Tectonically controlled fluid flow and water-assisted melting in the middle crust: An example from the Central Alps

Melting triggered by influx of a free aqueous fluid in the continental crust has commonly been inferred, but the source of water in such contexts remains a matter of debate. We focus on the Tertiary migmatites in the Southern Steep Belt of the Central Alps (Switzerland) to discuss the petrology, structures and geodynamic setting of water-assisted melting. These migmatites comprise various structural types (e.g. metatexites, diatexites, melt in shear zones), which reflect variable leucosome fractions. The melting event itself as well as the variable melt fractions are related to the amount of aqueous fluids. At a given P and T, melt-fractions in rocks of minimum melt composition correlate with the amount of infiltrated aqueous fluids. In more granodioritic systems the water distributes between melt and newly crystallizing hydrous phases such as amphibole, such that the melt fraction correlates with the contents of H₂O, Al, and Ca in the system. Phase-equilibrium modelling indicates that the stabilization of amphibole leads to slightly lower melt fractions than in a granitic system at the same P, T and bulk water content. Phase-equilibrium models further indicate that in the Alpine migmatite belt: (1) several wt.% water (fluid:rock ratio of  1:30) are necessary to produce the inferred melt fraction; (2) the activity of H₂O in the fluid is high; and (3) spatially associated metapelites are unlikely as a source for the required aqueous fluids.

We present a tectonic scenario for the southern margin of the Central Alps, to which these migmatites are confined, and we propose that water was produced from dehydration reactions in metapelites in the Southern Alps. We model fluid production rates at the time of melting and demonstrate that the resulting fluid flow pattern is mainly controlled by the differences in permeability between the fluid source region and melting region. The proposed model requires strong gradients in temperature and permeability for the two tectonic blocks. This is consistent with the scenario involving indenter tectonics at the boundary between the Central and the Southern Alps in Oligocene times.