Coexisting amphiboles in an eclogite from the Western Alps: new constraints on the miscibility gap between sodic and calcic amphiboles

Abstract

Abstract Crystal‐chemical relationships between coexisting sodic and calcic amphiboles have been studied in eclogitic metagabbros from the Aosta Valley, Western Alps. Textural analysis gives evidence of three successive high‐pressure parageneses:1. Pre‐kinematic high‐grade blueschist assemblages, preserved as polymineralic inclusions in garnet cores and made of glaucophane and actinolite (stage A).2. Synkinematic eclogite assemblages, composed of garnet + omphacite + glaucophane ± actinolite ± white mica ° Clinozoisite + quartz + rutile (stage B).3. Post‐kinematic epitactic overgrowths of barroisitic amphibole on glaucophane and actinolite (stage C). P–T conditions of the eclogitic metamorphism have been estimated at around 500–550°C, 16 kbar.Glaucophane and actinolite coexist as discrete grains in stage A and B assemblages. This texture and the chemistry of the amphiboles unambiguously denotes the existence of a miscibility gap between sodic and calcic amphiboles (from NaM4= 0.80 in actinolite to NaM4= 1.70 in glaucophane at T= 500–550°C). A comparison with published analyses allows a new solvus along the glaucophane–actinolite join to be drawn.The later barroisitic amphibole (stage C) exhibits strong chemical zonation indicating disequilibrium growth. This amphibole cannot either be used to define a miscibility gap with glaucophane or actinolite or be considered as an intermediate stage between these two end‐members.