The stability and origin of sodicgedrite in ultrahigh-temperature Mg-Al granulites: a case study from the Gondwana suture in southern India

Abstract

Mg-Al-rich rocks from the Palghat-Cauvery Shear Zone System (PCSZ) within the Gondwana suture zone in southern India contain sodicgedrite as one of the prograde to peak phases, stable during T = 900–990°C ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism. Gedrite in these samples is Mg-rich (Mg/[Fe + Mg] = X Mg = 0.69–0.80) and shows wide variation in Na2O content (1.4–2.3 wt.%, NaA = 0.33–0.61 pfu). Gedrite adjacent to kyanite pseudomorph is in part mantled by garnet and cordierite. The gedrite proximal to garnet shows an increase in NaA and AlIV from the core (NaA = 0.40–0.51 pfu, AlIV = 1.6–1.9 pfu) to the rim (NaA = 0.49–0.61 pfu, AlIV = 2.0–2.2 pfu), suggesting the progress of the following dehydration reaction: Ged + Ky → Na-Ged + Grt + Crd + H2O. This reaction suggests that, as the reactants broke down during the prograde stage, the remaining gedrite became enriched in Na to form sodicgedrite, which is regarded as a unique feature of high-grade rocks with Mg-Al-rich and K–Si-poor bulk chemistry. We carried out high-P-T experimental studies on natural sodicgedrite and the results indicate that gedrite and melt are stable phases at 12 kbar and 1,000°C. However, the product gedrite is Na-poor with only <0.13 wt.% Na2O (NaA = 0.015–0.034 pfu). In contrast, the matrix glass contains up to 8.5 wt.% Na2O, suggesting that, with the progressive melting of the starting material, Na was partitioned into the melt rather than gedrite. The results therefore imply that the occurrence of sodicgedrite in the UHT rocks of the PCSZ is probably due to the low H2O activity during peak P-T conditions that restricted extensive partial melting in these rocks, leaving Na partitioned into the solid phase (gedrite). The occurrence of abundant primary CO2-rich fluid inclusions in this rock, which possibly infiltrated along the collisional suture during the final amalgamation of the Gondwana supercontinent, strengthens the inference of low water activity.