Orthopyroxene–sillimanite–sapphirine granulites from the Bamble granulite terrane, southern Norway

Silica-deficient sapphirine-bearing rocks occur as an enclave within granulite facies Proterozoic gneisses and migmatites near Grimstad in the Bamble sector of south-east Norway (Hasleholmen locality). The rocks contain peraluminous sapphirine, orthopyroxene, gedrite, anthophyllite, sillimanite, sapphirine, corundum, cordierite, spinel, quartz and biotite in a variety of assemblages. Feldspar is absent.
Fe²⁺/(Fe²⁺+ Mg) in the analysed minerals varies in the order: spinel > gedrite ≥ anthophyllite ≥ biotite > sapphirine>orthopyroxene > cordierite.
Characteristic pseudomorph textures indicate coexistence of orthopyroxene and sillimanite during early stages of the reaction history. Assemblages containing orthopyroxene-sillimanite-sapphirine-cordierite-corundum developed during a high-pressure phase of metamorphism and are consistent with equilibration pressures of about 9 kbar at temperatures of 750–800°C. Decompression towards medium-pressure granulite facies generated various sapphirine-bearing assemblages. The diagnostic assemblage of this stage is sapphirine-cordierite. Sapphirine occurs in characteristic symplectite textures. The major mineralogical changes can be described by the discontinuous FMAS reaction: orthopyroxene + sillimanite → sapphirine + cordierite + corundum.
The disequilibrium textures found in the Hasleholmen rocks are characteristic for reactions which have been in progress but then ceased before they run to completion. Textures such as reaction rims, symplectites, partial replacement, corrosion and dissolution of earlier minerals are characteristic of granulite facies rocks. They indicate that, despite relatively high temperatures (700–800° C), equilibrium domains were small and chemical communication and transport was hampered as a result of dry or H₂O-poor conditions.     

Sapphirine and spinel phase relationships in the system FeO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-TiO2-O2 in the presence of quartz and hypersthene

Sapphirine and spinel can accommodate significant ferric iron and therefore the mineral equilibria involving these phases must be sensitive to a(O₂). In this paper we examine the theoretical phase relationships involving sapphirine and spinel in addition to sillimanite, garnet, cordierite, rutile, hematite-ilmenite solid solution (henceforth ilmenite), and magnetite-ulvospinel solid solution (henceforth magnetite), in the presence of quartz and hypersthene in the system FeO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-TiO₂-O₂ (FMASTO), with particular reference to the topological inversion in P-T postulated by Hensen (Hensen 1986). Documented natural associations suggest that the appropriate topology for assemblages involving magnetite and ilmenite is Hensen's higher a(O₂) one, while, in contrast, the topology for assemblages involving ilmenite and rutile is the lower a(O₂) one. The exact configuration of the inversion between these two topologies remains uncertain because of uncertainties in the ferric/ferrous iron partitioning between sapphirine and spinel-cordierite at high temperatures. By comparison with experimental data and natural occurences, the sillimanite-sapphirine-cordierite-garnet-hypersthene-quartz assemblage is in equilibrium at about 1000°–1020° C and 7–8 kbars, while sapphirine-cordierite-spinel-garnet-hypersthene-quartz occurs at temperatures in excess of those attainable during crustal metamorphism, for ilmenite-rutile buffered assemblages. This implies that sapphirine-rutil-ehypersthene-quartz assemblages, as found in the Napier Complex, Antarctica, can only occur at > 1000° C. Also, spinel-rutile-hypersthene-quartz assemblages should not be found in rocks because temperatures in excess of 1100° C are expected to be involved in their formation. The temperatures of formation of spinel-sillimanite-sapphirine-garnethypersthene-quartz, sapphirine-spinel-cordierite-sillimanite-hypersthene-quartz, and sillimanite-spinel-cordieritegarnet-hypersthene-quartz in assemblages buffered by magnetite and ilmenite are less well constrained, but are likely to be in the range 900°–1000° C. These conclusions apply to rocks with compositions close to FMASTO; the perturbing effects of substantial concentrations of additional components, in particular Ca, mainly in garnet, and Zn and Cr, mainly in spinel, may invalidate these conclusions.     

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).     

The stability of sapphirine + clinopyroxene: implications for phase relations in the CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 system under deep-crustal and upper mantle conditions

Reaction textures and chemographic relations in sapphirine-bearing basic granulites at Finero, Italy, suggest that sapphirine and aluminous diopside were formed in mutual equilibrium from an inferred early spinel-bearing assemblage. Finero appears to be the only known locality where this association has been found in situ, although it is also known from kimberlite and breccia pipe nodules elsewhere. The reactions deduced to have occurred in these rocks suggest the existence of stable invariant points involving the phases sapphirine-spinel-orthopyroxene-clinopyroxene-garnet-anorthite and sapphirine-two pyroxenes-garnetanorthite-kyanite (or sillimanite) in the CMAS end-member system. P-T estimates for the relevant rocks, and the available experimental data, suggest that these points lie at around 800°–900° C, 9–11 kbar. A semi-quantitative petrogenetic grid, incorporating these invariant points with previously determined univariant reactions, is proposed. It is inferred that sapphirine+diopside are stable relative to spinel-bearing assemblages below 900° C. The relatively low temperature explains why sapphirine has not to date been reported from experimental work on the CMAS system. It also suggests that sapphirine may be an important aluminous phase in Mg-rich metagabbros under conditions corresponding to the base of the continental crust, despite the observed rarity of such rocks at the surface.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Formation of sapphirine during retrogression of a basic high-pressure granulite,Roan, Western Gneiss Region,Norway

Sapphirine-bearing rocks occur in the northern part of the Western Gneiss Region, Vestranden, central Norway. The sapphirine-bearing rocks are characterized by a high MgO/(MgO + FeO) ratio, high Al₂O₃, MgO and CaO, and low SiO₂ contents. These rocks form layers within larger complexes which originated as layered magmatic rocks. High PT-metamorphism produced a cpx+ky+gt assemblage. The P and T estimates are P = 14.5±2 kbar and T= 870±50° C. During retrogression, the high-P granulite assemblage broke down to form an intermediate-P granulite mineralogy comprising orthopyroxene, spinel, anorthite, andesine, sapphirine and corundum. Textural relationships suggest that sapphirine formed by the reaction: spinel+kyanite sapphirine+corundum, and probably also by a reaction between corundum, spinel and orthopyroxene. All reactions took place within the stability field of kyanite. Textural and micro-chemical relationships indicate equilibrium, conditions during the peak metamorphism, whereas pronounced disequilibrium characterizes the mineral associations formed during the early retrogression at low P _H2O. The investigation shows that parts of the northern segment of the Western Gneiss Region underwent a metamorphic evolution similar to the Caledonian one recorded from eclogite/granulite terrains further south.     

Metamorphism and Isotopic Evolution of Granulites of Southern India: Reference to Neoproterozoic Crustal Evolution

Granulites are important component of high-grade metamorphic rocks reflecting intense conditions observed for crustal rocks in terms of temperature, and pressure. This review paper demonstrates how these high-grade granulites are critical to understanding the evolution of the lower continental crust with special reference to southern India. Geothermobarometric traverse across different granulite blocks in southern India shows wide ranging P-T conditions of metamorphism (700–1000 ° C, and 5–10 kbar). The sapphirine-, orthopyroxene-sillimanite, and spinel -bearing quartz-deficient granulites recognised from parts of southern granulite terrain (Ganguvarpatti, Kiranur, and Palani hill ranges etc.) show oriented sillimanite aggregates pseudomorph after course twinned kyanite, staurolite + kyanite assemblages, and corroded blebs of gedrite within orthopyroxene, suggesting a prograde stage of a clockwise P-T evolution. Evidence of ITD history comes from the textures in which an early Mg-rich garnet (X_Mg 52–60) with orthopyroxene (up to 10% Al₂O₃) involving sillimanite breakdown forming variety of symplectites having combinations of orthopyroxene, sapphirine, cordierite, and spinel. These spectacular reaction textures, and mineralogic sensors from the high-grade rocks establish a prograde clockwise P-T-t path with notable decompressive history (ITD) in the southern granulite terrain. The inferred P-T-t paths have been further integrated with the recent geochronological, and isotopic data to constrain the timing, and duration of metamorphism, emplacement of the magmatic protolith for characterising the evolution of the granulites, and their bearing on the geodynamic implications. Based on the emerging evidence for Neoproterozoic tectonothermal imprints in the southern granulite terrain, history of the assembly of dispersed fragments is also addressed within the East Gondwana framework.     

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.     

A sapphirine–phlogopite–cordierite paragenesis in a low-P amphibolite facies terrain, Arunta Inlier, Australia

Summary Silica-undersaturated phlogopite schists from the Cackleberry Metamorphics, Arunta Inlier, central Australia, preserve relatively low-temperature sapphirine-bearing parageneses that developed during low-pressure upper amphibolite facies metamorphism. Peak metamorphic phlogopite–cordierite–sapphirine assemblages are interpreted to have formed during the same event recorded in nearby metapelites, at c.3 kbar and 650–700 °C. Initial cooling of the terrain resulted in the breakdown of sapphirine to corundum–chlorite–phlogopite and corundum–spinel–chlorite assemblages. Further retrogression at greenschist facies conditions resulted in the replacement of sapphirine by diaspore–chlorite intergrowths. The reaction textures are consistent with a near-isobaric heating-cooling path at low-pressure, and provide evidence for the stability of sapphirine at c.700 °C at low pressures in rocks of an appropriate Mg- and Fe³⁺-rich bulk composition. Received August 15, 2001 accepted December 27, 2001     

High-magnesium staurolite in a sapphirine-garnet rock from the Limpopo Belt,Southern Africa

Unusually Mg-rich staurolite with F=Fe/(Fe+ Mg) = 0.51 occurs in a peraluminous silica-deficient sapphirine-garnet-gedrite-spinel-corundum-phlogopite rock as relic inclusions within pyrope-almandine garnet (F=0.43–0.48), from which it is generally separated by sapphirine (F=0.19). Gedrite has F=0.24–0.27, phlogopite 0.19, and spinel 0.43. The gradual disappearance of staurolite is due to a shift of the 3-phase AFM assemblage staurolite-garnetsapphirine to more Fe-rich compositions according to probably prograde reactions between staurolite and garnet to form sapphirine together with either quartz or gedrite. Thus still more Mg-rich staurolite seems to have existed in the rock at earlier stages of metamorphism characterized by lower temperatures and perhaps higher pressures. The local equilibria now frozen in indicate minimum pressures of 7–8 kbar and temperatures in excess of about 800° C.Staurolite is free from Zn, very low in Si, and richer in Ti than any other staurolite found thus far. Most notable is the unique Mg/Fe fraction between staurolite and garnet with staurolite being the more Fe-rich phase (K_D=1.32).     

A sapphirine-cordierite-garnet-sillimanite granulite from Enderby Land,Antarctica: implications for FMAS petrogenetic grids in the granulite facies

A quartz-absent magnesian paragneiss layer from Mount Sones, in the Archaean Napier complex of Enderby Land, Antarctica, contains the stable divariant FMAS assemblage sapphirine (X _Mg=78) — cordierite (X _Mg=87) — garnet (X _Mg=51) — sillimanite. Rare green spinel (X _Mg=53.5, ZnO=2.65wt%) occurs as inclusions mainly within sapphirine, but also within sillimanite and garnet. Late thin coronas of cordierite (X _Mg=90.5) mantle sapphirine in contact with extensively exsolved anorthoclase. The mineral textures are interpreted to indicate the former stability of a hypersthene-quartz absent assemblage followed by the development of the FMAS equilibrium assemblage sapphirine-cordierite-garnet-sillimanite (sp, hy, qz) and further divariant reaction involving the consumption of sapphirine. The (sp, hy, qz) assemblage uniquely defines the stable P-T reaction topology appropriate to granulites from the Napier Complex, as this paragenesis is allowed in the grids of Hensen (1971, 1986) but is not possible in other grids which assume the stability of a sapphirine-absent ([sa]) FMAS invariant point involving the phases spinel, garnet, hypersthene, cordierite, sillimanite and quartz. The observed mineral assemblages and textures are consistent with peak metamorphism between the [sp] and [hy] invariant points of Hensen (1971), at temperatures of 930–990° C, followed by cooling on a lower dP/dT trajectory towards the (sp, qz) univariant line. The initial spinel-bearing assemblage was stabilized by Zn and to a lesser extent by Ni and Cr, and hence does not require a marked decrease in temperature and increase in pressure to produce the (sp, hy, qz) assemblage. It is inferred that fO ₂ conditions substantially lower than those used in the experiments of Annersten and Seifert (1981) prevailed in the high-grade metamorphism in the Napier Complex.     

Anticlockwise evolution of ultrahigh-temperature granulites within continental collision zone in southern India

We report three new localities of corundum and sapphirine-bearing hyper aluminous Mg-rich and silica-poor ultrahigh-temperature granulites formed during Late Neoproterozoic-Cambrian times within the Palghat–Cauvery Shear Zone system in southern India. From petrologic characteristics, mineral chemistry and petrogenetic grid considerations, the peak metamorphic conditions of these rocks are inferred to lie around 950–1000 °C (as suggested by Al in orthopyroxene thermometer) at pressures above 10 kbar (as indicated by the equilibrium orthopyroxene–sillimanite–gedrite ± quartz assemblage). These rocks preserve several remarkable reaction textures, the most prominent among which is the triple corona of spinel–sapphirine–cordierite on corundum, with the whole textural assembly embedded within the matrix of gedrite, suggesting the reaction: Ged + Crn = Spl + Spr + Crd. The formation of sapphirine–sillimanite assemblage/symplectite associated with relict corundum and porphyroblasitc cordierite is explained by the reaction: Crd + Crn = Spr + Sil. The association of sapphirine cordierite symplectite with gedrite–sillimanite assemblage as well as with aluminosilicate boundaries indicates the gedrite consuming reaction: Ged + Sil = Spr + Crd. Extensive growth of sapphirine–cordierite observed on the rim of gedrite porphyroblasts with spinel occurring as relict inclusions within the sapphirine indicates the reaction: Ged + Spl = Spr + Crd. The pressure–temperature (P–T) path defined from the observed mineral assemblages and reaction texture is characterized by anticlockwise trajectory, with a prograde segment of initial heating and subsequent deep burial, followed by retrograde near-isothermal decompression. Such an anticlockwise trajectory is being reported for the first time from southern India and has important tectonic implications since these rocks were developed at the leading edge of the crustal block that was involved in collisional orogeny and subsequent extension during the final phase of assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent. We propose that the rocks were subjected to deep subduction and rapid exhumation, and the extreme thermal conditions were attained either through input from underplated mantle-derived magmas, or convective thinning or detachment of the lithospheric thermal boundary layer during or after crustal thickening.     

Sapphirine+Forsterite and Sapphirine+Humite-Group Minerals in an Ultra-Magnesian Lens from Kuhi-lal, SW Pamirs, Tajikistan: Are these Assemblages Forbidden?

Sapphirine occurs with humite-group minerals and forsteritein Precambrian amphibole-facies rocks at Kuhi-lal, SW PamirMountains, Tajikistan, a locality also for talc+kyanite magnesiohornblendewhiteschist. Most of these sapphirine-bearing rocks are graphiticand sulfidic (pyrite and pyrrhotite) and contain enstatite,clinohumite or chondrodite, spinel, rutile, gedrite, and phlogopite.A phlogopite schist has the assemblage with X_Fe = Fe/(Fe+Mg)increasing as follows: chlorite (0-003)<phlogopite (0.004–0.005)sapphirine (0.004–0.006) enstatite (0-006)forsterite (0-006–0-007)<spinel (0-014). This assemblage includes the incompatiblepair sapphirine+forsterite, but there is no textural evidencefor reaction. In one rock with clinohumite, X_Fe increases asfollows: clinohumite (0-002) <sapphirine (0-003) <enstatite(0-004–0-006) <spinel (0-010). Ion microprobe and wet-chemicalanalyses give 0-57–0-73 wt.% F in phlogopite and 0-27wt.% F in chlorite in the phlogopite schist; 0-04, 1.5–1.9,and 4.4 wt.% F in forsterite, clinohumite, and chondrodite,respectively; and 0-0-09 wt.% BeO and 0-05–0-21 wt.% B₂O₃in sapphirine. Stabilization of sapphirine+clinohumite or sapphirine+chondroditeinstead of sapphirine+phlogopite is possible at high F contentsin K-poor rocks, but minor element contents appear to be toolow to stabilize sapphirine as an additional phase with forsterite+enstatite+spinel.Although sapphirine+forsterite is metastable relative to spinel+enstatitein experiments conducted at a_H2O=1 in the MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂Osystem, it might be stabilized at a_H2O0.5, P4 kbar, T650–700C.Textures in the Kuhi-lal whiteschists suggest a polymetamorphicevolution in which the rocks were originally metamorphosed atT650C, P 7 kbar, conditions under which sapphirine+clinohumiteand sapphirine+chondrodite are inferred to have formed, andsubsequently affected by a later event at lower P, similar T,and lower a_H2O. The latter conditions were favorable for sapphirine+forsteriteto form in a rock originally containing chlorite+forsterite+spinel+enstatite.     

Contrasting sapphirine parageneses from Wilson Lake, Labrador and their tectonic implications

Abstract Regionally distributed pelitic granulites in the Wilson Lake region contain the assemblage sapphirine + hypersthene + sillimanite + quartz. Geochronology and geobarometry suggest it developed in early Proterozoic rocks at temperatures approaching 900°C and pressures above 10 kbar. Vein-like metasomatized rocks around a suite of mafic to ultramafic intrusions, emplaced near the peak of metamorphism about 1700 Ma ago, contain sapphirine, but these assemblages developed at temperatures near 750°C and pressures of 4.5 kbar. Both types of assemblage occur as relics in amphibolite-grade (biotite–sillimanite) migmatites.
P–T determinations indicate rapid isothermal uplift of 20 km accompanied by mafic intrusion and hydration. The metamorphic history and tectonic setting suggest exposure of deep continental crust by thrusting during continental collision, followed by essentially isothermal decompression.     

Sapphirine/kornenipine-bearing rocks and crustal uplift history of the Limpopo belt,Southern Africa

Sapphirine/kornerupine-bearing rocks occur within the anorthosites of the Messina layered intrusion in the Limpopo mobile belt of Zimbabwe. The X_Mg range of the major minerals is as follows: cordierite (0.98-0.93); enstatite (0.97-0.86); chlorite (0.98-0.92); phlogopite (0.98-0.90); sapphirine (0.98-0.86); kornerupine (0.94-0.88); gedrite (0.96-0.85); spinel (0.92-0.78). There are four rock types, the constituent minerals of which have different values, which decrease in the above mineral order; other minerals are corundum, sillimanite and relict kyanite. We recognise twenty reactions without phlogopite and nine reactions involving phlogopite. The textural relations and the plots of the microprobe data of coexisting minerals in the MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-(H₂O) system are consistent with the following sequence of main reactions: (1) enstatite+corundum cordierite+sapphirine; (4) sapphirine+sillimanite cordierite+corundum; (8) kornerupine+corundum cordierite+sapphirine; (13) kornerupine cordierite+sapphirine+enstatite; (15) enstatite+spinel chlorite+sapphirine; (18) cordierite+sapphirine chlorite+corundum; (20) sapphirine chlorite+corundum+spinel. The early reactions are shown by coarse-grained reaction intergrowths, kornerupine and gedrite breakdown is shown by finer-grained symplectites, and the latest reactions by very fine-grained products in micro-fractures. These selected reactions illustrate a remarkably steep trajectory from thePT peak close to 10 kbar and 800° C to the minimum observable at 3.5–4.5 kbar and 700° C as indicated by the pure MASH system. Very rapid uplift took place under nearly isothermal conditions. The protolith of this material was possibly sedimentary, derived from altered volcanic rocks. The bulk composition is close to the composition of kornerupine or to a mixture of alunite, chlorite and pyrophyllite. These texturally and mineralogically complex rocks contain a wealth of relevant data for documenting crustal uplift history.     

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     

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.     

Reaction history of sapphirine granulites and a decompressional P-T path in a granulite complex from the Eastern Ghats

The sapphirine granulites from G. Madugula, Eastern Ghats preserve a variety of mineral textures and reactions. Corona and reaction textures are used in conjunction with mineral compositions to construct a sequence of metamorphic reactions describing the mineralogical evolution of sapphirine granulites. An early stage is characterized by the development of sapphirine + quartz, spinel + quartz in textural equilibrium, and possible relicts after osumilite during peak metamorphic conditions. Sapphirine/spinel crystals were later detached from quartz in the form of mineral coronas. During a subsequent sapphirine-cordierite stage, several cordierite forming reactions reflect decreasingP-T conditions. Finally during the late stage, a few samples show evidence of retrogressive hydration. Sapphirine is rather iron-rich (12.8 wt%) and the Mg number in the analysed minerals varies in the order: cordierite > phlogopite > sapphirine > orthopyroxene > spinel > garnet.P-T conditions of metamorphism have been constrained through the application of geothermobarometry and thermodynamically calibrated MAS equilibria.P-T vectors from granulite facies rocks in the G. Madugula area indicate that the rocks experienced substantial decompression (up to 3 kbar) and moderate cooling (150–200°C) subsequent to peak conditions of metamorphism (8.4 kbar, > 900°C). The decompressionalP-T history of sapphirine granulites interpreted from textural features and thermobarometric estimates suggest that they may have eventually resulted from exhumation of thickened crust.