Local partial melting of the lower crust triggered by hydration through melt–rock interaction: an example from Fiordland,New Zealand

We investigate a low‐strain outcrop of the lower crust, the Pembroke Granulite, exposed in northern Fiordland, New Zealand, which exhibits localized partial melting. Migmatite and associated tschermakite–clinozoisite (TC) gneiss form irregular, elongate bodies that cut a two‐pyroxene–pargasite (PP) gneiss. Gradational boundaries between rock types, and the progressive nature of changes in mineral assemblage, microstructure and chemistry are consistent with the TC gneiss and migmatite representing modified versions of the PP gneiss. Modification is essentially isochemical, where partial modification involves hydration of the assemblage and mineral chemistry changes, and complete modification involves additional recrystallization and in situ partial melt production. Microstructures of quartz and plagioclase, including small dihedral angles, string of beads textures and films surrounding amphibole and garnet grains are consistent with the former presence of melt in modified rock types. The documented rock modification is attributed to melt–rock interaction occurring during porous melt flow of a dominantly externally derived, hydrous silicate melt. Microstructures indicate melt flow occurred along grain boundaries and field relationships show it was focused into channels tens of metres wide, with preference for following the pre‐existing foliation. Melt–rock interaction at the grain scale resulted in hydration and modification of the host PP gneiss, which resulted in localized partial melting. These relationships indicate prograde hydration during localized melt–rock interaction drove migmatization of the lower crust.     

An electron‐optical study of melt‐related microstructures in granulite facies rocks from the Torngat Orogen

Cordierite–quartz and plagioclase–quartz intergrowths in a paragneiss from northern Labrador (the Tasiuyak Gneiss) were studied using SEM, STEM and TEM. The gneiss experienced granulite facies conditions and partial melting during both regional and, subsequently, during contact metamorphism. The microstructures examined all results from the contact metamorphism. Cordierite–quartz intergrowths occur on coarse and fine scales. The former sometimes exist as a ‘geometric’ intergrowth in which the interface between cordierite and quartz appears planar at the resolution of the optical microscope and SEM. The latter exists in several microstructural variants. Plagioclase is present as a minor component of the intergrowth in some examples of both the coarse and fine intergrowth. Grain boundaries in cordierite–quartz intergrowths are occupied by amorphous material or a mixture of amorphous material and chlorite. Cordierite and quartz are terminated by crystal faces in contact with amorphous material. Chlorite is sometimes found on cordierite surfaces and penetrating into cordierite grains along defects. Quartz contains (former) fluid inclusions 10–20 nm in maximum dimension. The presence of planar interfaces between cordierite and the amorphous phase is reminiscent of those between crystals and glass in volcanic rocks, but in the absence of compelling evidence that the amorphous material represents former melt, it is interpreted as a reaction product of cordierite. Plagioclase–quartz intergrowths occur in a number of microstructural variants and are commonly associated with cordierite–quartz intergrowths. The plagioclase–quartz intergrowths display simple, non‐planar interfaces between plagioclase and quartz. Quartz contains (former) fluid inclusions of dimensions similar to those observed in cordierite–quartz intergrowths. The boundary between quartz and enclosing K‐feldspar is cuspate, with quartz cusps penetrating a few tens of nanometres into K‐feldspar, commonly along defects in K‐feldspar and sometimes with very low dihedral angles at their tips. This cuspate microstructure is interpreted as melt pseudomorphs. The plagioclase–quartz intergrowths share some features with myrmekite, but differ in some respects: the composition of the plagioclase (An₃₇Ab₆₂Or₁–An₃₈Ab₆₁Or₁); the association with cordierite–quartz intergrowths; and microstructures that are atypical of myrmekite (e.g. quartz vermicules shared with cordierite–quartz intergrowths). It is inferred that the plagioclase–quartz intergrowths may have formed from, or in the presence of, melt. Inferred melt‐related microstructures preserved on the nanometre scale suggest that melt on grain boundaries was more pervasive than is evident from light optical and SEM observations.     

The recognition of former melt flux through high‐strain zones

High‐strain zones are potential pathways of melt migration through the crust. However, the identification of melt‐present high‐strain deformation is commonly limited to cases where the interpreted volume of melt “frozen” within the high‐strain zone is high (>10%). In this contribution, we examine high‐strain zones in the Pembroke Granulite, an otherwise low‐strain outcrop of volcanic arc lower crust exposed in Fiordland, New Zealand. These high‐strain zones display compositional layering, flaser‐shaped mineral grains, and closely spaced foliation planes indicative of high‐strain deformation. Asymmetric leucosome surrounding peritectic garnet grains suggest deformation was synchronous with minor amounts of in situ partial melting. High‐strain zones lack typical mylonite microstructures and instead display typical equilibrium microstructures, such as straight grain boundaries, 120° triple junctions, and subhedral grain shapes. We identify five key microstructures indicative of the former presence of melt within the high‐strain zones: (a) small dihedral angles of interstitial phases; (b) elongate interstitial grains; (c) small aggregates of quartz grains with xenomorphic plagioclase grains connected in three dimensions; (d) fine‐grained, K‐feldspar bearing, multiphase aggregates with or without augite rims; and (e) mm‐ to cm‐scale felsic dykelets. Preservation of key microstructures indicates that deformation ceased as conditions crossed the solidus, breaking the positive feedback loop between deformation and the presence of melt. We propose that microstructures indicative of the former presence of melt, such as the five identified above, may be used as a tool for recognising rocks formed during melt‐present high‐strain deformation where low (<5%) volumes of leucosome are “frozen” within the high‐strain zone.     

压力对辉长岩矿物反应和部分熔融影响的实验研究

本文在高温高压条件下,开展了辉长岩矿物反应与部分熔融实验,利用偏光显微镜与扫描电镜对实验样品微观结构观察,研究实验中的新生矿物与熔体的分布;通过电子探针分析熔体成分特征。实验结果表明,在低压(300MPa)条件下,静压和塑性变形实验样品中,单斜辉石以固体反应方式生成橄榄石,在高压(1300MPa)塑性实验中所有实验样品都没有发现新生矿物颗粒,这与相图中低压条件下斜长石与橄榄石稳定共存,而高压下斜长石-辉石稳定共存相吻合。高压塑性变形条件下,单斜辉石和黑云母首先发生部分熔融,随着温度增高,斜长石逐渐参与熔融,熔体呈薄膜状分布在矿物颗粒边界,熔体成分依赖于参与熔融的矿物成分,表明出现的熔体为非平衡熔融结果。     

Partial melting due to breakdown of an epidote‐group mineral during exhumation of ultrahigh‐pressure eclogite: An example from the North‐East Greenland Caledonides

In the North‐East Greenland Caledonides, P–T conditions and textures are consistent with partial melting of ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) eclogite during exhumation. The eclogite contains a peak assemblage of garnet, omphacite, kyanite, coesite, rutile, and clinozoisite; in addition, phengite is inferred to have been present at peak conditions. An isochemical phase equilibrium diagram, along with garnet isopleths, constrains peak P–T conditions to be subsolidus at 3.4 GPa and 940°C. Zr‐in‐rutile thermometry on inclusions in garnet yields values of ~820°C at 3.4 GPa. In the eclogite, plagioclase may exhibit cuspate textures against surrounding omphacite and has low dihedral angles in plagioclase–clinopyroxene–garnet aggregates, features that are consistent with former melt–solid–solid boundaries and crystallized melt pockets. Graphic intergrowths of plagioclase and amphibole are present in the matrix. Small euhedral neoblasts of garnet against plagioclase are interpreted as formed from a peritectic reaction during partial melting. Polymineralic inclusions of albite+K‐feldspar and clinopyroxene+quartz±kyanite±plagioclase in large anhedral garnet display plagioclase cusps pointing into the host, which are interpreted as crystallized melt pockets. These textures, along with the mineral composition, suggest partial melting of the eclogite by reactions involving phengite and, to a large extent, an epidote‐group mineral. Calculated and experimentally determined phase relations from the literature reveal that partial melting occurred on the exhumation path, at pressures below the coesite to quartz transition. A calculated P–T phase diagram for a former melt‐bearing domain shows that the formation of the peritectic garnet rim occurred at 1.4 GPa and 900°C, with an assemblage of clinopyroxene, amphibole, and plagioclase equilibrated at 1.3 GPa and 720°C. Isochemical phase equilibrium modelling of a symplectite of clinopyroxene, plagioclase, and amphibole after omphacite, combined with the mineral composition, yields a P–T range at 1.0–1. 6 GPa, 680–1,000°C. The assemblage of amphibole and plagioclase is estimated to reach equilibrium at 717–732°C, calculated by amphibole–plagioclase thermometry for the former melt‐bearing domain and symplectite respectively. The results of this study demonstrate that partial melt formed in the UHP eclogite through breakdown of an epidote‐group mineral with minor involvement of phengite during exhumation from peak pressure; melt was subsequently crystallized on the cooling path.     

Experiments on the kinetics of partial melting of a leucogranite at 200 MPa H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O and 690–800°C: compositional variability of melts during the onset of H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O-saturated crustal anatexis

We have experimentally investigated the kinetics of melting of an aplitic leucogranite (quartz+sodic plagioclase of ≈Ab₉₀+K-feldspar+traces of biotite) at 690, 740, and 800°C, all at 200 MPa H₂O. Leucogranite cylinders, 3.5 mm in diameter and 7 mm in length, were run in the presence of excess H₂O using cold-seal pressure vessels for 11–2,925 h. At 690 and 740°C and any experimental time, and 800°C and short run times, silicate glass (melt at run conditions) occurs as interconnected films along most of the mineral boundaries and in fractures, with the predominant volume occurring along quartz/feldspars boundaries and quartz/plagioclase/K-feldspar triple junctions. Glass film thickness is roughly constant throughout a given experimental charge and increases with experimental temperature and run duration. The results indicate that H₂O-saturated partial melting of a quartzo-feldspathic protolith will produce an interconnected melt phase even at very low degrees (<5 vol%) of partial melting. Crystal grain boundaries are therefore completely occluded with melt films even at the lowest degrees of partial melting, resulting in a change in the mechanism of mass transport through the rock from advection of aqueous vapor to diffusion through silicate melt. At 690 and 740°C the compositions of glasses are homogeneous and (at both temperatures) close to, but not on, the H₂O-saturated 200 MPa haplogranite eutectic; glass compositions do not change with run duration. At 800°C glasses are heterogeneous and plot away from the minimum, although their molar ratios ASI (=mol Al₂O₃/CaO+Na₂O+K₂O) and Al/Na are constant throughout the entire charge at any experimental time. Glass compositions within individual 800°C experiments form linear trends in (wt%) normative quartz–albite–orthoclase space. The linear trends are oriented perpendicular to the 200 MPa H₂O haplogranite cotectic line, reflecting nearly constant albite/orthoclase ratio versus variable quartz/feldspar ratio, and have endpoints between the 800°C isotherms on the quartz and feldspar liquidus surfaces. With increasing experimental duration the trends migrate from the potassic side of the minimum toward the bulk rock composition located on the sodic side, due to more rapid (and complete) dissolution of K-feldspar relative to plagioclase. The results indicate that partial melting at or slightly above the solidus (690–740°C) is interface reaction-controlled, and produces disequilibrium melts of near-minimum composition that persist metastably for up to at least 3 months. Relict feldspars show no change in composition or texture, and equilibration between melt and feldspars might take from a few to tens of millions of years. Partial melting at temperatures well above the solidus (800°C) produces heterogeneous, disequilibrium liquids whose compositions are determined by the diffusive transport properties of the melt and local equilibrium with neighboring mineral phases. Feldspars recrystallize and change composition rapidly. Partial melting and equilibration between liquids and feldspars might take from a few to tens of years (H₂O-saturated conditions) at these temperatures well above the solidus.     

高温高压条件下实验变形石英闪长岩微观结构与熔体特征研究

本文以高温高压条件下石英闪长岩流变实验样品为研究对象,利用偏光显微镜进行微观结构观察,研究了样品在实验温度压力条件下的变形机制与斜长石结构对流变强度的影响;通过透射电镜能谱与电子探针,分析了熔体分布和成分特征,讨论了角闪石脱水熔融的影响因素与脱水熔融对岩石流变的影响。结果表明,随着温度升高,岩石从脆塑性过渡域逐渐向高温位错攀移和动态重结晶为主的塑性域转化。在高温条件下,角闪石出现了脱水与部分熔融,脱水熔融的熔体分布和成分体现出非均匀与非平衡熔融的特点,空间分布上,熔体主要出现在角闪石和黑云母矿物颗粒的边缘以及角闪石和长石颗粒之间的区域内;成分分布上,熔体的成分与参与熔融的矿物成分密切相关。角闪石边缘的熔体和黑云母边缘的熔体具有低硅铝、高铁镁特征,斜长石边缘的熔体具有高硅铝、低铁镁的特征,处于角闪石和斜长石颗粒中间的熔体,其成分间于斜长石与角闪石成分之间。实验中出现的非平衡非均匀部分熔融可以解释混合岩中的浅色体与暗色体的成因,富硅熔体可以形成富硅铝的花岗质岩石,而贫硅富铁镁的熔体可以形成基性岩。角闪石的脱水熔融程度依赖于样品的封闭条件,处于封闭环境的样品,角闪石不易脱水熔融,而处于开放环境时,角闪石脱水熔融显著。拆离断层带及其附近具备这样的开放环境,有利于角闪石发生脱水熔融。实验力学数据和微观结构显示,随机分布的斜长石对岩石强度影响并不明显,但斜长石的长轴方向与最大主应力方向呈大角度相交(近90°)会显著强化岩石的强度,这意味着岩石组构与主应力方向大角度相交或呈垂直方向时,不利于岩石变形和拆离断层的形成,反之,均匀岩石或岩石组构与最大主应力方向小角度相交,有利于岩石的变形,容易发育拆离断层。     

Melting and melt segregation in the aureole of the Glenmore Plug, Ardnamurchan

Contact metamorphism caused by the Glenmore plug in Ardnamurchan, a magma conduit active for 1 month, resulted in partial melting, with melt now preserved as glass. The pristine nature of much of the aureole provides a natural laboratory in which to investigate the distribution of melt. A simple thermal model, based on the first appearance of melt on quartz–feldspar grain boundaries, the first appearance of quartz paramorphs after tridymite and a plausible magma intrusion temperature, provides a time‐scale for melting. The onset of melting on quartz–feldspar grain boundaries was initially rapid, with an almost constant further increase in melt rim thickness at an average rate of 0.5–1.0 × 10^?9 cm s^?1. This rate was most probably controlled by the distribution of limited amounts of H₂O on the grain boundaries and in the melt rims. The melt in the inner parts of the aureole formed an interconnected grain‐boundary scale network, and there is evidence for only limited melt movement and segregation. Layer‐parallel segregations and cross‐cutting veins occur within 0.6 m of the contact, where the melt volume exceeded 40%. The coincidence of the first appearance of these signs of the segregation of melt in parts of the aureole that attained the temperature at which melting in the Qtz–Ab–Or system could occur, suggests that internally generated overpressure consequent to fluid‐absent melting was instrumental in the onset of melt movement.     

Large-scale melt-depletion in granulite terranes: an example from the Archean Ashuanipi Subprovince of Quebec

This study uses field, petrographic and geochemical methods to estimate how much granitic melt was formed and extracted from a granulite facies terrane, and to determine what the grain‐ and outcrop‐scale melt‐flow paths were during the melt segregation process. The Ashuanipi subprovince, located in the north‐eastern Superior Province of Quebec, is a large (90 000 km²) metasedimentary terrane, in which > 85% of the metasediments are of metagreywacke composition, that was metamorphosed at mid‐crustal conditions (820–900 °C and 6–7 kbar) in a late Archean dextral, transpressive orogen. Decrease in modal biotite and quartz as orthopyroxene and plagioclase contents increase, together with preserved former melt textures indicate that anatexis was by the biotite dehydration reaction: biotite + quartz + plagioclase = melt + orthopyroxene + oxides. Using melt/orthopyroxene ratios for this reaction derived from experimental studies, the modal orthopyroxene contents indicate that the metagreywacke rocks underwent an average of 31 vol% partial melting. The metagreywackes are enriched in MgO, CaO and FeO_t and depleted in SiO₂, K₂O, Rb, Cs, and U, have lower Rb/Sr, higher Rb/Cs and Th/U ratios and positive Eu anomalies compared to their likely protolith. These compositions are modelled by the extraction of between 20 and 40 wt %, granitic melt from typical Archean low‐grade metagreywackes. A simple mass balance indicates that about 640 000 km³ of granitic melt was extracted from the depleted granulites. The distribution of relict melt at thin section‐ and outcrop‐scales indicates that in layers without leucosomes melt extraction occurred by a pervasive grain boundary (porous) flow from the site of melting, across the layers and into bedding planes between adjacent layers. In other rocks pervasive grain boundary flow of melt occurred along the layers for a few, to tens of centimetres followed by channelled flow of melt in a network of short interconnected and structurally controlled conduits, visible as the net‐like array of leucosomes in some outcrops. The leucosomes contain very little residual material (< 5% biotite + orthopyroxene) indicating that the melt fraction was well separated from the residuum left in situ as melt‐depleted granulite. Only 1–3 vol percentage melt remained in the melt‐depleted granulites, hence, the extraction of melt generated by biotite dehydration melting in these granulites, was virtually complete under conditions of natural melting and strain rates in a contractional orogen.     

Textural and Thermal History of Partial Melting in Tonalitic Wallrock at the Margin of a Basalt Dike, Wallowa Mountains, Oregon

Columbia River Basalt Group dikes invade biotite–hornblendetonalite to granodiorite rocks of the Wallowa Mountains. Mostdikes are strongly quenched against wallrock, but rare dikesegments have preserved zones of partial melt in adjacent wallrockand provide an opportunity to examine shallow crustal melting.At Maxwell Lake, the 4 m thick wallrock partial melt zone containsas much as 47 vol. % melt (glass plus quench crystals) aroundmineral reaction sites and along quartz–feldspar boundaries.Bulk compositional data indicate that melting took place underclosed conditions (excepting volatiles). With progressive melting,hornblende, biotite, and orthoclase were consumed but plagioclase,quartz, and magnetite persisted in the restite. Clinopyroxene,orthopyroxene, plagioclase, and Fe–Ti oxides were producedduring dehydration-melting reactions involving hornblende andbiotite. Reacting phases became more heterogeneous with progressivemelting; crystallizing phases were relatively homogeneous. Progressivemelting produced an early clear glass, followed by light (high-K)and dark (high-Ca) brown glass domains overprinted by devitrification.Melts were metaluminous and granitic to granodioritic. Thermalmodeling of the partial melt zone suggests that melting tookplace over a period of about 4 years. Thus, rare dikes withmelted margins represent long-lived portions of the ColumbiaRiver Basalt dike system and may have sustained large flows. KEY WORDS: Columbia River Basalt dike; crustal melting; dehydration-melting; tonalite–granodiorite; thermal model     

Criteria for the recognition of partial melting

Partial melting changes rocks from single phase (solid) to two phase (solid+melt) systems. The bulk viscosity decreases as the melt fraction increases and this effect raises the rate of deformation and heat transfer, as well as causing crustal differentiation. Therefore, it is important to be able to recognise which rocks have partially melted.Macroscopic textures provide the simplest criteria for recognising partial melting. Melting and deformation are generally synchronous, and when the melt fraction retained is low (<20%) metatexite migmatites are formed. Typically, these are morphologically complex because the melt fraction is squeezed out of the deforming matrix and collects in whatever dilatant sites are present. The presence of melanosome layers and patches provides the best evidence of where the melt formed, and the leucosomes where it collected. Diatexite migmatites can be easily recognised by the presence of a flow foliation, schlieren, enclaves and vein like leucosomes, and are evidence of a high melt fraction and pervasive partial melting. For the unusual case of melting without synchronous deformation, rounded neosome patches containing both the melt and solid fractions of the melt-producing reaction develop and, as the degree of melting increases these enlarge, to form diatexite migmatites. In both cases the characteristic feature is an increased grainsize and loss of pre-migmatization structures. Migmatite textures are robust, they survive later deformation well.Microscopic textures such as: (1) thin films of quartz, plagioclase and K-feldspar along brain boundaries that represent crystallized melt and, (2) melt-solid reaction textures, also provide good criteria for identifying partially melted rocks. However, these textures are fragile and easily destroyed by deformation. The identification of mineral assemblages from which melt-forming reactions can be inferred is another reliable critera for recognising partial melting, but post-migmatization rehydration in granulite terranes can destroy this evidence.Whole rock geochemistry can be used to model the partial melting process, but problems in identifying the palaeosome and an unmodified melt compositions can restrict its application. However, whole rock geochemistry coupled with good field based control, can be used to deduce what processes have occurred in a terrane where the rocks have partially melted.Variations in field appearance, texture and composition are, in large part a consequence of whether, or not, and when, the melt-fraction separated from the solid fraction.     

From orthogneiss to migmatite: Geochemical assessment of the melt infiltration model in the Gföhl Unit (Moldanubian Zone, Bohemian Massif)

The Gföhl Unit is the largest migmatite terrain of the Variscan orogenic root domain in Europe. Its genesis has been until now attributed to variable degrees of in situ partial melting. In the Rokytná Complex (Gföhl Unit, Czech Republic) there is a well-preserved sequence documenting the entire migmatitization process on both outcrop and regional scales. The sequence starts with (i) banded orthogneiss with distinctly separated monomineralic layers, continuing through (ii) migmatitic mylonitic gneiss, (iii) schlieren migmatite characterised by disappearance of monomineralic layering and finally to (iv) felsic nebulitic migmatite with no relics of the original banding.

While each type of migmatite shows a distinct whole-rock geochemical and Sr–Nd isotopic fingerprint, the whole sequence evolves along regular, more or less smooth trends for most of the elements. Possible mechanisms which could account for such a variation are that the individual migmatite types (i) are genetically unrelated, (ii) originated by equilibrium melting of a single protolith, (iii) formed by disequilibrium melting (with or without a small-scale melt movement) or (iv) were generated by melt infiltration from external source. The first scenario is not in agreement with the field observations and chemistry of the orthogneisses/migmatites. Neither of the remaining hypotheses can be ruled out convincingly solely on whole-rock geochemical grounds. However in light of previously obtained structural, petrologic and microstructural data, this sequence can be interpreted as a result of a process in which the banded orthogneiss was pervasively, along grain boundaries, penetrated by felsic melt derived from an external source.

In terms of this melt infiltration model the individual migmatites can be explained by different degrees of equilibration between the bulk rock and the passing melt. The melt infiltration can be modelled as an open-system process, characterised by changes of the total mass/volume and accompanied by gains/losses in many of the major- and trace elements. The modelling of the mass balance resulted in identification of a component added by a heterogeneous nucleation of feldspars, quartz and apatite from the passing melt. This is in line with the observed presence of new albitic plagioclase, K-feldspar and quartz coatings as well as resorption of relict feldspars. At the most advanced stages (schlieren and nebulitic migmatites) the whole-rock trace-element geochemical variations document an increasing role for fractional crystallization of the K-feldspar and minor plagioclase, with accessory amounts of monazite, zircon and apatite.

The penetrating melt was probably (leuco-) granitic, poor in mafic components, Rb rich, with low Sr, Ba, LREE, Zr, U and Th contents. It probably originated by partial melting of micaceous quartzo-feldspathic rocks.

If true and the studied migmatites indeed originated by a progressive melt infiltration into a single protolith resembling the banded orthogneiss, this until now underappreciated process would have profound implications regarding rheology and chemical development of anatectic regions in collisional orogens.     

Evidence for deformation-induced K-feldspar replacement by myrmekite

ABSTRACT Several examples of deformation-induced myrmekite have been found in two amphibolite facies mylonites derived from granitic protoliths, namely a muscovite-poor S-C mylonite and a single foliation, muscovite-poor mylonitic gneiss. Back-scattered SEM and conventional optical microscopy show that in both rock types, syntectonic myrmekitic intergrowths of oligoclase and quartz formed on the two sides of K-feldspar grains that faced the local inferred incremental shortening direction for the mylonite. Myrmekite does not occur on the two ends of the grain that faced the incremental stretching direction. The replacement of K-feldspar by plagioclase and quartz results in a volume decrease and is favoured on high normal stress sites around the grains. We suggest that the ambient temperature, pressure and chemical activities were such that the replacement reaction was favoured, but the addition of extra strain energy along the high-pressure sides of the grains localized the reaction at these sites. This energy could arise from elastic strain, or strain associated with tangled dislocations or twin boundaries. The relative roles of stress and strain energy concentrations in driving the replacement reaction are not known, but both were probably important.     

Melting of plagioclase-quartz assemblages at 2 kbar water pressure

The melting of plagioclase and quartz has been investigated at P _H2O =2kb. A single crystal of plagioclase was surrounded by quartz powder and water. A reaction rim consisting of glass and of An-rich plagioclase developed around unchanged starting plagioclase. Microprobe determinations of melt and coexisting plagioclase compositions reveal a strong fractionation of plagioclase components between melt and new plagioclase. For example at 850° C the approximate X _An of melt is 0.3 and that of plagioclase is 0.8. The temperature interval between beginning of melting and complete melting of cotectic compositions is 100° C or more for quartz-plagioclase mixtures with plagioclases between An 40 and An 75. In comparison to the system Ab-An-H₂O the plagioclase melting loop is somewhat wider in the investigated system Qz-Ab-An-H₂O but the temperature interval is much smaller (100° C) than in the system Ab-An-H₂O (200° C). The solidus data indicated by the new plagioclase compositions are practically identical with those observed in beginning of melting experiments. The results show that fractionation of plagioclase components between partial melts and restite plagioclase can be more pronounced in multi-component rocks than in the pure plagioclase system. This finding is important for the development of albite rich rocks from more basic compositions.     

Thin amorphous films (1–2 nm) at olivine grain boundaries in mantle xenoliths from San Carlos,Arizona

 Olivine grain boundaries and phase boundaries in xenoliths from San Carlos have been investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HREM) and analytical electron microscopy (AEM). Thin amorphous intergranular layers with variable width (1–2 nm) were detected along olivine grain boundaries. The Al₂O₃, TiO₂ and CaO concentrations of the amorphous layers increase with increasing width of the layer. The composition of the amorphous intergranular layers depends on the interface type – grain or phase boundary. Morphology, amorphous state and chemical composition of the intergranular layer suggest the presence of a melt film at olivine grain boundaries. Since the composition of the amorphous phase strongly depends on the type of interface, the melt must have been generated at the grain boundary. Also, the melt chemistry is different from the composition of partial melts produced from possible hydrous phases, such as phlogopite or amphibole, and from the host basanite. The mobility of very thin melt films is assumed to be very limited due to the strong interface forces between the melt and the grain boundary. It is concluded that grain boundary melting occurred at the interfaces due to decompression during uplift. The melt wetted olivine grain boundaries as well as olivine-opx phase boundaries. The thin amorphous layers formed melt microsystems. Mixing of melts from different microsystems is suggested to occur in wider melt films, melt veins or melt pockets thus creating a magmatic melt that could be extracted from its source. Received: 6 November 1995 / Accepted: 24 January 1996     

Sulfide and oxide minerals from S-type and I-type granitic rocks

In the Ohmine I-type and S-type granitic rocks of Miocene age, Kii peninsula, central Japan, ilmenite, rutile, pyrrhotite, pyrite and chalcopyrite are common, but no magnetite is present. The primary paragenetic relations of these minerals are determined by their modes of occurrence as inclusions within major plagioclase, orthoclase, quartz, hornblende and biotite, although their parageneses changed during cooling. Significant subsolidus reactions for sulfide minerals took place in both the groundmass and the inclusions until the rocks cooled below 300°C. The loss of S and Cu through silicate crystals was too easy to preserve the chemistry of sulfides included in silicates. However, the removal of Ni through silicate crystals as well as along grain boundaries was restricted, as indicated by the fact that the distribution frequency of Ni-bearing pyrrhotite is higher in inclusions than in the groundmass, and significantly higher in I-type cognate enclaves than in host I-type rocks. Nickel-bearing pyrrhotite is common in I-type but rare in S-type rocks, sedimentary enclaves, restates and country rocks. This eliminates the possibility that the Ohmine S-type rocks were formed by interaction of I-type magma and sedimentary rocks or by mixing between I-type and an ideal S-type magmas, as interpreted from the chemistry of biotite and the chronology of these rocks.On the basis of mineralogy, and isotopic data for S, O, Sr, C, and rare gases, it was shown that I-type granitic rocks were derived from partial melting of intermediate igneous rocks containing hornblende and plagioclase and S-type, from partial melting of sedimentary rocks containing biotite and orthoclase.     

Generation, mobilization and crystallization of impact-induced alkali-rich melts in granitic target rocks: Evidence from the Araguainha impact structure, central Brazil

This paper provides important insights into the generation, extraction and crystallization of clast-laden impact melt rocks from the Araguainha impact structure, central Brazil. Despite the mixed nature of the Araguainha target rocks (comprising a 2 km thick sequence of sedimentary rocks and underlying granitic basement), the exposed melt bodies are characterised by an alkali-rich granitic matrix embedding mineral and rock fragments derived only from the target granite. The melt rocks occur in the form of a massive impact melt sheet overlying the eroded central uplift structure, and as melt veins in the granite of the core of the central uplift. Bulk-rock major and trace element data (including platinum group elements) indicate that the precursor melts were generated locally, principally by partial melting of the target granite, without any contribution from the sedimentary sequence or the projectile. The dense network of melt veins was formed in isolation, by selective melting of plagioclase and alkali feldspar within the granite target. Plagioclase and alkali feldspar melted discretely and congruently, producing domains in the matrix of the melt veins, which closely match the stoichiometry of these minerals. The compositionally discrete initial melt phases migrated through a dense network of microfractures before being assembled into larger melt veins. Freezing of the melt veins was substantially fast, and the melt components were quenched in the form of alkali-feldspar and plagioclase schlieren in the matrix of the melt veins. The overlying impact melt rock is, in contrast, characterised by a granophyric matrix consisting of albite, sanidine, quartz, biotite and chlorite. In this case, melt components appear to have been more mobile and to have mixed completely to form a granitic parental melt. We relate the melting of the minerals to post-shock temperatures that exceeded the melting point of feldspars.     

The interplay and effects of deformation and crystallized melt on the rheology of the lower continental crust,Fiordland, New Zealand

Microstructural, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and misorientation analyses of a migmatitic granulite-facies orthogneiss from the exhumed lower crust of a Cretaceous continental arc in Fiordland, New Zealand show how deformation was accommodated during and after episodes of melt infiltration and high-grade metamorphism. Microstructures in garnet, omphacite, plagioclase, and K-feldspar suggest that an early stage of deformation was achieved by dislocation creep of omphacite and plagioclase, with subsequent deformation becoming partitioned into plagioclase. Continued deformation after melt infiltration resulted in strain localization in the leucosome of the migmatite, where a change of plagioclase deformation mechanism promoted the onset of grain boundary sliding, most likely accommodated by diffusion creep, in fine recrystallized plagioclase grains. Our results suggest three distinctive transitions in the rheology of the lower crust of this continental arc, where initial weakening was primarily achieved by deformation of both omphacite and plagioclase. Subsequent strain localization in plagioclase of the leucosome indicates that the zones of former melt are weaker than the restite, and that changes in deformation mechanisms within plagioclase, and an evolution of its strength, primarily control the rheology of the lower crust during and after episodes of melting and magma addition.     

Partial melting of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks at convergent continental margins: Evidences,melt compositions and physical effects

Ultrahigh-pressure(UHP) metamorphic rocks are distinctive products of crustal deep subduction,and are mainly exposed in continental subduction-collision terranes. UHP slices of continental crust are usually involved in multistage exhumation and partial melting, which has obvious influence on the rheological features of the rocks, and thus significantly affect the dynamic behavior of subducted slices. Moreover,partial melting of UHP rocks have significant influence on element mobility and related isotope behavior within continental subduction zones, which is in turn crucial to chemical differentiation of the continental crust and to crust-mantle interaction.Partial melting can occur before, during or after the peak metamorphism of UHP rocks. Post-peak decompression melting has been better constrained by remelting experiments; however, because of multiple stages of decompression, retrogression and deformation, evidence of former melts in UHP rocks is often erased. Field evidence is among the most reliable criteria to infer partial melting. Glass and nanogranitoid inclusions are generally considered conclusive petrographic evidence. The residual assemblages after melt extraction are also significant to indicate partial melting in some cases. Besides field and petrographic evidence, bulk-rock and zircon trace-element geochemical features are also effective tools for recognizing partial melting of UHP rocks. Phase equilibrium modeling is an important petrological tool that is becoming more and more popular in P-T estimation of the evolution of metamorphic rocks; by taking into account the activity model of silicate melt, it can predict when partial melting occurred if the P-T path of a given rock is provided.UHP silicate melt is commonly leucogranitic and peraluminous in composition with high SiO_2,low MgO, FeO, MnO, TiO_2 and CaO, and variable K_2 O and Na_2 O contents. Mineralogy of nanogranites found in UHP rocks mainly consists of plagioclase + K-feldspar + quartz, plagioclase being commonly albite-rich.Trace element pattern of the melt is characterized by significant enrichment of large ion lithophile elements(LILE), depletion of heavy rare earth elements(HREE) and high field strength elements(HFSE),indicating garnet and rutile stability in the residual assemblage. In eclogites, significant Mg-isotope fractionation occurs between garnet and phengite; therefore, Mg isotopes may become an effective indicator for partial melting of eclogites.     

Asymmetrically zoned reaction rims: assessment of grain boundary diffusivities and growth rates related to natural diffusion-controlled mineral reactions

This study explores garnet coronas around hedenbergite, which were formed by the reaction plagioclase + hedenbergite→garnet + quartz, to derive information about diffusion paths that allowed for material redistribution during reaction progress. Whereas quartz forms disconnected single grains along the garnet/hedenbergite boundaries, garnet forms ～20‐μm‐wide continuous polycrystalline rims along former plagioclase/hedenbergite phase boundaries. Individual garnet crystals are separated by low‐angle grain boundaries, which commonly form a direct link between the reaction interfaces of the plagioclase|garnet|hedenbergite succession. Compositional variations in garnet involve: (i) an overall asymmetric compositional zoning in Ca, Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺ and Al across the garnet layer; and (ii) micron‐scale compositional variations in the near‐grain boundary regions and along plagioclase/garnet phase boundaries. These compositional variations formed during garnet rim growth. Thereby, transfer of the chemical components occurred by a combination of fast‐path diffusion along grain boundaries within the garnet rim, slow diffusion through the interior of the garnet grains, and by fast diffusion along the garnet/plagioclase and the garnet/hedenbergite phase boundaries. Numerical simulation indicates that diffusion of Ca, Al and Fe²⁺ occurred about three to four, four and six to seven orders of magnitude faster along the grain boundaries than through the interior of the garnet grains. Fast‐path diffusion along grain boundaries contributed substantially to the bulk material transfer across the growing garnet rim. Despite the contribution of fast‐path diffusion, bulk diffusion through the garnet rim was too slow to allow for chemical equilibration of the phases involved in garnet rim formation even on a micrometre scale. Based on published garnet volume diffusion data the growth interval of a 20‐μm‐wide garnet rim is estimated at ～10³–10⁴ years at the inferred reaction conditions of 760 ± 50 °C at 7.6 kbar. Using the same parameterization of the growth law, 100‐μm‐ and 1‐mm‐thick garnet rims would grow within 10⁵–10⁶ and 10⁶–10⁷ years respectively.