Actinolite-forming reaction at low pressure and the role of Fe2+-Mg substitution

The 6km-thick Karmutsen metabasites, exposed over much of Vancouver Island, were thermally metamorphosed by intrusions of Jurassic granodiorite and granite. Observation of about 800 thin sections shows that the metabasites provide a complete succession of mineral assemblages ranging from the zeolite to pyroxene hornfels facies around the intrusion. The reaction leading to the appearance of actinolite, which is the facies boundary between prehnite-pumpellyite and prehnite-actinolite facies, was examined using calcite-free Karmutsen metabasites collected from the route along the Elk river. In the prehnite-pumpellyite facies, X _Fe3+Fe³⁺/(Fe³⁺+Al)] in prehnite, pumpellyite and epidote buffered by the four-phase assemblage prehnite+pumpellyite+epidote+chlorite systematically decreases with increasing metamorphic grade. Such a trend is the reverse of that proposed by Cho et al. (1986); this may be related to the higher in the Mt. Menzies area. The actinolite-forming reaction depends on the value of X ^Fe3+ in pumpellyite. If using a low value of ^Fe3+, 3.89 Pr(0.06)+0.48 Ep(0.26)+0.60 Chl+H₂O=2.10 Pm (0.08)+0.17 Act+0.88 Qz is delineated. The number in parentheses stands for the X _Fe3+value in Ca-Al silicates. On the other hand, replacing the X _Fe3+ of 0.08 in pumpellyite with a higher X _Fe3+ value (0.24) changes the reaction to 0.41 Pm+0.02 Chl+0.42 Qz=0.11 Pr+0.62 Ep+0.10 Act+H₂O. The first (hydration) reaction forms pumpellyite and actinolite on the high-temperature side, whereas the second (dehydration) reaction consumes pumpellyite to form prehnite, epidote and actinolite. The former reaction seems to explain the textural relationship of Ca-Al silicates in the study area. However, actinolite-forming reaction changes to a different reaction depending on the compositions of the participating minerals, although in the other area even physical conditions may be similar to those in the study area. Chemographic analysis of phase relations in the PrA facies indicates that the appearance of prehnite depends strongly on the bulk FeO/MgO ratio: this may explain the rarity of prehnite in common metabasites in spite of the expected dominant occurrence in the conventional pseudo-quaternary (Ca-Al-Fe³⁺-FM) system. An increasing FeO/MgO ratio stabilizes the Pr+Act assemblage and reduces the stability of the Pm+Act one. Therefore, the definition of pumpellyite-actinolite facies should include not only Pm+Act but also the absence of Pr+Act assemblages. In addition to the possible role of high (Cho and Liou 1987) and/or high to mask the appearance of prehnite, the effect of the FeO/MgO ratio is emphasized.