有效全岩成分的计算方法及其在变质相平衡模拟中的应用

变质相平衡模拟是变质岩领域近几十年最重要的进展之一，它已经成为确定变质作用P-T-t轨迹和探索变质演化过程的有力工具。变质岩的矿物组合不但与其形成的温度（T）和压力（P）条件有关，而且受控于岩石的全岩成分（X）。但是变质岩通常是不均匀的并且往往保留两期以上的矿物组合，因此计算不同成分域或不同变质演化期次的有效全岩成分是模拟P-T视剖面图的核心问题之一。在中-低温变质岩中，石榴石变斑晶的生长会不断地将其核部成分"冻结"而不参与后续变质反应，这导致根据实测全岩成分计算的P-T视剖面图无法有效地模拟石榴石幔部或边部生长阶段的变质演化过程。"瑞利分馏法"和"球体积法"利用电子探针实测的石榴石成分环带可以模拟计算石榴石各个生长阶段所对应的有效全岩成分，本文推荐使用这两个方法来处理石榴石变斑晶的分馏效应问题。相比较而言，石榴石在高温变质岩中通常无法保留生长阶段的成分环带特征，这是因为石榴石成分在高温条件下会发生扩散再平衡，并同时与多数基质矿物达到热力学平衡，这时一般不需要考虑石榴石的分馏效应。但是高温变质岩通常会发生部分熔融并伴随熔体的迁移，进而改变岩石的有效全岩成分。因此，通过P-T视剖面图模拟熔体迁移前后的变质演化过程需要使用"相平衡法"计算迁移的熔体成分以及熔体迁移前后岩石的有效全岩成分。此外，后成合晶与反应边是变质岩中最常见的退变质反应结构，但是后成合晶或反应边中的矿物之间并未达到热力学平衡。这种情况需要结合岩相学观察和矿物成分，利用最小二乘法确定后成合晶或反应边中发生的平衡反应方程式，进而获取变质反应发生时的有效全岩成分并通过计算P-T视剖面图来估算退变质的温压条件。除此之外，岩石体系中三价铁（Fe₂O₃）和H₂O含量的估算一直以来都是相平衡模拟研究中的难点，本文推荐使用P/T-X（Fe³⁺/Fe^tot，MH₂O）视剖面图来确定这两个组分的含量，这是因为P/T-X图可以估算各个变质演化阶段或特定矿物组合的Fe₂O₃或H₂O含量。     

Metamorphic history of eclogites and country rock gneisses in the Aktyuz area,Northern Tien‐Shan,Kyrgyzstan: a record from initiation of subduction through to oceanic closure by continent–continent collision

Eclogites and related high‐P metamorphic rocks occur in the Zaili Range of the Northern Kyrgyz Tien‐Shan (Tianshan) Mountains, which are located in the south‐western segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. Eclogites are preserved in the cores of garnet amphibolites and amphibolites that occur in the Aktyuz area as boudins and layers (up to 2000 m in length) within country rock gneisses. The textures and mineral chemistry of the Aktyuz eclogites, garnet amphibolites and country rock gneisses record three distinct metamorphic events (M1–M3). In the eclogites, the first MP–HT metamorphic event (M1) of amphibolite/epidote‐amphibolite facies conditions (560–650 °C, 4–10 kbar) is established from relict mineral assemblages of polyphase inclusions in the cores and mantles of garnet, i.e. Mg‐taramite + Fe‐staurolite + paragonite ± oligoclase (An_<16) ± hematite. The eclogites also record the second HP‐LT metamorphism (M2) with a prograde stage passing through epidote‐blueschist facies conditions (330–570 °C, 8–16 kbar) to peak metamorphism in the eclogite facies (550–660 °C, 21–23 kbar) and subsequent retrograde metamorphism to epidote‐amphibolite facies conditions (545–565 °C and 10–11 kbar) that defines a clockwise P–T path. thermocalc (average P–T mode) calculations and other geothermobarometers have been applied for the estimation of P–T conditions. M3 is inferred from the garnet amphibolites and country rock gneisses. Garnet amphibolites that underwent this pervasive HP–HT metamorphism after the eclogite facies equilibrium have a peak metamorphic assemblage of garnet and pargasite. The prograde and peak metamorphic conditions of the garnet amphibolites are estimated to be 600–640 °C; 11–12 kbar and 675–735 °C and 14–15 kbar, respectively. Inclusion phases in porphyroblastic plagioclase in the country rock gneisses suggest a prograde stage of the epidote‐amphibolite facies (477 °C and 10 kbar). The peak mineral assemblage of the country rock gneisses of garnet, plagioclase (An_11–16), phengite, biotite, quartz and rutile indicate 635–745 °C and 13–15 kbar. The P–T conditions estimated for the prograde, peak and retrograde stages in garnet amphibolite and country rock are similar, implying that the third metamorphic event in the garnet amphibolites was correlated with the metamorphism in the country rock gneisses. The eclogites also show evidence of the third metamorphic event with development of the prograde mineral assemblage pargasite, oligoclase and biotite after the retrograde epidote‐amphibolite facies metamorphism. The three metamorphic events occurred in distinct tectonic settings: (i) metamorphism along the hot hangingwall at the inception of subduction, (ii) subsequent subduction zone metamorphism of the oceanic plate and exhumation, and (iii) continent–continent collision and exhumation of the entire metamorphic sequences. These tectonic processes document the initial stage of closure of a palaeo‐ocean subduction to its completion by continent–continent collision.     

Phase equilibria modelling of kyanite‐bearing anatectic paragneisses from the central Grenville Province

Kyanite‐bearing paragneisses from the Manicouagan Imbricate Zone and its footwall (high‐P belt of the central Grenville Province) preserve evidence of partial melting with development of metamorphic textures involving biotite–garnet ± kyanite ± plagioclase ± K‐feldspar–quartz. Garnet in these rocks displays a variety of zoning patterns with respect to Ca. Pseudosection modelling in the Na₂O–CaO–K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O–TiO₂–O (NCKFMASHTO) system using measured bulk rock compositions accounts for the textural evolution of two aluminous and two sub‐aluminous samples from the presumed thermal peak to conditions at which retained melt solidified. The prograde features are best explained by pseudosections calculated with compositions to account for melt loss. The intersection of isopleths of grossular content and Fe/(Fe + Mg) relating to large porphyroblasts of garnet provide constraints on the P–T conditions of the metamorphic peak. These P–T estimates are considered to be minima because of the potential for diffusional modification of the composition of garnet at high‐T and during the early stages of cooling. However, they are consistent with textural observations and pseudosection topology, with peak assemblages best preserved in rocks for which the calculated pseudosections predict only small changes in mineral proportions in the P–T interval, in which retrograde reactions are inferred to have occurred between the thermal peak and the solidus. Maximum P–T conditions (14.5–15.5 kbar and 840–890 °C) and steep retrograde P–T paths inferred for rocks from the Manicouagan Imbricate Zone are comparable with those determined for mafic rocks from the same area. In contrast, maximum P–T conditions of 12.5–13 kbar and 815–830 °C and flatter P–T paths are inferred for the rocks of the footwall to the Manicouagan Imbricate Zone. The general consistency between textures, mineral compositions and the topologies of the calculated pseudosections suggests that the pseudosection approach is an appropriate tool for inferring the P–T evolution of high‐P anatectic quartzo‐feldspathic rocks.     

Jadeite–garnet glaucophane schists in the Bizan area,Sambagawa metamorphic belt,eastern Shikoku,Japan: significance and extent of eclogite facies metamorphism

Eclogite facies metamorphic rocks have been discovered from the Bizan area of eastern Shikoku, Sambagawa metamorphic belt. The eclogitic jadeite–garnet glaucophane schists occur as lenticular or sheet‐like bodies in the pelitic schist matrix, with the peak mineral assemblage of garnet + glaucophane + jadeite + phengite + quartz. The jadeitic clinopyroxene (X_Jd 0.46–0.75) is found exclusively as inclusions in porphyroblastic garnet. The eclogite metamorphism is characterized by prograde development from epidote–blueschist to eclogite facies. Metamorphic P–T conditions estimated using pseudosection modelling are 580–600 °C and 18–20 kbar for eclogite facies. Compared with common mafic eclogites, the jadeite–garnet glaucophane schists have low CaO (4.4–4.5 wt%) and MgO (2.1–2.3 wt%) bulk‐rock compositions. The P–T– pseudosections show that low X_Ca bulk‐rock compositions favour the appearance of jadeite instead of omphacite under eclogite facies conditions. This is a unique example of low X_Ca bulk‐rock composition triggered to form jadeite at eclogite facies conditions. Two significant types of eclogitic metamorphism have been distinguished in the Sambagawa metamorphic belt, that is, a low‐T type and subsequent high‐T type eclogitic metamorphic events. The jadeite–garnet glaucophane schists experienced low‐T type eclogite facies metamorphism, and the P–T path is similar to lawsonite‐bearing eclogites recently reported from the Kotsu area in eastern Shikoku. During subduction of the oceanic plate (Izanagi plate), the hangingwall cooled gradually, and the geothermal gradient along the subduction zone progressively decreased and formed low‐T type eclogitic metamorphic rocks. A subsequent warm subduction event associated with an approaching spreading ridge caused the high‐T type eclogitic metamorphism within a single subduction zone.     

Retrograde replacement of andalusite by Ca–Na mica in chloritoid-bearing metapelites. PTX modelling of rocks with different Al content in the MnNCKFMASH system

Andalusite porphyroblasts are totally pseudomorphosed by margarite–paragonite aggregates in aluminous pelites containing the peak mineral assemblage andalusite, chlorite, chloritoid, margarite, paragonite, quartz ± garnet, in a NW Iberia contact area. Equilibria at low P–T are investigated using new KFMASH and (mainly) MnCNKFMASH grids constructed with Thermocalc 3.21. P–T and T–X pseudosections with phase modal volume isopleths are constructed for compositions relatively richer and poorer in andalusite to model the assemblages in an andalusite‐bearing rock that contains a thin andalusite‐rich band (ARB) during retrogression. Their compositions, prior to retrogression, are used in the modelling, and have been retrieved by restoring the pseudomorph‐forming elements into the current‐depleted matrix, except for Al₂O₃ which is assumed to be immobile. Compositional differences between the thin band and the rest of the rock have not resulted in differences in andalusite porphyroblast retrogression. The absence of chloritoid resorbtion implies either a pressure increase at constant reacting‐system composition, or that its composition changed during retrogression at constant pressure, by becoming enriched in the progressively replaced andalusite porphyroblasts. T–X pseudosections at 1 kbar model this latter process using as end‐members in X, first, the restored original rock and ARB compositions, and, then the same process, taking into account the change in composition of both as retrogression proceeded. The MnNCKFMASH pseudosections of rocks with different Al contents facilitate making further deductions on the rock‐composition control of the resulting assemblages upon retrogression. Andalusite eventually disappears in relatively Al‐poor rocks, resulting, as in this study, in a rock formed by chloritoid–chlorite as the only FM minerals, plus margarite–paragonite pseudomorphs of andalusite. In rocks richer in Al, chlorite would progressively disappear and a kyanite/andalusite–chloritoid assemblage would eventually be stable at retrograde conditions. The Al‐silicate, stable during retrogression in Al‐rich rocks, indicates pressure conditions and hence the tectonic context under which retrogression took place.     

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

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

Growth zoning of garnet porphyroblasts: Grain boundary and microtopographic controls

Chemical zoning in the outer few 10s of microns of garnet porphyroblasts has been investigated to assess the scale of chemical equilibrium with matrix minerals in a pelitic schist. Garnet porphyroblasts from the Late Proterozoic amphibolite facies regional metamorphic mica schists from Glen Roy in the Scottish Highlands contain typical prograde growth zoning patterns. Edge compositions have been measured via a combination of analysis of traverses across the planar edges of porphyroblast surfaces coupled to X-ray mapping of small areas within polished thin sections at the immediate edge of the porphyroblasts. These approaches reveal local variation in garnet composition, especially of grossular (Ca) and almandine (Fe) components, with a range at the edge from <7 mol.% grs to >16 mol.% grs, across distances of less than 50 µm. This small-scale patchy compositional zoning is as much variation as the core–rim compositional zoning across the whole of a 3 mm porphyroblast. Ca and Fe heterogeneity occurs on a scale suggesting a combination of inefficient diffusive exchange across grain boundaries during prograde growth and the evolving microtopography of the porphyroblast surface control garnet composition. The latter creates haloes of compositional zoning adjacent to some inclusions, which typically extend from the inclusion towards the porphyroblast edge during further growth. The lack of a consistent equilibrium composition at the garnet edge is also apparent in the internal zoning of the porphyroblast and so processes occurring during entrapment of some mineral inclusions have a profound influence on the overall chemical zoning. Garnet compositions and associated zoning patterns are widely used by petrologists to reconstruct P–T–t paths for crustal rocks. The evidence of extremely localized (10–50 µm scale) equilibrium during growth further undermines these approaches.     

The P–T–X(fluid) evolution of meta‐anorthosites in the Eastern Granulites,Tanzania

Meta‐anorthosite bodies are typical constituents of the Neoproterozoic Eastern Granulites in Tanzania. The mineral assemblage (and accessory components) is made up of clinopyroxene, garnet, amphibole; scapolite, epidote, biotite, rutile, titanite, ilmenite and quartz. Within the feldspar‐rich matrix (70–90% plagioclase), mafic domains with metamorphic corona textures were used for P–T calculations. Central parts of these textures constitute high‐Al clinopyroxene – which is a common magmatic mineral in anorthosites – and is therefore assumed to be a magmatic relict. The clinopyroxene rims have a diopsidic composition and are surrounded by a garnet corona. Locally the pyroxene is surrounded by amphibole and scapolite suggesting that a mixed CO₂–H₂O fluid was present during their formation. Thermobarometric calculations give the following conditions for the metamorphic peak of the individual meta‐anorthosite bodies: Mwega: 11–13 kbar, 850–900 °C; Pare Mountains: 12–14 kbar, 850–900 °C; Uluguru Mountains: 12–14 kbar, 850–900 °C. The P–T evolution of these bodies was modelled using pseudosections. The amount and composition of the metamorphic fluid and <0.5 mol.% fluid in the bulk composition is sufficient to produce fluid‐saturated assemblages at 10 kbar and 800 °C. Pseudosection analysis shows that the corona textures most likely formed under fluid undersaturated conditions or close to the boundary of fluid saturation. The stabilities of garnet and amphibole are dependent on the amount of fluid present during their formation. Mode isopleths of these minerals change their geometry drastically between fluid‐saturated and fluid‐undersaturated assemblages. The garnet coronae developed during isobaric cooling following the metamorphic peak. The cooling segment is followed by decompression as indicated by the growth of amphibole and plagioclase. The estimated of the metamorphic fluid is ～0.3–0.5. Although the meta‐anorthosites have different formation ages (Archean and Proterozoic) they experienced the same Pan‐African metamorphic overprint with a retrograde isobaric cooling path. Similar P–T evolutionary paths are known from the hosting granulites. The presented data are best explained by a tectonic model of hot fold nappes that brought the different aged anorthosites and surrounding rocks together in the deep crust followed by an isobaric cooling history.     

Bulk chemical control on metamorphic monazite growth in pelitic schists and implications for U–Pb age data

Several petrographic studies have linked accessory monazite growth in pelitic schist to metamorphic reactions involving major rock‐forming minerals, but little attention has been paid to the control that bulk composition might have on these reactions. In this study we use chemographic projections and pseudosections to argue that discrepant monazite ages from the Mount Barren Group of the Albany–Fraser Orogen, Western Australia, reflect differing bulk compositions. A new Sensitive High‐mass Resolution Ion Microprobe (SHRIMP) U–Pb monazite age of 1027 ± 8 Ma for pelitic schist from the Mount Barren Group contrasts markedly with previously published SHRIMP U–Pb monazite and xenotime ages of c. 1200 Ma for the same area. All dated samples experienced identical metamorphic conditions, but preserve different mineral assemblages due to variable bulk composition. Monazite grains dated at c. 1200 Ma are from relatively magnesian rocks dominated by biotite, kyanite and/or staurolite, whilst c. 1027 Ma grains are from a ferroan rock dominated by garnet and staurolite. The latter monazite population is likely to have grown when staurolite was produced at the expense of garnet and chlorite, but this reaction was not intersected by more magnesian compositions, which are instead dominated by monazite that grew during an earlier, greenschist facies metamorphic event. These results imply that monazite ages from pelitic schist can vary depending on the bulk composition of the host rock. Samples containing both garnet and staurolite are the most likely to yield monazite ages that approximate the timing of peak metamorphism in amphibolite facies terranes. Samples too magnesian to ever grow garnet, or too iron‐rich to undergo garnet breakdown, are likely to yield older monazite, and the age difference can be significant in terranes with a polymetamorphic history.     

P–T–t path of the Hercynian low-pressure rocks from the Mandatoriccio complex (Sila Massif, Calabria, Italy): new insights for crustal evolution

The tectono‐metamorphic evolution of the Hercynian intermediate–upper crust outcropping in eastern Sila (Calabria, Italy) has been reconstructed, integrating microstructural analysis, P–T pseudosections, mineral isopleths and geochronological data. The studied rocks belong to a nearly complete crustal section that comprises granulite facies metamorphic rocks at the base and granitoids in the intermediate levels. Clockwise P–T paths have been constrained for metapelites of the basal level of the intermediate–upper crust (Umbriatico area). These rocks show noticeable porphyroblastic textures documenting the progressive change from medium‐P metamorphic assemblages (garnet‐ and staurolite‐bearing assemblages) towards low‐P/high‐T metamorphic assemblages (fibrolite‐ and cordierite‐bearing assemblages). Peak‐metamorphic conditions of ～590 °C and 0.35 GPa are estimated by integrating microstructural observations with P–T pseudosections calculated for bulk‐rock and reaction‐domain compositions. The top level of the intermediate–upper crust (Campana area) recorded only the major heating phase at low‐P (～550 °C and 0.25 GPa), as documented by the static growth of biotite spots and of cordierite and andalusite porphyroblasts in metapelites. In situ U–Th–Pb dating of monazite from schists containing low‐P/high‐T metamorphic assemblages gave a weighted mean U–Pb concordia age of 299 ± 3 Ma, which has been interpreted as the timing of peak metamorphism. In the framework of the whole Hercynian crustal section the peak of low‐P/high‐T metamorphism in the intermediate‐to‐upper crust took place concurrently with granulite facies metamorphism in the lower crust and with emplacement of the granitoids in the intermediate levels. In addition, decompression is a distinctive trait of the P–T evolution both in the lower and upper crust. It is proposed that post–collisional extension, together with exhumation, is the most suitable tectonic setting in which magmatic and metamorphic processes can be active simultaneously in different levels of the continental crust.     

Calculated phase equilibria for MORB compositions: a reappraisal of the metamorphic evolution of lawsonite eclogite

Pseudosections calculated with thermocalc predict that lawsonite‐bearing assemblages, including lawsonite eclogite, will be common for subducted oceanic crust that experiences cool, fluid‐saturated conditions. For glaucophane–lawsonite eclogite facies conditions (500–600 °C and 18–28 kbar), MORB compositions are predicted in the NCKMnFMASHO system to contain glaucophane, garnet, omphacite, lawsonite, phengite and quartz, with chlorite at lower temperature and talc at higher temperature. In these assemblages, the pyrope content in garnet is mostly controlled by variations in temperature, and grossular content is strongly controlled by pressure. The silica content in phengite increases linearly with pressure. As the P–T conditions for these given isopleths are only subtly affected by common variations in bulk‐rock compositions, the P–T pseudosections potentially present a robust geothermobarometric method for natural glaucophane‐bearing eclogites. Thermobarometric results recovered both by isopleth and conventional approaches indicate that most natural glaucophane–lawsonite eclogites (Type‐L) and glaucophane–epidote eclogites (Type‐E) record similar peak P–T conditions within the lawsonite stability field. Decompression from conditions appropriate for lawsonite stability should result in epidote‐bearing assemblages through dehydration reactions controlled by lawsonite + omphacite = glaucophane + epidote + H₂O. Lawsonite and omphacite breakdown will be accompanied by the release of a large amount of bound fluid, such that eclogite assemblages are variably recrystallized to glaucophane‐rich blueschist. Calculated pseudosections indicate that eclogite assemblages form most readily in Ca‐rich rocks and blueschist assemblages most readily in Ca‐poor rocks. This distinction in bulk‐rock composition can account for the co‐existence of low‐T eclogite and blueschist in high‐pressure terranes.     

Challenges in high-pressure granulite metamorphism in the era of pseudosections: reaction textures, compositional zoning and tectonic interpretation with examples from the Bohemian Massif

High‐pressure granulites are an important record of geodynamic processes in overthickened or subducted continental crust. Orthopyroxene‐free assemblages in granitic (ternary feldspar(s) + quartz + garnet + kyanite + rutile), intermediate (ternary feldspar(s) + quartz + garnet + clinopyroxene ± kyanite ±rutile ± titanite) and basic (garnet + clinopyroxene + plagioclase ± quartz + rutile) compositions indicate formation conditions at mantle depths. Clinopyroxene compositions in Variscan high‐pressure granulites are unusual in that they include omphacite (in plagioclase‐bearing rocks thus not eclogite) and Al‐rich diopside (i.e. indicating high Ca‐Tschermak content), with both yielding temperatures above 900 °C. Problems such as compositional zoning, multiple generations of key phases in reaction domains and unmixing of high‐temperature solid‐solution phases during cooling (ternary feldspars, omphacite) clearly indicate disequilibrium and require very careful interpretation as to which phases and compositions possibly represent a former equilibrium association. Pressure–temperature (P–T) determination by the pseudosection method, although allowing prediction of mineral assemblages, compositions and molar proportions for a fixed bulk composition for modelled P–T conditions, still requires reliable activity–composition information for the key phases feldspar and clinopyroxene as well as an interpretation of former equilibrium compositions in the investigated samples, i.e. the same restrictions applying to conventional thermobarometry. The interpretations of some recently determined pseudosections for the composition of Variscan clinopyroxene‐bearing high‐pressure granulites contradict numerous published P–T paths. However, quantitative information from thermobarometry or pseudosections must be integrated with key petrographic observations. In the case of the Variscan example, it is argued that petrographic observations and published P–T paths are consistent with mineral assemblages predicted in pseudosections and support existing tectonometamorphic models.     

Pressure-temperature paths from P-T pseudosections and zoned garnets: potential, limitations and examples from the Zanskar Himalaya, NW India

The extraction of P-T histories from metamorphic rocks provides a valuable dataset for the elucidation of the tectonic mechanisms for orogeny. While continued re-equilibration frequently obliterates early information, garnet zonation and inclusion assemblages can often surmount this problem. The task is more difficult in high variance assemblages or if inclusions are not preserved, but one approach is to use pseudosections that are specific to the bulk composition of a given rock. In the latter case, the compositions and abundances of all the minerals are fixed at a given P-T point such that, if the effective bulk composition is known, the garnet composition alone can be used to reconstruct the history. Here, we explore this approach using examples from the Zanskar Himalaya, NW India. Pseudosections have been calculated for four pelitic to semipelitic rocks from the Zanskar Himalaya and have been contoured for garnet composition. The calculations adequately model the mineral assemblages in the rocks and predict the presence of chlorite in the early assemblage where chlorite is found as inclusions within garnet. Moreover, the pseudosections successfully model the garnet core compositions, with all three independent compositional contours overlapping at a single pressure and temperature. This occurs at ∼550 °C and at pressures varying from 3–7 kbar for the four rocks studied. We have been less successful, however, at modelling garnet compositions beyond the cores because fractionation of the effective bulk composition is caused by garnet growth itself. However, in this case, a combination of the␣pseudosection and conventional thermobarometry using␣Fe-Ti inclusions and matrix phases allows us to reconstruct␣the entire P-T history. The resulting P-T paths record burial of 3–5 kbar without significant temperature increase followed by isobaric heating of 50–100 °C. This evolution is consistent with Himalayan collision in the early Tertiary but a combination of the P-T data presented here and published geochronological data suggests renewed thrusting south of the suture zone in the Oligocene. In addition, the data demonstrate that no extra heat source is required to cause melting of the Himalayan crust in the Miocene. While melting could have occurred both by dehydration during decompression or in the presence of a fluid, the lack of garnet resorption does suggest decompression was rapid and followed quickly by cooling. This scenario favours melting by decompression. Received: 17 July 1997 / Accepted: 6 April 1998     

Metamorphism of metapelites: calculations of equilibrium assemblages and numerical simulations of the crystallization of garnet

Abstract This work uses a simplified model of equilibrium to predict the assemblage sequence and compositional zoning in garnet that should result from prograde metamorphism of common bulk compositions of pelitic rocks. An internally-consistent set of model thermodynamic data are derived for natural mineral compositions from natural assemblages. Equilibrium assemblages can be calculated for pelitic compositions with excess quartz and either muscovite or K-feldspar at any pressure and water pressure. The compositions and abundances of phases in equilibrium assemblages can be calculated where the elements Mg, Fe and Mn are exchanged among phases. The prograde metamorphic assemblage sequences and the effects of pressure on assemblages, predicted by the simulation method presented here, are similar enough to natural observations to suggest that the simulations can be used to analyse natural equilibrium and growth processes. The calculated phase diagrams at moderate and high crustal pressures explain the mineral assemblage sequence produced by prograde metamorphism in common pelitic compositions. Garnet appears by continuous reaction of biotite and chlorite as the garnet-biotite-chlorite divariant field migrates toward higher Mg/Fe ratios over the bulk composition. Staurolite appears in common bulk compositions when garnet and chlorite become incompatible. An aluminum silicate phase can appear when staurolite and chlorite react. Staurolite breaks down at an extremum point to produce garnet. Continuous reaction of biotite and sillimanite causes growth of abundant garnet. The reaction sequence involving garnet, staurolite and aluminum silicates is probably different at low pressure, but the main reason that staurolite and garnet are rare is the restricted compositional range over which their assemblages exist. Andalusite appears by the divariant reaction of chlorite and cordierite appears at low temperature in low pressure assemblages for common bulk compositions by the extremumpoint breakdown reaction of chlorite. Compositional zoning of garnet and the systematic variation of biotite composition in metamorphic sequences indicate that garnet is probably fractionated during growth. Fractionation of garnet causes garnet-consuming, univariant reactions to become multivariant. The metastable persistence of garnet should reduce the abundance and stability range of staurolite. Fractionation of even small quantities of garnet should deplete the equilibrating bulk composition of Mn, but have little effect otherwise. The simulations show that the prograde assemblage sequence in pelitic rocks can be complex in detail, with some assemblages lasting over temperature intervals of only a few degrees. The major prograde reactions that release water are the breakdown of chlorite to form garnet at low grade and the breakdown of muscovite at high grade. The volume of water released by formation of garnet at high grade is also important. These reactions have the capacity to buffer water pressure. The density of anhydrous pelitic rock increases markedly when chlorite breaks down and by the continuous reaction forming garnet at high grade. The heat content is controlled principally by heat capacity and continuous reactions. Discontinuous reactions have little thermal buffering capacity. Simulations of garnet fractionation show that commonly-observed garnet zoning profiles can be formed by garnet growth in the assemblage garnet-biotite-chlorite in common bulk compositions. A reversal of Fe-zoning in garnet can occur when garnet resumes growth above staurolite grade in the assemblage garnetbiotite-sillimanite. Discontinuities in zoning profiles can be caused only by disequilibrium. The disequilibrium can be due to either metastable persistence during a hiatus in growth or to growth by irreversible reaction. Because the appearance of garnet is controlled by a continuous rather than a discontinuous reaction, the appearance of garnet is very sensitive to bulk composition. The early development of garnet is also sensitive to the pressure and water pressure of metamorphism. As a consequence the first garnet isograd is of limited thermometric value. Metastable persistence of kyanite and manite at high grades could reduce the abundance of garnet and allow biotite to persist. Metastable persistence would also limit the of cordierite formation.     

Magnitudes of departures from equilibrium during regional metamorphism of porphyroblastic rocks

Numerical models of diffusion‐controlled nucleation and growth of garnet crystals, which successfully replicate diverse textures in 13 porphyroblastic rocks, yield quantitative estimates of the magnitudes of departures from equilibrium during crystallization. These estimates are derived from differences in chemical potential between subvolumes containing stable product assemblages and those containing persistent but metastable reactant assemblages. The magnitude of disequilibrium is evaluated in terms of the thermal overstepping, which is commonly referenced to the garnet‐in isograd; the reaction affinity in the intergranular fluid at the site and time of each nucleation event, and on average throughout the rock, and the ‘latent energy of reaction’ per unit volume, a measure of the average unreacted capacity of the bulk rock, which describes its overall metastability. Across all of the models, the first crystals nucleate after 5–67 °C of thermal overstepping (correspondingly, 0.7–5.8 kJ mol^?1 of 12‐oxygen garnet); the maximum reaction affinity averaged across the intergranular fluid is between 4.7 and 16.0 kJ mol^?1 of 12‐oxygen garnet; and the maximum latent energy of reaction ranges from 7.3 to 51.7 J cm^?3. These results demonstrate that impediments to crystallization significantly delay nucleation and retard reaction, with the consequence that nucleation of new crystals extends throughout nearly the entire crystallization interval. This potential for protracted reaction during prograde metamorphism, with reactions continuing to temperatures and pressures well beyond equilibrium conditions, suggests the likelihood of overstepping of multiple – possibly competing – reactions that can progress simultaneously. Isograds and ranges of stability for metamorphic assemblages along a metamorphic field gradient may therefore be significantly offset from the positions predicted from calculations based on equilibrium assumptions, which poses a substantial challenge to accurate interpretations of metamorphic conditions and processes.     

Long length scales of element transport during reaction texture development in orthoamphibole-cordierite gneiss: Thor-Odin dome,British Columbia,Canada

First-order factors controlling the textural and chemical evolution of metamorphic rocks are bulk composition and pressure–temperature–time (P–T–t) path. Although it is common to assume that major element bulk composition does not change during regional metamorphism, rocks with reaction textures such as corona structures record evidence for major changes in effective bulk composition (EBC) and therefore provide significant insight into the scale, pathways, and mechanisms of element transport during metamorphism. Quantifying changes in EBC is essential for petrologic applications such as calculation of phase diagrams (pseudosections). The progressive growth of complex corona structures on garnet and Al₂SiO₅ porphyroblasts in orthoamphibole-cordierite gneiss Thor-Odin dome (British Columbia, Canada) reduced the EBC volume of the rock during metamorphism and therefore had a dramatic effect on the evolution of the stable mineral assemblage. These rocks contain a chemical and textural record of metamorphic reactions and preserve 3D networks (reaction pathways) connecting corona structures. These coronal networks record long (>cm) length scales of localized element transport during metamorphism. P–T, T–X, and P–X pseudosections are used to investigate the control of effective bulk composition on phase assemblage evolution. Despite textural complexity and evidence for disequilibrium, mineral assemblages and compositions were successfully modeled and peak metamorphic conditions estimated at 750°C and 9 kbar. These results illustrate how textural and chemical changes during metamorphism can be evaluated using an integrated petrographic and pseudosection approach, highlight the importance of effective bulk composition choice for application of phase equilibria methods in metamorphic rocks, and show how corona structures can be used to understand the scale of compositional change and element transport during metamorphism.     

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

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

Calculated phase equilibria for low- and medium-pressure metapelites in the KFMASH and KMnFMASH systems

Petrogenetic grids in the KFMASH and KMnFMASH model systems calculated with the software thermocalc 3.1 are presented for the P–T range 0.5–12 kbar and 450–900 °C, for assemblages involving garnet, muscovite, chloritoid, biotite, chlorite, staurolite, cordierite, spinel, orthopyroxene, K‐feldspar, Al₂SiO₅ phases, quartz, water and melt. Based on calculated compatibility diagrams and P–T and T–M_Mn [Mn/(Mg + Fe + Mn)] pseudosections for different metapelitic bulk compositions, the principal conclusions are that the addition of Mn to the KFMASH system: (i) enhances the stability of garnet, and, to a lesser extent, aluminosilicates; (ii) reduces the stability of staurolite, cordierite and, to a lesser extent, chlorite; and (iii) extends the medium pressure stability of muscovite and the low‐P stability field of K‐feldspar. The influence of Mn on individual mineral stabilities is strongly related to rock composition, in particular, to the relative contents of Al₂O₃ and K₂O. For metapelites of a range of compositions and M_Mn values, P–T pseudosections in the KFMASH system, in most cases, do not adequately predict the mineral assemblages observed in natural assemblages under medium and low‐pressure conditions. In contrast, the P–T pseudosections in the KMnFMASH system generally provide more satisfactory results, suggesting that MnO is one of the non‐KFMASH components that should not be neglected in documenting the phase equilibria of medium‐ and low‐P metapelites.     

Apparent oxygen isotope equilibrium during progressive foliation development and porphyroblast growth in metapelites: implications for stable isotope and conventional thermometry

The assumption of oxygen isotope and major element equilibrium during prograde metamorphism was tested using staurolite‐grade pelitic schists that have undergone sequential porphyroblast growth and multiple episodes of recrystallization of matrix minerals and foliation development. Textural relationships are used to infer a metamorphic history that involves garnet growth followed by staurolite growth, with each porphyroblast growth event followed by at least one period of recrystallization of matrix minerals. Conventional geothermobarometry using Qtz–Grt–Pl–Ms–Bt ± St equilibria yields peak P–T conditions of c. 625 °C at 9–11 kbar, consistent with KMnFMASH petrogenetic grid predictions for stability of the assemblage Grt + St + Bt. Qtz–Grt oxygen isotope fractionations yield apparent temperatures of c. 590 °C and Qtz–St fractionations yield an apparent temperature of c. 595 °C. Diffusional modelling indicates that quartz isotopic compositions were reset by c. 30 °C via retrograde isotopic diffusional exchange with micas. The isotopic temperatures appear to be in excellent agreement with one another, and suggest oxygen isotope equilibrium was attained between garnet and staurolite at c. 625 °C. However, the agreement of Qtz–Grt and Qtz–Str isotopic temperatures is not consistent with petrographic observations (garnet grew before staurolite) and petrogenetic grid constraints that predict that garnet grows over a temperature interval of c. 525–550 °C. Given that: (i) oxygen diffusion rates in staurolite and garnet are slow enough to render an individual porphyroblast effectively closed to exchange after it forms; and (ii) matrix minerals are able to exchange isotopes via recrystallization during each period of deformation; garnet and staurolite could not have simultaneously achieved oxygen isotope equilibrium with each other or with minerals in the recrystallized matrix. Thus, the Qtz–Grt fractionations, which yield apparent temperatures that are in apparent agreement with peak metamorphic temperature and apparent temperatures for Qtz–St fractionations, cannot be fractionations resulting from equilibrium isotopic exchange. Instead, they are apparent fractionations between porphyroblasts formed at different temperature and times in the prograde P–T–D path, and quartz that recrystallized and exchanged with micas and plagioclase during several phases of deformation.     

Coexistence of garnet blueschist and eclogite in South Tianshan,NW China: dependence of P–T evolution and bulk‐rock composition

Coexisting garnet blueschist and eclogite from the Chinese South Tianshan high‐pressure (HP)–ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) belt consist of similar mineral assemblages involving garnet, omphacite, glaucophane, epidote, phengite, rutile/sphene, quartz and hornblendic amphibole with or without paragonite. Eclogite assemblages generally contain omphacite >50 vol.% and a small amount of glaucophane (<5 vol.%), whereas blueschist assemblages have glaucophane over 30 vol.% with a small amount of omphacite which is even absent in the matrix. The coexisting blueschist and eclogite show dramatic differences in the bulk‐rock compositions with higher X(CaO) [=CaO/(CaO + MgO + FeO_total + MnO + Na₂O)] (0.33–0.48) and lower A/CNK [=Al₂O₃/(CaO + Na₂O + K₂O)] (0.35–0.56) in eclogite, but with lower X(CaO) (0.09–0.30) and higher A/CNK (0.65–1.28) in garnet blueschist. Garnet in both types of rocks has similar compositions and exhibits core–rim zoning with increasing grossular and pyrope contents. Petrographic observations and phase equilibria modelling with pseudosections calculated using thermocalc in the NCKMnFMASHO system for the coexisting garnet blueschist and eclogite samples suggest that the two rock types share similar P–T evolutional histories involving a decompression with heating from the P_max to the T_max stage and a post‐T_max decompression with slightly cooling stage, and similar P–T conditions at the T_max stage. The post‐T_max decompression is responsible for lawsonite decomposition, which results in epidote growth, glaucophane increase and omphacite decrease in the blueschist, or in an overprinting of the eclogitic assemblage by a blueschist assemblage. Calculated P–X(CaO), P–A/CNK and P–X(CO₂) pseudosections indicate that blueschist assemblages are favoured in rocks with lower X(CaO) (<0.28) and higher A/CNK (>0.75) or fluid composition with higher X(CO₂) (>0.15), but eclogite assemblages preferentially occur in rocks with higher X(CaO) and lower A/CNK or fluid composition with lower X(CO₂). Moreover, phase modelling suggests that the coexistence of blueschist and eclogite depends substantially on P–T conditions, which would commonly occur in medium temperatures of 500–590 °C under pressures of ~17–22 kbar. The modelling results are in good accordance with the measured bulk‐rock compositions and modelled temperature results of the coexisting garnet blueschist and eclogite from the South Tianshan HP–UHP belt.