High-pressure garnet-bearing migmatites from the Chepelare area, Central Rhodope

Abstract

The association of Ca-rich garnet and Na-rich plagioclase in migmatites is a proper indicator for high-pressure melting. Garnet-bearing leucosome and aplitoid gneiss from the Mechi Chal peak in the Chepelare area of the Central Rhodope comprise a mineral assemblage produced by high-pressure melting: Ca-rich garnet (grossular 22–33 %), Na-rich antiperthitic plagioclase (An15–20), perthitic K-feldspar, quartz, and minor back reaction biotite replacing garnet rims. The approximate conditions of melt crystallization are in the range 1.6–1.9 GPa/800–850°C that is well above the P–T estimates available for the Central Rhodope migmatites. The study focuses attention on the key role of the high-pressure melting in the Alpine metamorphic evolution of the Central Rhodope.