Prograde and retrograde equilibria in garnet-cordierite gneisses in south-central Massachusetts

Partial electron microprobe analyses of garnet, biotite and cordierite in sillimanite-K feldspar gneisses of the Brimfield Formation in south-central Massachusetts indicate that the compositions of these minerals are not constant in a thin section. The FeO/MgO mol ratio of biotite is sensitive to the nature of other FeO-MgO minerals occurring in close proximity. The most iron-rich biotites are those that do not contact either cordierite or garnet. The most iron-poor biotites occur as inclusions in garnet. Biotites in direct contact with either cordierite or garnet have intermediate FeO/MgO ratios. The bulk of a given grain of garnet or cordierite is homogeneous in composition. Chemical zoning is absent. All grains of garnet and cordierite in a thin section are constant in composition. However, where garnet and cordierite abut biotite, the FeO/MgO ratio of the garnet rim is increased and that of cordierite is decreased. The FeO/MgO ratios of garnet, cordierite and biotite bare a regular relation to each other indicating a possible equilibrium state. However the distribution coefficient defined by the compositions of minerals in direct contact are greater than those defined by the compositions of the interiors of garnet and cordierite matched with the compositions of biotites removed from these phases. This pattern is believed to be the result of two thermal events. The first event produced the mineral assemblages and widespread equilibrium was obtained. A subsequent retrograde event left the mineralogy intact but caused cation exchange reactions at immediate contacts between garnet, cordierite and biotite. The physical conditions of the first event are estimated at P=5–6 kb, T=700–750° C. The retrograde event occurred at lower temperatures and very low activities of H₂O since no muscovite is developed at microcline-sillimanite contacts.     

Chemical mineralogy of some cordierite-bearing rocks near Yellowknife,Northwest Territories,Canada

Meta-graywacke and meta-argillite of Archean age near Yellowknife contain biotite, cordierite, gedrite and sillimanite isograds towards the Sparrow Lake granite pluton. The chemistry of biotite, cordierite, gedrite and garnet in rocks that up-grade from the cordierite isograd indicate a small range of chemical composition, particularly with reference to Mg, Fe and Mn. The analyses show further that among the coexisting ferromagnesian minerals Fe/Fe+ Mg ratio decreases in the sequence: garnet, gedrite, biotite, cordierite while Mn/Fe+Mg+Mn ratio decreases in the sequence garnet, gedrite, cordierite, biotite. The same order is also observed in the distribution diagrams. The regular distribution of Mg, Fe and Mn among the coexisting phases demonstrate that chemical equilibrium was attained and preserved in these Archean rocks. Mg-Fe distribution between cordierite and biotite appears to be dependent on the temperature of crystallization or metamorphic grade.     

The reaction 3 cordierite = 2 garnet + 4 sillimanite + 5 quartz as a geological thermometer in the Opinicon Lake region,Ontario

In equilibrated metamorphic rocks containing coexisting garnet, cordierite, quartz and sillimanite, the exchange of iron and magnesium between cordierite and garnet offers a highly favourable geological thermometer and barometer, because this exchange reaction is insensitive to pressure. Thermodynamic analysis shows that this thermometer may be calibrated from knowledge of the breakdown reactions for iron and magnesian cordierite end members to garnet. The thermometer was experimentally calibrated using cordierites of intermediate composition. When applied to rocks showing petrographic evidence of equilibrium, and chemical evidence of reaction between garnet and cordierite, the thermometer yielded temperatures of 600–750:C, and pressures of 5.7–6.7 kilobars. Similar conditions are indicated by other literature data on cordierite-garnet gneisses, and are believed to represent hornblende granulite grade of metamorphism.     

The significance of garnet and cordierite from the Sioux Lookout region of the English River gneiss belt,Northern Ontario

Garnet and cordierite bearing Archean gneisses are a common rock-type in the English River gneiss belt of the Superior Province, northern Ontario. Bulk compositions of such gneisses are found to be depleted in potassium with respect to the garnet and/or cordierite-free biotite gneisses. The mineral assemblages of the garnet and cordierite gneisses indicate that they have equilibrated at higher metamorphic grades than the garnet and/or cordierite-free biotite gneisses. These, observations suggest that anatexis has occurred in the garnetiferous regions of the gneiss belt resulting in a granite melt which had migrated from the source rocks, thereby depleting the garnetiferous restite in potassium.     

Shock-induced kelyphite formation in the core of a complex impact crater

We present a compositional and textural analysis of shock-induced microtextures in garnet porphyroblasts in migmatitic garnet–cordierite–biotite paragneisses from the centre of the Vredefort impact structure, South Africa. Detailed imaging and major element analysis of deformation features in, and adjacent to, the garnet porphyroblasts record a complex, heterogeneous distribution of shock effects at the microscale. As the most competent silicate mineral in the assemblage, with the highest Hugoniot Elastic Limit and a wide pressure–temperature stability field, the porphyroblastic garnet preserves a more diverse shock deformation response compared to minerals such as quartz and feldspar, which underwent more comprehensive shock metamorphism and subsequent annealing. The garnet porphyroblasts display pre-impact fractures that are overprinted by later intra-granular Hertzian and distinctive planar fractures associated with the impact event. Shock-induced strain localization occurred along internal slip planes and defects, including pre-existing fractures and inclusion boundaries in the garnet. Symplectitic (kelyphitic) coronas commonly enclose the garnet porphyroblasts, and inhabit intra-granular fractures. The kelyphite assemblage in fractures with open communication beyond garnet grain boundaries is characterized by orthopyroxene—cordierite—sapphirine. Conversely, the kelyphite assemblage in closed-off intra-granular fractures is highly variable, comprising spatially restricted combinations of a secondary garnet phase with a majoritic component, Al-rich orthopyroxene, sapphirine and cordierite. The impedance contrast between garnet porphyroblasts and their inclusions further facilitated the formation of shock-induced features (Al-rich orthopyroxene coronas). Together, the textural and mineralogical data suggest that these features provide a record of oscillatory shock perturbations initiated under confining pressure beneath the transient crater floor. This occurred as the shocked rock volume underwent post-shock expansion, forming the core of the central uplift, and was followed by variable textural re-equilibration. This study thus provides a microtextural and mineralogical perspective of the shock regime within confined crust immediately prior to and during central uplift formation.     

The assemblage quartz — Sillimanite — Garnet — Cordierite as an indicator of metamorphic conditions in the Daly Bay Complex,N.W.T.

If cordierite is treated as an anhydrous mineral, the composition of garnet and cordierite, coexisting with quartz and silliminate, depends on total pressure and temperature. Phase relations may be deduced by combining some available experimental work with several approximations. Assuming ideal ionic solution in garnet and cordierite, analyses of coexisting garnet and cordierite permit the determination of total pressure and temperature. Five rocks from the Daly Bay Complex, N. W. T., collected from locations up to 35 miles apart, indicate a range of 610–760 and 5.3–6.6 kb.     

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

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

Experimental study of the stability of cordierite and garnet in pelitic compositions at high pressures and temperatures

The stability of cordierite and garnet relative to their anhydrous breakdown products, i.e. hypersthene, sapphirine, olivine, spinel, sillimanite and quartz, has been studied experimentally in model pelitic compositions (system MgO-FeO-Al₂O₃-CaO-K₂O-SiO₂). Below 1000° C cordierite breaks down according to the divariant reaction cordierite garnet+sillimanite+quartz (1) for most values of the MgO/MgO + FeO ratio (X). At very high values of X (ca. X0.9) garnet in reaction (1) is replaced by hypersthene. The position and width of the divariant field (in terms of pressure and temperature) in which cordierite and garnet coexist, is a function of the MgO/MgO + FeO ratio. If this ratio is increased then the stability field of garnet is reduced and that of cordierite extended towards higher pressure. Compositions of coexisting cordierite and garnet in divariant equilibrium have been analysed by electron probe micro-analyser. These compositions are unique functions of pressure and temperature. Above ca. 1000° C the breakdown of cordierite involves the phases sapphirine and hercynite-rich spinel in Mg-rich and Fe-rich compositions respectively.     

In situ U–Pb dating of zircon formed from retrograde garnet breakdown during decompression in Rogaland, SW Norway

Regionally metamorphosed metapelites from Rogaland, SW Norway, contain zircon formed during the decompression reaction garnet + sillimanite + quartz → cordierite. The zircon, which occurs as inclusions in cordierite coronas around garnet, is texturally, chemically and isotopically distinct from older zircon in other textural settings in the matrix. A SHRIMP U–Pb age of 955 ± 8 Ma based on analyses in thin section on the decompression zircon from the cordierite coronas, therefore dates a point on the retrograde path, estimated from garnet–cordierite equilibria to be 5.6 kbar, 710 °C. This population was under‐represented in conventional SHRIMP analyses of individual zircon in a mono‐mineralic grain mount and, in the absence of a textural context, its significance unknown. The dominant age identified from SHRIMP analyses of the grain mount, in combination with analyses from matrix zircon in thin section, was 1035 ± 9 Ma. Based on the lack of consistent textural relationships with any specific minerals in thin section, as well as rare earth element chemistry, the 1035‐Ma population is interpreted to represent zircon growth during incipient migmatization of the rocks at 6–8 kbar and c. 700 °C. This is consistent with previous estimates for the age of regional M₁ metamorphism during the Sveconorwegian Orogeny. The most important outcome of this study is the successful analysis of zircon grains in a specific, well‐constrained reaction texture. Not only does this allow a precise point on the regional P–T path to be dated, but it also emphasizes the possibility of zircon formation during the retrograde component of a typical metamorphic cycle.     

Symplectitic cordierite-orthopyroxene-garnet assemblages as products of contact metamorphism of pre-existing basement granulites in the Vredefort Structure,South Africa,and their relations to pseudotachylite

Former idioblastic garnet crystals of an Archaean granulite with Mg/(Mg+Fe+Mn)-ratios (= M) near 0.40 were converted to symplectitic pseudomorphs consisting mainly of cordierite (M=0.61), orthopyroxene (M=0.40), and a relic garnet with a new composition (M=0.18), during a static metamorphism which is related in time to the Vredefort event. On the basis of experimental data for the continuous reaction garnet+quartz=orthopyroxene+cordierite the conditions of metamorphism were near 5 kb, 700 °C. Orthopyroxenes crystallized initially as minute, myrmekitic grains with metastable excess Al contents up to 13 mol% Al₂O₃ and, through grain growth and Al exsolution, transformed into dense aggregates of coarser crystals with equilibrated compositions near 3 mol% Al₂O₃. In the absence of free silica hercynitic spinel appears as an additional phase that coexists with cordierite, orthopyroxene, and garnet of more magnesian compositions than in the case of silica saturation.Pseudotachylite veins crosscutting the hornfelsed granulite consist of pyroxene of variable Al contents, two feldspars, opaques, and quartz, and are finely recrystallized. There is textural and mineral chemical evidence from both the Al-contents of the pyroxenes and the Mg/Fe distribution among the phases adjacent to the pseudotachylite that these veins were emplaced late during the static metamorphism, which was probably caused by a local, deep-seated magma diapir. On this basis, the meteorite impact hypothesis for the origin of the Vredefort Structure is considered less likely than a mechanism of internal origin which can be made responsible for the close link in time and space between static metamorphism and the high strain rate deformation that produced the pseudotachylite.     

Metastable staurolite–cordierite assemblage of the Bossòst dome: Late Variscan decompression and polyphase metamorphism in the Axial Zone of the central Pyrenees

A kilometre-scale shear zone is recognized in the Cambro–Ordovician schist of the Bossòst dome, a Variscan metamorphic and structural dome in the Axial Zone of the central Pyrenees. Non-coaxial deformation is recorded by rotated garnet and staurolite porphyroblasts following regional metamorphism M₁, while coaxial conditions prevailed during later contact metamorphic M₂ growth of andalusite and cordierite. Mineral compositions and bulk rock analyses show that garnet–staurolite–andalusite–cordierite assemblages are significantly enriched in Mg and Mn over the garnet–staurolite assemblage, which lacks sufficient Mg for cordierite to form. The garnet–staurolite assemblage preserves conditions during M₁, estimated by AFM diagrams and P–T pseudosections to be 5.5 kbar and 580 °C, respectively. Pseudosections also indicate that staurolite is not a stable phase in cordierite–andalusite assemblages of M₂, suggesting polyphase metamorphism and decompression along a clockwise P–T path for the staurolite–cordierite–andalusite assemblages. This concurs with proposed extensional tectonics along the regional shear zone. To cite this article: J.E. Mezger et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

Disequilibrium in the Ross of Mull Contact Metamorphic Aureole, Scotland: a Consequence of Polymetamorphism

The Ross of Mull pluton consists of granites and granodioritesand intrudes sediments previously metamorphosed at amphibolitefacies. The high grade and coarse grain size of the protolithis responsible for a high degree of disequilibrium in many partsof the aureole and for some unusual textures. A band of metapelitecontained coarse garnet, biotite and kyanite prior to intrusion,and developed a sequence of textures towards the pluton. InZone I, garnet is rimmed by cordierite and new biotite. In ZoneII, coarse kyanite grains are partly replaced by andalusite,indicating incomplete reaction. Coronas of cordierite + muscovitearound kyanite are due to reaction with biotite. In the higher-gradeparts of this zone there is complete replacement of kyaniteand/or andalusite by muscovite and cordierite. Cordierite chemistryindicates that in Zone II the stable AFM assemblage (not attained)would have been cordierite + biotite + muscovite, without andalusite.The observed andalusite is therefore metastable. Garnet is unstablein Zone II, with regional garnets breaking down to cordierite,new biotite and plagioclase. In Zone III this breakdown is welladvanced, and this zone marks the appearance of fibrolite andK-feldspar in the groundmass as a result of muscovite breakdown.Zone IV shows garnet with cordierite, biotite, sillimanite,K-feldspar and quartz. Some garnets are armoured by cordieriteand are inferred to be relics. Others are euhedral with Mn-richcores. For these, the reaction biotite + sillimanite + quartz garnet + cordierite + K-feldspar + melt is inferred. Usinga petrogenetic grid based on the work of Pattison and Harte,pressure is estimated at 3·2 kbar, and temperature atthe Zone II–III boundary at 650°C and in Zone IV asat least 750°C. KEY WORDS: contact metamorphism; disequilibrium     

Phase equilibria and the pressure-temperature path of the highest-grade Ryoke metamorphic rocks in the Yanai district, SW Japan

The garnet-cordierite zone, the highest-grade zone of the Ryoke metamorphic rocks in the Yanai district, SW Japan, is defined by the coexistence of garnet and cordierite in pelitic rocks. Three assemblages in this zone are studied in detail, i.e. spinel + cordierite + biotite, garnet + cordierite + biotite and garnet + biotite, all of which contain quartz, K-feldspar and plagioclase. The Mg/(Fe + Mg) in the coexisting minerals decreases in the following order: cordierite, biotite, garnet and spinel. Two facts described below are inconsistent with the paragenetic relation in the K₂OFeOMgOAl₂O₃SiO₂H₂O (KFMASH) system in terms of an isophysical variation. First, garnet and biotite in the last assemblage have Mg/(Fe + Mg) higher than those in the second. Second, the first two assemblages are described by the reaction,

Precambrian sulphide deposits: R.W. Hutchinson,C.D. Spence and J.M. Franklin (Editors). Geological Association of Canada,Special Paper 25, H.S. Robinson Memorial Volume 1982, VII + 791 pp., US$ 47.00 plus US$ 2.50 postage and handling for members,and US$ 57.00 plus US$ 2.50 postage and handling for others,hardcover

The Precambrian of Madagascar appears to be a part of the Mozambiquian mobile belt. Some authors consider the southern part of the island to be constituted, from east to west, by more and more recent formations, i.e., the ultrametamorphic ‘Androyan’ sequence with an Archean reworked crust as the oldest one, first followed by the ‘Graphite’ sequence, then by the ‘Vohibory’ sequence. The cordierite and garnet banded gneisses and leptynites are widely distributed in the Androyan sequence. These gneisses result from an incipient partial melting of paragneisses. Garnet—plagioclase, garnet—cordierite and garnet—biotite geothermo- and geobarometers allow the estimation of the conditions of this migmatisation (T > 700°C, P_T = 5?5.5 kbar, PH₂O = 0.3?0.4 P_T). Some cordierite and garnet leptynites represent the leucosomes of this anatectic event. Since previous experiments showed that the seven-phase assemblage (quartz + plagioclase + K feldspar + garnet + biotite + sillimanite + cordierite) only occurs in a limited range of pressure and temperature (T = 690?710°C, P_T = 4?5.7 kbar, PH₂O = 0.2?0.5 P_T), we can consider these gneisses as very precise thermobarometric reference levels in southern Madagascar. This migmatic event may be contemporary with the Pan-African orogenesis.     

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.     

A corundum and sapphirine paragenesis from the Limpopo Mobile Belt, southern Africa

An assemblage consisting of corundum, sapphirine, spinel, cordierite, garnet, biotite and bronzite is described from the Messina area of the Limpopo Mobile Belt, and consideration given to its petrogenesis. Various geothermometers and geobarometers have been applied in an attempt to determine the temperatures and pressures of metamorphism.
A former coexistence of garnet and corundum is suggested to have developed during the earliest high pressure phase of the metamorphism, where temperatures exceeded 800°C and pressures as high as 10kbar may have been experienced. Subsequently, continuous retrograding reactions from medium pressure granulite facies at about 800°C and 8kbar towards amphibolite facies generated spinel, cordierite, sapphirine and possibly also bronzite. The most notable reaction was probably of the form: garnet + corundum = cordierite + sapphirine + spinel.     

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

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

吉林省晚古生代造山带二叠纪移置地体及古地理原型

吉林省晚古生代造山带是西伯利亚板块与中朝板块离散、聚敛后褶皱造山带的一部分，又处于与滨太平洋构造域的复合部位，地质构造极为复杂。现存的岩石—地层体乃是经历多次构造运动移置、改造的结果。以生物地层学、沉积地质学为基础，综合应用构造学及地球化学理论和方法，详细地研究此造山带的生物地理区、岩相古地理、岩石化学和古地磁学等内容，首先发现在二叠纪时有四个移置地体组成，即延边、吉中、松辽和白城。根据生物古地理特征、物质成分判别及其沉积序列，确定各地体的古纬度和古构造环境，结合地球动力学分析，再造构造古地理原型，乃是一个活动大陆边缘的复合边缘海盆。     

Separating metamorphic events in the Fosdick migmatite–granite complex,West Antarctica

The Fosdick migmatite–granite complex in West Antarctica records evidence for two high‐temperature metamorphic events, the first during the Devonian–Carboniferous and the second during the Cretaceous. The conditions of each high‐temperature metamorphic event, both of which involved melting and multiple melt‐loss events, are investigated using phase equilibria modelling during successive melt‐loss events, microstructural observations and mineral chemistry. In situ SHRIMP monazite and TIMS Sm–Nd garnet ages are integrated with these results to constrain the timing of the two events. In areas that preferentially preserve the Devonian–Carboniferous (M₁) event, monazite grains in leucosomes and core domains of monazite inclusions in Cretaceous cordierite yield an age of c. 346 Ma, which is interpreted to record the timing of monazite growth during peak M₁ metamorphism (～820–870 °C, 7.5–11.5 kbar) and the formation of garnet–sillimanite–biotite–melt‐bearing assemblages. Slightly younger monazite spot ages between c. 331 and 314 Ma are identified from grains located in fractured garnet porphyroblasts, and from inclusions in plagioclase that surround relict garnet and in matrix biotite. These ages record the growth of monazite during garnet breakdown associated with cooling from peak M₁ conditions. The Cretaceous (M₂) overprint is recorded in compositionally homogeneous monazite grains and rim domains in zoned monazite grains. This monazite yields a protracted range of spot ages with a dominant population between c. 111 and 96 Ma. Rim domains of monazite inclusions in cordierite surrounding garnet and in coarse‐grained poikiloblasts of cordierite yield a weighted mean age of c. 102 Ma, interpreted to constrain the age of cordierite growth. TIMS Sm–Nd ages for garnet are similar at 102–99 Ma. Mineral equilibria modelling of the residual protolith composition after Carboniferous melt loss and removal of inert M₁ garnet constrains M₂ conditions to ～830–870 °C and ～6–7.5 kbar. The modelling results suggest that there was growth and resorption of garnet during the M₂ event, which would facilitate overprinting of M₁ compositions during the M₂ prograde metamorphism. Measured garnet compositions and Sm–Nd diffusion modelling of garnet in the migmatitic gneisses suggest resetting of major elements and the Sm–Nd system during the Cretaceous M₁ overprint. The c. 102–99 Ma garnet Sm–Nd ‘closure’ ages correspond to cooling below 700 °C during the rapid exhumation of the Fosdick migmatite–granite complex.     

Experimental investigation of the formation of cordierite-orthopyroxene parageneses in pelitic rocks

Cordierite and orthopyroxene (or orthoamphibole) are widespread in migmatitic terranes, and partial melting of pelitic rocks may be important in their production. In particular, the reaction quartz +albite+biotite+garnet+water vapor = cordierite +orthopyroxene or orthoamphibole+melt was among reactions discussed by Grant (1973) but poorly constrained in pressure-temperature space.This reaction involves too many phases to be readily studied experimentally. Therefore simpler melting and dehydration reactions involving quartzalbite-biotite-cordierite-orthopyroxene were investigated.In conjunction with the work of Hoffer (1976, 1978) these experiments place useful constraints on the above reaction and on the reaction quartz+albite+aluminosilicate+biotite+vapor = cordierite+garnet+melt. In pelitic rocks near the second illimanite isograd, cordierite and garnet may coexist with melt as low as 660° C and cordierite and orthopyroxene may coexist with melt at temperatures less than 675° C. In the absence of significant Mn or Ca, in pelitic rocks within the realm of melting, biotite+garnet assemblages are probably limited to pressures greater than 2kb and aluminosilicate+biotite assemblages to pressures greater than 3kb.