Chloritoid-bearing metapelites associated with glaucophane rocks in western Crete,Greece

In western Crete, Greece, a widespread occurrence of chloritoid-bearing metapelites with the main mineral assemblage chloritoid-phengitic white mica-Fe-rich chlorite-quartz was recorded to form the country rock of glaucophane-bearing metabasalts. Six bulk rock analyses of the metapelites conform to the compositional restrictions evaluated by Hoschek (1967) for the formation of chloritoid. Three microprobe analyses revealed chloritoid compositions low in Mg and Mn, and, consequently, high in Fe. The metamorphic grade documented in the metapelites is obviously related to a subsequent prograde metamorphism by which, in the adjacent meta-basalts, epidote is formed at the expense of lawsonite. No relict of a high-P, low-T assemblage, in part well preserved in the meta-basalts, was recognized in the chloritoid schists. The significance of the metamorphic history is briefly discussed.     

Metamorphism and deformation of golpayegan metapelitic rocks, Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone, Iran

The metapelitic schists of the Golpayegan region can be divided into four groups based on their mineral assemblages: (1) garnet-chloritoid schists, (2) garnet schists, (3) garnet-staurolite schists, and (4) staurolite-kyanite schists. Paleozoic pelagic shales experienced progressive metamorphism and polymetamorphism from greenschist to amphibolite facies along the kyanite geotherm. Mylonitic granites are concentrated in the central part of the region more than in other areas, and formed during the dynamic metamorphic phase by activity on the NW-SE striking Varzaneh and Sfajerd faults. The presence of chloritoid in the metapelites demonstrates low-grade metamorphism in the greenschist facies. The textural and chemical zoning of garnets shows three stages of growth and syntectonic formation. With ongoing metamorphism, staurolite appeared, and the rocks reached amphibolite facies, but the degree of metamorphism did not increase past the kyanite zone. Thus, metamorphism of the pelitic sediments occurred at greenschist to lower amphibolite facies. Thermodynamic studies of these rocks indicate that the metapelites in the north Golpayegan region formed at 511?C618°C and 0.24?C4.1 kbar.     

内蒙石板井—小黄山与蛇绿岩相伴的变质岩及其演化

在内蒙古石板井－小黄山蛇绿岩带发现了具典型热变质特征的红柱石堇 青石角岩和以兰绿色角闪石、硬绿泥石、黑硬绿泥石等矿物代表的中高压区域变质角闪片岩。据变质作用时序和相拓朴图两个方面的研究,表明石板井和小黄山两地的变质岩属同一构造混杂岩,其中的变质岩先经过与火成作用有关的热变质作用,反又叠架了中高压变质作用,即经历过一反时钟PT轨迹。它的热高峰为620℃,压力高峰近0．65GPa。     

Chloritoid: Its Composition, X-ray and Optical Properties, Stability, and Occurrence

The nomenclature of the chloritoid group, which includes ottrelite,is reviewed. Five new chemical analyses, and all published analysesthat are considered reliable, indicate that the chloritoid groupcan be represented by the general formula H₂FeAI₂SiO₇ with upto two-fifths of the ferrous iron replaced by magnesium, upto one-sixth by manganese, and up to one-seventh of the aluminiumreplaced by ferric iron. Chloritoid crystallizes in both monoclinicand triclinic polymorphs. The triclinic unit cell is one-halfthe monoclinic unit cell. Both polymorphs are widely distributed;they may be distinguished by their X-ray diffraction powderpatterns. In most monoclinic chloritoids the optic plane isnormal to (010), whereas in most triclinic chloritoids it isnearly parallel to (010). Replacement of iron by magnesium lowersthe indices of refraction. With increasing temperatures chloritoid breaks down to ironcordierite+hercynite+vapour at low pressures and to staurolite+almandine+hercynite+vapourat high pressures. Chloritoid was synthesized only at pressuresof about 10,000 bars, but natural chloritoids were stable athigher pressures. At lower pressures chloritoid was not synthesizedbecause of the persistence of a metastable chamosite with a7 ? basal spacing. Natural chloritoids did not decompose belowabout 600? C at these lower pressures. Stress as defined byHarker is not necessary for the growth of chloritoid. Chloritoid-bearing rocks have a high content of alumina relativeto potash, soda, lime, and mafic components, and have more ferrousoxide than magnesium oxide. In pelitic and lateritic sedimentshaving these characteristics, chloritoid is one of the firstnew minerals to form during regional or contact metamorphism.In higher metamorphic grades it is accompanied by cordierite,andalusite, kyanite, or staurolite. It also grows in hydrothermalveins. Various reactions in which chloritoid is produced orconsumed are presented. ¹Present address: Research Council of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">P-T</Emphasis> conditions of the Jandagh metapelitic schists,Northeastern Isfahan Province,Iran

The metapelitic schists of Jandagh or simply Jandagh metapelites can be divided into four groups based on mineral assemblages: (1) quartz-muscovite schists, (2) quartz-muscovite-biotite schists, (3) garnet-muscovite-chlorite schists, and (4) garnet-muscovite-staurolite schists. The Jandagh garnet-muscovite-chlorite schists show the first appearance of garnets. These garnets contain 58–76% almandine, 1–18% spessartine, and 8–20% grossular. Microprobe analysing across the garnets demonstrates an increase in Mg# from core to rim. This is a feature of the prograde metamorphism of metapelites. Well-preserved garnet growth zoning is a sign that metapelites were rapidly cooled and later metamorphic phases had no effect here. The appearance of staurolite in garnet-muscovite-chlorite schists signifies a beginning of the amphibolite facies. The absence of zoning in staurolite suggests that its formation and growth during prograde metamorphism occurred at a widely spaced isograde. Thermobarometric investigations show that the Jandagh metapelites were formed within a temperature range of 400–670°C and pressures of 2.0–6.5 kbar. These results are in agreement with the mineral paragenetic evidence and show the development of greenschist and amphibolite facies in the area studied.     

Chemical Features of White Micas from the Piemonte Calc-schists, Western Alps and Implications for K–Ar Ages of Metamorphism

Anomalously large chemical ranges in muscovite-paragonite and muscovite-celadonite systems are observed in white micas from the Piemonte calcschists in the Chisone valley area, internal western Alps. The petrographical and chemical observations on white mica strongly suggest that most mica crystals with high Na/K ratios in the chlorite zone are of detrital origin, and were derived from the pre-Alpine high-temperature metamorphic sequence such the Caledonian and/or Variscan. Submicroscopic muscovite (Ms) - paragonite (Pg) composite aggregates occur in the chlorite zone and their EPMA analyses give an apparent chemical composition range from Ms_0.6Pg_0.4 to Ms_0.2Pg_0.8. In the rutile zone, the paragonite content of the white micas is less than 20%, suggesting that the white micas have been homogenized during the Alpine metamorphism even if detrital white micas existed.Metamorphic mica is also very heterogeneous. The total range in Si content becomes wider with increasing of metamorphic grade: 3.22–3.39 pfu for the chlorite zone, 3.07–3.45 pfu for the chloritoid zone and 3.06–3.59 pfu for the rutile zone. This clearly indicates that the micas have experienced significant retrogressive chemical reactions during cooling and exhumations of the host schists.The detrital white mica in the chlorite zone has not reset well in its K-Ar system during the Alpine subduction-related metamorphism. The wide range of the white mica K-Ar ages from 115 to 41 Ma must be due to a mixture of various amounts of detrital white mica in the separates. This feature is also observed in the chloritoid zone though the age variation is not so large as that in the chlorite zone. In contrast, the mica in the rutile zone, which was higher than 450°C, has been reset completely during Alpine HP metamorphism.     

Chloritoid-bearing metapelites associated with glaucophane rocks in western Crete,Greece

Problems related to the formation of chloritoid in metapelites, associated with lawsonite-glaucophane bearing metabasalts, in the quartzitephyllite series of western Crete (Greece) are discussed. It is supposed that chloritoid was formed, during prograde metamorphism, according to a gliding-equilibrium reaction of the type (Fe,Mg)-carpholite₁+chlorite₁ (Fe,Mg)-carpholite_{1 2}+(Fe,Mg)-chloritoid_{1 2} +chlorite_1→2+quartz+H₂O ? (Fe,Mg)-chloritoid₂+chlorite₂+quartz+H₂O. This view is stipulated by the occurrence of ferrocarpholite-chloritoid schists in the southeastern part of central Crete. The assemblage chloritoid+ lawsonite recently recognized in western Crete provides evidence that the formation of chloritoid started well within the stability field of lawsonite.     

Garnet–chloritoid equilibria in eclogitic pelitic rocks from the Sesia zone (Western Alps): their bearing on phase relations in high pressure metapelites

Abstract A detailed study of garnet–chloritoid micaschists fom the Sesia zone (Western Alps) is used to constrain phase relations in high pressure (HP) metapelitic rocks. In addition to quartz, phengite, paragonite and rutile, the micaschists display two distinct parageneses, namely garnet + chloritoid + chlorite and garnet + chloritoid + kyanite. Talc has never been observed. Garnet and chloritoid are more magnesian when chlorite is present instead of kyanite. The distinction of the two equilibria results from different bulk rock chemistries, not from P–T conditions or redox state. Estimated P–T conditions for the eclogitic metamorphism are 550–600°C, 15–18 kbar.
The presence of primary chlorite in association with garnet and chloritoid leads us to construct two possible AFM topologies for the Sesia metapelites. The paper describes a KFMASH multisystem for HP pelitic rocks, which extends the grid of Harte & Hudson (1979) towards higher pressures and adds the phase talc. Observed parageneses in HP metapelites are consistent with predicted phase relations. Critical associations are Gt–Ctd–Chl and Gt–Ctd–Ky at relatively low temperatures and Gl–Chl–Ky and Gt–Tc–Ky at relatively high temperatures.     

HP–LT Variscan metamorphism in the Cubito-Moura schists (Ossa-Morena Zone, southern Iberia)

Multi-equilibrium thermobarometry shows that low-grade metapelites (Cubito-Moura schists) from the Ossa–Morena Zone underwent HP–LT metamorphism from 340–370 °C at 1.0–0.9 GPa to 400–450 °C at 0.8–0.7 GPa. These HP–LT equilibriums were reached by parageneses including white K mica, chlorite and chloritoid, which define the earliest schistosity (S₁) in these rocks. The main foliation in the schists is a crenulation cleavage (S₂), which developed during decompression from 0.8–0.7 to 0.4–0.3 GPa at increasing temperatures from 400–450 °C to 440–465 °C. Fe³⁺ in chlorite decreased greatly during prograde metamorphism from molar fractions of 0.4 determined in syn-S₁ chlorites down to 0.1 in syn-S₂ chlorites. These new data add to previous findings of eclogites in the Moura schists indicating that a pile of allochtonous rocks situated next to the Beja-Acebuches oceanic amphibolites underwent HP–LT metamorphism during the Variscan orogeny. To cite this article: G. Booth-Rea et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

The initial garnet‐in reaction involving siderite–rhodochrosite,garnet re‐equilibration and P–T–t paths of graphitic schists in the Black Hills orogen,South Dakota,USA

It is generally thought that garnet in metapelites is produced by continuous reactions involving chlorite or chloritoid. Recent publications have suggested that the equilibrium temperatures of garnet‐in reactions may be significantly overstepped in regionally metamorphosed terranes. The growth of small spessartine–almandine garnet crystals on Mn‐siderite at the garnet isograd in graphitic metapelites in the Proterozoic Black Hills orogen, South Dakota, demonstrates that Mn‐siderite was the principal reactant that produced the initial garnet in the schists. Moreover, the positions of garnet compositions in isobaric, T–(C/H) pseudosections for the schists show that the temperature of the garnet‐in reaction from Mn‐siderite was overstepped minimally at the most. In the Black Hills, garnet was initially produced during regional metamorphism beginning at c. 1755 Ma due to the collision of Wyoming and Superior cratons, and was subsequently partially or fully re‐equilibrated at more elevated temperatures and pressures during intrusion of the Harney Peak Granite (HPG) at c. 1715 Ma. Garnet occurs in graphitic schists in garnet, staurolite and sillimanite zones, the latter being a product of contact metamorphism by HPG. During metamorphism, coexisting fluid contained both CO₂ and CH₄. In the garnet zone, garnet crystals contain petrographically distinct cores with inclusions of quartz, graphite and other minerals. Centres of the cores have distinctly elevated Y concentrations that mark the positions of garnet nucleation. The elevated Y is thought to have come from the Mn‐siderite onto which Y was probably absorbed during precipitation in an ocean. In the upper garnet and staurolite zones, the cores were overgrown by inclusion‐poor mantles. Mantles are highly zoned and have more elevated Fe and Mg and lower Mn and Ca than cores. The growth of mantles is attributed to late‐orogenic heating by leucogranite magmas and attendant influx of H₂O that caused consumption of graphite in rock matrices. A portion of the Proterozoic terrane that includes the HPG is surrounded by four large faults. In this ‘HPG block’, garnet is inclusion‐poor and its composition does not preserve its early growth history. This garnet appears to have re‐equilibrated by internal diffusion of its major components and/or recrystallization of an earlier inclusion‐rich garnet. It has equilibrated within the kyanite stability range, and together with remnant kyanite in the high‐strain aureole of the HPG, indicates that the HPG block had a ≥6 kbar history. The HPG block has undergone decompression during emplacement of the HPG. The decompression is evident in occurrences of retrograde andalusite and cordierite in the thermal aureole of the HPG. The data support a polybaric metamorphic history of the Black Hills orogen with different segments of the orogen having their own clockwise P–T–t paths.     

Metamorphic evolution,partial melting and rapid exhumation above an ancient flat slab: insights from the San Emigdio Schist,southern California

The San Emigdio and related Pelona, Orocopia, Rand and Sierra de Salinas schists of southern California were underplated beneath the southern Sierra Nevada batholith and adjacent southern California batholith along a shallow segment of the subducting Farallon plate in Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary time. These subduction accretion assemblages represent a regional, deeply exhumed, shallowly dipping domain from an ancient slab segmentation system and record the complete life cycle of the segmentation process from initial flattening and compression to final extensional collapse. An important unresolved question regarding shallow subduction zones concerns how the thermal structure evolves during the slab flattening process. New field relationships, thermobarometry, thermodynamic modelling and garnet diffusion modelling are presented that speak to this issue and elucidate the tectonics of underplating and exhumation of the San Emigdio Schist. We document an upsection increase in peak temperature (i.e. inverted metamorphism), from 590 to 700 °C, peak pressures ranging from 8.5 to 11.1 kbar, limited partial melting, microstructural evidence for large seismic events, rapid cooling (825–380 °C Myr^?1) from peak conditions and an ‘out and back’P–T path. While inverted metamorphism is a characteristic feature of southern California schists, the presence of partial melt and high temperatures (>650 °C) are restricted to exposures with maximum depositional ages between 80 and 90 Ma. Progressive cooling and tectonic underplating beneath an initially hot upper plate following the onset of shallow subduction provide a working hypothesis explaining high temperatures and partial melting in San Emigdio and Sierra de Salinas schists, inverted metamorphism in the schist as a whole, and the observed P–T trajectory calculated from the San Emigdio body. Lower temperatures in Pelona, Orocopia and Rand schists are likewise explained in the context of this overarching model. These results are consistent with an inferred tectonic evolution from shallow subduction beneath the then recently active Late Cretaceous arc to exhumation by rapid trench‐directed channelized extrusion in the subducted schist.     

A petrogenetic grid for pelitic schists in the system SiO2-Al2O3-FeO-MgO-K2O-H2O

A quantitative petrogenetic grid for pelitic schists in the system KFMASH that includes the phases garnet, chlorite, biotite, chloritoid, cordierite, staurolite, talc, kyanite, andalusite, sillimanite, and pyrophyllite (with quartz, H₂O and muscovite or K-feldspar in excess) is presented. The grid is based on thermodynamic data of Berman et al. (1985) and Berman (1988) for endmember KFASH and KMASH equilibria and natural Fe-Mg partitioning for the KFMASH system. Calculation of P-T slopes and the change in Fe/(Fe+Mg) along reactions in the KFMASH system were made using the Gibbs method. In addition, the effect on the grid of MnO and CaO is evaluated quantitatively. The resulting grid is consistent with typical Buchan and Barrovian parageneses at medium to high grades. At low grades, the grid predicts an extensive stability field for the paragenesis chloritoid+biotite which arises because of the unusual facing of the reaction chloritoid+biotite + quartz+H₂O = garnet+chlorite+muscovite, which proceeds to the right with increasing T in the KFMASH system. However, the reaction proceeds to the left with increasing T in the MnKFASH system so the assemblage chloritoid + biotite is restricted to bulk compositions with high Fe/(Fe+Mg+Mn). Typical metapelites will therefore contain garnet+chlorite at low grades rather than chloritoid + biotite.     

Chemical and textural equilibration of garnet during amphibolite facies metamorphism: The influence of coupled dissolution–reprecipitation

Metamorphic equilibration requires chemical communication between minerals and may be inhibited through sluggish volume diffusion and or slow rates of dissolution in a fluid phase. Relatively slow diffusion and the perceived robust nature of chemical growth zoning may preclude garnet porphyroblasts from readily participating in low‐temperature amphibolite facies metamorphic reactions. Garnet is widely assumed to be a reactant in staurolite‐isograd reactions, and the evidence for this has been assessed in the Late Proterozoic Dalradian pelitic schists of the Scottish Highlands. The 3D imaging of garnet porphyroblasts in staurolite‐bearing schists reveals a good crystal shape and little evidence of marginal dissolution; however, there is also lack of evidence for the involvement of either chlorite or chloritoid in the reaction. Staurolite forms directly adjacent to the garnet, and its nucleation is strongly associated with deformation of the muscovite‐rich fabrics around the porphyroblasts. “Cloudy” fluid inclusion‐rich garnet forms in both marginal and internal parts of the garnet porphyroblast and is linked both to the production of staurolite and to the introduction of abundant quartz inclusions within the garnet. Such cloudy garnet typically has a Mg‐rich, Mn‐poor composition and is interpreted to have formed during a coupled dissolution–reprecipitation process, triggered by a local influx of fluid. All garnet in the muscovite‐bearing schists present in this area is potentially reactive, irrespective of the garnet composition, but very few of the schists contain staurolite. The staurolite‐producing reaction appears to be substantially overstepped during the relatively high‐pressure Barrovian regional metamorphism reflecting the limited permeability of the schists in peak metamorphic conditions. Fluid influx and hence reaction progress appear to be strongly controlled by subtle differences in deformation history. The remaining garnet fails to achieve chemical equilibrium during the reaction creating distinctive patchy compositional zoning. Such zoning in metamorphic garnet created during coupled dissolution–reprecipitation reactions may be difficult to recognize in higher grade pelites due to subsequent diffusive re‐equilibration. Fundamental assumptions about metamorphic processes are questioned by the lack of chemical equilibrium during this reaction and the restricted permeability of the regional metamorphic pelitic schists. In addition, the partial loss of prograde chemical and textural information from the garnet porphyroblasts cautions against their routine use as a reliable monitor of metamorphic history. However, the partial re‐equilibration of the porphyroblasts during coupled dissolution–reprecipitation opens possibilities of mapping reaction progress in garnet as a means of assessing fluid access during peak metamorphic conditions.     

Chloritoid–glaucophane schist in the north Qilian orogen, NW China: phase equilibria and P–T path from garnet zonation

Chloritoid–glaucophane‐bearing rocks are widespread in the high‐pressure belt of the north Qilian orogen, NW China. They are interbedded and cofacial with felsic schists originated from greywackes, mafic garnet blueschists and low‐T eclogites. Two representative chloritoid–glaucophane‐bearing assemblages are chloritoid + glaucophane + garnet + talc + quartz (sample Q5‐49) and chloritoid + glaucophane + garnet + phengite + epidote + quartz (sample Q5‐12). Garnet in sample Q5‐49 is coarse‐, medium‐ and fine‐grained and shows two types of zonation patterns. In pattern I, X_grs is constant as X_py rises, and in pattern II X_grs decreases as X_py rises. Phase equilibrium modelling in the NC(K)MnFMASH system with Thermocalc 3.25 indicates that pattern I can be formed during progressive metamorphism in lawsonite‐stable assemblages, while pattern II zonation can be formed with further heating after lawsonite has been consumed. Garnet growth in Q5‐49 is consistent with a continuous progressive metamorphic process from ～14.5 kbar at 470 °C to ～22.5 kbar at 560 °C. Garnet in sample Q5‐12 develops with pattern I zonation, which is consistent with a progressive metamorphic process from ～21 kbar at 540 °C to ～23.5 kbar at 580 °C with lawsonite present in the whole garnet growth. The latter sample shows the highest P–T conditions of the reported chloritoid–glaucophane‐bearing assemblages. Phase equilibrium calculation in the NCKFMASH system with a recent mixing model of amphibole indicates that chloritoid + glaucophane paragenesis does not have a low‐pressure limit of 18–19 kbar as previously suggested, but has a much larger pressure range from 7–8 to 27–30 kbar, with the low‐pressure part being within the stability field of albite.     

Tectonic setting, petrology and geochronology of jadeite + glaucophane and chloritoid + glaucophane schists from north-west Turkey

The north-west Turkish blueschists represent a subducted passive continental margin sequence dominated by metaclastic rocks and marble. The depositional age of the blueschist protoliths are probably Palaeozoic to Mesozoic, while the age of the high-pressure/low-temperature metamorphism is Late Cretaceous. Blueschists are tectonically overlain by a volcanosedimentary sequence made up of accreted oceanic crustal material that locally shows incipient blueschist metamorphism and by spinel peridotite slices. The metaclastic rocks with regional jadeite and glaucophane, which comprise the lower part of the blueschist unit, make up an over 1000-m-thick coherent sequence in the Kocasu region of north-west Turkey. Rare metabasic horizons in the upper parts of the metaclastic sequence with sodic amphibole + Iawsonite but no garnet indicate lawsonite blueschist facies metamorphism. The blueschist metaclastics in the Kocasu region are practically free of calcium and ferric iron and closely approximate the NFMASH system in bulk composition. Two low-variance mineral assemblages (with quartz and phengite) are jadeite + glaucophane + chlorite + paragonite and chloritoid + glaucophane + paragonite. The metaclastics comprise up to several-metres-thick layers of jadeite schist with quartz, phengite and nearly 100 mol% jadeite. Phase relations in the metaclastics show that the chloritoid + glaucophane assemblage, even in Fe²⁺-rich compositions, is stable in the jadeite stability field. In the NFASH system the above assemblage without the accompanying garnet has a narrow thermal stability field. Mineral equilibria in the metaclastics involving chloritoid, glaucophane, jadeite, paragonite and chlorite indicate metamorphic P-T conditions of 20 ± 2 kbar and 430 ± 30 d? C, yielding geothermal gradients close to 5d? C km^-1, one of the lowest geotherms recorded. Blueschists in the Kocasu region, which have been buried to 70 km depth, are tectonically overlain by the volcanosedimentary sequence and by peridotite buried not deeper than 30 km. Phengites from two jadeite schists were dated by Ar/Ar laser probe; they give an age of 88.5 ± 0.5 Ma, interpreted as the age of metamorphism. Blueschists and the overlying peridotite bodies are intruded by 48-53-Ma-old granodiorite bodies that were emplaced at 10 km depth. This suggests that the exhumation of blueschists by underplating of cold continental crust, and normal faulting at the blueschist-peridotite, interface occurred during the Late Cretaceous to Palaeocene (88-53 Ma).     

Zur Stabilität des Ferrocordierits

Ferrocordierite with Fe⁺²/Fe⁺²+Mg=0,92 was synthesized as a single phase at 600° C and 1000 bars total pressure using cristobalite and natural monoclinic chloritoid as starting materials. Oxygen fugacities during synthesis were those given by the buffering power of the hydrothermal bombs. Pure ferrocordierite without Mg synthesized from various artificial starting materials was never obtained as a single phase, but coexisted with variable amounts of metastable hercynite+quartz. The ferrocordierites made in this study are orthorhombic with distortion indices Δ up to 0,26° as a function of pressure, temperature, and duration of the runs. The lattice constantsa ₀ = 17,234 and b₀ = 9,824 are considerably larger, c₀ = 9,298 smaller than those of pure Mg-cordierite; mean indices of refraction vary within the range 1,569–1,573±0,002. In successful breakdown experiments natural Fe-rich cordierite intergrown with quartz from Mujinazawa, Japan, as well as the most Fe-rich natural cordierite so far discovered, from Dolni Bory, Moravia, were used. Ferrocordierite is stable only above relatively high temperatures (450°–600° C depending on pressure), which are within the limits of determination identical to the lower stability limits of Mg-cordierite. In contrast to the latter phase, however, ferrocordierite becomes unstable at a yet undefined pressure between 6000 and 10000 bars. The stable breakdown products at low temperatures are chloritoid+quartz or - possibly only at very low pressures - assemblages with 7 Å-chamosite, which have been synthesized (metastably ?) over a more extended PT-range. Runs seeded with chloritoid + cristobalite did not yield critical evidence as to the more stable ,assemblage. Except for occasional small amounts of pyrophyllite there is considerable uncertainty concerning the aluminous phase coexisting with chamosite; kaolinite with all critical peaks covered by chamosite orγ-Al₂0₃ amorphous to X-rays may be present. At high temperatures and at a pressure of 10000 bars ferrocordierite broke down to assemblages containing an orthoamphibole, probably ferrogedrite. It is uncertain, however, whether these assemblages represent stable equilibrium, or whether they are metastable substitutes for other parageneses, e.g. almandite silimanite + quartz. Given the requisite bulk compositions and geothermal gradients ferrocordierite remains stable under static conditions to crustal depths of at least 20 km. ThusChinner's mechanism of differential breakdown of Fe-bearing cordierites with increasing pressures may operate in deep zones of regional metamorphism within orogenic belts, but appears unlikely in shallow posttectonic contact metamorphism, unless this metamorphism is caused by hot basic magmas producing temperatures above the incongruent melting of ferrocordierite. In contrast to the relations found for Mg-cordierite the formation of feroocordierite is very sluggish, the more so the higher the temperature and pressure. Intermediate metastable assemblages of other phases appear in its place. It seems possible that these unfavorable reaction kinetics are - opposed to thermodynamic equilibrium - in part responsible for the rare occurrence of Fe-rich cordierites in nature. The overlap of the stability fields of ferrocordierite and chloritoid as demonstrated in this study allows the stable coexistence of these two phases within a limited temperature range.     

GEOLOGICAL STUDIES OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS IN THE VICINITY OF M.C.T./LESSER HIMALAYAN SHEAR ZONE, PARTS OF SIKKIM HIMALAYAS

GEOLOGICAL STUDIES OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS IN THE VICINITY OF M.C.T./LESSER HIMALAYAN SHEAR ZONE, PARTS OF SIKKIM HIMALAYAS     

CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONS OF NEOGENE FORMATIONS OF THE GREAT HUNGARIAN PLAIN BASED ON INTERPRETATION OF SEISMIC AND PALEOMAGNETIC DATA

K-Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronological studies were performed on selected minerals from the Mina III gold deposit, Crixás greenstone belt, state of Goiás, central Brazil. They include amphibole and biotite from amphibole schists; biotite from quartz-chlorite-carbonate-muscovite schists; chloritoid, muscovite, and paragonite from muscovite schists; and biotite from biotite-marbles. Analyses yielded ages between 750 and 500 Ma, indicating that the Brasiliano orogenic event affected rocks of the Archean greenstone belt. It is proposed that the gold mineralization, closely related to a post-metamorphic peak hydrothermal alteration and spatially associated with muscovite schists, is 505 ± 10 Ma, whereas older ages may indicate an excess of argon.     

Chemical and mineralogical development of the Sidamo nickeliferous serpentinites (Ethiopia)

The Sidamo serpentinites have developed by metamorphism of alpine-type peridotites and have been metamorphosed to talc schists, tremolite-chlorite schists and actinolite schists. Magnesite replacement, and opal and chalcedony veining result from weathering, though some magnesia and silica may have formed during metamorphism. Nickel concentration was negligible during metamorphism, but occurred to a significant extent during soil formation to form nickeliferous lateritic soils. Unfortunately most of the Sidamo serpentinites are undergoing high erosion (steep sided hills) and/or slow weathering (arid climate), so that soil formation and nickel concentration is poor.     

Chloritoid and barroisite-bearing pelitic schists from the eclogite unit in the Besshi district, Sanbagawa metamorphic belt

The Sanbagawa metamorphic rocks in the Besshi district, central Shikoku, are grouped into eclogite and noneclogite units. Chloritoid and barroisite-bearing pelitic schists occur as interlayers within basic schist in an eclogite unit of the Seba area in the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt, central Shikoku, Japan. Major matrix phases of the schists are garnet, chlorite, barroisite, paragonite, phengite, and quartz. Eclogite facies phases including chloritoid and talc are preserved only as inclusions in garnet. P–T conditions for the eclogite facies stage estimated using equilibria among chloritoid, barroisite, chlorite, interlayered chlorite–talc, paragonite, and garnet are 1.8 GPa/520–550 °C. Zonal structures of garnet and matrix amphibole show discontinuous growth of minerals between their core and mantle parts, implying the following metamorphic stages: prograde eclogite facies stage→hydration reaction stage→prograde epidote–amphibolite stage. This metamorphic history suggests that the Seba eclogite lithologies were (1) juxtaposed with subducting noneclogite lithologies during exhumation and then (2) progressively recrystallized under the epidote–amphibolite facies together with the surrounding noneclogite lithologies.

The pelitic schists in the Seba eclogite unit contain paragonite of two generations: prograde phase of the eclogite facies included in garnet and matrix phase produced by local reequilibration of sodic pyroxene-bearing eclogite facies assemblages during exhumation. Paragonite is absent in the common Sanbagawa basic and pelitic schists, and is, however, reported from restricted schists from several localities near the proposed eclogite unit in the Besshi district. These paragonite-bearing schists could be lower-pressure equivalents of the former eclogite facies rocks and are also members of the eclogite unit. This idea implies that the eclogite unit is more widely distributed in the Besshi district than previously thought.