Effectiveness of Ti-in-amphibole thermometry and performance of different thermometers across lower continental crust up to UHT metamorphism

Abstract

Metabasites are important constituents of deep crustal sections and are the favored rock type for studying lower crustal amphibolite to granulite transitions. However, metapelites may develop a larger number of temperature-sensitive mineral assemblages and are particular useful when extreme ultrahigh temperature (UHT) conditions are envisaged. A recent calibration of the Ti-in-amphibole thermometer by Liao et al. (2021) was supposed to make thermometry on metabasites quick and easy to apply. However, their calibration is based on experiments which were not originally designed to investigate in detail the temperature dependence of Ti in amphibole. In addition, a possible effect of aTiO2 and/or pressure on the Ti content of amphibole was not fully taken into account. This resulted in a calibration uncertainty of ± 70 °C (2σ), much higher than that of other single-mineral thermometers. In this study we firstly test the newly calibrated Ti-in-amphibole thermometer across the mid to lower crustal section of the Ivrea–Verbano Zone (IVZ; NW Italy) and compare the performance of different thermometric techniques across the sequence. Ti-in-amphibole thermometry records increasing peak temperatures from amphibolite (600–700 °C), transition (750–800 °C) and granulite (850–950 °C) zones. Titanium content of amphibole may be modified by retrograde fluid influx returning temperatures c. 200–300 °C lower than in non-altered domains. The comparison reveals that Zr-in-rutile thermometer in pelitic granulites seems to be more prone to post-peak resetting than the Ti-in-amphibole thermometry in nearby mafic rocks. This behavior is also confirmed by amphibole analyses from other UHT localities, where the performance of Ti-in-amphibole thermometry is comparable with that of Al-in-orthopyroxene in pelitic granulites. However, Ti-in-amphibole temperatures are underestimated in rutile-bearing samples and this limitation is not solely restricted to rocks containing high H2O contents as previously thought. Derived constraints on the diffusivity of Ti through amphibole demonstrate the robustness of the Ti-in-amphibole thermometer to later thermal disturbances. However, ad-hoc experiments are still necessary to improve the accuracy and precision of calibration and to extend its applicability. This advance will make mafic granulites routine targets for studies devoted to understanding the regional extent of UHT metamorphism.