Zoning patterns in orthopyroxene and garnet in granulites: implications for geothermometry

Compositional maps of orthopyroxene and garnet of contrasting grain size and in contact with different minerals were made from two paragneiss granulites from the Minto terrane of northern Quebec. The compositional maps provide clear evidence of late exchange of Fe/(Fe + Mg) after Ca in garnet and Al in orthopyroxene had been quenched-in. The extent of late Fe-Mg exchange was controlled by neighbouring minerals, with negligible Fe-Mg gradients against plagioclase and quartz, and substantial gradients against exchangeable Fe-Mg minerals. Cores of grains in contact with exchangeable Fe-Mg neighbours are progressively more reset in Fe/(Fe + Mg) as grain size decreases, whereas cores of even small grains surrounded by only plagioclase and quartz are not significantly different in Fe/(Fe + Mg) than cores of the largest grains. Gradients of Ca in garnet and of Al in orthopyroxene in grains of uniform Fe/(Fe + Mg) preserve a high-temperature retrograde history during which intergranular exchange effected compositional uniformity of mineral rims and intragranular Fe-Mg diffusion in garnet and orthopyroxene was rapid enough to homogenize Fe/(Fe + Mg). The transition from efficient intergranular exchange at relatively high temperatures to local Fe-Mg exchange at lower temperatures may have been controlled by loss of an intergranular exchange medium in the rock, possibly an internally generated dehydration melt phase. Implications for geothermometry of granulites include the following (numerical values are particular to this study): (1) core compositions of garnet and orthopyroxene grains in contact with exchangeable neighbours may be reset in Fe/(Fe + Mg) relative to the most refractory compositions by an amount equivalent to 120d? C; (2) Fe-Mg exchange thermometry using even the most refractory Fe/(Fe + Mg) compositions may not record peak granulite conditions, possibly recording instead the temperature at which an intergranular exchange medium was lost from the rock; and (3) temperature-sensitive net transfer equilibria involving Al solubility in orthopyroxene yield temperatures up to 150d? C higher than maximum Fe-Mg exchange temperatures, even in grains with flat Fe/(Fe - Mg) compositional profiles, making them a better means of estimating peak granulite temperatures than Fe-Mg exchange thermometry.     

Equilibrium Compositions of Coexisting Garnet and Orthopyroxene: Experimental Determinations in the System FeO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2, and Applications

We have determined the Fe-Mg fractionation between coexistinggarnet and orthopyroxene at 20–45 kb, 975–1400?C,and the effect of iron on alumina solubility in orthopyroxeneat 25 kb, 1200?C, and 20 kb, 975?C in the FMAS system. The equilibriumcompositions were constrained by experiments with crystallinestarting mixtures of garnet and orthopyroxene of known initialcompositions in graphite capsules. All iron was assumed to beFe²⁺. A mixture of PbO with about 55 mol per cent PbF₂ provedvery effective as a flux. The experimental results do not suggest any significant dependenceof K_D on Fe/Mg ratio at T 1000?C. The lnK_D vs. l/T data havebeen treated in terms of both linear and non-linear thermodynamicfunctional forms, and combined with the garnet mixing modelof Ganguly & Saxena (1984) to develop geothermometric expressionsrelating temperature to K_D and Ca and Mn concentrations in garnet. The effect of Fe is similar to that of Ca and Cr³⁺ in reducingthe alumina solubility in orthopyroxene in equilibrium withgarnet relative to that in the MAS system. Thus, the directapplication of the alumina solubility data in the MAS systemto natural assemblages could lead to significant overestimationof pressure, probably by about 5 kb for the relatively commongarnetlherzolites with about 25 mol per cent Ca+Fe²⁺ in garnetand about 1 wt. per cent Al₂O₃ in orthopyroxene.     

Constraints on the timing and conditions of high‐grade metamorphism,charnockite formation and fluid–rock interaction in the Trivandrum Block,southern India

Incipient charnockites have been widely used as evidence for the infiltration of CO₂‐rich fluids driving dehydration of the lower crust. Rocks exposed at Kakkod quarry in the Trivandrum Block of southern India allow for a thorough investigation of the metamorphic evolution by preserving not only orthopyroxene‐bearing charnockite patches in a host garnet–biotite felsic gneiss, but also layers of garnet–sillimanite metapelite gneiss. Thermodynamic phase equilibria modelling of all three bulk compositions indicates consistent peak‐metamorphic conditions of 830–925 °C and 6–9 kbar with retrograde evolution involving suprasolidus decompression at high temperature. These models suggest that orthopyroxene was most likely stabilized close to the metamorphic peak as a result of small compositional heterogeneities in the host garnet–biotite gneiss. There is insufficient evidence to determine whether the heterogeneities were inherited from the protolith or introduced during syn‐metamorphic fluid flow. U–Pb geochronology of monazite and zircon from all three rock types constrains the peak of metamorphism and orthopyroxene growth to have occurred between the onset of high‐grade metamorphism at c. 590 Ma and the onset of melt crystallization at c. 540 Ma. The majority of metamorphic zircon growth occurred during protracted melt crystallization between c. 540 and 510 Ma. Melt crystallization was followed by the influx of aqueous, alkali‐rich fluids likely derived from melts crystallizing at depth. This late fluid flow led to retrogression of orthopyroxene, the observed outcrop pattern and to the textural and isotopic modification of monazite grains at c. 525–490 Ma.     

变质作用高峰期后的离子再交换与纯转换反应及对温度压力计算的影响

变质程度达角闪岩相及麻粒岩相的各类变质岩石在变质作用高峰期后，如果降温速率比较慢，往往发生退变质性质的离子再交换反应与纯转换反应。这两类退变质反应不可避免地改造了变质高峰期的矿物成分，使岩石不能准确记录变质作用各阶段的矿物成分和变质作用p-T轨迹。对这两类反应的研究已成为近年来变质岩石学研究的热点之一。本文通过研究实例，简要综述了基性麻粒岩中石榴子石-斜方辉石之间的Fe-Mg再交换反应、酸性麻粒岩中斜长石-碱性长石之间的K-Na再交换反应、泥质片麻岩中石榴子石变斑晶边部的部分分解(纯转换)反应，以及恢复变质高峰期矿物成分和计算变质高峰期p-T条件的方法。指出只有在准确恢复变质高峰期变质矿物成分的基础上，获得的变质作用p-T-t轨迹才能反映客观地质事实。     

First report of eclogites from central Tibet,China: evidence for ultradeep continental subduction prior to the Cenozoic India‐Asian collision

Eclogites characterized by a garnet + clinopyroxene + orthopyroxene + sanidine + rutile assemblage are reported for the first time in the eastern Bangong suture, central Tibet (China). Garnet and sanidine are exsolved from clinopyroxene. Al‐exchange barometer for orthopyroxene and garnet and K concentrations in clinopyroxene indicate a peak pressure of ～4 GPa. The occurrence of these ultrahigh‐pressure rocks implies the subduction of continental crust to a depth of >130 km along the eastern Bangong suture zone during the Early Jurassic. The denudation of these ultrahigh‐pressure metamorphic rocks could have provided a significant source for the Jurassic turbidites in the western Bangong ocean basin.     

Equilibration and reaction in Archaean quartz-sapphirine granulite xenoliths from the Lace kimberlite pipe, South Africa

Ultrahigh-temperature quartz-sapphirine granulite xenoliths in the post-Karoo Lace kimberlite, South Africa, comprise mainly quartz, sapphirine, garnet and sillimanite, with rarer orthopyroxene, antiperthite, corundum and zinc-bearing spinel; constant accessories are rutile, graphite and sulphides. Comparison with assemblages in the experimentally determined FMAS and KFMASH grids indicates initial equilibration at >1040 °C and 9–11  kbar. Corona assemblages involving garnet, sillimanite and minor cordierite developed on a near-isobaric cooling P–T  path as both temperature and, to a lesser extent, pressures decreased. Garnet-orthopyroxene Fe-Mg exchange thermometers record temperatures of only 830–916 °C. These estimates do not indicate the peak metamorphic conditions but instead reflect the importance of post-peak Fe-Mg exchange during cooling. Correction of mineral Fe-Mg compositions for this exhange using a convergence approach of Fitzsimons & Harley (1994 ) leads to retrieved P–T  estimates from garnet-orthopyroxene thermobarometry ( c . 1000 °C and 10.5±0.7  kbar) that are consistent with the petrogenetic grid constraints. U-Pb dating of a single zircon grain gives an age of 2590±83  Ma, interpreted as the age of the metamorphic event. Protolith major and trace element chemistries of the xenoliths differ from sapphirine-quartzites typical of the Napier Complex (Antarctica) but are comparable to less siliceous, high Cr and Ni, sapphirine granulites reported from several ultrahigh temperature granulite terranes.     

Garnet zoning and metamorphism of the Barrovian type area,Scotland

A microprobe investigation of the high grade metamorphic zones from the Barrovian type area in Angus, Scotland, shows the importance of local zones of retrograde cation exchange between garnet, staurolite and biotite. The interpretation of this zoning, established during a slow cooling history, is critical to any study of metamorphic reactions or conditions. The extent and intensity of these diffusion effects are dependent on a number of parameters including grainsize, fabric orientation, heating and cooling history, and the modal abundance of the phases. Increasing diffusion within garnets with metamorphic grade, and the subsequent retrograde effects are modelled using Temperature-Time-Transformation diagrams and provide information on the activation energy for Fe-Mg diffusion in garnet.     

榴辉岩中传统地质温压计新解：来自PT视剖面图的证据

石榴石-单斜辉石(GC)温度计和石榴石-单斜辉石-多硅白云母(GCP)压力计是确定榴辉岩形成温压条件的最常用方法,二者主要依据石榴石、绿辉石和多硅白云母中相组分之间的交换和转换变质反应.依据MORB成分计算的PT视剖面图表明,在不同榴辉岩矿物组合中,控制3个矿物相成分变化的相组分之间的变质反应不同.在低温含绿泥石、滑石和蓝闪石榴辉岩组合中,石榴石和绿辉石的镁含量主要受到含水矿物脱水反应的控制,并都随温度升高而升高,二者之间的铁镁交换反应并不起主要作用.因此,在自然界含有蓝闪石等含水矿物的低温榴辉岩中,由于绿辉石相对富镁而常常导致GC温度计结果偏低.在含有硬柱石的高压-超高压榴辉岩中,石榴石中的钙含量受到硬柱石的控制,随着压力升高或温度降低,硬柱石含量增加,使石榴石中钙降低,此时石榴石-绿辉石-多硅白云母之间的转换反应对石榴石成分的影响会很微弱,由于石榴石相对贫钙而导致GCP压力计结果偏低.在含有蓝晶石的中温高压-超高压榴辉岩中,矿物成分的变化受到石榴石-绿辉石之间的铁镁交换反应和石榴石．绿辉石．多硅白云母-蓝晶石-石英/柯石英之间的一系列转换反应控制,因此,GC和GCP温压计都能给出相对合理的结果.在低压普通角闪石榴辉岩中,石榴石和绿辉石中的镁含量主要反应压力变化,有时并不指示变质作用温度.在含有蓝闪石等含水矿物的低温榴辉岩中,Thermocalc程序中的平均温压(avPT)方法可以给出比较合适的温度,但压力结果与GCP压力计一样也会偏低一些.在蓝闪石和绿帘石等含水矿物消失后的中温蓝晶石榴辉岩中,avPT方法难以给出合理的PT信息.相对来说,视剖面图方法能够给出最多的PT信息,是目前确定变质岩PT条件的最好方法.     

Exsolution textures in orthopyroxene in aluminous granulites as indicators of UHT metamorphism: New evidence from the Eastern Ghats Belt, India

Highly aluminous orthopyroxene, coexisting with sapphirine, cordierite, sillimanite, quartz and garnet in various combinations, constitute granoblastic mosaic peak metamorphic assemblages in aluminous granulites from three localities in the Eastern Ghats Belt, India. Orthopyroxene contains four types of intergrowths: (a) involving sapphirine with or without cordierite, (b) involving spinel, but without sapphirine, (c) involving cordierite, but without sapphirine and spinel, and (d) involving garnet, without sapphirine, spinel or cordierite. On the basis of textural and compositional data, origin of the intergrowths is ascribed to breakdown of Mg-Tschermak component, locally also involving Fe- and Ti-Tschermak. An attempt is made to compute the “pre-breakdown” compositions of orthopyroxene by image analysis, which shows maximum Al₂O₃ content of 13.4 wt.% in the pristine orthopyroxene. Geothermometry, phase equilibria consideration and application of existing experimental data on alumina solubility in orthopyroxene coexisting with sapphirine and quartz, collectively indicate extreme thermal conditions of metamorphism (> 1000 °C) for the studied assemblages. This re-affirms the notion that Al₂O₃ solubility in orthopyroxene is the most powerful indicator of UHT metamorphism (Harley, S.L., 2004. Extending our understanding of ultrahigh temperature crustal metamorphism. J. Mineral. Petrol. Sci. 99, 140–158). The intergrowths are considered to have formed due to cooling from the thermal peak spanning a temperature range of approximately 150 °C. Appearance of diverse types of intergrowths is probably related to subtle differences in bulk composition, particularly Fe:Mg ratios.     

Experimental evidence for diamond-facies metamorphism in the Dora-Maira massif

The peak metamorphic conditions of subducted continental crust in the Dora-Maira massif (Western Alps) have been revised by combining experimental results in the KCMASH system with petrologic information from whiteschists. Textural observations in whiteschists suggest that the peak metamorphic assemblage garnet+phengite+kyanite+coesite±talc originates from the reaction kyanite+talc↔garnet+coesite+liquid. In the experimentally determined petrogenetic grid, this reaction occurs above 45 kbar at 730 °C. At lower pressures, talc reacts either to orthopyroxene and coesite or, together with phengite, to biotite, coesite and kyanite. The liberated liquid contains probably similar amounts of H₂O and dissolved granitic components. The composition of the liquid in the whiteschists at peak metamorphic conditions, a major unknown in earlier studies, was probably very similar to the liquid composition produced in the experiments. Therefore, the experimentally determined petrogenetic grid represents a good model for the estimation of the peak metamorphic conditions in whiteschists. Experimentally determined Si-isopleths for phengite further constrain peak pressures to 43 kbar for the measured Si=3.60 of phengite in the natural whiteschists. All these data provide evidence that the whiteschists reached diamond-facies conditions.

The fluid-absent equilibrium 4 kyanite+3 CELADONITE=4 coesite+3 muscovite+pyrope has been calibrated on the basis of garnet and phengite compositions in the experiments and serves as a geothermobarometer for ultra-high-pressure (UHP) metapelites. For graphite-bearing metapelites and kyanite–phengite eclogites, forming the country rocks of the whiteschists, peak metamorphic pressures of about 44±3 kbar were calculated from this barometer for temperatures of 750 °C estimated from garnet–phengite thermometry. Therefore, the whole ultra-high-pressure unit of the Dora-Maira massif most likely experienced peak metamorphic conditions in the diamond stability field. While graphite is common in the metapelites, diamond has not been found so far. The absence of metamorphic microdiamonds might be explained by the low temperature of metamorphism, the absence of a free fluid phase in the metapelites and a short residence time in diamond-facies conditions resulting in kinetic problems in the conversion of graphite to diamond.     

Effect of Temperature upon Fe-Mg Composition of Garnet in Pelitic System

Garnet is an essential phase in a wide range of metamorphic grades. Ratios of Fe and Mg concentrations in garnet have been widely used as a geothermometer for the crystallization, cooling rate and tectonic uplift rate because garnets in natural rocks always show a variety of Fe-Mg compositional partition. Normally, Fe-Mg concentrations of natural garnets vary widely and the Fe-Mg exchange reactions usually occur in a complex chemical system. Effect of pressure and temperature on Fe-Mg compositions of garnet in natural pelitic system was studied experimentally at temperatures of 700 to 780 ℃ and pressures from 21 to 29.4 kbar. The concentrations of FeO and MgO of garnet in the run products showed a linear relation with experimental temperatures. The result provided experimental evidence of Fe-Mg partition trend with temperature in a complex natural rock and therefore improved our understanding in the determinations of metamorphic temperature calculated by garnet geothermometer. Although the accurate geological application of our results requires the knowledge of the effects of other components upon [D(Mg)] and [D(Fe)] which is largely unknown currently, the data provided in this study are useful to build the relation between FeO-MgO contents and temperature, which is useful in the metamorphic temperatures determine of rocks with pelitic composition.     

The geotherm of the lithosphere beneath Qilin, SE China: a re-appraisal and implications for P–T estimation of Fe-rich pyroxenites

The Qilin geotherm established by Xu et al. [Xu, X.S., O'Reilly, S.Y., Zhou, X.M. and Griffin, W.L., 1996. A xenolith-derived geotherm and the crust-mantle boundary at Qilin, southeastern China. Lithos, 38: 41–62.] using the Ellis and Green [Ellis D.J. and Green D.H., 1979. An experimental study of the effect of Ca upon garnet-clinopyroxene Fe-Mg exchange equilibria. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 71: 13–22]/Wood [Wood B.J., 1974. Solubility of alumina in orthopyroxene coexisting with garnet. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 46: 1-15] combination is in need of revision on the basis of re-evaluation of geothermobarometers, comparison of calculated pressures and temperatures with experimentally determined phase relationships and geological/geophysical data. The invalid assumption that all iron is present as Fe²⁺ in minerals, and the thermal destruction of equilibrium Fe–Mg exchange between clinopyroxene and garnet that may have resulted from heating of the Qilin xenoliths by the host magma resulted in unrealistically high temperatures estimated by the Ellis and Green's thermometer. An important implication arising from this study is that care must be taken when applying thermobarometers to Fe-rich pyroxenites for the purpose of geotherm construction and a comprehensive analysis is often required.     

Metamorphic evolution of granulites in the Minto Block, northern Québec: extraction of peak P-T conditions taking account of late Fe-Mg exchange

In the central Minto Block of northern Québec, the Lake Minto and Goudalie domains are dominated, respectively, by orthopyroxene-bearing plutonic suites (granite-granodiorite and diatexite) and a tonalitic gneiss complex, both of which contain scattered remnant paragneisses. Two main granulite-grade mineral assemblages are observed in the paragneiss: garnet (Grt)-orthopyroxene (Opx)-plagioclase-quartz (GOPQ) and garnet (Grt)-cordierite (Crd)-sillimanite-plagioclase-quartz (GCSPQ). These show distinct lithological associations, with the GCSPQ assemblages occurring exclusively within the diatexite in the Lake Minto domain. Petrogenetic grid considerations demonstrate that the GOPQ rocks are higher grade than the GCSPQ rocks. Maximum temperatures for GOPQ rocks, obtained from equilibria based on Al solubility in orthopyroxene in equilibrium with garnet, range from 950 to 1000d? C, significantly higher than garnet-orthopyroxene Fe-Mg exchange temperatures of 700 ± 50d? C, the latter probably representing a closure temperature below peak conditions. The Al temperatures were corrected for late cation exchange by adjusting the Fe/(Fe + Mg) ratios in garnet and orthopyroxene, to achieve internal consistency between the GOPQ thermometers and barometers. Grt-Crd thermometry records temperatures of 750±50d? C. Peak P-T conditions range from 5-6 kbar and 750-800d? C in the Goudalie and eastern Lake Minto domains, to 7-10 kbar and 950-1000d? C in the western and central Lake Minto domain. This variability contrasts with the uniform crustal pressures of 5 ± 1 kbar recorded by the GCSPQ assemblages in the diatexites and the hornblende granodiorites (c. 4-5 kbar) across the same area. The GOPQ rocks are inferred to record earlier P-T conditions that prevailed before the formation of GCSPQ assemblages and the intrusion of the granodiorites. Partial P-T paths in GOPQ rocks from both domains, based on net transfer equilibria corrected for Fe-Mg resetting, document cooling of 100-250d? C from thermal-peak conditions, concomitant with a modest pressure decrease of 2-3 kbar. Although textures diagnostic of isobaric cooling are not developed, the paths are consistent with a tectonic model in which granulite metamorphism and crustal thickening in the Minto Block were consequences of magmatic underplating. The progression from higher P-T conditions recorded by GOPQ assemblages to lower P-T conditions recorded by GCSPQ assemblages is attributed to variable amounts of synmagmatic uplift and cooling in a single, continuous thermal event in the Minto crust, associated with protracted crustal magmatism. In the Goudalie and eastern Lake Minto domains, where GOPQ and GCSPQ rocks and Hbl granodiorites have similar P-T conditions of equilibration, the crust may not have been thickened as much as further west, where GOPQ P-T conditions are significantly higher than those of the hornblende granodiorites and the GCSPQ rocks.     

The bearing of phase equilibria in simple and complex systems on the origin and evolution of some well-documented garnet-websterites

The temperatures and pressures of subsolidus equilibration of garnet-websterites (garnet+clinopyroxene+orthopyroxene) can be determined to within 3 kilobars from alumina solubility properties of clinopyroxene (Herzberg, 1978) and orthopyroxene (Wood, 1974, 1975). These calculations require knowledge of the oxidation state of iron and the effect of alumina on the mutual solubility of the two pyroxenes. The conditions of total dissolution of exsolved garnet and orthopyroxene required to yield single-phase subcalcic clinopyroxenites from Salt Lake Crater and the French Pyrenees have been determined. Many of these clinopyroxenites were transported 20 to 60 km up the mantle column before exsolution was terminated. Such transport was probably accomplished by convective upwelling of hot mantle peridotite and its contained anatectic products, rather than by precipitation from ascending magmas.     

A recalibration of the garnet-olivine geothermometer and a new geobarometer for garnet peridotites and garnet-olivine-plagioclase-bearing granulites

The garnet-olivine Fe-Mg exchange geothermometer and the garnet-olivine-plagioclase geobarometer have been simultaneously calibrated using reversed experimental data based on the model reactions and between 900 and 1500 °C at 9.1–95.0 kbar and between 4.7 and 7.0 kbar at 750–1050 °C, respectively. The resulting garnet-olivine thermometer reproduces experimental temperatures mostly within ±75 °C and the garnet-olivine-plagioclase barometer reproduces experimental pressures well within ±0.19 kbar. These new thermobarometers use the same garnet and olivine activity models and are thermodynamically consistent. Application of these thermobarometers to garnet peridotites from mantle xenoliths, orogenic garnet peridotites over the world and the Adirondack olivine-bearing metagabbros yielded reasonable P–T results. The present garnet-olivine thermometer can be used to measure medium-high-grade to ultrahigh-grade, low-pressure to ultrahigh–high-pressure garnet peridotites and metagabbros, whereas the garnet-olivine-plagioclase barometer has limited application to garnet-olivine-plagioclase-bearing granulites.     

高温变泥质岩石中石榴石-黑云母地质温度计的应用——以胶北荆山群富铝岩石为例

在对胶北荆山群麻粒岩相富铝岩石中石榴石、黑云母的成分环带进行深入研究基础上,选取不同粒径、与不同矿物相邻的石榴石、黑云母各微区点成分,利用石榴石-黑云母温度计分别进行了温度估算。确定在黑云母含量较高的岩石(V_(Grt)/V_(Bt)≤1)中,利用大颗粒石榴石(d≥1500μm)晶体核部(或靠近长英质矿物一侧的晶体幔部)成分与基质中远离石榴石等镁铁矿物处于长英质矿物之间的黑云母核部成分配合。通过石榴石-黑云母温度计可以获得相当可信的变质峰期温度。但是对于黑云母含量极低的岩石(V_(Grt)/V_(Bt)≥6),由于黑云母的成分普遍遭到了强烈改造。使得温度估算结果异常偏低,因此不适合采用石榴石-黑云母温度计估算峰期温度。同一岩石中,采用不同的相邻石榴石-黑云母矿物对晶体边缘成分获得的温度值差异较大,反映它们在峰期后发生Fe-Mg交换反应并达到封闭温度平衡状态的程度不同,因此利用石榴石-黑云母温度计难以获得准确的封闭温度。通过热力学计算,建立了一个新的石榴石-黑云母温度计公式。确定胶北荆山群所经历的变质峰期温度为720～770℃,峰期后最低相对封闭温度为480～500℃。     

Petrology of Granulites from Anakapalle--Evidence for Proterozoic Decompression in the Eastern Ghats, India

The granulite complex at Anakapalle, which was metamorphosedat 1000 Ma, comprises orthopyroxene granulites, leptynite, khondalite,mafic granulites, calc-silicate rock, spinel granulites, andtwo types of sapphirine granulites—one quartz-bearingand migmatitic and the other devoid of quartz and massive. Reactiontextures in conjunction with mineral-chemical data suggest severalcontinuous and discontinuous equilibria in these rocks. In orthopyroxenegranulites, dehydration-melting of biotite in the presence ofquartz occurred according to the reaction biotite+quartz= garnet (Py₃₇)+K-feldspar+orthopyroxene + liquid. Later, this garnet broke down by the reaction garnet (Py₃₇)+quartz= orthopyroxene + plagioclase. Subsequently, coronal garnet (Py₃₀) and quartz were producedby the same reaction but proceeding in the opposite direction.In spinel granulites, garnet (Py₄₂) and sillimanite were producedby the breakdown of spinel in the presence of quartz. In thetwo types of sapphirine granulites, garnet with variable pyropecontent broke down according to the reaction garnet = sapphirine + sillimanite + orthopyroxene. The highest pyrope content (59 mol %) was noted in garnets fromquartz-free sapphirine granulites compared with the quartz-bearingone (53 mol % pyrope). The calculated positions of the mineralreactions and diserete P-T points obtained by thermobarometrydefine a retrograde P-T trajectory during which a steep decompressionof 1.5 kbar from P-T_max of 8 kbar and 900C was followed bynear-isobaric cooling of 300C. During this decompression, garnetwith variable pyrope contents in different rocks broke downon intersection with various divariant equilibria. Near-isobariccooling resulted in the formation of coronal garnet around second-generationorthopyroxene and plagioclase replacing earlier porphyroblasticgarnet in orthopyroxene granulites. It has been argued thatthe deduced P-T trajectory originated in an extensional regimeinvolving either a crust of near-normal thickness of a slightlyoverthickened crust owing to magmatic underaccretion.     

Conditions of Archean granulite metamorphism in the Godthab-Fiskenaesset region, southern West Greenland

The Nordlandet peninsula (Akia terrane) and the Tasiusarsuaq terrane in southern West Greenland were metamorphosed to granulite facies at 3.0 and 2.8 Ga respectively. Temperatures of metamorphism are estimated using magnetite + ilmenite, garnet + orthopyroxene, garnet + clinopyroxene and garnet + biotite thermometers. Barometry has been carried out in the two terranes using eight different garnet barometers. A uniform set of activity models for all minerals, including the garnet activity model of Newton et al. (1986), is applied to each barometer in order to permit comparison. Pressure estimates using the different barometers are generally quite consistent (±1.5 kbar). Use of the Newton et al. (1986) garnet activity data results in pressures similar to those obtained using other garnet activity models.
Peak metamorphic conditions on the Nordlandet peninsula are estimated to have been 800 ± 50°C, 7.9 ± 1.0 kbar. Values of log f _O2 are estimated to have been 1.1 to 2.0 above the quartz + magnetite + fayalite buffer from assemblages of magnetite + ilmenite and quartz + magnetite + ferrosilite. Peak metamorphic conditions in the Tasiusarsuaq terrane are estimated to have been 780 ± 50°C, 8.9 ± 1.0 kbar. Estimates of f _H2O and f _CO2 using biotite, amphibile, grossular + anorthite and grossular + scapolite equilibria are low in both terranes. These results suggest that granulite metamorphism was fluid absent in both terranes, and that the metamorphism in the Akia terrane and possibly also in the Tasiusarsuaq terrane was initiated by the injection of large volumes of magma into the lower crust.     

On the interpretation of peak metamorphic temperatures in light of garnet diffusion during cooling

Abstract Finite difference models of Fe-Mg diffusion in garnet undergoing cooling from metamorphic peak conditions are used to infer the significance of temperatures calculated using garnet-biotite Fe-Mg exchange thermometry. For rocks cooled from high grades where the garnet was initially homogeneous, the calculated temperature (T_calc) using garnet core and matrix biotite depends on the size of the garnet, the ratio of garnet to biotite in the rock (V_garnet/V_biotite) and the cooling rate. For garnets with radii of 1 mm and V_garnet/V_biotite<1, T_calc is 633, 700 and 777°C for cooling rates of 1, 10 and 100°C/Ma. For V_garnet/V_biotite= 1 and 4 and a cooling rate of 10° C/Ma, T_calc is approximately 660 and 610° C, respectively. Smaller and larger garnets have lower and higher T_calc, respectively. These results suggest that peak metamorphic temperatures may be reliably attained from rocks crystallized at conditions below T_calc of the garnet core, provided that V_garnet/V_biotite is sufficiently small (<0.1) and that the composition of the biotite at the metamorphic peak has not been altered during cooling. Numerical experiments on amphibolite facies garnets with nominal peak temperatures of 550–600° C generate a ‘well’in Fe/(Fe + Mg) near the rim during cooling. Maximum calculated temperatures for the assemblage garnet + chlorite + biotite + muscovite + plagioclase + quartz using the Fe/(Fe + Mg) at the bottom of the ‘well’with matrix biotite range from 23–43° C to 5–12° C below the peak metamorphic temperature for cooling rates of 1 and 100° C/Ma, respectively. Maximum calculated temperatures for the assemblage garnet + staurolite + biotite + muscovite + plagioclase + quartz are approximately 70° C below the peak metamorphic temperature and are not strongly dependent on cooling rate. The results of this study indicate that it may be very difficult to calculate peak metamorphic temperatures using garnet-biotite Fe-Mg exchange thermometry on amphibolite facies rocks (T_max > 550° C) because the rim composition of the garnet, which is required to calculate the peak temperature, is that most easily destroyed by diffusion.     

An Experimentally Constrained Petrogenetic Grid in the Silica-Saturated Portion of the System KFMASH at High Temperatures and Pressures

Experiments in the quartz-saturated part of the system KFMASHunder fO₂ conditions of the haematite–magnetite bufferand using bulk compositions with X_Mg of 0·81, 0·72,0·53 define the stability limits of several mineral assemblageswithin the P–T field 9–12 kbar, 850–1100°C.The stability limits of the mineral assemblages orthopyroxene+ spinel + cordierite ± sapphirine, orthopyroxene + garnet+ sapphirine, sapphirine + cordierite + orthopyroxene and garnet+ orthopyroxene + spinel have been delineated on the basis ofP–T and T–X pseudosections. Sapphirine did not appearin the bulk composition of X_Mg = 0·53. A partial petrogeneticgrid applicable to high Mg–Al granulites metamorphosedat high fO₂, developed in our earlier work, was extended tohigher pressures. The experimental results were successfullyapplied to several high-grade terranes to estimate P–Tconditions and retrograde P–T trajectories. KEY WORDS: KFMASH equilibria; experimental petrogenetic grid at high fO₂