Experimental study of amphibole interaction with H2O–NaCl Fluid at 900°C, 500 MPa: toward granulite facies melting and mass transfer

Abstract

Interaction between natural pargasite [Prg, SiO2 = 43.89 wt %, FeO/(FeO + MgO) = 0.35, (Na + K)A = 0.51] and H2O–NaCl fluid, whose composition (NaCl mole fraction) varied within the range X NaCl = NaCl/(NaCl + H2O) = 0–0.45, was experimentally studied in an internally heated apparatus at 900°C and 500 MPa. Natural pargasite begins to melt at a temperature 120–150°C lower than its synthetic analogue. In the presence of pure H2O, the subliquidus mineral assemblage involves amphibole Hbl 1, whose composition is closely similar to the starting Prg, clinopyroxene Cpx, calcic plagioclase Pl, and minor amounts of hercynite-magnetite spinel. With increasing X NaCl, the subliquidus assemblage systematically changed: calcic plagioclase disappeared and more Fe- rich amphibole Hbl 2 appeared at X NaCl = 0.07; Cpx disappeared at X NaCl = 0.14; and appearance of Na-Phl compositionally close to wonesite and almost complete disappearance of Hbl 1 was observed at X NaCl = 0.31. The composition of the melt also changed: its Na2O gradually increased (from 1.5 to 9–10 wt %), and CaO and SiO2 decreased(from 8.6 to 2 wt % and from 64 to 60 wt %, respectively, in recalculation to the anhydrous basis); at X NaCl ≥ 0.35, the melt was transformed from quartz- to nepheline-normative. The maximum Cl concentration of 1.2 wt % was measured in the melt poorest in SiO2. The experimental products contained spherical objects less than 10 μm in diameter that consisted of material that precipitated from the quenched fluid. These particles are richer than the melt in SiO2 (62–80 wt %) and poorer in Al2O3 (11–19 wt %) in experiments with X NaCl ≤ 0.24, but the differences between the compositions of the melt and particles decreased with increasing XNaCl. The relatively high concentrations of aluminosilicate material in the fluid is most likely explained by the high solubility of the melt in the fluid phase, with the formation in the fluid aqueous Si, Al–Si, Na–Al–Si, and other polymeric species. It is suggested that interaction of host rocks with such fluids, rich in granitic components, might be responsible for granitization (charnockitization) of mafic, and, particularly, ultramafic rocks described in the literature.