Hornblende geothermometry of amphibolite layers of the Popple Hill gneiss, north-west Adirondack Lowlands, New York, USA

The exchange reaction tschermakite+2 diopside+2 quartz=tremolite+2 anorthite (HPCQ), in combination with the thermodynamic database TWQ (version 1.02, Berman, 1991), has been evaluated for its usefulness as a geothermometer. This reaction, which is both water conserving (independent of water fugacity) and which does not require the presence of garnet, is well suited for studying pyroxene‐bearing amphibolites. As an application of this geothermometer, we have re‐examined the amphibolites occurring in the Popple Hill gneiss of the Adirondack Lowlands of New York, USA, to better understand the magnitude of temperature variation preserved in the amphibolites themselves in this classic locality. At an assumed constant pressure of 7 kbar, the temperatures range from 619 to 682 °C from Edwards to Pierrepont and are uncorrelated with either distance along the strike of the region or with modal mineralogical variations. Hornblende exhibits a narrow compositional range suggesting that there has been little or no thermal gradient along the strike of the Lowlands. Temperatures recorded just north of Colton are, however, distinctly higher (694–758 °C). Although it is likely that the Popple Hill gneiss amphibolites experienced some effects of progressive metamorphism, particularly in the vicinity of Colton, the variations in modal mineralogy are most likely the result of such factors as local variations in the bulk chemistry of the protolith and in the fugacity of H₂O due to infiltration of diluting species (e.g. CO₂, CH₄), rather than a regional temperature variation. Temperatures recorded by the HPCQ geothermometer reported here are similar in magnitude and geographic trend to those reported for graphite–calcite carbon‐isotope thermometry by Kitchen & Valley (1995), suggesting that peak metamorphism in the Adirondack Lowlands involved laterally extensive and fairly uniform isotherms.