic event. The finding has major implications in formulating geodynamic model of crustal amalgamation in the ADMB.     

Two-stage corona growth during Precambrian granulite facies metamorphism of Smitbson Bjerge, north-west Greenland

Abstract Late Archaean orthogneisses and aluminous and iron-rich metasedimentary rocks intruded by anorthosite and a ferrodiorite-granite suite were completely recrystallized during Proterozoic granulite facies metamorphism. Geobarometry and geothermometry indicate P-T conditions of around 7.5kbar. 700°C, with a CO₂-rich fluid phase and logfO₂ at or below -16. A two-stage high-grade history of near isochemical corona growth is preserved in metasediments with the reaction cycle opx + plag + H₂O → hbl+gar+SiO₂→ opx+plag+H₂O. End product compositions resemble those of the initial phases, and the only mobile components were SiO₂ and/or H₂O. The coronas reflect shortlived fluctuations in chemical activity at essentially constant P and T, contrary to simple progressive change in equilibrium parameters recorded by most corona-bearing textures.     

Reaction textures in calc-silicate granulites from the Bolingen Islands, Prydz Bay, East Antarctica: implications for the retrograde P–T path

Calc-silicate granulites from the Bolingen Islands, Prydz Bay, East Antarctica, exhibit a sequence of reaction textures that have been used to elucidate their retrograde P–T path. The highest temperature recorded in the calc-silicates is represented by the wollastonite- and scapolite-bearing assemblages which yield at least 760°C at 6 kbar based on experimental results. The calc-silicates have partially re-equilibrated at lower temperatures (down to 450°C) as evidenced by the successive reactions: (1) wollastonite + scapolite + calcite = garnet + CO₂, (2) wollastonite + CO₂= calcite + quartz, (3) wollastonite + plagioclase = garnet + quartz, (4) scapolite = plagioclase + calcite + quartz, (5) garnet + CO₂+ H₂O = epidote + calcite + quartz, and (6) clinopyroxene + CO₂+ H₂O = tremolite + calcite + quartz.
The reaction sequence observed indicates that a CO₂ was relatively low in the wollastonite-bearing rocks during peak metamorphic conditions, and may have been further lowered by local infiltration of H₂O from the surrounding migmatitic gneisses on cooling. Fluid activities in the Bolingen calc-silicates were probably locally variable during the granulite facies metamorphism, and large-scale CO₂ advection did not occur.
A retrograde P–T path, from the sillimanite stability field ( c. 760°C at 6 kbar) into the andalusite stability field ( c. 450°C at <3 kbar), is suggested by the occurrence of secondary andalusite in an adjacent cordierite–sillimanite gneiss in which sillimanite occurs as inclusions in cordierite.     

Decompressional coronas and symplectites in granulites of the Musgrave Complex, central Australia

Abstract In granulite facies metapelitic rocks in the Musgrave Complex, central Australia, reaction between S1 garnet and sillimanite involves the development in S2 of both garnet + cordierite + hercynitic spinel + biotite and hercynitic spinel + cordierite + sillimanite + biotite. The S2 assemblages occur either in coronas and symplectites, mainly around garnet, or, in rocks in which S2 is more strongly developed, as recrystallized assemblages. Ignoring the presence of biotite and ilmenite, the mineral textures can be accounted for qualitatively by a consideration of the model system FeO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ (FMAS); the textural relationships accord with decompression accompanying the change from S1 to S2. However, since biotite and ilmenite are involved in the assemblages, the parageneses are better accounted for in terms of equilibria in the expanded model system K₂O-FeO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂-TiO₂-Fe₂O₃ (KFMASHTO), i.e. AFM + TiO₂+ Fe₂O₃. The coronas reflect the tectonic unroofing of at least part of the Musgrave Complex from peak S1 conditions of about 8 kbar to S2 conditions of about 4 kbar.     

The muscovite-melt bathograd and low-P isograd suites in north-central Wopmay Orogen, Northwest Territories, Canada

In north-central Wopmay Orogen, syntectonic low-P(Buchan-type) suites of mineral isograds outline regional metamorphic temperature culminations that are associated, at the higher structural levels, with emplacement of early Proterozoic plutons in the west part of a deformed and eastward transported continental margin prism. The mapped isograds mark the first occurrence of biotite, staurolite, andalusite, sillimanite, sillimanite-K feldspar and K feldspar-plagioclase-quartz ± muscovite (granitic) pods in metapelites, with increasing proximity to the plutons.
Microprobe analyses and field observations have resulted in the formulation of reactions for the 'ideal'pelitic system K₂O-Na₂O-FeO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂O-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂O, to account for the various mineral assemblages of each metamorphic zone. A P-T petrogenetic grid showing erosion surface P-T curves for the northern Wopmay Orogen pelites, compiled on the basis of the mapped isograds and the inferred reaction(s) for each metamorphic zone, documents a variation in exposed metamorphic pressure ranging between 2 and 4 kbar.
The configuration of a new bathograd, based on the invariant model reaction sillimanite + K feldspar + plagioclase + biotite + quartz + vapor ± muscovite + liquid and interpolated across three metamorphic suites, is consistent with a major regional structure culmination and with independently determined pressures obtained from anorthite-grossular-quartz-Al₂SiO₅ geobarometry. The positive correlation between the configuration of the bathograd and the structural and pressure culmination points to the pressure-dependence of anatectic-granitic-pod mineral associations.     

Corona textures between kyanite, garnet and gedrite in gneisses from Errabiddy, Western Australia

Abstract Corona textures, which developed in alternating layers in rocks in a supracrustal belt at Errabiddy, Western Australia, involved:
(a) The production of staurolite, cordierite and quartz or sapphirine between Kyanite and/or sillimanite and gedrite; and
(b) The production of cordierite between garnet and gedrite.
These textures are inconsistent with development along the same pressure–temperature path in the system FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O, but can be accounted for if CaO, mainly in garnet, is taken into account. The sapphirine-bearing kyanite–gedrite textures are explained by lower a (SiO₂) during their development. The assemblages indicate a consistent pressure–temperature ( P–T ) trajectory involving substantial uplift with only a slight decrease in temperature. The history of these rocks includes reheating of originally high-grade rocks that had cooled to a stable conductive geotherm, followed by substantial, essentially isothermal uplift. The tectonic environment for this was presumably the one responsible for emplacement of the high-grade terrain in the upper crust.     

Experimental study of the stability of sudoite and magnesiocarpholite and calculation of a new petrogenetic grid for the system FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O

The solid-solid reaction magnesiocarpholite = sudoite + quartz has been bracketed between 350 and 500°C, 6.3 and 7.8 kbar. Because it is impossible to synthesize end-member sudoite, all experiments were carried out using natural minerals as starting materials. Although mineral compositions were very close to those of the end-members, the effect of the fluorine content in carpholite was significant. Particularly in those experiments where sudoite grows at the expense of carpholite, electron microprobe analysis of the run products shows that a more stable F-rich carpholite crystallizes too, and consumes the fluorine released in solution by the breakdown of the original carpholite.
Our experimental results are combined, through a thermodynamic analysis, with a previous data set and with previous experimental data concerning the relative stability of chlorite, talc and magnesiocarpholite with excess of quartz and water as a function of P–T and AlAl(SiMg)_-1 substitutions in phyllosilicates. This allows us to constrain the feasible thermodynamic parameters (H°_f, sud; S ° sud) and (H°_f,car; S °_car) for the Mg end-members. Using the partition coefficients calculated from natural parageneses, we have computed a petrogenetic grid for the system FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O. It demonstrates that parageneses involving sudoite and carpholite can be used as indicators of P–T conditions, up to 600° C, 8 kbar for sudoite, and at higher pressure for carpholite.     

Thermocalc and experimental modelling of melting of pelite, Morton Pass, Wyoming

Calculated results using thermocalc for melting of pelitic compositions are compared with the results of experimental melting of pelite from Morton Pass, Wyoming, USA. The experiments were carried out at 1, 2 and 3.5 kbar, dominantly at 2 kbar. For experimental charges with ('wet') and without ('dry') added H₂O, the agreement is good. This is true for the compositions without added H₂O, in which liquid first appears with the production of orthopyroxene at ∼800 °C, and for the runs with added H₂O, in which melting begins at ∼700 °C, and continues, with the appearance of orthopyroxene between 780 and 800 °C at 2 kbar. The compositions of melts are also compared: the comparison is generally good, except in the modelling of wet runs below ∼780 °C, where the calculated values for FeO and MgO are about one-tenth of the already low analytical values, and in somewhat low calculated values of Al₂O₃ compared to the analytical data. A quantitative model to illustrate melting of pelite at Morton Pass is calculated, giving T – X (H₂O) conditions for the observed sets of natural assemblages, along with the reactions at and near the beginning of melting.     

Low-thermal-gradient Hercynian metamorphism in the eastern Pyrenees

Abstract Fluids with compositions in the system CO₂-H₂O-NaCl were trapped in quartz veins enclosed in low-grade metamorphic rocks (chlorite zone) on the southern flank of the Canigó Massif, eastern Pyrenees. The veins, which also contain arsenopyrite crystals, were formed contemporaneously with the main Hercynian foliation and metamorphism. Volumetric properties of the fluid and the results of arsenopyrite geothermometry suggest P-T trapping conditions of 4.6–6 kbar and 450–530° C. This implies that an episode of metamorphism with an average geothermal gradient of 25° C km⁻¹ occurred during the main deformation event. This episode preceded the low- P /high- T metamorphism described around domes and to date considered as characteristic of the Hercynian orogeny in the Pyrenees.     

Low-pressure granulite facies metapelitic assemblages and corona textures from MacRobertson Land, east Antarctica: the importance of Fe2O3 and TiO2 in accounting for spinel-bearing assemblages

Low-pressure granulite facies metasedimentary gneisses exposed in MacRobertson Land, east Antarctica, include hercynitic spinel-bearing metapelitic gneisses. Peak metamorphic mineral assemblages include spinel + rutile + ilmenite + sillimanite + garnet, spinel + ilmenite + sillimanite + garnet + cordierite, ortho-pyroxene + magnetite + ilmenite + garnet, spinel + cordierite + biotite + ilmenite and orthopyroxene + cordierite + biotite, each with quartz, K-feldspar and melt. The presence of garnet + biotite- and cordierite + orthopyroxene-bearing assemblages implies crossing tie-lines in AFM projection for the K₂O-FeO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂O (KFMASH) system. This apparent contradiction, and the presence of spinel, rutile and ilmenite in the assemblages, is acounted for by using the KFMASH-TiO₂-O₂ system, i.e. AFM + TiO₂+ Fe₂O₃. We derive a petrogenetic grid for this system, applicable to low-pressure granulite facies metamorphic conditions. Retrograde assemblages are interpreted from corona textures on hercynitic spinel and Fe-Ti oxides. The relative positions of the peak and retrograde metamorphic assemblages on the petrogenetic grid suggest that corona development occurred during essentially isobaric cooling.     

Wollastonite and scapolite in Precambrian calc-silicate granulites from Australia and Antarctica

Abstract Scapolite, wollastonite, calcite, diopside, grossular-andradite garnet and sphene occur in calc-silicate rocks in the granulite terrain of the Arunta Block, central Australia. This assemblage buffers the CO₂ activity at a low value, so that any coexisting fluid phase must be H₂O rich and CO₂ poor ( X _co2 = 0.2-0.3). In contrast, the H₂O activity in the surrounding felsic and mafic granulites was low. Thus fluid activities during granulite facies metamorphism were locally buffered in various rock units and fluid flow appears to have been restricted or fluid may have been absent. Late retrograde rims of garnet and garnet-quartz separate phases formed in the high-grade stage. Formation of these rims would have required either an influx of water-rich fluid or a decrease in pressure. Evidence from the surrounding granulites shows that in one locality, the calc-silicate rocks had undergone late isobaric hydration; in another locality, minor uplift had occurred soon after peak P-T conditions. In both, scapolite had partly broken down to plagioclase-calite. A calc silicate rock from the granulite terrain of Enderby Land, Antarctica, contains scapolite, wollastonite, calcite, diopside, quartz and sphene; this assemblage also indicates low CO₂ activities. In this rock, wollastonite has broken down to calcite-quartz, to indicate isobaric cooling without influx of hydrous fluid.     

Implications of Analcime Hydrothermally Formed from Na-alumino-borosilicate Glasses Containing Cs and Sr for the Stability of High-level Radioactive Waste Form

Abstract. In order to know the behaviors of radioactive elements such as cesium and strontium during a hydrothermal alteration of borosilicate glass of radioactive waste, some alumino-borosilicate glasses belonging to the systems Na₂O-Al₂O₃-B₂O₃-SiO₂-SrO, Na₂O-Al₂O₃-B₂O₃-SiO₂-Cs₂O and Na₂O-Al₂-O₃-B₂O₃-SiO₂-SrO-Cs₂O have been treated hydrothermally at 200C under a vapor pressure of 1.54 MPa. The result shows that all glasses are changed into crystalline phases with running time up to 60 days, and that analcime-type zeolite is formed as a major product. The formed zeolite is shown to contain cesium and/or strontium. Considering the fact that natural zeolite occurs in wide physicochemical conditions including hydrothermal one, the analcime-type zeolite is expected to fix stably the radioactive elements in the disposal site. Since aluminum is necessary for the formation of the analcime-type zeolite, the waste glass should have aluminum as one of major components.     

Chloritoid–hornblende assemblages in quartz–muscovite pelitic rocks of the Central Metasedimentary Belt, Grenville Province, Canada

Abstract Chloritoid–hornblende occurs in quartz–muscovite pelitic schist derived from sediment in a volcaniclastic sequence of the Grenville Supergroup and from reworked sedimentary and regolithic material above the unconformity at the base of the Flinton Group. Comparison of these samples with other pelitic rocks on triangular composition diagrams and in the ACNF and ACFM tetrahedra indicates that the presence of hornblende cannot be explained by unusually high CaO content. The rare assemblage is attributed to a combination of relatively low Al₂O₃ and high K₂O with high CaO/(CaO+Na₂O) and FeO/(FeO+MgO).
On two qualitative reaction grids derived from AFM diagrams projected through CaO and plagioclase, respectively, the P–T stability field of chloritoid–hornblende overlaps the first appearance of staurolite–biotite in normal pelitic rocks in the kyanite field. Staurolite–hornblende overlaps chloritoid–hornblende and extends to the higher temperatures and pressures of the kyanite–hornblende field.
The phase relations in these rocks provide a link between the conventional hornblende-absent grids for pelitic rocks and those for K₂O-poor (muscovite-absent) pelitic and mafic amphibolitic rocks.     

Experimental diffusion of hydrogen into synthetic fluid inclusions in quartz

Abstract Quartz-hosted, synthetic CO₂-H₂O fluid inclusions behave as open systems with respect to diffusional transfer of hydrogen during laboratory-simulated metamorphic re-equilibration at 650, 750 and 825°C and 1.5 kbar total pressure with f_O2 defined by the C-CH₄ buffer. Microthermometry and Raman spectroscopy show that the initial CO₂-H₂O inclusions become CO₂-CH₄-H₂-H_2O
inclusions after diffusive influx of hydrogen from the reducing confining medium. Measurable changes are observed in inclusion compositions after only 15 days of re-equilibration, implying significant hydrogen mobility at still lower temperatures over geological time spans. Results of synthetic inclusion re-equilibrium experiments have profound implications for the interpretation of natural fluid-inclusion data; failure to account for potential hydrogen migration in inclusions from high-temperature geological environments may lead to erroneous estimates of P-T, and/or the compositions of metamorphic fluids.     

The mechanism of veining and retrograde alteration of Alpine eclogites

Abstract The introduction of externally derived fluids into rocks of the Zermatt–Saas zone of the Swiss Alps gave rise to the simultaneous formation of shear and hydraulic fractures. These fractures are now filled with albite-rich assemblages and surrounded by alteration halos up to c. 2 m wide. The alteration assemblages are zoned and an examination of reactions in P–T–a H₂O space implies that the parageneses developed by the hydration of fluid-absent eclogites. A mechanical analysis of the veins (after Sibson, 1981) shows that P _fluid/ P _load must have been at least 0.96. Fluid migration into the country rocks must have been driven by excess hydraulic head either derived from the vertical extent of the veins or due to their connection to a deeper, external reservoir, possibly tapped along thrust surface(s). Diffusive and capillary transport were insignificant. The fluids may have been derived from underlying metasediments that were dehydrating during the quasi-isothermal uplift of this part of the Alps, or they may have originated during the prograde mesoalpine metamorphism documented in the area.     

P–T conditions for the Arendal granulites, southern Norway: implications for the roles of P, T and CO2 in deep crustal LILE-depletion

Abstract The orthopyroxene-clinopyroxene, garnet-orthopyroxene and garnet-clinopyroxene geothermometers, and the garnet-orthopyroxene-plagioclase, garnet-clinopyroxene-plagioclase and anorthite-ferrosilite-grossular-almandine-quartz geobarometers are applied to metabasites and the garnetplagioclase-sillimanite-quartz geobarometer is applied to a metapelite from the Proterozoic Arendal granulite terrain, Bamble sector, Norway. P–T conditions of metamorphism were 7.3 ± 0.5 kbar and 800 ± 60°C.
This terrain shows a regional gradation from the amphibolite facies, into normal LILE content granulite facies rocks and finally strongly LILE deficient granulite facies gneisses. Neither P nor T vary significantly across the entire transition zone. The change in 'grade'parallels the increasing dominance of CO₂ over H₂O in the fluid phase.
LILE-depletion is not a pre-condition of granulite facies metamorphism: granulites may have either 'depleted'or 'normal'chemistries. The results presented herein show that LILE-deficiency in granulite facies orthogneisses is not necessarily related to variations in either P or T . The important mechanisms in the Arendal terrain were (a) direct synmetamorphic crystallization from magma, with primary LILE-poor mineralogies imposed by the prevailing fluid regime, and (b) metamorphic depletion, involving scavenging of LILEs during flushing by mantle-derived CO₂-rich fluids. The latter process is constrained by U–Pb and Rb–Sr isotopic work to have occurred no later than 50 Ma after intrusion of the acid-intermediate gneisses, and was probably associated with contemporary basic magmatism in a tectonic environment similar to a present day cordilleran continental margin.     

Singularities in NCKFMASH (Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O)

A new petrogenetic grid is presented for the system NCKFMASH (Na₂O–CaO–K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O), in which Ca is incorporated in garnet, and CaAlNa₋₁Si₋₁ solid solution is considered for both the plagioclase and white-mica structures. A compatibility diagram for plagioclase-bearing metapelitic assemblages within the NCKFMASH system also has been derived. A dominant feature of the NCKFMASH grid is the singularities and associated singular reactions which occur along plagioclase+margarite- and plagioclase+paragonite-bearing univariant equilibria. The singularities represent compositional coplanarities which occur in response to the CaAlNa₋₁Si₋₁ substitution occurring at different rates in plagioclase and white-mica. This is controlled by a fundamental difference in the mixing within the two mineral structures. The singularities give rise to a number of intriguing phase diagram features, including azeotropes. From the results presented here, it is predicted that the occurrence of margarite and paragonite in pelitic rocks is controlled by equilibria related to the singularities. The presence of these white-micas is strongly dependent upon bulk composition, and plagioclase-bearing, margarite/paragonite-free assemblages, typical of Barrovian-type terranes, are predicted for bulk compositions of Mg/(Mg+Fe)≈0.4 and Ca/(Ca+Na)≈0.4 at for example 5.5  kbar.