Stability of sapphirine + quartz in the oxidized rocks of the Wilson Lake terrane,Labrador: calculated equilibria in NCKFMASHTO

The equilibrium coexistence of sapphirine + quartz is inferred to record temperatures in excess of 980 °C, based on the stability of this assemblage in the simplified chemical system FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂ (FMAS) system. However, the potential for sapphirine to contain significant Fe³⁺ suggests that the stability of sapphirine + quartz could extend to lower temperatures than those constrained in this ideal system. The Wilson Lake terrane in the Grenville Province of central Labrador preserves sapphirine + quartz‐bearing assemblages in highly oxidized bulk compositions, and provides an opportunity to explore the stability of sapphirine + quartz in such rock compositions within the Na₂O–CaO–K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O–TiO₂–O (NCKFMASHTO) chemical system. Starting with the phase equilibria in FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–TiO₂–O (FMASTO), expansion into K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O–TiO₂–O (KFMASHTO) allows the effect of the stability of the additional phases, biotite, K‐feldspar and melt, on the stability of sapphirine + quartz to be assessed. These phase relations are evaluated generally using P–T projections, and the ultimate extension into NCKFMASHTO is done with pseudosections. Conditions of peak metamorphism in the Wilson Lake terrane are constrained using P–T pseudosections, and the appropriate H₂O and O contents to use in the modelled compositions are investigated using T–M_H2O and T–M_O pseudosections. The peak P–T estimates from a sapphirine + quartz‐bearing sample are ～960 to 935 °C at ～10 to 8.6 kbar, similar to estimates from orthopyroxene + sillimanite + quartz ± garnet‐bearing samples. Whereas the sapphirine + quartz‐bearing sample is more Fe‐rich than the orthopyroxene + sillimanite‐bearing sample on an all‐Fe‐as‐FeO basis, once the oxidation state is taken into account, the former is effectively more magnesian than the latter, accounting for the sapphirine occurrence.     

Sapphirine parageneses from the Caraiba complex, Bahia, Brazil: the influence of Fe2+–Fe3+ distribution on the stability of sapphirine in natural assemblages

Abstract Sapphirine-bearing rocks occur in three conformable, metre-size lenses in intrusive quartzo-feldspathic orthogneisses in the Curaçà valley of the Archaean Caraiba complex of Brazil. In the lenses there are six different sapphirine-bearing rock types, which have the following phases (each containing phlogopite in addition): A: Sapphirine, orthopyroxene; B: Sapphirine, cordierite, orthopyroxene, spinel; C: Sapphirine, cordierite; D: Sapphirine, cordierite, orthopyroxene, quartz; E: Sapphirine, cordierite, orthopyroxene, sillimanite, quartz; F: Sapphirine, cordierite, K-feldspar, quartz. Neither sapphirine and quartz nor orthopyroxene and sillimanite have been found in contact, however. During mylonitization, introduction of silica into the three quartz-free rocks (which represent relict protolith material) gave rise to the three cordierite and quartz-bearing rocks. Stable parageneses in the more magnesian rocks were sapphirine–orthopyroxene and sapphirine–cordierite. In more iron-rich rocks, sapphirine–cordierite, sapphirine-cordierite–sillimanite, cordierite–sillimanite, sapphirine–cordierite–spinel–magnetite and quartz–cordierite–orthopyroxene were stable. The iron oxide content in sapphirine of the six rocks increases from an average of 2.0 to 10.5 wt % (total Fe as FeO) in the order: C,F–A,D–B,E. With increase in Fe there is an increase in recalculated Fe₂O₃ in sapphirine. The four rock types associated with the sapphirine-bearing lenses are: I: Orthopyroxene, cordierite, biotite, quartz, feldspar tonalitic to grandioritic gneiss; II: Biotite, quartz, feldspar gneiss; III: Orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, hornblende, plagioclase meta-norite; IV: Biotite, orthopyroxene, quartz, feldspar, garnet, cordierite, sillimanite granulite gneiss. The stable parageneses in type IV are orthopyroxene–cordierite–quartz, garnet–sillimanite–quartz and garnet–cordierite–sillimanite. Geothermobarometry suggests that the associated host rocks equilibrated at 720–750°C and 5.5–6.5 kbar. Petrogenetic grids for the FMASH and FMAFSH (FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–Fe₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O) model systems indicate that sapphirine-bearing assemblages without garnet were stabilized by a high Fe³⁺ content and a high X_Mg= (Mg/ (Mg+Fe²⁺)) under these P–T conditions.     

An example of ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism: orthopyroxene–sillimanite–garnet, sapphirine–quartz and spinel–quartz parageneses in Al–Mg granulites from In Hihaou, In Ouzzal, Hoggar

Quartz Al–Mg granulites exposed at In Hihaou, In Ouzzal (NW Hoggar), preserve an unusual high-grade mineral association stable at temperatures up to 1050°C, involving the parageneses orthopyroxene–sillimanite–garnet–quartz, sapphirine–quartz and spinel–quartz. The phase relationships within the FMAS system show that a continuum exists between the earlier prograde reaction textures and those of the later decompressive event. The following mineral reactions involving sillimanite are deduced: (1) Grt+Qtz→Opx+Sil, (2) Opx+Sil→Grt+Spr+Qtz, (3) Grt+Sil+Qtz→Crd, (4) Grt+Sil→Crd+Spr, (5) Grt+Sil+Spr→Crd+Spl, (6) Grt+Sil→Crd+Spl, (7) Grt+Crd+Sil→Spl+Qtz and (8) Grt+Sil→Spl+Qtz. Minerals in quartz Al–Mg granulites display compositional variations consistent with the observed reactions. The Mg/(Mg+Fe²⁺) range of the main minerals is as follows: cordierite (0.81–0.97), sapphirine (0.77–0.88), orthopyroxene (0.65–0.81), garnet (0.33–0.64) and spinel (0.23–0.56). The reaction textures and the evolution of the mineral assemblages in the quartz Al–Mg granulites indicate a clockwise P–T trajectory characterized by peak conditions of at least 10 kbar and 1050°C, followed by decompression from 10 to 6 kbar at a temperature of at least 900°C.     

Petrology of phlogopite-sapphirine-bearing Al-Mg granulites from Ihouhaouene, In Ouzzal, Hoggar, Algeria: an example of phlogopite stability at high temperature

Al-Mg granulites, with cordierite, garnet, sapphirine, orthopyroxene, sillimanite, spinel, phlogopite, K-feldspar, plagioclase and variable quartz from Ihouhaouene (In Ouzzal, Algeria), display a range of decompression textures involving the breakdown of orthopyroxene and sillimanite, and of garnet. The succession of parageneses suggests that the P–T–t evolution corresponds to decompression with cooling from peak conditions of about 950°C and 10 kbar. This decompression path is obtained from the paragenetic analysis in the FMAS system. However, according to current KFMASH grids, this P–T–t evolution should take place outside the stability field of phlogopite+quartz; yet this assemblage is probably stable during most of the P-T evolution, notably during peak metamorphism. This discrepancy is interpreted as the effect of the high content of F in phlogopite which should shift its stability limit towards higher temperature. The consequences of this shift on the phase relationships in the KFeMASH system are investigated and it is concluded that a topological inversion could exist in the F-bearing system.     

Gedrite–garnet–sillimanite-bearing granulites from Amessmessa area, south In Ouzzal, Hoggar, Algeria

Some granulites from the Amessmessa area (south In Ouzzal unit, Hoggar) contain the peak assemblage gedrite+garnet+sillimanite+quartz that was used to estimate the P–T conditions of metamorphism. The rocks developed symplectites and corona textures by the breakdown of the primary paragenesis to orthopyroxene, cordierite and spinel. The successive parageneses formed in separate microdomains according to a clockwise P–T path. Geothermometry, geobarometry and phase diagram calculations indicate that the textures formed by decompression and cooling from 7–9 kbar and 850–900°C to 3.5–4.5 kbar and 700–800°C. This P–T evolution is consistent with low to medium a_H2O, between 0.4 and 0.7, and is similar to the metamorphic conditions deduced in Al–Mg granulites from the north of In Ouzzal.     

A new thermodynamic model for sapphirine: calculated phase equilibria in K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3

The activity–composition (a–x) relations of sapphirine are re‐evaluated in the light of a recent new internally‐consistent data set of phase end‐members for use in phase equilibria modelling, particularly of ultra‐high‐temperature (UHT) rocks. This is achieved with the aid of relatively oxidized sapphirine+quartz‐bearing granulites from Wilson Lake, Canada. Calculated P–T projections and compatibility diagrams in the K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O–TiO₂–Fe₂O₃ (KFMASHTO) system are used to illustrate sapphirine+quartz‐bearing phase equilibria in the context of UHT metamorphism. These new a–x relations for sapphirine should allow pseudosection thermobarometry in NCKFMASHTO for estimating peak P–T conditions of sapphirine‐bearing rocks.     

Regional-scale Grenvillian-age UHT metamorphism in the Mollendo–Camana block (basement of the Peruvian Andes)

The Mollendo–Camana Block (MCB) is a 50 × 150 km Precambrian inlier of the Andean belt that outcrops along the Pacific coast of southern Peru. It consists of stromatic migmatites of Paleoproterozoic heritage intensely metamorphosed during the Grenville event (c. 1 Ga; U‐Pb and U‐Th‐Pb ages on zircon and monazite). In the migmatites, aluminous mesosomes (FMAS) and quartzofeldspathic leucosomes (KFMASH), contain various amounts of K‐feldspar (Kfs), orthopyroxene (X_Mg Opx = 0.86), plagioclase (Pl), sillimanite (Sil; exceptionally kyanite, Ky) ilmenite (Ilm), magnetite (Mag), quartz (Qtz), and minor amounts of garnet (X_Mg Grt = 0.60), sapphirine (X_Mg Spr = 0.87), cordierite (X_Mg Crd = 0.92) and biotite (X_Mg Bt = 0.83). The ubiquitous peak mineral assemblage is Opx‐Sil‐Kfs‐Qtz‐(± Grt) in most of the MCB, which, together with the high Al content of orthopyroxene (10% Al₂O₃) and the local coexistence of sapphirine‐quartz, attest to regional UHT metamorphism (> 900 °C) at pressures in excess of 1.0 GPa. Fluid‐absent melting of biotite is responsible for the massive production of orthopyroxene that proceeded until exhaustion of biotite (and most of the garnet) in the southern part of the MCB (Mollendo‐Cocachacra areas). In this area, a first stage of decompression from 1.1–1.2 to 0.8–0.9 GPa at temperatures in excess of 950 °C, is marked by the breakdown of Sil‐Opx to Spr‐Opx‐Crd assemblages according to several bivariant FMAS reactions. High‐T decompression is also shown by Mg‐rich garnet being replaced by Crd‐Spr‐ and Crd‐Opx‐bearing symplectites, and reacting with quartz to produce low‐Al‐Opx‐Sil symplectites in quartz‐rich migmatites. Neither osumilite nor spinel‐quartz assemblages being formed, isobaric cooling at about 0.9 GPa probably followed the initial decompression and proceeded with massive precipitation of melts towards the (Os) invariant point, as demonstrated by Bt‐Qtz‐(± pl) symplectites in quartz‐rich migmatites (melt + Opx + Sil = Bt + Grt + Kfs + Qtz). Finally, Opx rims around secondary biotite attest to late fluid‐absent melting, compatible with a second stage of decompression below 900 °C. The two stages of decompression are interpreted as due to rapid tectonic denudation whereas the regional extent of UHT metamorphism in the area, probably results from large‐scale penetration of hot asthenospheric mantle at the base of an over‐thickened crust.     

Silica-undersaturated sapphirine, spinel and kornerupine granulite facies rocks, NE Strangways Range, Central Australia

Small pods of silica-undersaturated Al-rich and Mg-rich granulite facies rocks containing sapphirine, pleonastic spinel, kornerupine, cordierite, orthopyroxene, corundum, sillimanite and gedrite are scattered throughout the NE Strangways Range, Central Australia. These are divided into four distinct rock types, namely orthopyroxene-rich aluminous granofels and metapelitic gneisses containing sapphirine, spinel or kornerupine. Two granulite facies metamorphic events are recognized, of which only the first (M1) is considered in this paper. Peak metamorphic mineral parageneses indicate that the M1 thermal maximum occurred at approximately 900–950 °C and 8–9 kbar. All samples are characterized by profuse and diverse coronitic and symplectic reaction textures. These are interpreted as evidence for the sequential crossing of the following reactions in the system FMAS: cordierite + spinel + corundum = sapphirine + sillimanite, cordierite + spinel = orthopyroxene + sapphirine + sillimanite, sapphirine + spinel + sillimanite = orthopyroxene + corundum, sapphirine + sillimanite = cordierite + orthopyroxene + corundum. Phase stability relationships in FMAS and MASH indicate an anticlockwise P–T path terminated by isobaric cooling. Such a path is exemplified by early low-P mineral parageneses containing spinel, corundum and gedrite and the occurrence of both prograde and retrograde corundum. Reaction textures preserve evidence for an increase in aH₂O and aB₂O₃ with progressive isobaric cooling. This hydrous retrogression resulted from crystallization of intimately associated M1 partial melt segregations. There is no evidence for voluminous magmatic accretion giving rise to the high M1 thermal gradient. The M1 P–T path may be the result of either lithospheric thinning after both crustal thickening and burial of the supracrustal terrane, or concomitant crustal thickening and mantle lithosphere thinning.     

Ultrahigh‐temperature metamorphism in the Tuguiwula area,Khondalite Belt,North China Craton

In this study, sapphirine‐bearing granulites and sapphirine‐absent garnet–sillimanite gneisses from the Tuguiwula area in the eastern segment of the Khondalite Belt, North China Craton (NCC) are interpreted to show a P–T evolution involving cooling at pressures of 8–9 kbar from >960°C to the solidus (~820°C) and late subsolidus decompression. This interpretation is based on the sequence of mineral appearance and thermodynamic modelling of phase equilibria. Sapphirine is observed to coexist with spinel within the peak assemblages. This observation conflicts with the traditional view that spinel generally appears prior to sapphirine and thus indicates pre‐T_max compression. For ultrahigh‐temperature (UHT) metapelites at Tuguiwula, a clockwise P–T path may be more likely, which would be consistent with the clockwise P–T evolution of the extensive “normal” granulites (T_max <900°C) and UHT granulites at other localities in the eastern segment of the Khondalite Belt. At Tuguiwula, for UHT metapelites with low bulk‐rock Mg/(Mg+Fe^T), the oxidation state/Fe³⁺ content is interpreted to be a significant factor in controlling the mineral assemblages. We find that these compositions tend to contain sapphirine under oxidized conditions but spinel (without sapphirine) under reduced conditions. This difference may account for the simultaneous presence of both sapphirine‐bearing UHT granulites and sapphirine‐absent garnet–sillimanite UHT gneisses at Tuguiwula. LA‐ICP‐MS U–Pb dating of metamorphic zircon in the UHT metapelites yields mean ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ages of c. 1.92 Ga (two samples), which are interpreted to record the timing of cooling of the UHT rocks to the solidus. The UHT metamorphism is interpreted to have been generated by mantle upwelling and emplacement of mafic magmas within a post‐orogenic setting.     

UHT metamorphism on Seram,eastern Indonesia: reaction microstructures and P–T evolution of spinel‐bearing garnet–sillimanite granulites from the Kobipoto Complex

The island of Seram, part of the northern limb of the Banda Arc in eastern Indonesia, exposes an extensive Mio‐Pliocene granulite facies migmatite complex (the Kobipoto Complex) comprising voluminous leucosome‐rich diatexites and scarcer Al–Fe‐rich residual granulites. The migmatites are intimately associated with ultramafic rocks of predominantly lherzolitic composition that were exhumed by substantial lithospheric extension beneath low‐angle detachment faults; heat supplied by the lherzolites was evidently a major driver for the granulite facies metamorphism and accompanying anatexis. Residual garnet–sillimanite granulites sampled from the Kobipoto Mountains, central Seram, contain scarce garnet‐hosted inclusions of hercynite spinel (~1.5 wt% ZnO) + quartz (± ilmenite) in direct grain‐boundary contact – an assemblage potentially indicative of metamorphism under ultrahigh‐temperature (UHT) conditions. thermocalc ‘Average P–T’ reactions and melanosome‐specific thermocalc , T–M_O, and P–T pseudosections in the Na₂O–CaO–K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O–TiO₂–Fe₂O₃ (NCKFMASHTO) chemical system, supported by Ti‐in‐garnet thermobarometry, are permissive of the rock having experienced a clockwise P–T path peaking at 925 °C and 9 kbar – thus narrowly reaching UHT conditions – before undergoing near‐isothermal decompression to ~750 °C and ~4 kbar. Spinel + quartz assemblages are interpreted to have formed at or just after the metamorphic peak from localized reactions between sillimanite, ilmenite and surrounding garnet. Further decompression of the rock resulted in the formation of complex reaction microstructures comprising cordierite ± plagioclase coronae around garnet, and symplectic intergrowths of cordierite + spinel + ilmenite around sillimanite. Small grains of sapphirine + corundum developed subsequently within spinel by localized quartz‐absent reactions. The post‐peak evolution of the granulites may be related to previously published U–Pb zircon and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of c. 16 Ma, further substantiating the claim for the Kobipoto Complex granulites having recorded Earth's youngest‐identified episode of UHT metamorphism, albeit at slightly lower temperature and higher pressure than previously inferred. The Kobipoto Complex granulites demonstrate how UHT conditions may be achieved in the ‘modern’ Earth by extreme lithospheric extension, which, in this instance, was driven by slab rollback of the Banda Arc.     

The metamorphic evolution of metapelitic granulites from Radok Lake, northern Prince Charles Mountains, east Antarctica; evidence for an anticlockwise P–T path

Mineral textures in metapelitic granulites from the northern Prince Charles Mountains, coupled with thermodynamic modelling in the K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O–TiO₂–Fe₂O₃ (KFMASHTO) model system, point to pressure increasing with increasing temperature on the prograde metamorphic path, followed by retrograde cooling (i.e. an anticlockwise P–T path). Textural evidence for the increasing temperature part of the path is given by the breakdown of garnet and biotite to form orthopyroxene and cordierite in sillimanite‐absent rocks, and through the break‐down of biotite and sillimanite to form spinel, cordierite and garnet in more aluminous assemblages. This is equated to the advective addition of heat from the regional emplacement of granitic and charnockitic magmas dated at c. 980 Ma. A subsequent increase in pressure, inferred from the break‐down of spinel and quartz to sillimanite, cordierite and garnet in aluminous rocks, is attributed to crustal thickening related to upright folding dated at 940–910 Ma. The terrane attained peak metamorphic temperatures of c. 880 °C at pressures of c. 6.0–6.5 kbar during this event. Subsequent cooling is inferred from the localised breakdown of cordierite and garnet to form biotite and sillimanite that developed in the latter stages of the same event. The textural observations described are interpreted via the application of P–T and P–T–X pseudosections. The latter show that most rock compositions preserve only fragments of the overall P–T path; a result of different rock compositions undergoing mineral assemblage changes, or changes in mineral modal abundance, on different sections of the P–T path. The results also suggest that partial melting during granulite facies metamorphism, coupled with melt loss and dehydration, initiated a switch from pervasive ductile, to discrete ductile/brittle deformation, during retrograde cooling.     

Oxygen Fugacity and Water Activity during Thermal Peak and Retrogression of Granulites around the Sarvapuram Area,Karimnagar Granulite Terrane,Andhra Pradesh,India

The investigated area around Sarvapuram represents a part of the Karimnagar granulite terrane of the Eastern Dharwar Craton, India. Garnet–bearing gneiss is hosted as enclaves, pods within granite gneiss and charnockite. It is largely made up of garnet, orthopyroxene, cordierite, biotite, plagioclase, K–feldspar, sillimanite and quartz. The peak metamorphic stage is represented by the equilibrium mineral assemblage i.e. garnet, orthopyroxene, cordierite, biotite, plagioclase, sillimanite and quartz. Breakdown of the garnet as well as preservation of the orthopyroxene–cordierite symplectite, formation of cordierite with the consumption of the garnet + sillimanite + quartz represents the decompressional event. The thermobarometric calculations suggest a retrograde P–T path with a substantial decompression of c. 3.0 kbar. The water activity(XH2 O) conditions obtained with the win TWQ program for core and symplectite compositions from garnet–bearing gneiss are 0.07–0.14 and 0.11–0.16 respectively. The quantitative estimation of oxygen fugacity in garnet–bearing gneiss reveal log f O2 values ranging from-11.38 to-14.05. This high oxidation state could be one of the reasons that account for the absence of graphite in these rocks.     

A multi-stage pressure—temperature record in the Chilka Lake granulites: the epitome of the metamorphic evolution of Eastern Ghats,India?

Abstract Metapelitic and charnockitic granulites exposed around Chilka Lake in the northern sector of the Eastern Ghats, India, preserve a multi-stage P—T record. A high-T decompression from above 10 kbar to 8 kbar around 1100°C has been determined from Mg-rich metapelites (X_Mg>0.60) with quartz-cordierite-orthopyroxene-sillimanite and cordierite—orthopyroxene—sapphirine—spinel assemblages. Between this and a second decompression to 6.0 kbar, isobaric cooling from 830 to 670°C at 8 kbar is evident. These changes are registered by the rim compositions of orthopyroxene and garnet in charnockites and metapelites with an orthopyroxene—quartz—garnet—plagioclase—cordierite assemblage, and are further supported by the garnet + quartz ± orthopyroxene + cordierite and biotite-producing reactions in sapphirine-bearing metapelites. Another indication of isobaric cooling from 800 to 650°C at 6.0 kbar is evident from rim compositions of orthopyroxene and garnet in patchy charnockites. Two sets of P—T values are obtained from metapelites with a quartz—plagioclase—garnet—sillimanite—cordierite assemblage: garnet and plagioclase cores yield 6.2 kbar, 700°C and the rims 5 kbar, 650°C, suggesting a third decompression. The earliest deformation (F1) structures are preserved in the larger charnockite bodies and the metapelites which retain the high P—T record. The effects of post-crystalline F2 deformation are observed in garnet megacrysts formed during or prior to F1 in some metapelites. Fold styles indicate a compressional regime during F1 and an extensional regime during F2. These lines of evidence and two phases of cooling at different pressures point to a discontinuity after the first cooling, and imply reworking. Two segments of the present P—T path replicate parts of the P—T paths suggested for four other granulite terranes in the Eastern Ghats, and the sense of all the paths is the same. This, plus the signature of three phases of deformation identified in the Eastern Ghats, suggests that the Chilka Lake granulites could epitomize the metamorphic evolution of the Eastern Ghats.     

First Report of Sapphirine+Quartz Assemblage from Southern India: Implications for Ultrahigh-temperature Metamorphism

We report here for the first time, the occurrence of sapphirine+quartz assemblage in textural equilibrium from quartzo-feldspathic and pelitic granulites from southern India. The sapphirine-bearing rocks occur as layered gneisses associated with pink granite within massive charnockite in Rajapalaiyam area in the southern part of Madurai Block. Sapphirine occurs in three associations: (i) fine-grained subhedral mineral associated with quartz enclosed in garnet, (ii) intergrowth with Al-rich orthopyroxene (up to 9.7 wt.% Al₂O₃), and (iii) in symplectitic intergrowth with orthopyroxene (Al₂O₃= 5.9–6.7 wt.%) and cordierite surrounding garnet. The sapphirine in association with quartz is slightly magnesian (X_Mg = 0.79–0.80) and low in Si content (1.55–1.56 pfu) as compared with those associated with orthopyroxene and cordierite (X_Mg= 0.77–0.79, Si = 1.59–1.63 pfu). The sapphirine+quartz assemblage suggests that the granulites underwent T>1050 °C peak metamorphism. Cores of porphyroblastic orthopyroxene in the sapphirine-bearing rocks shows high-Al₂O₃ content of up to 9.7 wt.%, suggesting T = 1040–1060°C and P = 8 kbar. FMAS reaction of sapphirine+quartz→garnet+sillimanite+cordierite indicates a cooling from sapphirine+quartz stability field after the peak ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism. Slightly lower temperature estimates from ternary feldspar and sapphirine-spinel geothermometers (T = 950–1000°C) also support a post-peak isobaric cooling. Corona textures of orthopyroxene+cordierite (±sapphirine), orthopyroxene+sapphirine, and cordierite+spinel around garnet suggest subsequent decompression. The sapphirine-quartz association and related textures reported in this study have important bearing on the ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism and exhumation history of the Madurai Block as well as on the tectonic evolution of the continental deep crust in southern India.     

Sapphirine bearing granulites from the Sipiwesk Lake area of the late Archean Pikwitonei granulite terrain,Manitoba, Canada

Sapphirine occurs in the orthopyroxene-cordierite and feldspar-sillimanite granulites in the Sipiwesk Lake area of the Pikwitonei granulite terrain, Manitoba (97°40W, 55°05N). The orthopyroxene-cordierite granulites have extremely high Al₂O₃ (24.5 wt%) and MgO (24.6 wt%) contents and contain sapphirine (up to 69.2 wt% Al₂O₃), aluminous orthopyroxene (up to 8.93 wt% Al₂O₃), cordierite, spinel, phlogopite, and corundum. Sapphirine forms coronas mantling spinel and corundum. Corona sapphirine is zoned and its composition varies through the substitution (Mg, Fe, Mn) Si=2 Al as a function of the phases with which it is in contact. Textural and chemical relationships of sapphirine with coexisting phases indicate that spinel + cordierite reacted to form orthopyroxene + sapphirine under conditions of increasing pressure. Moreover, decreasing core to rim variation of Al₂O₃ in orthopyroxene porphyroblasts suggests decreasing temperature during sapphirine formation. On the basis of experimentally determined P-T stability of the assemblage enstatite + sapphirine + cordierite, and the Al content of hypothetical Fe²⁺-free orthopyroxene associated with sapphirine and cordierite, metamorphic temperatures and pressures are estimated to be 860–890° C and 3.0–11.2 kbar.In the feldspar-sillimanite granulites, sapphirine occurs as a relict phase mantled by sillimanite and/or by successive coronas of sillimanite and garnet. These textural relations suggest the reaction sapphirine + garnet + quartz = orthopyroxene + sillimanite with decreasing temperature. Compositions of minerals in the assemblage garnet-orthopyroxene-sillimanite-plagioclase-quartz, indicate metamorphic P-T conditions of 780–880° C and 9±1 kb.The metamorphic conditions estimated in this study suggest that the sapphirine bearing granulites in the Sipiwesk Lake area represent Archean lower crustal rocks. Their formation might be related to the crustal thickening processes in this area as suggested by Hubregtse (1980) and Weber (1983).     

Epitaxial quartz inclusions in corundum from a sapphirine–garnet boudin,Bamble Sector,SE Norway: SiO2–Al2O3 miscibility at high P–T dry granulite facies conditions

An Al‐rich, SiO₂‐deficient sapphirine–garnet‐bearing rock occurs as a metapelitic boudin within granulite facies Proterozoic charnockitic gneisses and migmatites on the island of Hisøy, Bamble Sector, SE Norway. The boudin is made up of peraluminous sapphirine, garnet, corundum, spinel, orthopyroxene, sillimanite, cordierite, staurolite and biotite in a variety of assemblages. Thermobarometric calculations based on coexisting sapphirine–spinel, garnet–corundum–spinel–sillimanite, sapphirine–orthopyroxene, and garnet–orthopyroxene indicate peak‐metamorphic conditions near to 930 °C at 10 kbar. Corundum occurs as single 200 to 3000 micron sized skeletal crystal intergrowths in cores of optically continuous pristine garnet porphyroblasts. Quartz occurs as 5–60 micron‐sized euhedral to lobate inclusions in the corundum where it is in direct contact with the corundum with no evidence of a reaction texture. Some crystal inclusions exhibit growth zoning, which indicates that textural equilibrium was achieved. Electron Back‐Scatter Diffraction (EBSD) studies reveal that the quartz inclusions share a common c‐axis with the host corundum crystal. The origin of the quartz inclusions in corundum is enigmatic as recent experimental studies have confirmed the instability of quartz–corundum over geologically realistic P–T ranges. The combined EBSD and textural observations suggest the presence of a former silica‐bearing proto‐corundum, which underwent exsolution during post‐peak‐metamorphic uplift and cooling. Exsolution of quartz in corundum is probably confined to fluid‐absent conditions where phase transitions by coupled dissolution–precipitation mechanisms are prevented.     

Calculated phase equilibria in K2O-FeO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O for sapphirine-quartz-bearing mineral assemblages

Sapphirine, coexisting with quartz, is an indicator mineral for ultrahigh‐temperature metamorphism in aluminous rock compositions. Here a new activity‐composition model for sapphirine is combined with the internally consistent thermodynamic dataset used by THERMOCALC, for calculations primarily in K₂O‐FeO‐MgO‐Al₂O₃‐SiO₂‐H₂O (KFMASH). A discrepancy between published experimentally derived FMAS grids and our calculations is understood with reference to H₂O. Published FMAS grids effectively represent constant a_H2O sections, thereby limiting their detailed use for the interpretation of mineral reaction textures in compositions with differing H₂O. For the calculated KFMASH univariant reaction grid, sapphirine + quartz assemblages occur at P–T in excess of 6–7 kbar and 1005 °C. Sapphirine compositions and composition ranges are consistent with natural examples. However, as many univariant equilibria are typically not ‘seen’ by a specific bulk composition, the univariant reaction grid may reveal little about the detailed topology of multi‐variant equilibria, and therefore is of limited use for interpreting the P–T evolution of mineral assemblages and reaction sequences. Calculated pseudosections, which quantify bulk composition and multi‐variant equilibria, predict experimentally determined KFMASH mineral assemblages with consistent topology, and also indicate that sapphirine stabilizes at increasingly higher pressure and temperature as X_Mg increases. Although coexisting sapphirine and quartz can occur in relatively iron‐rich rocks if the bulk chemistry is sufficiently aluminous, the P–T window of stability shrinks with decreasing X_Mg. An array of mineral assemblages and mineral reaction sequences from natural sapphirine + quartz and other rocks from Enderby Land, Antarctica, are reproducible with calculated pseudosections. That consistent phase diagram calculations involving sapphirine can be performed allows for a more thorough assessment of the metamorphic evolution of high‐temperature granulite facies terranes than was previously possible. The establishment of a a‐x model for sapphirine provides the basis for expansion to larger, more geologically realistic chemical systems (e.g. involving Fe³⁺).     

Refining the P–T records of UHT crustal metamorphism

Ultra‐high‐temperature (UHT) metamorphism occurs when the continental crust is subjected to temperatures of greater than 900 °C at depths of 20–40 km. UHT metamorphism provides evidence that major tectonic processes may operate under thermal conditions more extreme than those generally produced in numerical models of orogenesis. Evidence for UHT metamorphism is recorded in mineral assemblages formed in magnesian pelites, supported by high‐temperature indicators including mesoperthitic feldspar, aluminous orthopyroxene and high Zr contents in rutile. Recent theoretical, experimental and thermodynamic data set constraints on metamorphic phase equilibria in FMAS, KFMASH and more complex chemical systems have greatly improved quantification of the P–T conditions and paths of UHT metamorphic belts. However, despite these advances key issues that remain to be addressed include improving experimental constraints on the thermodynamic properties of sapphirine, quantifying the effects of oxidation state on sapphirine, orthopyroxene and spinel stabilities and quantifying the effects of H₂O–CO₂ in cordierite on phase equilibria and reaction texture analysis. These areas of uncertainty mean that UHT mineral assemblages must still be examined using theoretical and semi‐quantitative approaches, such as P(–T)–μ sections, and conventional thermobarometry in concert with calculated phase equilibrium methods. In the cases of UHT terranes that preserve microtextural and mineral assemblage evidence for steep or ‘near‐isothermal’ decompression P–T paths, the presence of H₂O and CO₂ in cordierite is critical to estimates of the P–T path slopes, the pressures at which reaction textures have formed and the impact of fluid infiltration. Many UHT terranes have evolved from peak P–T conditions of 8–11 kbar and 900–1030 °C to lower pressure conditions of 8 to 6 kbar whilst still at temperature in the range of 950 to 800 °C. These decompressional P–T paths, with characteristic dP/dT gradients of ～25 ± 10 bar °C^?1, are similar in broad shape to those generated in deep‐crustal channel flow models for the later stages of orogenic collapse, but lie at significantly higher temperatures for any specified pressure. This thermal gap presents a key challenge in the tectonic modelling of UHT metamorphism, with implications for the evolution of the crust, sub‐crustal lithosphere and asthenospheric mantle during the development of hot orogens.     

Orthopyroxene-Corundum in Mg-Al-rich Granulites from the Oygarden Islands, East Antarctica

High-Mg–Al, silica-undersaturated metapelites from theOygarden Group of islands, East Antarctica, preserve clear evidencefor the stable coexistence of the assemblage orthopyroxene +corundum in natural rocks. The quartz-absent metapelite occursas pods and isolated layers within a high-strain zone relatedto deformation during the c. 0·93 Ga Rayner StructuralEpisode. Assemblages that include orthopyroxene, corundum, sapphirine,sillimanite, cordierite, garnet and kornerupine are developedacross a pre-existing compositional zoning, leading to contrastingmineral Fe–Mg ratios. The assemblage orthopyroxene–corundumis shown to exist in only a very restricted range of bulk compositionsand P–T histories. Simplified qualitative FMAS grids havebeen constructed for kornerupine-absent and -present systems,illustrating MAS terminations and divariant equilibria thathelp to describe the mineral assemblage and reaction history.Reaction textures that include coronas of sapphirine and sillimaniteseparating orthopyroxene and corundum, and symplectites of orthopyroxene+ sapphirine ± cordierite/plagioclase, orthopyroxene+ sillimanite ± cordierite/plagioclase and orthopyroxene+ sapphirine + sillimanite embaying garnet, imply a clockwiseP–T–t evolution. Conditions of P > 9–10kbar and T     

Orthopyroxene–sillimanite–quartz assemblages: distribution, petrology, quantitative P–T–X constraints and P–T paths

Granulite facies magnesian metapelites commonly preserve a wide array of mineral assemblages and reaction textures that are useful for deciphering the metamorphic evolution of a terrane. Quantitative pressure, temperature and bulk composition constraints on the development and preservation of characteristic peak granulite facies mineral assemblages such as orthopyroxene + sillimanite + quartz are assessed with reference to calculated phase diagrams. In NCKFMASH and its chemical subsystems, peak assemblages form mainly in high‐variance fields, and most mineral assemblage changes reflect multivariant equilibria. The rarity of orthopyroxene–sillimanite–quartz‐bearing assemblages in granulite facies rocks reflects the need for bulk rock X_Mg of greater than approximately 0.60–0.65, with pressures and temperatures exceeding c. 8 kbar and 850 °C, respectively. Cordierite coronas mantling peak minerals such as orthopyroxene, sillimanite and quartz have historically been used to infer isothermal decompression P–T paths in ultrahigh‐temperature granulite facies terranes. However, a potentially wide range of P–T paths from a given peak metamorphic condition facilitate retrograde cordierite growth after orthopyroxene + sillimanite + quartz, indicating that an individual mineral reaction texture is unable to uniquely define a P–T vector. Therefore, the interpretation of P–T paths in high‐grade rocks as isothermal decompression or isobaric cooling may be overly simplistic. Integration of quantitative data from different mineral reaction textures in rocks with varying bulk composition will provide the strongest constraints on a P–T path, and in turn on tectonic models derived from these paths.