Crystallization kinetics during regional metamorphism of porphyroblastic rocks

Numerical simulations of diffusion‐controlled nucleation and growth of garnet porphyroblasts in regionally metamorphosed rocks constrain interfacial energy and rates of nucleation and Al intergranular diffusion. The 13 rocks analysed in this study were collected from seven localities exhibiting a diverse range of crystallization conditions. Kinetic parameters governing nucleation and intergranular diffusion were adjusted iteratively to achieve fits between simulated and natural porphyroblastic textures. Model fits were assessed primarily from textural characteristics precisely measured by high‐resolution X‐ray computed tomography. Interfacial energy for heterogeneous nucleation ranges from 0.007 to 0.255 J m^?2 for the sample suite, assuming shape factors in the range 0.01–1.0. Nucleation rates change through space and time due to growth and impingement of Al depletion zones surrounding porphyroblasts. In some models, the overall rock‐wide nucleation rate rises steeply, achieves a steady state, and then falls rapidly as reactants are consumed; in others, the steady state is not achieved, but instead the rate simply peaks before falling. Maximum rock‐wide nucleation rates range from 10^?14.7 to 10^?10.7 nuclei cm^?3 s^?1, and maximum local rates range from 10^?13.7 to 10^?9.7 nuclei?cm^?3 s^?1 depending on Al supersaturation. Diffusive fluxes of Al are well constrained by the simulated textures, but rates of intergranular diffusion are subject to uncertainties in Al solubility and interconnected porosity. Best estimates of Al diffusivities at 600 °C span 10^?12.3 to 10^?10.5 m² s^?1 for the sample suite, a narrow range considering natural variability and the uncertainties in solubility and porosity. Eliminating some models suspected of higher uncertainty for these quantities yields diffusivities at 600 °C near 10^?11.0 m² s^?1, with dispersion of less than half an order of magnitude. These simulations, which are among the first attempted for regionally metamorphosed rocks, emphasize that: (i) nucleation rates vary markedly in time and space during crystallization; (ii) nucleation extends well beyond equilibrium conditions; (iii) Al diffusivity likely varies over only a narrow range across common metamorphic circumstances; and (iv) better determinations of both Al solubility and interconnected porosity are needed to constrain rates of Al intergranular diffusion more precisely.     

Burial metamorphism in rocks of the Western Andes of Peru

An unconformity bound, episodic pattern of burial metamorphism is preserved in marine and terrestrial volcanic and sedimentary rocks which were deposited in the West Peruvian Trough during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras. A particular metamorphic facies series is developed in each of the stratigraphic-structural units bounded by unconformities. In each unit, grade increases with stratigraphic depth and covers part or all of the range from zeolite to greenschist facies. At every unconformity a mineralogic break occurs where higher grade assemblages on top of the unconformity plane overlie lower grade assemblages. The presence of wairakite and the development of a wide range of metamorphic facies in thin sequences suggest high geothermal gradients, possibly related to generation of magma at depth.     

Water deficiency as a factor in metamorphism of rocks

Mineral equilibria in magnesial rocks undergoing metamorphosis in closed systems at different H₂O content but at constant pressures and temperatures may be interpreted as follows: a) if H₂O is excessive, as in pelitic rocks, the metamorphic zonation (an orderly sequence of dehydrations) correctly represents changes in the temperature during the progressive metamorphism; b) if H₂O is deficient, as in the ortho-rocks, the metamorphic zonation may not always be representative of the temperature; however, when H₂O itself is zoned in the rock and the metamorphism is isothermal, the metamorphic zonation may become entirely analogous to the zonation in the presence of excessive H₂O; c) presence of metastable associations and rapid alternations of mineral parageneses, as in certain magmatic rocks, represent variations in H₂O content of the rocks rather than different facies of the metamorphism.     

变质岩中的球状结构及其对变质作用的指示

球状结构是指由纤维状晶体组成的放射状集合体,其为一种高度不平衡的结构。它们常见于火山岩、假玄武玻璃、沉积岩以及热液沉积物中,在不同变质级别的变质岩中也有广泛报道。变质岩中的球状结构记录了丰富的变质作用信息,然而其在变质岩中的成因机制和对变质作用的指示意义尚缺少详细的研究。球状结构的生长需要温度、压力或成分的改变使得结晶体系远离平衡,它的结晶动力学过程受物质的扩散控制,要求晶体生长速率远大于物质扩散速率。详细解析球状结构和分析导致不平衡的因素有助于限定变质作用的条件和过程。本文拟从变质岩中报道的代表性球状结构出发,基于球状结构结晶所需的热力学和动力学条件,总结变质岩中球状结构的四种可能成因机制:流体结晶、变质熔体结晶、冲击变质作用和高度不平衡的变质反应。组成球状结构的纤维状晶体具有大的表面能,在持续保持温压和流体条件不变的情况下会快速重结晶使得球状结构消失,球状结构得以保留意味着其所处的环境要迅速转变为它不再结晶的条件。因此,变质岩中的球状结构指示寄主岩石经历了持续时间很短的非平衡变质作用过程。借鉴其它学科研究球状结构的定量方法和在变质作用条件下开展球状结构的实验研究是变质岩中球状结构研究的潜在方向。     

Ultra-high-pressure metamorphism of carbonate rocks in the Dabie Mountains, central China

Abstract Widespread ultra-high-P assemblages including coesite, quartz pseudomorphs after coesite, aragonite, and calcite pseudomorphs after aragonite in marble, gneiss and phengite schist are present in the Dabie Mountains eclogite terrane. These assemblages indicate that the ultra-high-P metamorphic event occurred on a regional scale during Triassic collision between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons. Marble in the Dabie Mountains is interlayered with coesite-bearing eclogite and gneiss and as blocks of various size within gneiss. Discontinuous boudins of eclogite occur within marble layers. Marble contains an ultra-high-P assemblage of calcite/aragonite, dolomite, clinopyroxene, garnet, phengite, epidote, rutile and quartz/coesite. Coesite, quartz pseudomorphs after coesite, aragonite and calcite pseudomorphs after aragonite occur as fine-grained inclusions in garnet and omphacite. Phengites contain about 3.6 Si atoms per formula unit (based on 11 oxygens). Similar to the coesite-bearing eclogite, marble exhibits retrograde recrystallization under amphibolite–greenschist facies conditions generated during uplift of the ultra-high-P metamorphic terrane. Retrograde minerals are fine grained and replace coarse-grained peak metamorphic phases. The most typical replacements are: symplectic pargasitic hornblende + epidote after garnet, diopside + plagioclase (An₁₈) after omphacite, and fibrous phlogopite after phengite. Ferroan pargasite + plagioclase, and actinolite formed along grain boundaries between garnet and calcite, and calcite and quartz, respectively. The estimated peak P–T conditions for marble are comparable to those for eclogite: garnet–clinopyroxene geothermometry yields temperatures of 630–760°C; the garnet–phengite thermometer gives somewhat lower temperatures. The minimum pressure of peak metamorphism is 27 kbar based on the occurrence of coesite. Such estimates of ultra-high-P conditions are consistent with the coexistence of grossular-rich garnet + rutile, and the high jadeite content of omphacite in marble. The fluid for the peak metamorphism was calculated to have a very low X_CO2 (<0.03). The P–T conditions for retrograde metamorphism were estimated to be 475–550°C at <7 kbar.     

Prehnite-pumpellyite facies metamorphism in Precambrian basement rocks of S Sweden

Very small amounts of prehnite and pumpellyite have been found, often as lenses in biotite crystals, in otherwise quite ordinary quartzo-feldspathic gneisses and granitoid rocks forming common components of the Precambrian basement of S Sweden. It is concluded that both minerals belong to the same metamorphic paragenesis, which also includes quartz, K-feldspar, albite, epidote, colourless mica and chlorite. The presence of this paragenesis, in however slight amounts, signifies that the rocks bear the imprint of a phase of metamorphism belonging to the prehnite-pumpellyite facies.     

Devolatilization of metabasic rocks during greenschist–amphibolite facies metamorphism

The production of large volumes of fluid from metabasic rocks, particularly in greenstone terranes heated across the greenschist–amphibolite facies transition, is widely accepted yet poorly characterized. The presence of carbonate minerals in such rocks, commonly as a consequence of sea‐floor alteration, has a strong influence, via fluid‐rock buffering, on the mineral equilibria evolution and fluid composition. Mineral equilibria modelling of metabasic rocks in the system Na₂O‐CaO‐FeO‐MgO‐Al₂O₃‐SiO₂‐CO₂‐H₂O (NCaFMASCH) is used to constrain the stability of common metabasic assemblages. Calculated buffering paths on T–X_CO2 pseudosections, illustrate the evolution of greenstone terranes during heating across the greenschist‐amphibolite transition. The calculated paths constrain the volume and the composition of fluid produced by devolatilization and buffering. The calculated amount and composition of fluid produced are shown to vary depending on P–T conditions, the proportion of carbonate minerals and the X_CO2 of the rocks prior to prograde metamorphism. In rocks with an initially low proportion of carbonate minerals, the greenschist to amphibolite facies transition is the primary period of fluid production, producing fluid with a low X_CO2. Rocks with greater initial proportions of carbonate minerals experience a second fluid production event at temperatures above the greenschist to amphibolite facies transition, producing a more CO₂‐rich fluid (X_CO2 = 0.2–0.3). Rocks may achieve these higher proportions of carbonate minerals either via more extensive seafloor alteration or via infiltration of fluids. Fluid produced via devolatilization of rocks at deeper crustal levels may infiltrate and react with overlying lower temperature rocks, resulting in external buffering of those rocks to higher X_CO2 and proportions of carbonate minerals. Subsequent heating and devolatilization of these overlying rocks results in buffering paths that produce large proportions of fluid at X_CO2 = 0.2–0.3. The production of fluid of this composition is of importance to models of gold transport in Archean greenstone gold deposits occurring within extensive fluid alteration haloes, as these haloes represent the influx of fluid of X_CO2 = 0.2–0.3 into the upper crust.     

Magnitudes of departures from equilibrium during regional metamorphism of porphyroblastic rocks

Numerical models of diffusion‐controlled nucleation and growth of garnet crystals, which successfully replicate diverse textures in 13 porphyroblastic rocks, yield quantitative estimates of the magnitudes of departures from equilibrium during crystallization. These estimates are derived from differences in chemical potential between subvolumes containing stable product assemblages and those containing persistent but metastable reactant assemblages. The magnitude of disequilibrium is evaluated in terms of the thermal overstepping, which is commonly referenced to the garnet‐in isograd; the reaction affinity in the intergranular fluid at the site and time of each nucleation event, and on average throughout the rock, and the ‘latent energy of reaction’ per unit volume, a measure of the average unreacted capacity of the bulk rock, which describes its overall metastability. Across all of the models, the first crystals nucleate after 5–67 °C of thermal overstepping (correspondingly, 0.7–5.8 kJ mol^?1 of 12‐oxygen garnet); the maximum reaction affinity averaged across the intergranular fluid is between 4.7 and 16.0 kJ mol^?1 of 12‐oxygen garnet; and the maximum latent energy of reaction ranges from 7.3 to 51.7 J cm^?3. These results demonstrate that impediments to crystallization significantly delay nucleation and retard reaction, with the consequence that nucleation of new crystals extends throughout nearly the entire crystallization interval. This potential for protracted reaction during prograde metamorphism, with reactions continuing to temperatures and pressures well beyond equilibrium conditions, suggests the likelihood of overstepping of multiple – possibly competing – reactions that can progress simultaneously. Isograds and ranges of stability for metamorphic assemblages along a metamorphic field gradient may therefore be significantly offset from the positions predicted from calculations based on equilibrium assumptions, which poses a substantial challenge to accurate interpretations of metamorphic conditions and processes.     

Effect of metamorphism and partial melting of host rocks on zircons

Abstract Zircons have been studied from different layers of migmatites (from Arvika, western Sweden and Nelaug, southern Norway) and from a paragneiss (from Arvika) associated with one of the migmatites. The main purpose of the investigation is to establish whether or not information about zircons can help in the elucidation of the parentage and rock-forming processes of migmatites.
The elongation ratio of zircons from all layers is small and characteristic of sedimentary zircons. Further, the absence of characteristic colours and the growth trends of the zircons (indicated by the reduced major axes) observed in the various samples both support a sedimentary parentage for these rocks. The zircons of all layers exhibit secondary growth (overgrowth, outgrowth and multiple growth) due to metamorphism. Compared with the zircons from the paragneiss, those of the migmatite layers are more clouded and less rounded, some of them becoming opaque or even skeletal; this is especially true of the zircons from the leucosomes. These observations indicate an alteration of the original sedimentary zircons in the migmatite, especially in the leucosomes, in response to the migmatization process, previously interpreted as partial melting.     

Regional metamorphism of pelitic rocks around Kandra,Singhbhum, Bihar

A suite of pelitic rocks around Kandra, Singhbhum District, Bihar, displays a metamorphic gradient registered by the index minerals chlorite, biotite, garnet, staurolite and sillimanite in a Barrovian sequence. Metamorphism was by and large coeval with folding movements, and correlating the internal fabric of minerals and deformational characters, a regular sequence of the index minerals is derived. It is argued that the chronological order by itself is not sufficient to prove that metamorphism was progressive in time.Among the index minerals, garnet appears to have formed by the reaction chlorite+biotite_a+quartz garnet+biotite_b+H₂O. For the origin of sillimanite, a new reaction, 3 staurolite+muscovite+quartz=7 sillimanite+biotite+3H₂O, is suggested on the basis of significant textural features. Textural and petrological indications regarding the formation of staurolite are in discordance. Staurolite was either derived from the biotite zone phases, or should be taken to have formed, against textural evidences, from chloritoids of the garnet zone.Graphical analysis of the assemblages by Thompson's AFM projection reveals that chlorite and staurolite are excess phases owing to retrogression and incomplete reaction. Shifting of apices of triangular fields and intersection of garnet-biotite tie lines within a zone can be satisfactorily explained in terms of extra components CaO and MnO or their ratios. It is pointed out that if MgO/(MgO + FeO) between two phases show a linear relation, their tie lines will be concurrent on the AF side of the projection, the point of concurrence reflecting equilibrium and temperature of recrystallisation.     

Pan-African eclogite facies metamorphism of ultramafic rocks in the Shackleton Range, Antarctica

In the Shackleton Range of East Antarctica, garnet-bearing ultramafic rocks occur as lenses in supracrustal high-grade gneisses. In the presence of olivine, garnet is an unmistakable indicator of eclogite facies metamorphic conditions. The eclogite facies assemblages are only present in ultramafic rocks, particularly in pyroxenites, whereas other lithologies – including metabasites – lack such assemblages. We conclude that under high-temperature conditions, pyroxenites preserve high-pressure assemblages better than isofacial metabasites, provided the pressure is high enough to stabilize garnet–olivine assemblages (i.e. ≥18–20 kbar). The Shackleton Range ultramafic rocks experienced a clockwise P–T path and peak conditions of 800–850 °C and 23–25 kbar. These conditions correspond to ∼70 km depth of burial and a metamorphic gradient of 11–12 °C km⁻¹ that is typical of a convergent plate-margin setting. The age of metamorphism is defined by two garnet–whole-rock Sm–Nd isochrons that give ages of 525 ± 5 and 520 ± 14 Ma corresponding to the time of the Pan-African orogeny. These results are evidence of a Pan-African suture zone within the northern Shackleton Range. This suture marks the site of a palaeo-subduction zone that likely continues to the Herbert Mountains, where ophiolitic rocks of Neoproterozoic age testify to an ocean basin that was closed during Pan-African collision. The garnet-bearing ultramafic rocks in the Shackleton Range are the first known example of eclogite facies metamorphism in Antarctica that is related to the collision of East and West Gondwana and the first example of Pan-African eclogite facies ultramafic rocks worldwide. Eclogites in the Lanterman Range of the Transantarctic Mountains formed during subduction of the palaeo-Pacific beneath the East Antarctic craton.     

The Karchiga copper massive sulfide deposit in the high-grade metamorphosed rocks of the Kurchum block: geologic structure,formation, and metamorphism (Rudny Altai)

The Karchiga copper massive sulfide deposit is located in the Kurchum block of high-grade metamorphosed rocks. This block is part of the Irtysh shear zone, which belongs to the largest transregional fault in Central Asia. The deposit is associated with the gneiss–amphibolite middle unit of the metamorphic complex, which is distinct in the geochemical fields. The mineralization is spatially and paragenetically related to the amphibolite beds, which are ore-bearing together with terrigenous rocks.The deposit contains two spatially isolated lodes, in which all the discovered commercial reserves concentrate. They conformably overlie the host rocks and are tabular or ribbonlike. The mineralization has a close spatial relationship with Mg-rich anthophyllite-containing rocks. The sulfide ores are disseminated or massive and comprise pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, sphalerite, and magnetite. The ore is of Zn–Cu composition, in which Cu dominates considerably over Zn (average contents 2 and 0.4%, respectively; Cu/(Cu + Zn) = 0.83). The ores are rich in Co (up to 0.16%, averaging 0.02%), poor in Au and Ag (0.3 and 7.2 ppm, respectively), and almost free of Pb and Ba.All the rocks and ores experienced epidote–amphibolitic metamorphism. Meanwhile, the ores experienced a recrystallization and partial regeneration, but the initial shape of the lodes remained unchanged.The essentially chalcopyritic ores, the volcaniclastic ore-bearing rocks, and the spatial and genetic relationship of the mineralization with undifferentiated mafic and siliciclastic rocks suggest that this deposit belongs to the Besshi type, formed in a back-arc environment, near large rises.The studies show that Besshi-type Cu–Zn massive sulfide deposits differ from most of the polymetallic (Kuroko-type) deposits in Rudny Altai in the composition of volcanics and geodynamic settings, but belong to the same evolutionary series in this VMS province. Both types of deposits might have formed in the Paleozoic, during the main peak of VMS generation in the Earth's history.     

与镁铁－超镁铁质岩石有关的矿床类型

本文综述了近年来的研究成果,介绍了与镁铁质-超镁铁质岩有关的矿床类型和成矿作用。重点讨论的矿种有钒钛磁铁矿、铜-镍、铬铁矿、磁铁矿、铂族、钴、金、镁、磷灰石、金刚石、石棉、蛭石、宝玉石等,涉及的矿床成因类型主要有:岩浆型(包括岩浆熔离、贯入、分异和爆发型)、热液型、矽卡岩型、变质型、火山喷溢型、风化型(包括风化壳和砂矿)以及复合型等。从勘查找矿考虑,可从含矿镁铁-超镁铁质岩石类型入手,结合矿床成因类型和产出构造环境因素,将矿床分为与深成岩、浅成岩和喷出岩有关的三大类和若干亚类矿床,并详细介绍了各类的主要矿床类型、成矿地质特征、成因特点和矿床实例。在此基础上,对与镁铁-超镁铁质岩有关的成矿作用进行了4个层次讨论,包括单一矿床的复合成矿作用、杂岩体本身的不同矿床类型和矿种的组合、不同镁铁-超镁铁质岩套之间的伴生,以及与非超镁铁质岩套的共生与组合。     

东南沿海早白垩世火山岩的极低级变质作用研究

中国东南沿海广泛分布的白垩纪火山岩中,发育一套具特殊岩相学特征的火山岩地层,以浙江高坞组和福建南园组为代表,其主体为熔结凝灰岩,以深灰色厚层致密块状、含大量长石和石英晶屑、大面积出露但假流动构造模糊为突出特征,而明显区别于其它白垩纪地层组的熔结凝灰岩,表明其具有独特的成岩过程。伊利石结晶度研究表明,高坞组和南园组火山岩特殊的岩相学特征与其成岩后受到极低级变质作用,从而发生一定程度重结晶有关,这一过程使其岩石结构构造趋于均一化。通过对上下火山岩系火山岩的伊利石结晶度、b0值及多型特征对比分析表明,东南沿海这一大范围的火山岩极低级变质作用,可能是早白垩世晚期"闽浙运动"后岩石圈发生强烈伸展,导致区域大规模热隆作用的反映,并与上下火山岩系之间区域性不整合面的形成、长乐-南澳构造带强烈的变质变形事件及东南沿海大规模金铜矿、非金属等成矿作用密切相关,具有重要的研究意义。     

Origin and metamorphism of iron formations and associated rocks,Lofoten-Vesterålen,N. Norway. I. The Vestpolltind Fe-Mn deposit

Geochemical and petrological studies of banded Mn-Fe deposits and associated rocks from Vestpolltind, Lofoten-Vesterålen, show that these rocks may have originated in a marginal sea environment, with intense volcanic and hot spring activity. Mineral analyses have made it possible to calculate the metamorphic conditions during the 1950 m.y. granulite facies metamorphism. Maximum P-T conditions for the regional metamorphism are calculated to 9–11 kb, 770°C, with a local temperature peak of 940±50°C, due to the intrusion nearby of a large mangerite. The stabilities of piemontite and the paragenesis quartz+corundum are discussed. A plate tectonic model for the formation and metamorphism of the rocks is presented.