Whole-rock, Phosphate, and Silicate Compositional Trends across an Amphibolite- to Granulite-facies Transition, Tamil Nadu, India

Chemical trends from north (amphibolite facies) to south (granulitefacies) along a 95 km traverse in Tamil Nadu, Southern India,include: whole-rock depletion of Rb, Cs, Th and U, enrichmentin Ti and F, and depletion in Fe and Mn in biotite and amphibole;increases in Al and decreases in Mn in orthopyroxene; enrichmentof fluorapatite in F. K-feldspar blebs are widespread alongquartz–plagioclase grain boundaries, and could indicateeither partial melting or metasomatism. In the northernmostportion of the traverse the principal rare earth element (REE)-bearingminerals are allanite and titanite. South of a clinopyroxeneisograd, monazite grains independent of fluorapatite are themajor REE- and Th-bearing phase. Further south independent monaziteis rare but Th-free monazite inclusions are common in fluorapatite.During prograde metamorphism, independent monazite was replacedby REE-rich fluorapatite in which the monazite inclusions laterformed. The loss of independent monazite was accompanied bya loss of whole-rock Th and possibly a small depletion in lightREE. Most mineralogical features along the traverse can be accountedfor by progressive dehydration and oxidation reactions. Trace-elementdepletion is best explained by the action of an externally derivedlow H₂O activity brine migrating from a source at greater depth,possibly preceded or accompanied by partial melting. KEY WORDS: granulite facies; charnockite; metasomatism; Archean; Tamil Nadu, India; fluorapatite; monazite; allanite; titanite; biotite