Anthophyllit und Hornblende in einigen metamorphen Reaktionen

Abstract

Reactions which occur at the lower boundary of the hornblende-hornfels facies and in the so-called pyroxene-hornfels facies were experimentally investigated for an “ultrabasic” rock at 500, 1000 and 2000 bars H2O pressure. The starting material used was a mixture of natural chlorite, talc, tremolite and quartz such that its composition, except for surplus quartz, corresponded to that of an ultrabasic rock. The atomic ratio Fe2++Fe2+/Mg+Fe3++Fe3+ in the system was 0.16. The lower boundary of the hornblende-hornfels facies was defined by the formation of the orthorhombic amphibole anthophyllite and hornblende according to the following idealized reaction: chlorite+talc+tremolite+quartz ⇌ hornblende+anthophyllite+H2O In effect, this reaction consists of the two bivariant reactions: chlorite+tremolite+quartz ⇌ hornblende+anthophyllite+H2O talc+chlorite ⇌ anthophyllite+quartz+H2O The equilibrium temperatures obtained for the two reactions in the given system are practically the same and are as follows: 535±10°C at 500 bars H2O pressure 550±20°C at 1000 bars H2O pressure 560±10°C at 2000 bars H2O pressure 580±10°C at 4000 bars H2O pressure At 2000 bars and higher temperatures within the hornblende-hornfels facies, anorthite is formed in addition to hornblende and anthophyllite, probably according to the following reaction: hornblende1+quartz ⇌ hornblende2+anthophyllite+anorthite+H2O; because of the formation of anorthite it is to be expected that the hornblende in this case is poorer in aluminium than the hornblende at 500 and 1000 bars. Winkler (1967) suggests renaming the pyroxene-hornfels facies as K-feldspar-cordierite-hornfels facies which, in turn, is subdivided into a lower-temperature orthoamphibole subfacies without orthopyroxene and a higher-temperature orthopyroxene subfacies without orthoamphibole. The orthopyroxene subfacies itself may in its lower temperature part still carry hornblende which finally disappears in the higher temperature part. The appearance of orthopyroxene characterizes the transition from the orthoamphibole to the orthopyroxene subfacies of the K-feldspar-cordierite hornfels facies. The following reaction takes place at pressures lower than 2000 bars: hornblende1+anthophyllite ⇌ hornblende2+enstatite+anorthite+H2O Since at 2000 bars an Al-poor hornblende already exists in the hornblende-hornfels facies, it is very likely that here only anthophyllite breaks down to give enstatite+quartz+H2O. The equilibrium temperatures for these reactions which give rise to enstatite are: 650±10°C at 250 bars H2O pressure 690±10°C at 500 bars H2O pressure 715±10°C at 1000 bars H2O pressure 770±10°C at 2000 bars H2O pressure Only after an increase in temperature to about 710°C at 500 bars and about 770°C at 1000 bars does hornblende in the system investigated here break down completely according to the reaction: hornblende = enstatite+anorthite+diopside+H2O Except at very small H2O-pressures (see Fig. 3), there exists, therefore, a region within the orthopyroxene subfacies where hornblende, enstatite and anorthite coexist. As a result we have, as mentioned above, a lower-temperature and a higher-temperature part of the orthopyroxene subfacies, and it is only in the latter part that the parageneses correspond to the pyroxene-hornfels facies as stated by Eskola (1939). Summing up, the starting material consisting of chlorite, talc, tremolite plus quartz remains unchanged in the albite-epidote-hornfels facies; this gives rise in the hornblende-hornfels facies to the paragenesis hornblende+anthophyllite, or — at higher pressures — to hornblende+anthophyllite+anorthite. For the particular composition of the starting material, however, no reactions take place at the transition of the hornblende-hornfels facies to the orthoamphibole subfacies of the K-feldspar-cordierite-hornfels facies as this transition is typified by the breakdown of muscovite in the presence of quartz. However, at the end of the orthoamphibole subfacies the breakdown of anthophyllite, by which orthopyroxene is formed, heralds the onset of the orthopyroxene subfacies. In this subfacies — at $$P_{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}} {\text{O}}}$$ greater than about 300 bars — hornblende is still present and coexists with enstatite and anorthite, but with rising temperature hornblende breaks down to give way to the paragenesis enstatite+anorthite+diopside. The experimentally determined parageneses confirm known petrographic occurrences.