Coesite and diamond inclusions, exsolution microstructures and chemical patterns in ultrahigh pressure garnet from Ceuta (Northern Rif, Spain)

Abstract

Garnet from diamondiferous granulites of Ceuta (Betic–Rif cordillera, Spain and Morocco) contains a variety of inclusion types. To better understand the evolution of these rocks during the ultrahigh pressure event, two samples (1 and 2) were selected for the detailed study of garnet. Primary inclusions of apatite, quartz, coesite, rutile and retrograded pyroxene, and exsolution microstructures of rutile characterize garnet from sample 1, whereas exsolution microstructures of quartz, coesite, apatite and rutile, and inclusions formed from a melt characterize garnet from sample 2, indicating that peak metamorphic conditions were recorded by sample 2. In contrast, the chemical patterns of garnet suggest an inverse situation. Garnet from sample 1 has high Ca- and low Mn contents and high XMg, characteristic of growth at high pressure and temperature whereas garnet from sample 2 shows high Mn and low Ca contents and low XMg, characteristic of garnet formed at lower temperature and pressure. The contrasting compositions are interpreted as reflecting differences in the position of the metamorphic path followed by both samples relative to the solidus: Garnets from sample 1 are interpreted as formed below the solidus whereas garnets from sample 2 are interpreted as formed in the presence of a melt, which caused notable enrichment of garnet in Mn and depletion in Ca relative to garnet from sample 1. Due to extensive low-pressure Hercynian melting that caused generalized migmatization and melt mobilization, whole-rock composition of the samples notably changed, thus preventing the accurate estimation of the physical conditions characterizing the older ultrahigh pressure event. Estimations based on experimental determinations of the phosphorous solubility in garnet suggest that peak pressure conditions were on the order of 6–7GPa, which put the origin of the studied crustal rocks at depths greater than 200km.