Modification of mineral inclusions in garnet under high-pressure conditions: experimental simulation and application to the carbonate-silicate rocks of Kokchetav massif

Abstract

Samples of poikoblastic garnets from the Escambray (Cuba), Maksyutov (Russia), and Sambagawa (Japan) eclogite complexes were heated to 700–1100 ºC at 3 to 4 GPa (30–40 kbar). Epidote, amphibole, and chlorite inclusions in the garnets underwent dehydration melting over the entire experimental PT range, which is typical of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic complexes. In the presence of aqueous fluids, carbonate minerals in the inclusions began to melt at 800 ºC and 3 GPa. Melting gave rise to new garnet, with the composition controlled by the chemistry of the primary inclusions and by PT run conditions. Garnet either grew directly from the melt or formed by replacement of host garnet walls leaving residual melt at the substitution front in the latter case. Partial melting of inclusions decreased the mechanical strength of the garnet host and led to local shearing. The experimental results were used to interpret observed features in two samples of a diamond-bearing and a diamond-free carbonate-silicate rocks from the Kumdy-Kol deposit in the Kokchetav Massif. Multiphase inclusions in both samples contain newly formed garnet with morphologies and compositions consistent with those produced experimentally under the given PT conditions. Minerals in the inclusions are compositionally similar to those in matrix, thus suggesting that melting may have occurred on a large scale.