Evidence for pre-regional metamorphic fluid infiltration of the Lower Calcsilicate Unit, Reynolds Range Group (central Australia)

Grandite garnet-rich calcsilicate rocks from the Lower Calcsilicate Unit of the regionally metamorphosed Reynolds Range Group (central Australia) crop out along a strike-parallel section in which a transition zone from M2₂ amphibolite to granulite facies rocks is exposed. Across this transition the grandite-rich layers do not show systematic changes in mineral assemblages, compositions and modes, or stable isotope compositions. These layers are deformed by F2₂ folds that are associated with the peak of regional low-pressure/high-temperature metamorphism. Therefore, the grandite-rich layers appear to pre-date regional metamorphism and to have acted as closed chemical systems during prograde M2₂ metamorphism. Mineral assemblages in the grandite-rich layers are consistent with their formation through the infiltration of oxidized, water-rich fluids (X_co2 < 0.1–0.3; log f_o2 -16 to -14). The stable isotope values of calcite (Δ¹³C=-4.2 to -0.8%₀ PDB; Δ¹⁸O = 10.5–14.0%⁰ V-SMOW) and bulk-silicate fractions (Δ¹⁸O = 6.1 to 10.8%) of the grandite-rich layers are most consistent with the infiltrating fluid being from a magmatic source. It is most likely that fluid infiltration occurred during the pre-M2₂ contact metamorphism (M2₁) that affected much of the Reynolds Range Group. The preservation of these assemblages is probably due to their high variance and little pervasive fluid-rock interaction having occurred during M2₂. The clinopyroxene- and feldspar-rich calcsilicate rocks that host the grandite-rich layers contain poikiloblastic grandite garnet that formed during prograde M2₂ metamorphism. Thin marbles that locally occur with the grandite-rich layers contain a third garnet generation that is post- or late M2₂. This grossular-rich garnet occurs in coronas around calcite, plagioclase, clinopyroxene, wollastonite and scapolite. These coronas are consistent with cooling and/or compression. However, because the marble assemblages are themselves overprinted by M2₁ grandite-rich layers the development of coronal garnet does not reflect a continuous P-T-t path. Rather, it more probably reflects the partial re-equilibration of M2₁ contact metamorphic assemblages to post-M2₂ conditions.     

Stable isotopic evidence for fluid infiltration during contact metamorphism in a multiply-metamorphosed terrane: the Reynolds Range, Arunta Block, central Australia

The Lander Rock Beds form the local basement of the Reynolds Range in the Arunta Inlier of central Australia. These dominantly quartzose and pelitic lithologies underwent low-grade ( c.   400  °C) regional metamorphism prior to contact metamorphism ( c.   2.5  kbar) around S-type megacrystic granitoids at 1820–1800  Ma. The Lander Rock Beds are overlain by metasediments of the Reynolds Range Group, which were subsequently intruded by granitoids at c. 1780  Ma. Regional metamorphism at 1590–1580  Ma produced grades varying from greenschist (400  °C at 4–5  kbar) to granulite (750–800  °C at 4–5  kbar) from north-west to south-east along the length of the Reynolds Range. Oxygen isotope ratios of the Lander Rock Beds were reset from 13.4±0.8 to as low as 6.7 adjacent to the contacts of the larger plutons, and to 10.3±1.1 around the smaller plutons. Biotite in all the major rock types found in the aureoles has δD values between −52 and −69, probably reflecting resetting by a cooling igneous+metamorphic fluid near the plutons. Sapphirine-bearing and other Mg- and Al-rich rock types have low δ¹⁸O values (4.0±0.7). The precursors to these rocks were probably low-temperature ( c. 200  °C) diagenetic–hydrothermal deposits of Mg-rich chlorite, analogous to those in Proterozoic stratiform precious metal and uranium deposits that form by the infiltration of basin brines or seawater. As in the overlying Reynolds Range Group, regional metamorphism involved little fluid–rock interaction and isotopic resetting.     

The flow of surface-derived fluids through Alice Springs age middle-crustal ductile shear zones, Reynolds Range, central Australia

The south-east Reynolds Range, central Australia, is cut by steep north-west-trending Alice Springs age ( c. 334  Ma) shear zones that are up to hundreds of metres wide and several kilometres long with reverse senses of movement. Amphibolite facies (550–600  °C, 500–600  MPa) shear zones cut metapelites, while greenschist facies shear zones (420–535  °C, 400–650  MPa) cut metagranites. The sheared rocks commonly underwent metasomatism implying that the shear zones were the pathways of significant fluid flow. Altered granites within greenschist facies shear zones have gained Si and K but lost Ca and Na relative to their unsheared counterparts, suggesting that the fluid flowed down-temperature (and hence probably upward) through the shear zones. Time-integrated fluid fluxes calculated from silica addition are up to 2.1×10¹⁰ mol  m⁻² ( c. 4.2×10⁵  m³  m⁻²). Similar time-integrated fluid fluxes are also estimated from changes in K and Na. The sheared granitic rocks locally have δ¹⁸O values as low as 0 which is much lower than the δ¹⁸O values of the adjacent unsheared granites (7 to 9), implying that the fluid which flowed through these shear zones was derived from the surface. For the estimated time-integrated fluid fluxes, the fluids would be able to retain their isotopic signature for many tens to hundreds of kilometres. The flow of surface-derived fluids into the ductile middle crust, with subsequent expulsion upwards through the shear zones, may have been driven by seismic activity accompanying the Alice Springs deformation.     

Millimetre-scale variation in metamorphic permeability of marbles during transient fluid flow: an example from the Reynolds Range, central Australia

Fluid inclusions from a biotite-garnet schist in the Southern Aravalli Mountain Belt (India) give information on both peak metamorphic conditions and post-peak metamorphic processes during uplift. A combination of careful petrography, microthermometry and Raman spectroscopy reveals the presence of at least five generations of enclosed fluids. Lower amphibolite-facies pressure-temperature conditions of the growth of garnet rims are reproduced by the highest fluid density of the relatively oldest inclusion type of CO₂ (±N₂)-rich compositions. A calculated fluid composition in the COH system, in equilibrium with the graphite buffer corresponds to a CO₂-rich fluid at metamorphic conditions. However, the results of these calculations are very sensitive to small fluctuations in oxygen fugacity and the accuracy of thermodynamic properties of mineral equilibria. Re-equilibration, conceived by specific size-density distribution and the absence of an aqueous phase in inclusions that contain nahcolite crystals, is monitored in these inclusions as post-peak metamorphic processes, like partial decrepitation and preferential leakage. The other fluid types represent heterogeneous fluid trapping of coexisting aqueous NaCl-bearing solutions with CO₂-CH₄-rich vapour bubbles in healed cracks, and probably the introduction of external fluids containing high salinity aqueous CaCl₂-rich solutions in nearly pure N₂ vapour bubbles, at lower P-T conditions. This study illustrates that fluid inclusions remain a valuable database of peak metamorphic conditions, moreover, alterations of the entrapped fluids and surrounding crystals are illustrative for specific exhumation evolutions. Received: 24 March 1999 / Accepted: 13 January 2000     

An extended episode of early Mesoproterozoic metamorphic fluid flow in the Reynolds Range,central Australia*

ABSTRACT The products of metamorphic fluid flow are preserved in zones within the marbles and metamorphosed semipelites of the Upper Calcsilicate Unit in the granulite portion of the Late Palaeoproterozoic Reynolds Range Group, northern Arunta Block, central Australia. The zones of retrogression, characterized by minerals such as wollastonite, grossular and clinohumite, local resetting of oxygen isotopic compositions and local major element metasomatism, were channelways for water-rich fluids derived from granulite facies metapelites. U–Th–Pb isotopic ages measured by the SHRIMP ion microprobe on zircon and monazite from a granulite facies semipelite, an early semiconcordant aluminous quartz-rich fluid-flow segregation and a late discordant quartz-rich segregation record some of the extended thermal history of the area. Zircon cores from the semipelite show its likely protolith to be an igneous rock 1812 ± 11 Ma old, itself derived from a source containing zircon as old as 2.2 Ga. Low-Th/U overgrowths on the zircon grew during granulite facies metamorphism at 1594 ± 6 Ma. Monazite cooled to its blocking temperature at 1576 ± 8 Ma. Zircon cores from the semiconcordant segregation are dominantly >2.3 Ga old, indicating that the source of the fluids was not the particular metamorphosed semipelite studied. Two generations of low-Th/U overgrowths on the zircon give indistinguishable ages for the older and younger of 1589 ± 8 and 1582 ± 8 Ma, respectively. The monazite age is the same, 1576 ± 12 Ma. Zircon from the late discordant segregation gave 1568 ± 4 Ma. Fluid flow occurred for at least 18 ± 3 (σ) Ma and ended 26 ± 3 (σ) Ma after the peak of metamorphism, suggesting a very slow cooling rate of ～3°C Ma^–1. The last regional high-grade metamorphism in the Reynolds Range occurred at ～1.6 Ga, not ～1.78 Ga as previously thought. The high-grade event at ～1.78 Ga is a separate event that affected only the basement to the Reynolds Range Group.     

Two-dimensional patterns of metamorphic fluid flow and isotopic resetting in layered and fractured rocks'pa

One-dimensional advection-dispersion models predict that characteristic δ¹⁸O vs. distance and δ¹⁸O vs. δ¹³C profiles should be produced during isothermal metamorphic fluid flow under equilibrium conditions. However, the patterns of isotopic resetting in rocks that have experienced fluid flow are often different from the predictions. Two-dimensional advection-dispersion simulations in systems with simple geometries suggest that such differences may be as a result of fluid channelling and need not indicate disequilibrium, high dispersivities, or polythermal flow. The patterns of isotopic resetting are a function of: (1) the permeability contrast between more permeable layers ('channels') and less permeable layers ('matrix'); (2) the width and spacing of the channels; (3) the width and spacing of discrete fractures; and (4) the orientation of the pressure gradient with respect to layering. In fractured systems, the efficiency of isotopic transport depends on the fracture aperture and the permeability of the surrounding rock. Resetting initially occurs along and immediately adjacent to the fractures, but with time isotopic resetting because of flow through the rock as a whole increases in importance. Application of the one-dimensional advection-dispersion equations to metamorphic fluid flow systems may yield incorrect estimates of fluid fluxes, intrinsic permeabilities, dispersivities, and permeability contrasts unless fluid flow occurred through zones of high permeability that were separated by relatively impermeable layers.     

SHRIMP II dating of zircons and monazites: reassessing the timing of high-grade metamorphism and fluid flow in the Reynolds Range, northern Arunta Block, Australia

ABSTRACT Key insights into the timing of tectonometamorphic events in a complex high-grade metamorphic terrane can be obtained by combining results from SHRIMP II ion microprobe studies of individual monazite grains with SHRIMP II studies and scanning electron microscope (SEM)-based cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging of zircons. Results from the Reynolds Range region, Arunta Block, Northern Territory, Australia, show that the final episode of regional metamorphism to high-T and low-P granulite facies conditions is most likely to have occurred at c. 1580 Ma, not at 1785–1775 Ma, as previously accepted. The previous interpretation was based on zircon studies of structurally controlled granitoids, without SEM-based CL imaging. Monazites in a 1806± 6 Ma megacrystic granitoid preserve rare cores that are interpreted to be inherited magmatic monazite, but record no evidence of another high-T event prior to 1580 Ma. Most monazites from the region record only a single high-T metamorphic event at c. 1580 Ma. Zircon inheritance is very common. Zircons or narrow overgrowths of zircon dated at c. 1580 Ma have only been found in two types of rocks: rocks produced by metasomatic fluid flow at high temperatures (≤750°C), and rocks that have undergone local partial melting. Previous explanations that attributed these 1580 Ma zircon ages to widespread hydrothermal fluid fluxing associated with post-tectonic pegmatite emplacement at amphibolite facies conditions are not supported by the available evidence including oxygen isotope data. The observed high regional metamorphic temperatures require the involvement of advective heating. However, contrary to a previous tectonic model for the formation of this and other low-P, high-T metamorphic belts, the granites that are exposed at the present structural level do not appear to be the source of that heat, unless some of the granites were emplaced at c. 1580 Ma.     

Fluid migration and vein formation during deformation and greenschist facies metamorphism at Ormiston Gorge, central Australia

During the Alice Springs Orogeny, deformation at Ormiston Gorge, central Australia, occurred under lower- to middle-greenschist facies conditions. Dolomites of the Bitter Springs Formation and quartzites. metagreywackes, and metapelites of the Heavitree Quartzite contain abundant early-, syn-, and post-tectonic veins. However, though vein densities locally approach 15%, the distribution of veins and the oxygen isotope geochemistry of wallrocks and veins suggest that fluid movement was on a local scale. The Heavitree Quartzite contains quartz veins that, even along the main thrust plane, have similar δ¹⁸O values (13.5–16.9%o) to those of their wallrocks (13.6–16.9%o), with Δ¹⁸O(vein-wallrock) values of -0.6 to 0.4%o. In contrast, the Bitter Springs Formation contains predominantly dolomite veins that have δ¹⁸O values of 23.4 to 27.7%o. These differences are observed even at the boundary between the Heavitree and Bitter Springs rocks, implying that significant fluid exchange between these rocks has not occurred, or that fluid flow was channelled through areas outside those sampled for this study. By contrast with the Heavitree Quartzite, δ¹⁸O values of wallrocks in individual samples of the Bitter Springs Formation are significantly higher (23.3–29.1%o) than those of the veins, with δ¹⁸O(vein-wallrock) values up to -4%o (average of -2.1%o). These systematic differences in δ¹⁸O values most likely result from oxygen isotope fractionation caused by fluid immiscibility or disequilibrium dissolution. Smaller differences in δ¹³C values between some dolomite veins and wallrocks [δ¹³C(vein-wallrock) up to -1.9%o, average of -0.5%o] are also explained by these processes. This study indicates that large volumes of veins may be produced by repeated fracturing and fluid migration within particular rock units, without involving large volumes of externally derived fluids.     

The effect of heterogeneous stress and strain on metamorphic fluid flow,Mary Kathleen,Australia, and a model for large-scale fluid circulation *

In the Proterozoic Mary Kathleen Fold Belt, northern Australia, infiltration of large volumes of externally derived fluid occurred synchronously with regional amphibolite-facies metamorphism and deformation. This paper develops a model of structurally controlled fluid migration by comparing the distribution of fossil fluid pathways with the inferred stress and strain patterns during the deformation. Intense fluid flow was localized within strong, relatively brittle meta-intrusive bodies, and in discrete, veined, brecciated and altered zones around their margins. In metasediments folded in a ductile manner outside these areas, fluid infiltration was negligible. The direct correlation between structural styles and the magnitude of veining and metasomatism suggests control of permeability enhancement, and hence fluid flow, by deformation. Finite difference modelling of a strong body in a weaker matrix has been used to evaluate the variation of stresses during the deformation, from which it is clear that stress and strain heterogeneities have systematically influenced the development and maintenance of metamorphic fluid pathways. Particular regions in which mean stress may be significantly lower than the average lithostatic pressures include the ‘strain shadow’zones adjacent to the strong bodies, other dilatant zones around the bodies, and the bodies themselves. This geometry is favourable not only for localized brittle deformation under amphilobite facies conditions, but also for focused fluid flow in the low mean stress regions, as evidenced by the abundance of veins. Fluid access through these metamorphic aquifers occurred during tensile failure episodes, with particularly large dilations and decimetre-scale veining in areas of strain incompatibility. It appears likely that fluid circulated many times through the Fold Belt, with flow concentrated in the metamorphic aquifers. A model is developed that explains both the structurally focused fluid flow and the postulated multi-pass recirculation by dilatancy pumping, the ‘pump engines’comprising the low mean stress zones.     

Structural and metamorphic controls on the distribution of zircon in an evolving quartzofeldspathic migmatite: an example from the Reynolds Range, central Australia

Three types of zircon occur in a complexly deformed and variably migmatized quartzofeldspathic gneiss from the Reynolds Range, central Australia. The oldest type is inherited from the granitic precursor of the gneiss, and is overgrown by a second group of zircon grains that formed during prograde, granulite facies metamorphism. Partial melting of the gneiss resulted in solution of both the inherited and metamorphic zircon. No new zircon growth accompanied crystallization of the partial melt, suggesting loss of zirconium–rich residual fluids. Hydrous, amphibolite facies retrogression of the gneiss and its migmatized variants during late shearing produced new, idiomorphic zircon in both the shear zone and its wall rocks.
Important implications of this study are that (i) zircon has a tendency to dissolve if it comes into direct contact with a melt produced from anhydrous biotite breakdown in a quartzofeldspathic granulite, (ii) melt crystallization is not necessarily accompanied by zircon growth, and (iii) euhedral zircon can grow from a hydrous fluid phase under subsolidus, amphibolite facies conditions, e.g. within shear zones.     

Successive overprinting granulite facies metamorphic events in the Anmatjira Range, central Australia

The Anmatjira Range and adjacent Reynolds Range, central Australia, comprise early Proterozoic metasediments and othogneisses that were affected by three, and possibly four, temporally distinct metamorphic events, M_1–4, and deformation events, D_1–4, in the period 1820–1590 Ma. The north-western portion of the range, around Mt Stafford, preserves the effects of ±1820 Ma M₁-D₁, and shows a spectacular lateral transition from muscovite + quartz-bearing schists to interlayered andalusite-bearing migmatites and two-pyroxene granofelses that reflect extremely low-pressure granulite facies conditions, over a distance of less than 10 km. Orthopyroxene + cordierite + garnet + K-feldspar + quartz-bearing gneisses occur at the highest grade, implying peak conditions of ±750°C and 2.5 ± 0.6 kbar. An anticlockwise P–T path for M₁ is inferred from syn- to late-D₁ sillimanite overprinting andalusite, petrogenetic grid considerations and quantitative estimates of metamorphic conditions for inferred overprinting assemblages. The effects of M₁ have been variably overprinted to the south-east by a c. 1760 Ma M₂–D₂ event. Much of the central Anmatjira Range, around Ingellina Gap, comprises orthogneiss, deformed during D₂, and metapelites that have M₁ andalusite and K-feldspar overprinted by M₂ sillimanite and muscovite. The south-eastern portion of the range, around Mt Weldon, comprises metasediments and orthogneisses that were completely recrystallized during M₂–D₂, with metapelitic gneisses characterized by spinel + sillimanite + K-feldspar + quartz-bearing assemblages that suggest peak M₂ conditions of >750°C and 5.5 ± 1 kbar. Overprinting parageneses in metapelitic gneisses imply that D₂ occurred during essentially isobaric cooling. A third granulite facies event, M₃, affected rocks in the Reynolds Range, immediately to the south of the Anmatjira Range, at c. 1730 Ma. A possible fourth event, M₄, with a minimum age of c. 1590 My affected both Ranges, but resulted in only minor overprinting of M_1–3 assemblages. The superimposed effects of M_1–4, mapped for the entire Anmatjira–Reynolds Range area, indicate that only minor or no dislocation of the regional geology occurred during any of the metamorphic and accompanying folding, events. Although the immediate cause of each of the metamorphic events involved advection, the ultimate causes were external to the metasediments and most probably external to the crust.     

Oxygen isotope geochemistry of the Omeo Metamorphic Complex,Victoria: Implications for metamorphic fluid flow,mineralisation and anatexis

Metamorphosed turbidites from the Omeo Metamorphic Complex show only minor changes in δ¹⁸O values with increasing metamorphic grade from 13.4 ± 1.7% in the chlorite and biotite zones to 12.3 ± 1.0% in the sillimanite + K‐feldspar zone. Rocks within 5 km of the S‐type granite at Hume Dam have δ¹⁸O values of 6.8–8.1% that probably reflect interaction with heated meteoric‐igneous fluids. Interaction with igneous fluids has also occurred close to other I‐ and S‐type granites in this region. However, pervasive metamorphic fluid‐rock interaction in this terrain did not occur, which limits the region's potential for hydrothermal mineralisation. Anatexis at high grades was probably via dehydration‐melting reactions that consumed muscovite and biotite, which is consistent with there being little fluid present during metamorphism. Small (kilometre scale or less) S‐type granites in the sillimanite + K‐feldspar zone have δ¹⁸O values similar to those of the surrounding metasediments and probably formed by melting of those rocks. By contrast, larger (tens of kilometres scale) Ca‐rich, peraluminous, S‐type granites have lower δ¹⁸O values than the surrounding metasediments, and may represent melts of underlying middle to lower crust.     

Timing and nature of fluid flow and alteration during Mesoproterozoic shear zone formation, Olary Domain, South Australia

The development of shear zones at mid‐crustal levels in the Proterozoic Willyama Supergroup was synchronous with widespread fluid flow resulting in albitization and calcsilicate alteration. Monazite dating of shear zone fabrics reveal that they formed at 1582 ± 22 Ma, at the end of the Olarian D3 deformational event and immediately prior to the emplacement of regional S‐type granites. Two stages of fluid flow are identified in the area: first an albitizing event which involved the addition of Na and loss of Si, K and Fe; and a second phase of calcsilicate alteration with additions of Ca, Fe, Mg and Si and removal of Na. Fluid fluxes calculated for albitization and calcsilicate alteration were 5.56 × 10⁹ to 1.02 × 10¹⁰ mol m^?2 and 2.57 × 10⁸–5.20 × 10⁹ mol m^?2 respectively. These fluxes are consistent with estimates for fluid flow through mid‐crustal shear zones in other terranes. The fluids associated with shearing and alteration are calculated to have δ¹⁸O and δD values ranging between +8 and +11‰, and ?33 and ?42‰, respectively, and ?Nd values between ?2.24 and ?8.11. Our results indicate that fluids were derived from metamorphic dehydration of the Willyama Supergroup metasediments. Fluid generation occurred during prograde metamorphism of deeper crustal rocks at or near peak pressure conditions. Shear zones acted as conduits for major crustal fluid flow to shallow levels where peak metamorphic conditions had been attained earlier leading to the apparent ‘retrograde’ fluid‐flow event. Thus, the peak metamorphism conditions at upper and lower crustal levels were achieved at differing times, prior to regional granite formation, during the same orogenic cycle leading to the formation of retrograde mineral assemblages during shearing.     

Assessing the geochemical and tectonic impacts of fluid–rock interaction in mid‐crustal shear zones: a case study from the intracontinental Alice Springs Orogen,central Australia

The Reynolds–Anmatjira Ranges, central Australia, form part of a high‐grade basement terrane dissected by intensely metasomatized transpressional shear zones active during the Ordovician–Carboniferous Alice Springs Orogeny. Unlike typical retrograde structures associated with discrete fluid flow, the mid‐crustal setting and intracontinental nature of these shear systems present significant problems for the source and ingress mechanism of the fluid involved in their rehydration. To address these issues, we describe two detailed traverses across deformed and metasomatized basement rocks in this region, and interrogate their record of fluid–rock interaction from various perspectives. Both traverses combine structural and petrological observations with Zr‐in‐rutile and Ti‐in‐quartz thermobarometry, oxygen and hydrogen stable isotope analysis, and major, trace and rare earth element mobility trends. Each technique is critically evaluated for its utility in this study and its more widespread applicability to alternative field areas, providing a strategic framework for the general investigation of fluid‐affected shear zones. Ultimately, the integrated data sets specify pressure–temperature conditions of ～530 °C and 4–5 kbar, implying average apparent thermal gradients of 29–36 °C km^?1 and depths of 14–18 km. Other characteristic features to emerge include strongly variable element mobilities and pronounced isotopic depletion fronts consistent with the alteration effects of an externally derived, non‐equilibrium fluid. This is confirmed by calculated fluid compositions indicative of contributions from a fluid of meteoric origin, with estimated δ¹⁸O and δD values as low as 2.3‰ and ?59.8‰, respectively. We propose that these surficial fluid signatures are imposed on the mid‐crust by the prograde burial and dehydration of hydrothermally altered fault panels produced during pre‐orogenic basin formation. Progressive fluid release with continued subsidence then leads to the accumulation of increasing fluid volumes in the vicinity of the brittle–ductile transition, promoting extensive hydration, metasomatism and reaction softening at the locus of stress transmission from plate‐boundary sources. The sustained injection of externally derived fluids into refractory crustal material may thus stimulate a critical reduction in the long‐term strength of the lithosphere, providing strong impetus for the initiation and advancement of intracontinental orogenesis.     

Proterozoic granulite facies metamorphism in the southeastern Reynolds Range, central Australia: geological context, P–T path and overprinting relationships

In the southeastern Reynolds Range, central Australia, a low- P granulite facies metamorphism affected two sedimentary sequences: the Lander Rock Beds and the Reynolds Range Group. In the context of the whole of the Reynolds Range and the adjacent Anmatjira Range, this metamorphism is M3 in a sequence M1–4 that occurred over a period of 250 Ma. In particular, M1 affected the Lander Rock Beds prior to the deposition of the Reynolds Group. M3 has an areally restricted, high-grade area in the southeastern Reynolds Range, affecting both the Reynolds Range Group and the underlying Lander Rock Beds. The effects of M3 are characterized by spinel + quartz-bearing peak metamorphic assemblages in metapelites, which imply peak conditions of ≥750°C and 4.5 ± 1 kbar, and involved isobaric cooling or compression with cooling. It is concluded that one of a series of thermal perturbations caused by thinning of mantle lithosphere contemporaneous with crustal thickening was responsible for M3. In the southeastern Reynolds Range, evidence of both the unconformity between the two rock groups and previous metamorphism/deformation has been completely erased by recrystallization during M3–D3.     

Determining the direction of contact metamorphic fluid flow: an assessment of mineralogical and stable isotope criteria

ABSTRACT One-dimensional fluid advection-dispersion models predict differences in the patterns of mineralogical and oxygen isotope resetting during up- and down-temperature metamorphic fluid flow that may, in theory, be used to determine the fluid flow direction with respect to the palaeotemperature gradient. Under equilibrium conditions, down-temperature fluid flow is predicted to produce sharp reaction fronts that separate rocks with isobarically divariant mineral assemblages. In contrast, up-temperature fluid flow may produce extensive zones of isobarically univariant mineral assemblages without sharp reaction fronts. However, during contact metamorphism, mineral reaction rates are probably relatively slow compared with fluid velocities and distended reaction fronts may also form during down-temperature fluid flow. In addition, uncertainties in the timing of fluid flow with respect to the thermal peak of metamorphism and the increase in the variance of mineral assemblages due to solid solutions introduce uncertainties in determining fluid flow directions. Equilibrium down-temperature flow of magmatic fluids in contact aureoles is also predicted to produce sharp δ¹⁸O fronts, whereas up-temperature flow of fluids derived by metamorphic devolatilization may produce gradational δ¹⁸O vs. distance profiles. However, if fluids are channelled, significant kinematic dispersion occurs, or isotopic equilibrium is not maintained, the patterns of isotopic resetting may be difficult to interpret. The one-dimensional models provide a framework in which to study fluid-rock interaction; however, when some of the complexities inherent in fluid flow systems are taken into account, they may not uniquely distinguish between up- and down-temperature fluid flow. It is probably not possible to determine the fluid flow direction using any single criterion and a range of data is required.     

Distinguishing between seafloor alteration and fluid flow during subduction using stable isotope geochemistry: examples from Tethyan ophiolites in the Western Alps

Large amounts of fluid, bound up in the hydrated upper layers of the ocean crust, are consumed at convergent margins and released in subduction zones through devolatilization. The liberated fluids may play an integral role in subduction zone processes, including the generation of arc-magmas. However, exhumed subduction zone rocks often record little evidence of large-scale fluid flow, especially at deeper levels within the subduction zone. Basaltic pillows from the high-pressure Corsican and Zermatt-Saas ophiolites show a range of δ¹⁸O values that overall reflect seafloor alteration prior to subduction. However, comparison between the δ¹⁸O values of the cores and rims of the pillows suggests that the δ¹⁸O values of the pillow rims at least have been modified during subduction and high-pressure metamorphism. Pillows that have not undergone high-pressure metamorphism generally have rims with higher δ¹⁸O values than their cores, whereas the converse is the case in pillows that have undergone high-pressure metamorphism. This reversal in the core to rim oxygen isotope relationship between unmetamorphosed and metamorphosed pillows is strong evidence for fluid–rock interaction occurring during subduction and high-pressure metamorphism. However, the preservation of different δ¹⁸O values in the cores and rims of individual pillows and within and between different pillows suggests that fluid flow within the subduction zone was strongly channelled. Resetting of the δ¹⁸O values in the pillow rims was probably due to fluid-hosted diffusion that occurred over relatively short time-scales (<1 Myr).     

Episodic shear zone associated fluid flow in the Curnamona Province, South Australia

Two distinct generations of fluid flow associated with shear zone activity have been identified in Willyama Supergroup rocks of the southern Curnamona Province in northeastern South Australia. Fluids in the first event are inferred to have been sourced from the devolatilisation of Willyama Supergroup metasedimentary rocks during prograde metamorphism associated with the (1.61–1.58 Ga) Mesoproterozoic Olarian Orogeny. The second episode of fluid flow occurred during the (c. 500 Ma) Cambrian Delamerian Orogeny and resulted in localised rehydration of the Willyama Supergroup. Fluids were isotopically light and most likely sourced from prograde Delamerian metamorphism and dehydration of fault rocks and entrained meteoric waters that originally were involved in (c. 700 Ma) Neoproterozoic Adelaidean rifting. A key outcome of this study is the identification of this previously unrecognised fluid flow system that was active during the Delamerian Orogeny.     

Oxygen isotope and REE geochemistry of metamorphic veins within the Zhoutan Group,central Jiangxi Province

Geochemical studies on REE, trace elements and oxygen isotopes from metamorphic veins and their host metasedimentary rocks in the Zhoutan Group at two localities, Xiangshan and Yihuang, in central Jiangxi Province have been conducted in this paper. The results show that the metamorphic quartz veins inherited the REE and oxygen isotope geochemical characteristics from their host rocks, suggesting that the vein-forming fluids were derived from the host rocks. Additionally, fractionation degrees of the trace element pairs Zr-Hf, Nb-Ta, Y-Ho and U-Th in the veins are different from those of their host rocks. It is also indicated that the veins are the products of the fluids. The metamorphic veins within the Zhoutan Group metasedimentary rocks were formed principally as a result of lateral diffusion of the metamorphic fluids.     

Stable isotopic signatures of superposed fluid events in granulite facies marbles of the Rauer Group, East Antarctica

The role of volatiles in the stabilization of the lower (granulite facies) crust is contentious. Opposing models invoke infiltration of CO₂-rich fluids or generally vapour-absent conditions during granulite facies metamorphism. Stable isotope and petrological studies of granulite facies metacarbonates can provide constraints on these models. In this study data are presented from metre-scale forsteritic marble boudins within Archaean intermediate to felsic orthogneisses from the Rauer Group, East Antarctica. Forsteritic marble layers and associated calcsilicates preserve a range of ¹³C- and ¹⁸O-depleted calcite isotope values (δ¹³C= -9.9 to -3.0% PDB, δ¹⁸O = 4.0 to 12.1% SMOW). A coupled trend of ¹³C and ¹⁸O depletion (～2%, ～5%, respectively) from core to rim across one marble layer is inconsistent with pervasive CO₂ infiltration during granulite facies metamorphism, but does indicate localized fluid-rock interaction. At another locality, more pervasive fluid infiltration has resulted in calcite having uniformly low, carbonatite-like δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values. A favoured mechanism for the low δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values of the marbles is infiltration by fluids that were derived from, or equilibrated with, a magmatic source. It is likely that this fluid-rock interaction occurred prior to high-grade metamorphism; other fluid-rock histories are not, however, ruled out by the available data. Coupled trends of ¹³C and ¹⁸O depletion are modified to even lower values by the superposed development of small-scale metasomatic reaction zones between marbles and internally folded mafic (?) interlayers. The timing of development of these layers is uncertain, but may be related to Archaean high-temperature (>1000d?C) granulite facies metamorphism.