Origin of migmatites by deformation-enhanced melt infiltration of orthogneiss: a new model based on quantitative microstructural analysis

A detailed field study reveals a gradual transition from high‐grade solid‐state banded orthogneiss via stromatic migmatite and schlieren migmatite to irregular, foliation‐parallel bodies of nebulitic migmatite within the eastern part of the Gföhl Unit (Moldanubian domain, Bohemian Massif). The orthogneiss to nebulitic migmatite sequence is characterized by progressive destruction of well‐equilibrated banded microstructure by crystallization of new interstitial phases (Kfs, Pl and Qtz) along feldspar boundaries and by resorption of relict feldspar and biotite. The grain size of all felsic phases decreases continuously, whereas the population density of new phases increases. The new phases preferentially nucleate along high‐energy like–like boundaries causing the development of a regular distribution of individual phases. This evolutionary trend is accompanied by a decrease in grain shape preferred orientation of all felsic phases. To explain these data, a new petrogenetic model is proposed for the origin of felsic migmatites by melt infiltration from an external source into banded orthogneiss during deformation. In this model, infiltrating melt passes pervasively along grain boundaries through the whole‐rock volume and changes completely its macro‐ and microscopic appearance. It is suggested that the individual migmatite types represent different degrees of equilibration between the host rock and migrating melt during exhumation. The melt topology mimicked by feldspar in banded orthogneiss forms elongate pockets oriented at a high angle to the compositional banding, indicating that the melt distribution was controlled by the deformation of the solid framework. The microstructure exhibits features compatible with a combination of dislocation creep and grain boundary sliding deformation mechanisms. The migmatite microstructures developed by granular flow accompanied by melt‐enhanced diffusion and/or melt flow. However, an AMS study and quartz microfabrics suggest that the amount of melt present did not exceed a critical threshold during the deformation to allow free movements of grains.     

Transforming mylonitic metagranite by open-system interactions during melt flow

Gneisses and migmatites of the Gföhl unit (Moldanubian Zone, Bohemian Massif) range from banded mylonitic orthogneiss with recrystallized monomineralic bands, through stromatic (metatexite) and schlieren (inhomogeneous diatexite) migmatite, to isotropic nebulite (homogeneous diatexite). This sequence was classically attributed to increasing degree of anatexis. Under the microscope, the evolution is characterized by progressive destruction of the monomineralic banding that characterizes the original mylonitic orthogneiss. Throughout, the mineral assemblage is biotite–K‐feldspar–plagioclase–quartz ± garnet ± sillimanite, but the mineral compositions exhibit systematic changes with progressive disintegration of the layering. From banded orthogneiss to nebulite, the garnet composition changes systematically, Alm_75→94Prp_17→0.8Grs_2.5→1.2Sps_2→11 and X_Fe = 0.45→0.99 and for biotite, X_Fe = 0.80→1. This is consistent with a decrease in equilibration temperature and pressure of 790 °C and 8.5–6 kbar, to 690 °C and 5–4 kbar respectively. There is also a systematic change of whole‐rock composition, marked by an increase in SiO₂ (71→77 wt%) and X_Fe (0.62→0.85) and by a decrease in Al₂O₃ (16→13 wt%) and CaO (1.50→0.43 wt%). Assuming that the rocks started with the same composition, these systematic changes indicate open‐system behaviour. The predicted consequences of various open‐system processes are assessed using thermodynamic modelling. The observed variations are interpreted as being a consequence of melt flow through, and interaction with the rocks, and, to change the rock composition sufficiently, a large volume of melt must have been involved.     

Rb-Sr and U-Pb isotope studies on migmatites from the Schwarzwald (Germany): constraints on isotopic resetting during Variscan high-temperature metamorphism

Mineral and isotope studies were undertaken on migmatites from the Schwarzwald, Moldanubian zone of the Variscan belt. The aims of the study were to date the migmatite formation and to determine the processes involved in migmatization in order to evaluate their influence on isotopic resetting. Textural evidence and the comparison of mineral compositions from leucosomes and mesosomes of two centimetre-scale migmatite profiles, respectively, suggest that migmatitic textures and mineral assemblages were formed by metamorphic segregation (deformation-enhanced mass transport) rather than by partial melting (anatexis). The results of Rb-Sr thin-slab dating on these profiles indicate that Sr isotopes were not completely reset during migmatization. No true isochron ages, but ages of approximate isotopic homogenization were obtained on the thin slabs by calculating ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios back to various stages in their evolution. The coincidence of these Rb-Sr data with U-Pb ages of monazites from migmatites and non-migmatitic gneisses shows that gneisses and migmatites were formed during the same high-temperature event in the Carboniferous (330-335 Ma). The observation that high-temperature metamorphism failed to equilibrate Sr isotopes on the centimetre-scale imposes limitations on the use of conventional whole-rock isochron techniques in dating migmatites.     

In-situ migmatite and hybrid diatexite at Mt Stafford, central Australia

Metasedimentary gneisses show a rapid change in grade within a 10-km-wide low- P /high- T  regional aureole at Mt Stafford, Arunta Block, central Australia. Migmatites occur in all but the lowermost of five metamorphic zones, which are characterized by: (1) muscovite–quartz schist; (2) andalusite–cordierite–K-feldspar granofels with small melt segregations; (3) spinel–sillimanite–cordierite–K-feldspar migmatite; (4) garnet–orthopyroxene–cordierite migmatite and minor diatexite; and (5) biotite–cordierite–plagioclase diatexite that shows a transition to granite. A subsolidus unit comprising interbedded sandstone and siltstone is equivalent to bedded migmatite , the main rock type in Zones 2–4. Mesoscopic textures and migmatite classification of this unit vary with grade. In Zone 2, metatexite is developed in siltstone layers that are separated by quartz-rich, unmelted metapsammite layers. Melt segregation was less efficient in Zones 3 and 4, where the dominant migmatite layering is a modified bedding. High proportions of melt were present in Zone 4, in which schlieren migmatite is transitional between bedded migmatite and metapelite-sourced diatexite. The preservation of sedimentary structures and coexistence of melt reactants and products in Zone 4 metapelite imply that melting proceeded in situ without substantial migration of melt. Zone 5 biotite–cordierite–plagioclase diatexite carries rafts of bedded migmatite with strongly resorbed edges, as well as large K-feldspar and quartz augen. This unit of comparatively Ca-rich migmatites is inferred to have been formed by the mixing of locally derived and injected granitic melt.     

秦岭群条带状混合岩矿物空间分布的研究

由于条带状混合岩具多成因,因此,研究混合岩关键的问题之一是确定其成因。矿物空间分布特征可以用来区分混合岩的成因。本文研究表明,石英正长岩质黑云杆状混合岩其脉体、基体均为聚集分布,为分异作用形成,并同变形作用有关。用Wilcoxon秩和检验对比了花岗岩和含榴矽线黑云条带混合岩的脉体,结果表明两者的矿物空间分布一致,且趋于随机分布,这些脉体为部分熔融或注入形成。区域变质岩趋向于规则分布。组成混合岩的不同部分在矿物空间分布上可有也可以没有差异,例如,含榴矽线黑云条带混合岩中古成体同脉体有明显差异,而石英正长岩质黑云杆状混合岩基体和脉体无差异。     

Trace element distribution among rock-forming minerals from metamorphosed to partially molten basic igneous rocks in a contact aureole (Fuerteventura, Canaries)

Low pressure partial melting of basanitic and ankaramitic dykes gave rise to unusual, zebra-like migmatites, in the contact aureole of a layered pyroxenite–gabbro intrusion, in the root zone of an ocean island (Basal Complex, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands). These migmatites are characterised by a dense network of closely spaced, millimetre-wide leucocratic segregations. Their mineralogy consists of plagioclase (An_32–36), diopside, biotite, oxides (magnetite, ilmenite), +/− amphibole, dominated by plagioclase in the leucosome and diopside in the melanosome. The melanosome is almost completely recrystallised, with the preservation of large, relict igneous diopside phenocrysts in dyke centres. Comparison of whole-rock and mineral major- and trace-element data allowed us to assess the redistribution of elements between different mineral phases and generations during contact metamorphism and partial melting.

Dykes within and outside the thermal aureole behaved like closed chemical systems. Nevertheless, Zr, Hf, Y and REEs were internally redistributed, as deduced by comparing the trace element contents of the various diopside generations. Neocrystallised diopside – in the melanosome, leucosome and as epitaxial phenocryst rims – from the migmatite zone, are all enriched in Zr, Hf, Y and REEs compared to relict phenocrysts. This has been assigned to the liberation of trace elements on the breakdown of enriched primary minerals, kaersutite and sphene, on entering the thermal aureole. Major and trace element compositions of minerals in migmatite melanosomes and leucosomes are almost identical, pointing to a syn- or post-solidus reequilibration on the cooling of the migmatite terrain i.e. mineral–melt equilibria were reset to mineral–mineral equilibria.     

Textural evolution in the transition from subsolidus annealing to melting process, Velay Dome, French Massif Central

Petrographic analysis is a useful, but underused tool to aid in distinguishing between subsolidus and anatetic-related textures in migmatites. This study focuses on assessing the relative contributions of these two processes in the development of migmatitic orthogneiss textures in the Velay Massif, French Massif Central. The results of this study show that subsolidus processes are more important in the development of migmatitic textures in the orthogneiss than anatectic leucosome development. Four textural stages are identified from the mylonitic non-anatectic orthogneiss, annealed, migmatitic orthogneiss to diatexite. The monomineralic K-feldspar and plagioclase–muscovite banding was transformed with increasing temperature to polymineralic plagioclase–quartz–muscovite and K-feldspar–quartz–muscovite layers by the wetting of feldspar boundaries during heterogeneous nucleation of quartz from a fluid phase at high surface energy triple points. A further increase of temperature led to the growth of K-feldspar probably related to production of small amounts of melt in plagioclase rich aggregates, controlled by muscovite abundance. Solid state annealing processes in conjunction with incipient anatexis resulted in the formation of apparent granitic-like textures in plagioclase dominated aggregates. By contrast, in K-feldspar dominated aggregates exclusively subsolidus processes prevail, leading to the development of coarse grained leucosome. With the onset of biotite dehydration melting the plagioclase-dominated aggregates are destroyed by the melt whereas the K-feldspar aggregates may be preserved.     

Trace element composition and degree of partial melting of pelitic migmatites from the Aoyama area, Ryoke metamorphic belt, SW Japan: Implications for the source region of tourmaline leucogranites

Degree of partial melting of pelitic migmatites from the Aoyama area, Ryoke metamorphic belt, SW Japan is determined utilizing whole-rock trace element compositions. The key samples used in this study were taken from the migmatite front of this area and have interboudin partitions filled with tourmaline-bearing leucosome. These samples are almost perfectly separated into leucosome (melt) and surrounding matrix (solid). This textural feature enables an estimate of the melting degree by a simple mass-balance calculation, giving the result of 5–11 wt.% of partial melting. Similar calculations applied to the migmatite samples, which assume average migmatite compositions to be the residue solid fraction, give degree of melt extraction of 12–14 wt.% from the migmatite zone. The similarity of the estimated melting degree of 5–11 wt.% with that in other tourmaline–leucogranites, such as Harney Peak leucogranite and Himalayan leucogranites, in spite of differences in formation process implies that the production of tourmaline leucogranites is limited to low degrees of partial melting around 10 wt.%, probably controlled by the breakdown of sink minerals for boron such as muscovite and tourmaline at a relatively early stage of partial melting. Because the amount of boron originally available in the pelitic source rock is limited (on average 100 ppm), 10 wt.% of melting locally requires almost complete breakdown of boron sink mineral(s) in the source rock, in order to provide sufficient boron into the melt to saturate it in tourmaline. This, in turn, means that boron-depleted metapelite regions are important candidates for the source regions of tourmaline leucogranites.     

Crustal reworking in a shear zone: transformation of metagranite to migmatite

This study uses field, microstructural and geochemical data to investigate the processes contributing to the petrological diversity that arises when granitic continental crust is reworked. The Kinawa migmatite formed when Archean TTG crust in the São Francisco Craton, Brazil was reworked by partial melting at ~730 °C and 5–6 kbar in a regional‐scale shear zone. As a result, a relatively uniform leucogranodiorite protolith produced compositionally and microstructurally diverse diatexites and leucosomes. All outcrops of migmatite display either a magmatic foliation, flow banding or transposed leucosomes and indicate strong, melt‐present shearing. There are three types of diatexite. Grey diatexites are interpreted to be residuum, although melt segregation was incomplete in some samples. Biotite stable, H₂O‐fluxed melting is inferred via the reaction Pl + Kfs + Qz + H₂O = melt and geochemical modelling indicates 0.35–0.40 partial melting. Schlieren diatexites are extremely heterogeneous; residuum‐rich domains alternate with leucocratic quartzofeldspathic domains. Homogeneous diatexites have the highest SiO₂ and K₂O contents and are coarse‐grained, leucocratic rocks. Homogeneous diatexites, quartzofeldspathic domains from the schlieren diatexites and the leucosomes contain both plagioclase‐dominated and K‐feldspar‐dominated feldspar framework microstructures and hence were melt‐derived rocks. Both types of feldspar frameworks show evidence of tectonic compaction. Modelling the crystallization of an initial anatectic melt shows plagioclase appears first; K‐feldspar appears after ~40% crystallization. In the active shear zone setting, shear‐enhanced compaction provided an essentially continuous driving force for segregation. Thus, Kinawa migmatites with plagioclase frameworks are interpreted to have formed by shear‐enhanced compaction early in the crystallization of anatectic melt, whereas those with K‐feldspar frameworks formed later from the expelled fractionated melt. Trace element abundances in some biotite and plagioclase from the fractionated melt‐derived rocks indicate that these entrained minerals were derived from the wall rocks. Results from the Kinawa migmatites indicate that the key factor in generating petrological diversity during crustal reworking is that shear‐enhanced compaction drove melt segregation throughout the period that melt was present in the rocks. Segregation of melt during melting produced residuum and anatectic melt and their mixtures, whereas segregation during crystallization resulted in crystal fractionation and generated diverse plagioclase‐rich rocks and fractionated melts.     

Tectonically controlled fluid flow and water-assisted melting in the middle crust: An example from the Central Alps

Melting triggered by influx of a free aqueous fluid in the continental crust has commonly been inferred, but the source of water in such contexts remains a matter of debate. We focus on the Tertiary migmatites in the Southern Steep Belt of the Central Alps (Switzerland) to discuss the petrology, structures and geodynamic setting of water-assisted melting. These migmatites comprise various structural types (e.g. metatexites, diatexites, melt in shear zones), which reflect variable leucosome fractions. The melting event itself as well as the variable melt fractions are related to the amount of aqueous fluids. At a given P and T, melt-fractions in rocks of minimum melt composition correlate with the amount of infiltrated aqueous fluids. In more granodioritic systems the water distributes between melt and newly crystallizing hydrous phases such as amphibole, such that the melt fraction correlates with the contents of H₂O, Al, and Ca in the system. Phase-equilibrium modelling indicates that the stabilization of amphibole leads to slightly lower melt fractions than in a granitic system at the same P, T and bulk water content. Phase-equilibrium models further indicate that in the Alpine migmatite belt: (1) several wt.% water (fluid:rock ratio of  1:30) are necessary to produce the inferred melt fraction; (2) the activity of H₂O in the fluid is high; and (3) spatially associated metapelites are unlikely as a source for the required aqueous fluids.

We present a tectonic scenario for the southern margin of the Central Alps, to which these migmatites are confined, and we propose that water was produced from dehydration reactions in metapelites in the Southern Alps. We model fluid production rates at the time of melting and demonstrate that the resulting fluid flow pattern is mainly controlled by the differences in permeability between the fluid source region and melting region. The proposed model requires strong gradients in temperature and permeability for the two tectonic blocks. This is consistent with the scenario involving indenter tectonics at the boundary between the Central and the Southern Alps in Oligocene times.     

Origin of migmatite granite and its relations to iron deposits—An experimental study

Experiments have been conducted over a wide range of temperatures and pressures (300°–950°C, 500–2000 bars) in an attempt to gain some better understanding of the geological features of Precambrian migmatite granites and banded iron formation (BIF) widespread in Northeast China. Results indicate that the BIF of Anshan type is unstable under the action of sufficient alkaline solutions with some iron or aluminum silicates formed at the expense of quartz. Rock melting experiments show that the initial melting temperatures of phyllite, biotite plagioclase gneiss and migmatite granite range from 630° to 640°C, but those of BIF and plagioclase amphibolite are 150°–200° C higher. The authors suggest that migmatites in this region have resulted from partial melting and metasomatism. With respect to the relationship between migmatization and iron deposits, it has been experimentally revealed that the migmatites will not “digest” the BIF if they are separated by other wall rocks. But melting to various extents will take place in the BIF where migmatites are in direct contact with it. Additionally, the BIF will even become richer in iron under favorable conditions. This information may probably help guide our efforts to prospect for Precambrian iron deposits in regions with extensive occurrence of migmatites.     

Fluid‐fluxed melting and melt loss in a syntectonic contact metamorphic aureole from the Variscan eastern Pyrenees

Open‐system behaviour through fluid influx and melt loss can produce a variety of migmatite morphologies and mineral assemblages from the same protolith composition. This is shown by different types of granulite facies migmatite from the contact aureole of the Ceret gabbro–diorite stock in the Roc de Frausa Massif (eastern Pyrenees). Patch, stromatic and schollen migmatites are identified in the inner contact aureole, whereas schollen migmatites and residual melanosomes are found as xenoliths inside the gabbro–diorite. Patch and schollen migmatites record D1 and D2 structures in folded melanosome and mostly preserve the high‐T D2 in granular or weakly foliated leucosome. Stromatic migmatites and residual melanosomes only preserve D2. The assemblage quartz–garnet–biotite–sillimanite–cordierite±K‐feldspar–plagioclase is present in patch and schollen migmatites, whereas stromatic migmatites and residual melanosomes contain a sub‐assemblage with no sillimanite and/or K‐feldspar. A decrease in X _Fe (molar Fe/(Fe + Mg)) in garnet, biotite and cordierite is observed from patch migmatites through schollen and stromatic migmatites to residual melanosomes. Whole‐rock compositions of patch, schollen and stromatic migmatites are similar to those of non‐migmatitic rocks from the surrounding area. These metasedimentary rocks are interpreted as the protoliths of the migmatites. A decrease in the silica content of migmatites from 63 to 40 wt% SiO₂ is accompanied by an increase in Al₂O₃ and MgO+FeO and by a depletion in alkalis. Thermodynamic modelling in the NCKFMASHTO system for the different types of migmatite provides peak metamorphic conditions ~7–8 kbar and 840 °C. A nearly isothermal decompression history down to 5.5 kbar was followed by isobaric cooling from 840 °C through 690 °C to lower temperatures. The preservation of granulite facies assemblages and the variation in mineral assemblages and chemical composition can be modelled by ongoing H₂O‐fluxed melting accompanied by melt loss. The fluids were probably released by the crystallizing gabbro–diorite, infiltrating the metasedimentary rocks and fluxing melting. Release of fluids and melt loss were probably favoured by coeval deformation (D2). The amount of melt remaining in the system varied considerably among the different types of migmatite. The whole‐rock compositions of the samples, the modelled compositions of melts at the solidus at 5.5 kbar and the residues show a good correlation.     

Origin of the Skagit migmatites,North Cascades Range,Washington State

Stromatic and schlieren-type migmatites are a major lithology in the type section of the Skagit Gneiss complex in the North Cascades Range of Washington State, USA. Migmatite mesosomes are chiefly biotite schist, amphibolite, and orthogneiss, in decreasing order of abundance. Leucosomes are predominantly leucotrondhjemites with a very limited range of composition that is nearly independent of associated mesosome type. Melanosomes, consisting mainly of biotite and/or hornblende±garnet, are inconsistently developed and absent in places. The age of migmatization is not well established, but appears to be Late Cretaceous or early Tertiary. This is also the age of syntectonic tonalite to trondhjemite intrusives that are predominant in most parts of the Skagit complex. Although temperatures in excess of 700° C and pressures as high as 10 kb occurred, there is no evidence for widespread partial melting of the mesosomes with which the migmatites are closely associated. Mass balance calculations preclude an origin by injection of a silicate melt or hydrothermal fluid unless accompanied by metasomatic replacement reactions. Mass balance relationships also show that the Skagit migmatites could not have formed solely by closed system processes such as partial melting or metamorphic segregation, unless the mesosomes present were not the protolith from which the migmatites formed. Field, petrographic and geochemical data indicate that an origin by migmatization of a missing mesosome is quite unlikely. The most feasible process of migmatization appears to be infiltration of an aqueous fluid into a metamorphic protolith along fracture or foliation planes. This triggers a variable degree of metamorphic segregation or possibly minor partial melting. Unmixing of leucosomes and melanosomes from the mesosome protolith must be accompanied by metasomatic replacement, but the total mass transfer required is only a few wt%.     

中天山地块南缘两类混合岩的成因及其地质意义

中天山地块是位于中亚造山带西南缘的西天山造山带的重要组成块体,其基底演化和构造亲缘性对恢复西天山的增生造山方式和大地构造格局具有重要意义。混合岩在中天山地块的高级变质地体中广泛分布,是揭示中天山地块基底演化和构造属性的窗口。本文通过开展锆石U-Pb年代学和Hf同位素及岩石地球化学研究,确定了中天山地块南缘乌瓦门杂岩的两类条带状混合岩的原岩性质和形成时代以及混合岩化作用时代和成因机制。第一类条带状混合岩的原岩为中基性岩屑砂岩,混合岩化时代为～1. 8Ga,是在同期角闪岩相变质过程中通过变质分异形成的。第二类条带状混合岩的古成体包括黑云角闪斜长片麻岩和黑云斜长角闪片麻岩,原岩均形成于～2. 5Ga,并叠加～1. 8Ga角闪岩相变质作用,是洋陆俯冲背景下由俯冲洋壳或岩石圈地幔部分熔融形成。侵入古成体的变基性岩墙形成于～1. 72Ga,具有Fe-Ti玄武岩的地球化学特征,起源于后碰撞伸展背景下的软流圈地幔。该类混合岩的浅色体同时穿插古成体和变基性岩墙,呈现突变的野外接触关系,与区域内约787～785Ma混合岩化同期,即混合岩化作用是外来岩浆注入的结果,可能是造山带垮塌引发地壳深熔作用的产物。乌瓦门杂岩记录的～2. 5Ga岩浆活动、～1. 8Ga变质作用和～790Ma混合岩化作用可以和塔里木北缘进行对比,暗示中天山地块是一个具有确切新太古代-古元古代结晶基底的微陆块,并且和塔里木克拉通存在构造亲缘性。     

An experimental study on the shallow-level migmatization of ferrogabbros from the Fuerteventura Basal Complex, Canary Islands

Spectacular shallow-level migmatization of ferrogabbroic rocks occurs in a metamorphic contact aureole of a gabbroic pluton of the Tierra Mala massif (TM) on Fuerteventura (Canary Islands). In order to improve our knowledge of the low pressure melting behavior of gabbroic rocks and to constrain the conditions of migmatization of the TM gabbros, we performed partial melting experiments on a natural ferrogabbro, which is assumed as protolith of the migmatites. The experiments were performed in an internally heated pressure vessel (IHPV) at 200 MPa, 930–1150 °C at relatively oxidizing conditions. Distinct amounts of water were added to the charge.

From 930 to 1000 °C, the observed experimental phases are plagioclase (An_60–70), clinopyroxene, amphibole (titanian magnesiohastingsites), two Fe–Ti oxides, and a basaltic, K-poor melt. Above 1000 °C, amphibole is no longer stable. The first melts are very rich in normative plagioclase (>70 wt.%). This indicates that at the beginning of partial melting plagioclase is the major phase which is consumed to produce melt. In the experiments, plagioclase is stable up to high temperatures (1060 °C) showing increasing An content with temperature. This is not compatible with the natural migmatites, in which An-rich plagioclase is absent in the melanosomes, while amphibole is stable. Our results show that the partial melting of the natural rocks cannot be regarded as an “in-situ” process that occurred in a closed system. Considerable amounts of alkalis probably transported by water-rich fluids, derived from the mafic pluton underplating the TM gabbro, were necessary to drive the melting reaction out of the stability range of plagioclase. A partial melting experiment with a migmatite gabbro showing typical “in-situ” textures as starting material supports this assumption.

Crystallization experiments performed at 1000 °C on a glass of the fused ferrogabbro with different water contents added to the charge show that generally high water activities could be achieved (crystallization of amphibole), independently of the bulk water content, even in a system with very low initial bulk water content (0.3 wt.%). Increasing water contents produce plagioclase richer in An, reduces the modal proportion of plagioclase in the crystallizing assemblage and extends the melt fraction. High melt fractions of >30 wt.% could only be observed in systems with high bulk water contents (>2 wt.%). This indicates that the migmatites were generated under water-rich conditions (probably water-saturated), since those migmatites, which are characterized as “in-situ” formations, show generally high amounts of leucosomes (>30 wt.%).     

Exhumation of subducted continental crust along the arc region

The Kutná Hora crystalline complex (KHCC) in the Bohemian Massif is a HP/HT complex adjacent to the magmatic arc. It is dominated by migmatite, orthogneiss and granulite with bodies of eclogite and peridotite. The KHCC migmatite consists of K-feldspar, plagioclase, quartz, phengite, biotite, garnet and kyanite. Melting conditions were estimated at 780 °C and >16 kbar and inferred melt volume varies between 1 and 4 vol%. Peak temperature is 865 °C at 18–19 kbar followed by decompression in the presence of melt to 12–13 kbar and 770–800 °C. U-Pb monazite geochronology reveals a spread of ages between 550 Ma and 330 Ma. REE patterns show low Yb/Gd for 550–500 Ma, high Yb/Gd for ages at ~480 Ma, and decreasing Yb/Gd towards ~340 Ma. First monazite in equilibrium with garnet constrains the HP metamorphism to ~350 Ma, which is followed by recrystallization of monazite down to 325 Ma. U-Pb zircon geochronology displays an age range from ~670 Ma to ~430 Ma. The broad age range records a span of protolith crystallization and/or old metamorphism. The presence of HP ky + mu migmatite, their P–T path, protolith zircon and monazite metamorphic ages and whole-rock geochemistry are similar to HP migmatites in the Eger crystalline complex (ECC) in the Saxothuringian domain further in the west. We propose the following geodynamic scenario for subduction-relamination-exhumation mechanism: (i) subduction of the Saxothuringian continental lithosphere at 360 Ma related to early stage of trans-lithospheric diapirism triggered by arc-related magma weakening; (ii) large-scale emplacement of relaminant into the upper plate lithosphere at 350–340 Ma; and (iii) return flow of the relaminant along the subduction interface (the ECC) and emplacement of relaminant in the upper–middle crust in the rear part of the arc system (the KHCC) at 340–330 Ma.     

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.     

Migmatite formation at subsolidus conditions–an alternative to anatexis

Abstract This contribution discusses the formation of stromatic high-grade migmatites. Volume considerations require that most of the leucosome material is not added from outside the system. A segregation mechanism is necessary except in those cases where the protolith of the migmatite already had a banded structure. Although partial melting is most often advocated to provide the segregation mechanism, several arguments can be raised against high degrees of melting: mineral compositions and even zoning patterns are similar in both mesosomes and leucosomes; sufficient degrees of melting at reasonable temperatures require more than the available amounts of water; the leucosomes do not always approximate to a minimum melt composition; high degrees of melting cannot occur without an appreciable volume increase; etc. Diffusion works as a segregation mechanism at low temperatures. As diffusion rates increase exponentially with temperature diffusion must become still more important as a segregation mechanism at high temperatures. A model is suggested based on the diffusion of components in response to the gradient δσ/δx, where σ= 1/3∑³_i=1 σ_i is the mean pressure. In homogeneously strained rocks, σ₃ is larger in rock parts rich in incompetent phases than in rock parts depleted in incompetent phases. Accordingly, mechanically competent but chemically incompetent high-volume phases like quartz and feldspars stressed in micadominated parts of a rock (high σσ) migrate to parts of the rock that are depleted in mica (low σ¯). It is suggested that hornblende occurring in many leucosomes may be premigmatitic or early syn-migmatitic and due to its mechanical competency it initiates the segregation. Diffusion occurs along grain boundaries and is enhanced by small amounts of ‘intergranular fluid’;. At the best, semiquantitative estimates of diffusion rates and distances indicate that the process should work over geological times.     

Petrogenesis of Migmatites in Maine, USA: Possible Source of Peraluminous Leucogranite in Plutons?

In Maine, Siluro-Devonian turbidites were metamorphosed underhigh-T–low-P facies series conditions during deformationwithin a Devonian crustal-scale shear zone system, defined bykilometer-scale straight belts of apparent flattening strainthat anastomose around lozenges of apparent constrictional strain.At upper amphibolite facies grade, metapelites are partiallymelted, the onset of which is recorded by a migmatite front.The resulting migmatites are stromatic or heterogeneous, andsmaller-volume granites form sheets or cylinders according tothe structural zone in which they occur, suggesting that migmatitesand granites record syntectonic melt flow through the deformingcrust. Common leucogranite of the nearby coeval Phillips pluton,which was emplaced syntectonically, was sourced from crustalrocks with geochemical characteristics similar to those of thehost Siluro-Devonian succession. Migmatites have melt-depletedcompositions relative to metapelites. Leucosomes are peraluminousand represent the cumulate products of fractional crystallizationand variable loss of evolved fractionated liquid. Among theheterogeneous migmatites are schlieric granites, the geochemistryof which suggests melt accumulation before fractional crystallizationand loss of the evolved liquid. Smaller-volume granites areperaluminous with a range of chemistries that reflect variableentrainment of residual plagioclase and biotite, accumulationof products of fractional crystallization and loss of most ofthe evolved liquid. Common leucogranite of the Phillips plutonand larger granites in the migmatites have compositions thatsuggest crystallization of evolved liquids derived by fractionalcrystallization of primary muscovite dehydration melts. We inferthat the leucogranite represents the crystallized fugitive liquidfrom a migmatite source similar to that exposed nearby. Watertransported through the shear zone system dissolved in meltwas exsolved at the wet solidus to cause retrogression in sub-solidusrocks and retrograde muscovite growth in migmatites. KEY WORDS: anatexis of pelite; Maine; migmatite; peraluminous granite; plutons     

Formation, Crystallization, and Migration of Melt in the Mid-orogenic Crust: Muskoka Domain Migmatites, Grenville Province, Ontario

Migmatitic orthogneisses in the Muskoka domain, southwesternGrenville Province, Ontario, formed during the Ottawan stage(c. 1080–1050 Ma) of the Grenvillian orogeny. Stromaticmigmatites are volumetrically dominant, comprising granodioriticgneisses with 2–5 cm thick granitic leucosomes, locallyrimmed by thin melanosomes, that constitute 20–30 vol.%, and locally 40–50 vol. %, of the outcrops. Patch migmatitesin dioritic gneisses form large (>10 m) pinch-and-swell structureswithin the stromatic migmatites, and consist of decimetre-scale,irregular patches of granitic leucosome, surrounded by medium-grainedhornblende–plagioclase melanosomes interpreted as restite.The patches connect to larger networks of zoned pegmatite dykes.Petrographic and geochemical evidence suggests that the patchleucosomes formed by 20–40% fluid-present, equilibriummelting of the dioritic gneiss, followed by feldspar-dominatedcrystallization. The dyke networks may have resulted from hydraulicfracturing, probably when the melts reached water saturationduring crystallization. Field and geochemical data from thestromatic migmatites suggest a similar petrogenesis to the patchmigmatites, but with significant additions of externally derivedmelts, indicating that they acted as conduits for melts derivedfrom deeper structural levels within the orogen. We hypothesizethat the Muskoka domain represents a transfer zone for meltsmigrating to higher structural levels during Grenvillian deformation. KEY WORDS: migmatite geochemistry; partial melting; melt crystallization; melt transport; Grenville orogen