Almandine-rich Garnet Research Articles

The Alps as the main source of sand for the Late Miocene Lake Pannon (Pannonian Basin, Croatia)

The provenance of the Upper Miocene sandstones from the Sava and Drava depressions of the North Croatian Basin was investigated using petrographic, geochemical, and heavy mineral analyses, including Raman spectroscopy. The study of these sandstones, which represent important oil and gas reservoirs in Croatia, allowed reconstruction of the Late Miocene source-to-sink model of the Lake Pannon drainage system and the evolution of the southwestern Pannonian Basin. The studied feldspatho-litho-quartzose sandstones consist of a mixture of sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous detritus. Heavy-mineral assemblages are dominated by almandine-rich garnet with apatite, epidote, tourmaline, rutile, zircon, staurolite, and zoisite, indicative of low to medium-grade metamorphic source rocks. Higher concentrations of Ca and Mg than in the Upper Continental Crust standard (UCC) additionally reflect the abundance of limestone and dolostone rock fragments as well as carbonate cement. Geochemical compositional variations between sandstone samples from the Sava and Drava depressions primarily stem from diagenetic processes. CIX and alpha values indicate only minor weathering. Compositional features indicate an orogenic source located in the Eastern Alps and primarily represented by Austroalpine and Penninic nappes. This research offers a novel perspective to distinguish the Upper Miocene reservoirs from other sedimentary units within the basin, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the regional geological dynamics and supporting future exploration projects also related to energy transition.

OH incorporation and retention in eclogite-facies garnets from the Zermatt–Saas area (Switzerland) and their contribution to the deep water cycle

Abstract. The incorporation mechanisms of OH groups in garnet were investigated in a suite of high-pressure rocks from the Zermatt–Saas area (Switzerland) using a combination of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA). Investigated garnet specimens include grossular–andradite–uvarovite solid solutions in serpentinite and rodingite and almandine–grossular–pyrope–spessartine solid solutions in eclogite, mafic fels and meta-sediment. All rocks experienced the same peak metamorphic conditions corresponding to a burial depth of ∼ 80 km (∼ 540 ∘C, 2.3 GPa), allowing determination of the OH content in garnet as a function of rock type. The capacity for OH incorporation into garnet strongly depends on its composition. Andradite-rich (400–5000 µg g−1 H2O) and grossular-rich garnet (200–1800 µg g−1 H2O) contain at least 1 order of magnitude more H2O than almandine-rich garnet (< 120 µg g−1 H2O). Microscale analyses using FTIR and EPMA profiles and maps reveal the preservation of OH zoning throughout the metamorphic history of the samples. The OH content correlates strongly with Mn, Ca and Ti zoning and produces distinct absorption bands that are characteristic of multiple nano-scale OH environments. The use of 2D diffusion modelling suggests that H diffusion rates in these rocks is as low as log(D[m2 s−1]) = −24.5 at 540 ∘C. Data were collected for the main garnet-bearing rock types of the Zermatt–Saas area allowing a mass balance model of H2O to be calculated. The result shows that ∼ 3360 kg H2O km−1 (section of oceanic crust) yr−1 could be transported by garnet in the subducting slab beyond 80 km depth and contributed to the deep-Earth water cycle during the Eocene subduction of the Piemonte–Liguria Ocean.

Garnet EoS: a critical review and synthesis

All available volume and elasticity data for the garnet end-members grossular, pyrope, almandine and spessartine have been re-evaluated for both internal consistency and for consistency with experimentally measured heat capacities. The consistent data were then used to determine the parameters of third-order Birch–Murnaghan EoS to describe the isothermal compression at 298 K and a Mie–Grüneisen–Debye thermal-pressure EoS to describe the PVT behaviour. In a full Mie–Grüneisen–Debye EoS, the variation of the thermal Grüneisen parameter with volume is defined as gamma = {gamma }_{0}{left(frac{V}{{V}_{0}}right)}^{q}. For grossular and pyrope garnets, there is sufficient data to refine q which has a value of q = 0.8(2) for both garnets. For other garnets, the data do not constrain the value of q and we therefore refined a q-compromise version of the Mie–Grüneisen–Debye EoS in which both γ/V and the Debye temperature θ D are held constant at all P and T, leading to left( {{raise0.7exhbox{{partial C_{{text{V}}} }} !mathord{left/ {vphantom {{partial C_{{text{V}}} } {partial P}}}right.kern-nulldelimiterspace} !lower0.7exhbox{{partial P}}}} right)_{{text{T}}} = 0, parallel isochors and constant isothermal bulk modulus along an isochor. Final refined parameters for the q-compromise Mie–Grüneisen–Debye EoS are: PyropeAlmandineSpessartineGrossularV0 (cm3/mol)a113.13115.25117.92125.35K0T (GPa)169.3 (3)174.6 (4)177.57 (6)167.0 (2)K^{prime}_{{0{text{T}}}}4.55 (5)5.41 (13)4.6 (3)5.07 (8)θ D0771 (28)862 (22)860 (35)750 (13)γ01.185 (12)1.16 (fixed)1.18 (3)1.156 (6)for pyrope and grossular, the two versions of the Mie–Grüneisen–Debye EoS predict indistinguishable properties over the metamorphic pressure and temperature range, and the same properties as the EoS based on experimental heat capacities. The biggest change from previously published EoS is for almandine for which the new EoS predicts geologically reasonable entrapment conditions for zircon inclusions in almandine-rich garnets.

Insight into volcanic garnet: origin and significance of garnet as exemplified by a detailed petro-mineralogical study of the Breziny andesite (Central Slovakia Volcanic Field, Western Carpathians, Central Europe)

Almandine-rich garnets from a Neogene andesite of Slovakia can be divided into two main types. Garnet megacrysts are magmatic and form a chemically homogeneous group that contains, on average, about 5 wt% CaO and 4.5 wt% MgO as petrogenetically significant components. Garnets occurring in lithic fragments and garnets aggregated in garnetite lenses are characterised by Ca-poor cores (CaO <= 2 wt%) that testify for a two-step history and correspond respectively to inherited pre-anatectic and peritectic garnets. Available experimental data show that the composition of magmatic garnet megacrysts is compatible with a peritectic origin, through the fluid-absent melting of an immature metasedimentary protolith or a tonalitic gneiss. However, thermal evolution evidenced by zircons shielded in garnet rather suggests that garnet nucleated and grew by cooling of a hybrid magma pool, resulting from the complete mixing of crust- and mantle-derived melts.

Partial melting and P-T evolution of eclogite-facies metapelitic migmatites from the Egere terrane (Central Hoggar, South Algeria)

Abstract The Egéré terrane (Central Hoggar, South Algeria) includes mafic eclogite lenses boudinaged in metapelitic rocks with high-pressure relicts. These metapelites show textural records of partial melting, mainly primary melt inclusions enclosed in garnet crystals and later crystallized as “nanogranitoids.” Garnet porphyroblasts also contain inclusions of quartz, kyanite, phengite, biotite, staurolite, and rutile and show a smoothed prograde zoning with a Mn bell-shaped profile. The peak high-pressure metamorphic assemblage consists of garnet, kyanite, phengite (Si up to 6.36), quartz, rutile, ±ilmenite, ±feldspars, and melt. Phengite has partially transformed into fine-grained aggregates of biotite, plagioclase, and K-feldspar, a microstructure interpreted as resulting from a dehydration melting during exhumation. Phengite breakdown, along with other retrograde reactions, produced a late paragenesis with biotite, plagioclase, K-feldspar, quartz, almandine-rich garnet, ±sillimanite, ±staurolite, ±muscovite, and ilmenite. The thermodynamic modeling of P-T pseudosections allows us to constrain various steps of the metamorphic history: beginning of the garnet growth at 4.0 kbar and ~600 °C during prograde metamorphism; pressure peak at 14–20 kbar; temperature peak at 800–820 °C; formation of the last assemblage at 6.0–5.5 kbar and 725–685 °C. Partial melting likely started during the prograde path when crossing the H2O-saturated solidus, at T ≥ 650–670 °C and P ≥ 10 kbar, continued upon heating, up to the peak conditions, as well as during decompression. This evolution is interpreted in terms of subduction of the continental crust to mantle depths, followed by an exhumation through a clockwise P-T path during the Pan-African orogeny. The Egéré metapelites are relatively well-preserved eclogite-facies rocks, contain inclusions of “nanogranitoids” hitherto very little known in eclogite-facies metamorphic rocks, and represent an unusual trace of subduction within a Neoproterozoic orogen.

High-pressure and high-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction of complex garnet solid solutions up to 16\xa0GPa and 823\xa0K

P–V–T equations of state (EoS) of synthetic garnet solid solutions with ternary grossular–almandine–pyrope compositions relevant to the Earth’s upper mantle have been determined in order to examine whether garnet properties can be accurately interpolated from those of the end-members. Volumes have been measured as a function of pressure using single-crystal X-ray diffraction measurements performed inside a diamond anvil cell. Isothermal bulk moduli and first pressure derivatives were obtained by fitting the P–V data using a third-order Birch–Murnaghan equation of state. Two nominally eclogitic garnets (Prp47Alm19Grs31And3 and Prp53Alm19Grs18And3Sps7) were found to have isothermal bulk moduli (KT0) and pressure derivatives (K′T0) of 170(3) GPa, 4.1 (4) and 173 (2) GPa, 3.8 (5), respectively. KT0 and K′T0 for an almandine-rich garnet (Prp26Alm63Grs6And5) were found to be 175 (3) GPa and 3.7 (7), respectively. High-temperature compression experiments at 703 K and 823 K were carried out on sample Prp47Alm19Grs31And3, resulting in the high-temperature EoS term (∂KT/∂T)P = − 0.025 (6) and a thermal expansion (α0) of 2.86 (4) × 10−5 K−1. The results imply that the bulk moduli of aluminous garnet solid solutions stable at upper mantle conditions can be deduced from the properties of the end-members with minimal uncertainty. We show that the difference in the bulk sound velocity determined for a multicomponent eclogitic garnet composition and obtained for the same composition from the end-member properties is better than 0.5% for pressures and temperatures corresponding to Earth’s upper mantle.

Water Content in Garnet from Eclogites: Implications for Water Cycle in Subduction Channels

Garnet from eclogites often shows very heterogenous and extremely high hydroxyl concentration. Eight eclogite samples were selected from the Sulu ultrahigh-pressure terrane and the Sumdo high-pressure metamorphic belt (Lhasa). The mean hydroxyl concentration in pyrope-rich and almandine-rich garnet varies from 54 to 427 ppm H2O and increases with the retrogression degree of eclogites. TEM observations reveal nanometer-sized anthophyllite exsolutions and clinochlore inclusions in water-rich domains in garnet, where anthophyllite is partly replaced by clinochlore. Because of overlapping of the infrared stretching absorption bands for structural OH in garnet and chlorite, it is impossible to exclude contribution of chlorite inclusions to the estimated hydroxyl concentration in garnet. The broad band near 3400 cm−1 is attributed to molecular water and nanometer-sized chlorite inclusions. Anthophyllite exsolutions may be formed by decomposition of hydrous garnet from ultrahigh-pressure eclogites during exhumation. Significant amounts of water can be stored in garnet from massif eclogites in the forms of hydroxyl in garnet and nanometer-sized inclusions of anthophyllite and clinochlore, as well as fluid inclusions. Amphibolite facies retrograde metamorphism can significantly increase both hydroxyl concentration and water heterogeneity in garnet from massif eclogites. These nano-inclusions in garnet provide a window to trace the water cycle in subduction channels.

Carbonate-silicate inclusions in garnet as evidence for a carbonate-bearing source for fluids in leucocratic granitoids associated with granulites of the Southern Marginal Zone, Limpopo Complex, South Africa

We present a study of carbonate-bearing polyphase inclusions in garnets from leucocratic granitoids intruding metapelitic granulites of the Southern Marginal Zone (SMZ) of the Neoarchean Limpopo high-grade complex, South Africa, during the post-peak stage (2710–2650 Ma; U-Pb ages for zircons and monazites). Ternary feldspar thermometry suggests that the granitoid magma cooled from temperatures 800–900 °C at a pressure of ca. 6.5 kbar. Abundant CO2 fluid inclusions in quartz and T-XCO2 phase equilibria modeling via PERPLE_X imply action of an essentially carbonic fluid in the granitoids. Cores of almandine-rich garnet grains from the granitoids contain polyphase carbonate-bearing inclusions with a distinct negative crystal shape. The major carbonate in the inclusions is a strongly zoned magnesite-siderite variety, whereas pyrophyllite is the predominant silicate phase. Raman spectra of unexposed inclusions revealed a presence of CO2, as well as CH4 and H2O. The carbonate-bearing inclusions coexist with larger polyphase inclusions composed of biotite, quartz, K-feldspar, plagioclase, sillimanite, which are interpreted as relics of granitic melts. Modeling the mineral assemblage preserved within the carbonate-bearing inclusions shows that their present mineral and chemical compositions are a product of interaction of the trapped aqueous‑carbonic fluid with host garnet during cooling below 400 °C. Despite strong modifications, the inclusions bear evidence for initial saturation of the fluid with Mg‑carbonate. This is taken as an evidence for an origin of the fluids by devolatilization of the Mg-rich carbonate-bearing ultrabasic greenstone rocks of the Kaapvaal Craton that were buried under the SMZ. Being generated at temperatures between 650 and 700 °C, the fluid subsequently participated in anatexis and coexisted with the granite magma during exhumation and interaction of the SMZ granulites with cratonic rocks.

Trace and Rare Earth Elements chemistry of detrital garnets in the SE Alps and Outer Dinarides flysch basins: An important tool to better define the source areas of sandstones

Abstract Garnet is one of the most abundant heavy minerals present in the Cretaceous – Eocene flysch deposits of the Southeastern Alps and Outer Dinarides (Julian, Brkini and Istrian basins). About 300 detrital garnets from the Cretaceous-Eocene flysch deposits of the Southeastern Alps have been analysed by means of electron microprobe and LA-ICP-MS. In the Julian and Istrian basins, supplies are from amphibolite-facies rocks and mafic and ultramafic metamorphic rocks, while in the Brkini basin the latter are almost missing. Moreover, in the Julian and Istrian basins, supplies from skarns, very low-grade metabasites, or from ultra-high temperature metamorphosed calc-silicate granulites are present. Among these different groups, LA-ICP-MS analyses showed that trace element content can be very different in almandine-rich garnets from the different sources. In particular, the source that supplied the Julian Basin is significantly different from that of the Istrian Basin. From the Cretaceous to the Palaeocene the main supplies of Bi-type garnets derived from an area where feldspar-free garnet-bearing rocks were exposed. Successively, Bi-type garnets were supplied from an area where feldspar-garnet-bearing rocks were exposed. The presence of garnets from feldspar-free garnet-bearing rocks in the Brkini and Istrian basins can be ascribed to both recycling of material from the Julian Basin as well as direct input from the same areas that supplied the Julian Basin.

The potential of detrital garnet as a provenance proxy in the Central Swiss Alps

Detrital garnet is a promising candidate to reliably fingerprint sediment sources in the Alps, which has so far been complicated by the wide range and similarity of some of the lithologies. Garnet is present in most Alpine sediments, is easy to identify, is fairly stable and, most importantly, reflects the type and the metamorphic grade of its source rock in its chemical composition. This study aims to establish fingerprints based on detrital garnet composition for the most important tectonic units of the Central Alps, including European, Penninic and Adriatic basement rocks and their respective metasedimentary covers. Sediments collected from modern rivers, which drain representative portions of the individual tectonic units, contain a natural mixture of the various garnet populations present in each unit. We selected six catchments in southwestern Switzerland draining the External massifs, Helvetic sediments and the Penninic nappe stack at the transition of Alpine greenschist- to amphibolite-facies metamorphism in order to test the variability of Alpine garnets and the role of inherited (pre-Alpine) garnets. Extraordinary grossular- and spessartine-rich garnets of the External massifs, which experienced greenschist facies metamorphism, are clearly distinguishable from generally almandine-rich garnets supplied by the higher-grade metamorphic Penninic nappe stack. The variable pyrope, grossular and spessartine components of these almandine-rich garnets can be used to further distinguish pre-Alpine, Alpine eclogite-facies and low-grade metasedimentary garnets. This provenance proxy has the potential to be used for reconstructing sediment sources, transport and dispersal patterns in a variety of settings throughout the Alpine sedimentary record.

Oxygen isotope thermometry using quartz inclusions in garnet

AbstractOxygen isotope ratios of quartz inclusions (QI) within garnet from granulite and amphibolite facies gneisses in the Adirondack Mountains, NY were analysed and used to determine metamorphic temperatures. Primary QI for eight of 12 samples have δ18O values significantly lower than matrix quartz (MQ). The primary QI retain δ18O values representative of thermal conditions during garnet crystallization, whereas the δ18O values of MQ were raised by diffusive exchange with other matrix minerals (e.g. mica and feldspar) during cooling. The δ18O differences between QI and MQ show that garnet (a mineral with slow diffusion of oxygen) can armour QI from isotopic exchange with surrounding matrix, even during slow cooling. These differences between δ18O in MQ and QI can further be used to test cooling rates by Fast Grain Boundary diffusion modelling. Criteria for identifying QI that preserve primary compositions and are suitable for thermometry were developed based on comparative tests. Relations between δ18O and inclusion size, distance of inclusion to host–garnet rim, core–rim zonation of individual inclusions, and presence or absence of petrological features (healed cracks in QI, inclusions in contact with garnet cracks lined by secondary minerals, and secondary minerals along the inclusion grain boundary) were investigated. In this study, 61% of QI preserve primary δ18O and 39% were associated with features that were linked to reset δ18O values. If δ18O in garnet is homogeneous and inclusions are removed, laser‐fluorination δ18O values of bulk garnet are more precise, more accurate, and best for thermometry. Intragrain δ18O(Grt) profiles measured in situ by ion microprobe show no δ18O zonation. Almandine–rich garnet (Alm60–75) from each sample was measured by laser‐fluorination mass‐spectrometry (LF‐MS) for δ18O and compared with ion microprobe measurements of δ18O in QI for thermometry. The Δ18O(Qz–Grt) values for Adirondack samples range from 2.66 to 3.24‰, corresponding to temperatures of 640–740 °C (A[Qz–Alm] = 2.71). Out of 12 samples that were used for thermometry, nine are consistent with previous estimates of peak temperature (625–800 °C) based on petrological and carbon–isotope thermometry for regional granulite and upper amphibolite facies metamorphism. The three samples that disagree with independent thermometry for peak metamorphism are from the anorthosite–mangerite–charnockite–granite suite in the central Adirondacks and yield temperatures of 640–665 °C, ~100 °C lower than previous estimates. These low temperatures could be interpreted as thermal conditions during late (post‐peak) crystallization of garnet on the retrograde path.

Cr-rich rutile: A powerful tool for diamond exploration

Mineralogical studies and U–Pb dating have been carried out on rutile included in peridotitic and eclogitic garnets from the Internatsionalnaya pipe, Mirny field, Siberian craton. We also describe a unique peridotitic paragenesis (rutile+forsterite+enstatite+Cr-diopside+Cr-pyrope) preserved in diamond from the Mir pipe, Mirny field. Compositions of rutile from the heavy mineral concentrates of the Internatsionalnaya pipe and rutile inclusions in crustal almandine-rich garnets from the Mayskaya pipe (Nakyn field), as well as from a range of different lithologies, are presented for comparison. Rutile from cratonic mantle peridotites shows characteristic enrichment in Cr, in contrast to lower-Cr rutile from crustal rocks and off-craton mantle. Rutile with Cr2O3>1.7wt% is commonly derived from cratonic mantle, while rutiles with lower Cr2O3 may be both of cratonic and off-cratonic origin.New analytical developments and availability of standards have made rutile accessible to in situ U–Pb dating by laser ablation ICP-MS. A U–Pb age of 369±10Ma for 9 rutile grains in 6 garnets from the Internatsionalnaya pipe is consistent with the accepted eruption age of the pipe (360Ma). The equilibrium temperatures of pyropes with rutile inclusions calculated using Ni-in-Gar thermometer range between ~725 and 1030°C, corresponding to a depth range of ca ~100–165km. At the time of entrainment in the kimberlite, garnets with Cr-rich rutile inclusions resided at temperatures well above the closure temperature for Pb in rutile, and thus U–Pb ages on mantle-derived rutile most likely record the emplacement age of the kimberlites.The synthesis of distinctive rutile compositions and U–Pb dating opens new perspectives for using rutile in diamond exploration in cratonic areas.

Garnet–chloritoid–paragonite metapelite from the Chuac us Complex (Central Guatemala): new evidence for continental subduction in the North America–Caribbean plate boundary

We describe for the first time the presence of high-pressure metapelites in the northern Chuacus Complex of Central Guatemala. Garnet–chloritoid–paragonite-bearing pelitic schist occurs in a predominantly metasedimentary sequence consisting of intercalated garnet paragneisses, pelitic schists, impure marbles, granitic orthogneisses and minor garnet amphibolites, an association that denotes a passive continental margin origin. The metapelite we have studied is mainly composed of almandine-rich garnet porphyroblasts in a schistose matrix consisting of phengite, paragonite, quartz, chloritoid and rutile, with minor amounts of chlorite, epidote, Fe–Ti oxides and sporadic kyanite. The metapelite also includes fine-grained paragonite + quartz and paragonite + epidote aggregates, which resemble jadeite and lawsonite pseudomorphs, respectively. A late staurolite-bearing assemblage overprints the high-pressure paragenesis. We have used a phase-equilibria modeling approach to constrain the P–T conditions of metamorphism. Equilibrium phase diagrams were calculated in the system MnNCKFMASHTO (MnO–Na 2 O–CaO–K 2 O–FeO–MgO–Al 2 O 3 –SiO 2 –H 2 O–TiO 2 –Fe 2 O 3 ) for three hypothetical effective bulk-compositions. The compositions of garnet, chloritoid and phengite cores indicate they crystallized during an early stage of prograde high-pressure metamorphism at 20–21 kbar and 500–540 °C. The composition of garnet rims constrains the P–T peak conditions to ~19.5–20 kbar and 580–600 °C. Both the zoning pattern of the garnet and the calculated P–T path indicate that the studied metapelite could be formed during a single progressive metamorphic event along a subduction geothermal gradient of 7–9 °C/km. The retrograde path is less well constrained, although decreasing pressure coupled with a slight drop of temperature are indicated by the absence of biotite and the growth of post-peak chlorite and epidote. Moreover, a late-stage heating event is required, in order for the metapelite to reach the stability field of staurolite at 7–8 kbar and 590–620 °C. The occurrence of this high-pressure metapelite implies that high-pressure metamorphism in the Chuacus Complex must have extended at least 10 km further to the north than previously thought. We propose that both Chuacus Complex and Rabinal Granite show a succession of decreasing P–T peak conditions towards the north, which may preserve in part the original thermal structure of the subduction zone in the southern margin of North America during the Cretaceous.

An investigation of local Fe2 + order-disorder in a mantle grospydite garnet using paramagnetically shifted 27Al and 29Si MAS NMR resonances

An attempt is made for the first time to measure the local (short-range) distribution of the X-cations in a ternary almandine-pyrope-grossular garnet solid solution using paramagnetically shifted NMR resonances. Initial 27 Al MAS NMR measurements made on an almandine-rich garnet of composition Alm 45 Prp 42 Grs 13 proved to be uninterpretable because of the high Fe 2+ concentration. Thus, a grossular-rich and almandine-poorer garnet occurring in a mantle grospydite xenolith taken from the Roberts Victor kimberlite, South Africa, was chosen for detailed 27 Al and 29 Si MAS NMR spectroscopic study. The crystals are compositionally homogeneous based on electron microprobe analysis, showing no measurable zoning, and have the formula Alm 23 Prp 30 Grs 47 [(Fe 0.23 Mg 0.30 Ca 0.47 ) 3 Al 2 Si 3 O 12 ]. The garnet is cubic with the conventional space group Ia 3 d . The composition and, also importantly, the lack of measurable zoning or compositional heterogeneity, as well as the mode of occurrence, make this garnet a key sample for investigating the possible presence of short-range X cation order. The 27 Al MAS NMR spectrum shows a very broad asymmetric resonance located between about 100 and −50 ppm. It consists of a number of individual closely overlapping paramagnetically shifted resonances, which are difficult to analyze quantitatively. The 29 Si MAS NMR spectrum, showing better resolution, has two broad but observable resonances termed S0 and S4. S0 is located between about −60 ppm and −160 ppm and S4 is centered at roughly 95 ppm. Both S0 and S4 are composite resonances containing many overlapping individual peaks. S0 contains information on local X-cation configurations, where an isolated SiO 4 group in the garnet structure does not have any edge-shared Fe 2+ -containing dodecahedra. S4 involves various local configurations where there is one edge-shared dodecahedron containing Fe 2+ . The measured intensity of the resonances S0 and S4 are roughly similar to calculated intensities assuming random Fe 2+ -cation mixing. These first results do not indicate any overt short-range X-cation order in grospydite garnet.

Grain-size dependence of garnet composition revealed by provenance signatures of modern stream sediments from the western Hohe Tauern (Austria)

Heavy minerals are valuable indicators about the geological framework in the source area. The heavy mineral garnet is one of the most widespread heavy minerals in orogenic sediments and its geochemistry provides important information about metamorphic conditions. The application of heavy minerals and garnet geochemistry for sedimentary provenance analysis is tested for modern stream sediments collected along three rivers draining the Eclogite Zone and adjacent geological source units of the western Hohe Tauern area in the central Eastern European Alps. For comparison with the stream sediments, rock outcrops exposed in this area were also sampled. The chosen area is very well investigated and provides an excellent place to constrain the relations between source rocks and sediment in first-order drainages. The influence of grain size is studied in detail by considering grain-size fractions ranging from coarse silt to coarse sand (32 to 1000μm). In all grain-size fractions the heavy mineral assemblages are characterised to a variable extent by epidote, zoisite, garnet, and green calcic amphibole. In the smaller grain-size fraction apatite is more frequent, whereas in the coarser grain-size fractions an increase of green calcic amphibole and garnet can be observed. Electron microprobe analysis of detrital garnet shows the dominance of almandine-rich garnet. Stream sediments within and downstream of the Eclogite Zone show an increase of pyrope-rich garnets. Interestingly, in all samples, grossular-rich garnets are more frequent in the smaller grain sizes and pyrope-rich garnets are more frequent in the coarser grain sizes. This is controlled by the original finer size distribution of grossular in the source rocks rather than being a hydraulic effect. The heavy mineral assemblages and garnet geochemical data reflect the geological setting of the study area, hence confirming the general strength of these methods in sedimentary provenance analysis. However, the data underline strong grain-size control on sediment composition including single-grain compositional variations.

Provenance of the Upper Cretaceous to Eocene Gosau Group around and beneath the Vienna Basin (Austria and Slovakia)

Chemistry of detrital garnets, chrome spinels and tourmalines of 30 selected samples in combination with the general heavy mineral distribution from 523 sandstone samples of the Upper Cretaceous to Eocene Gosau Group of the eastern part of the Eastern Alps and the western West Carpathians result in an advanced picture of sedimentary provenance and palaeogeographic evolution of that area. Garnets from Coniacian to Campanian sediments are partly derived from a metamorphic sole remnant of Neotethys ophiolites to the south. Tectonically high ophiolitic nappes, later on completely eroded, supplied mainly the paleogeographically southern Grunbach and Glinzendorf Gosau basins with ultramafic detritus, represented by chrome spinels of a mixed harzburgite/lherzolite composition, whereas no direct indications for a northern ophiolitic source, the Penninic accretionary wedge to the north of the Gosau basins, could be found. In the younger part of the Gosau basins fill, from the Maastrichtian to the Eocene, only almandine-rich garnets could be observed suggesting a southern provenance from low-grade metamorphic metapelites of exhuming Austroalpine metamorphic complexes. Ophiolite detritus is reduced in the Maastrichtian and disappears in the Paleogene.

Electrical conductivity of Alm82Py15Grs3 almandine-rich garnet determined by impedance spectroscopy at high temperatures and high pressures

Under conditions of 1.0 ~ 3.0 GPa, 973 ~ 1273 K and frequency range from 10- 2 to 106 Hz, the electrical conductivity of Fe-rich garnet single crystal is measured by virtue of YJ-3000 t multi-anvil high-pressure apparatus and Solartron-1260 Impedance/Gain-phase Analyzer. A series of solid oxygen buffers including Fe3O4 + Fe2O3, Ni + NiO, Fe + Fe3O4, Fe + FeO and Mo + MoO2 are chosen to control oxygen fugacity. Two branches of impedance spectra are obtained in the complex impedance plane, one (102-106 Hz) showing a semicircular arc originated from the origin in the Nyquist and Bode diagram, another small tail in the low frequency of 10- 2-102 Hz. Experimental results show that with the rise of temperature (T), electrical conductivity (σ) tends to increase, and Log σ and 1/T satisfies the Arrhenius relation. Under control of a Ni + NiO oxygen buffer, with the rise of pressure, electrical conductivity decreases, and the pre-exponential factor also reduces, while the activation enthalpy rises, activation energy and activation volume of charge carriers are determined as 1.29 ± 0.12 eV and 2.01 ± 0.57 cm3/mol, respectively. The dominant electrical conduction mechanism of anhydrous almandine-rich garnet is the Fe2 + → Fe3 + hopping of small polaron. At 3.0 GPa, electrical conductivity of almandine-rich garnet increases with increasing oxygen fugacity. The electrical conductivity of this sample can be represented by the relation Log10σ=2.67±0.05+0.054±0.003×log10fO2+−5446±68T, where fO2 is the oxygen fugacity (bar) and T is the absolute temperature (K). At a typical temperature and pressure in the upper mantle, the influence of oxygen fugacity is substantial.

Multicomponent diffusion in garnets I: general theoretical considerations and experimental data for Fe–Mg systems

We have carried out a combined theoretical and experimental study of multicomponent diffusion in garnets to address some unresolved issues and to better constrain the diffusion behavior of Fe and Mg in almandine–pyrope-rich garnets. We have (1) improved the convolution correction of concentration profiles measured using electron microprobes, (2) studied the effect of thermodynamic non-ideality on diffusion and (3) explored the use of a mathematical error minimization routine (the Nelder-Mead downhill simplex method) compared to the visual fitting of concentration profiles used in earlier studies. We conclude that incorporation of thermodynamic non-ideality alters the shapes of calculated profiles, resulting in better fits to measured shapes, but retrieved diffusion coefficients do not differ from those retrieved using ideal models by more than a factor of 1.2 for most natural garnet compositions. Diffusion coefficients retrieved using the two kinds of models differ only significantly for some unusual Mg–Mn–Ca-rich garnets. We found that when one of the diffusion coefficients becomes much faster or slower than the rest, or when the diffusion couple has a composition that is dominated by one component (>75 %), then profile shapes become insensitive to one or more tracer diffusion coefficients. Visual fitting and numerical fitting using the Nelder-Mead algorithm give identical results for idealized profile shapes, but for data with strong analytical noise or asymmetric profile shapes, visual fitting returns values closer to the known inputs. Finally, we have carried out four additional diffusion couple experiments (25–35 kbar, 1,260–1,400 °C) in a piston-cylinder apparatus using natural pyrope- and almandine-rich garnets. We have combined our results with a reanalysis of the profiles from Ganguly et al. (1998) using the tools developed in this work to obtain the following Arrhenius parameters in D = D0 exp{–[Q1bar + (P–1)ΔV+]/RT} for DMg* and DFe*: Mg: Q1bar = 228.3 ± 20.3 kJ/mol, D0 = 2.72 (±4.52) × 10−10 m2/s, Fe: Q1bar = 226.9 ± 18.6 kJ/mol, D0 = 1.64 (±2.54) × 10−10 m2/s. ΔV+ values were assumed to be the same as those obtained by Chakraborty and Ganguly (1992).

New occurrences of jadeitite, jadeite quartzite and jadeite-lawsonite quartzite in the Dominican Republic, Hispaniola: petrological and geochronological overview

New occurrences of jadeitite and jadeite-rich rocks have been discovered in the Rio San Juan Complex (RSJC) of the northern Dominican Republic in serpentinite melanges associated with a former intra-oceanic subduction zone. Allochthonous blocks in lag deposits developed on the melange outcrops or boulders in river beds are common. A very unusual feature for the RSJC is the occurrence of concordant layers and discordant veins of cm to dm thickness in blocks of jadeite±lawsonite- or omphacite-garnet-bearing blueschist of the melange. Two suites of jadeite-rich rocks can be recognized. The first is represented by quartz-free jadeitite s.str . (>90 vol% jadeite) found so far only as blocks and boulders. The second suite comprises quartz-bearing jadeitite s.str . grading into jadeitite quartzite (JQ), jadeite-lawsonite quartzite (JLQ) and jadeite-free lawsonite quartzite (LQ). The second suite is found both as blocks and boulders as well as layers and veins in blueschist blocks. One single occurrence of a cross-cutting omphacitite vein in blueschist has also been observed. Additional important phases so far found in both suites are omphacite, phengite, glaucophane, epidote, albite, calcite, titanite and zircon. Apatite and pumpellyite have only been identified in quartz-free jadeitite s.str .; almandine-rich garnet has so far been observed only in JLQ. The two suites of jadeite-bearing rocks occur in various shades of green, are fine- to coarse-grained, and usually equigranular. Mineral distribution is commonly homogeneous, but may be patchy in JLQ, giving this rock type a distinctly mottled appearance. Cathodoluminescence (CL) images show oscillatory zoning patterns in jadeite, zircon, apatite and calcite; this is evidence for crystallization from an aqueous fluid under open-system conditions. Zircons separated from a sample of quartz-free jadeitite s.str . contain primary inclusions of high-pressure matrix minerals such as jadeite and omphacite, indicating coeval zircon growth. The cores of the zircons yield ages of 114.9 ± 2.9 Ma, thus defining a crystallization age close to the initiation of subduction in the Rio San Juan Complex, when “warm” geotherms of ≈15°/km prevailed. These ages are in contrast with the crystallization ages of the blueschists hosting the second, quartz-bearing suite of jadeite-rich rocks. These range from 80 to 62 Ma, towards the end of subduction-zone activity at ≈55 Ma and “cool” geotherms of 8–9 °C/km. For the younger quartz-bearing suite, the combination of phengite compositions with the available P-T-t paths of the host blueschists suggests crystallization temperatures of ≈ 350 to ≈ 500 °C at minimum pressures of 15–16 kbar. The P-T conditions for the older quartz-free suite are more difficult to constrain, but the combination of phengite compositions with the prevailing geotherms in the young and warm subduction zone suggest minimum conditions of at least 500 °C and 11 kbar. However, temperatures and pressures as high as 600 °C and 15 kbar, as documented for jadeitites of similar age in the same subduction zone exposed in neighbouring eastern Cuba, are possible. Jadeitites and jadeite-rich rocks of the RSJC are thus interpreted to have crystallized over a time-span of ≥ 60 Myr at initial temperatures of at least 500 °C, later evolving down to 350 °C in a single, thermally self-organizing, cooling subduction zone. The P-T conditions suggested for the younger quartz-bearing suite correlate well with those of jadeitite formation in Guatemala south of the Motagua Fault Zone, the only other occurrence world-wide where jadeitite with both lawsonite and quartz appears to be common. Further evidence is needed to corroborate that the older quartz-free suite represents another example of rare high-temperature jadeitite as documented in Cuba.

Experimental investigation on low-degree dehydration partial melting of biotite gneiss and phengite-bearing eclogite at 2 GPa

The ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) eclogite and gneiss from the Dabie (大别)-Sulu (苏鲁) oro- gen experienced variable degrees of partial melting during exhumation. We report here dehydration partial melting experiments of biotite gneiss and phengite-bearing eclogite at 2 GPa and 800-950 ℃. Our results show that the partial melting of gneiss is associated with the breakdown of biotite into almandine-rich garnet starting at 900 ℃. About 10% granitic melt can be produced at 950 ℃. In con- trast, the partial melting of phengite-bearing eclogite exists at slightly lower temperatures (800-850 ℃). The melt fraction is in general more in biotite gneiss than in phengite-bearing eclogite under similar pressure and temperature conditions. Both melts are rich in silica and alkali, but poor in FeO, MgO and CaO. These results suggest that low-degree partial melting of gneiss and eclogite is often associated with dehydration of hydrous mineral, such as micas. The dehydration temperature and melt composi- tion can place important constraints on the partial melting phenomena (granitic leucosome and multi-phase mineral inclusions) recorded in UHP rocks.