Mobility of components in metasomatic transformation and partial melting of gneisses: an example from Sri Lanka

Abstract

Reaction textures, fluid inclusions, and metasomatic zoning coupled with thermodynamic calculations have allowed us to estimate the conditions under which a biotite–hornblende gneiss from the Kurunegala district, Sri Lanka [hornblende (NMg=38–42) + biotite (NMg=42–44) + plagioclase + quartz + K-feldspar + ilmenite + magnetite] was transformed into patches of charnockite along shear zones and foliation planes. Primary fluid inclusion data suggest that two immiscible fluids, an alkalic supercritical brine and almost pure CO2, coexisted during the charnockitisation event and subsequent post-peak metamorphic evolution of the charnockite. These metasomatic fluids migrated through the amphibolite gneiss along shear zones and into the wallrock under peak metamorphic conditions of 700–750 °C, 5–6 kbar, and aflH2O=0.52–0.59. This resulted in the formation of charnockite patches containing the assemblage orthopyroxene (NMg=45–48) + K-feldspar (Or70–80) + quartz + plagioclase (An28) in addition to K-feldspar microveins along quartz and plagioclase grain boundaries. Remnants of the CO2-rich fluid were trapped as separate fluid inclusions. The charnockite patches show the following metasomatic zonation patterns: