Porphyroblast Growth Research Articles

Chromian minerals and talc veins in the metasandstones of the Ochi nappe, southern Evia, Greece: The role of fluids in retrograde metamorphism during exhumation

Unusual minerals were formed during the retrograde metamorphism of high-pressure metamorphic rocks in the Ochi nappe, southern Evia, Greece, specifically widespread sub-mm-scale talc veins and chromian varieties of chlorite, phengite, biotite and allanite. Albite-quartz-calcite and calcite-quartz schists are cut by common 10–200 μm wide veins of talc, rimmed by Cr-chlorite with <0.6 apfu Cr. Hydraulic fracturing by fluids derived from dehydration of subducted chromite-rich serpentinite in the Ochi nappe created fractures in the schists where talc precipitated. Mineral chemistry and textures are related to regional metamorphic and tectonic phases, which included Eocene blueschist metamorphism followed by Oligocene syn-orogenic wedge extrusion. The overprint resulted in retrograde growth of albite porphyroblasts, emplacement of talc veins, and formation of phengite with <0.08 apfu Cr and later biotite with <0.3 apfu Cr. Late Oligocene shearing flattened many pre-existing minerals. Neogene exhumation within the North Cycladic detachment system produced decompression fractures that nucleated precipitation of allanite (some with <0.4 apfu Cr and > 0.8 apfu REE), apatite, titanite and zircon, reflecting the availability of halogen-rich fluids. The evolution of the retrograde metamorphic minerals assemblages can thus be tracked, with pervasive Cr-Mg infiltration in the Oligocene, and more focussed Miocene metasomatism by halogen-rich fluids.

Metamorphic P–T paths of Archean granulite facies metasedimentary lithologies from the eastern Beartooth Mountains of the northern Wyoming Province, Montana, USA: constraints from quartz-in-garnet (QuiG) Raman elastic barometry, geothermobarometry, and thermodynamic modeling

Abstract. Metamorphic pressure and temperature (P–T) paths in late-Archean high-grade rocks of the eastern Beartooth Mountains of Montana (USA), a portion of the Wyoming Province, are established by a combination of imaging, analytical, and modeling approaches. Garnet inclusion mechanical and chemical thermobarometry, applied to several granulite-facies migmatites and an iron formation, is particularly useful in constraining the prograde P–T conditions. Quartz-in-garnet (QuiG) elastic Raman barometry was used on quartz inclusions in garnet for all samples studied. For a smaller subset of four representative samples, QuiG constraints were used in conjunction with Ti-in-quartz (TitaniQ) and Ti-in-biotite (TiB) thermometry to establish unique prograde inclusion entrapment P–T conditions. Ti measurements of garnet hosts and cathodoluminescence (CL) imagery of inclusion and matrix quartz grains were employed to check for Ti loss/diffusion. Lastly, inclusion studies were supplemented with thermodynamic modeling and matrix chemical thermobarometry to examine garnet nucleation temperatures and peak metamorphic conditions. Disagreement between the volume strain and elastic tensor methods used to calculate quartz inclusion pressures implies that quartz inclusions studied are under strong differential strain. Prograde entrapment results from the two inclusion thermobarometry pairs used are distinct: 0.55–0.70 GPa and 475–580 ∘C (QuiG–TitaniQ) versus 0.85–1.10 GPa and 665–780 ∘C (QuiG–TiB). Garnet modal isopleth modeling indicates that the majority of garnet growth occurred at ∼ 450–600 ∘C, implying that P–T conditions of garnet growth are interpreted to be most reliably represented by QuiG–TitaniQ inclusion thermobarometry. Normal distributions of calculated QuiG inclusion pressures and the concentration of mineral inclusions in garnet cores suggest that the majority of garnet inclusions were entrapped during a single stage of porphyroblast growth. A general lack of evidence from CL imagery for post-entrapment mechanical or chemical modifications to quartz inclusions suggests that quartz inclusions used to calculate entrapment P–T largely preserve their initial entrapment conditions. Biotite inclusions preserve higher temperatures than quartz inclusions in the same garnets, likely due to Fe–Mg exchange with garnet hosts that allowed Ti content of biotite to change after entrapment. Pseudosection modeling and matrix chemical thermobarometry of multiple, independent lithologies examined during inclusion studies suggest a range of peak granulite facies conditions of ∼ 0.50–0.70 GPa and 730–800 ∘C. Peak metamorphic P–T modeling work from this study, together with evidence of regional amphibolite facies overprinting in immediately adjacent samples, indicates an overall clockwise metamorphic P–T path with nearly isobaric prograde heating to peak temperatures. Interpreted P–T path reconstructions are consistent with metamorphism developed in a more modern-style continental arc subduction zone and are observed in portions of the northern Wyoming Province as exemplified by metasupracrustal lithologies of the eastern Beartooth Mountains.

Lithium in garnet as a tracer of subduction zone metamorphic reactions: The record in ultrahigh-pressure metapelites at Lago di Cignana, Italy

Abstract Lithium is of great interest as a tracer of metamorphic reactions and related fluid-mineral interactions because of its potential to isotopically fractionate during inter- and intracrystalline diffusional processes. Study of its transfer through subduction zones, based on study of arc volcanic and metamorphic rocks, can yield insight regarding ocean-to-mantle chemical cycling. We investigated major- and trace-element concentrations and δ7Li in garnet in ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) Lago di Cignana metasedimentary rocks, relating these observations to reconstructed prograde devolatilization history. In all garnet crystals we studied, heavy rare earth elements (HREEs), Y, and Li showed strong zoning, with elevated concentrations in cores (15–50 ppm Li) and marked high-concentration anomalies (up to 117 ppm Li, 5500 ppm Y; little or no major-element shift) as growth annuli, in which some crystals showed subtle elevation in δ7Li greater than analytical error of ~3% (2σ). Rutile inclusions appeared abruptly at annuli and outward toward rims, accompanied by inclusions of a highly zoned, Ca- and rare earth element–rich phase and decreased Nb concentrations in garnet. These relationships are interpreted to reflect prograde garnet-forming reaction(s), in part involving titanite breakdown to stabilize rutile, which resulted in delivery of more abundant Y and HREEs at surfaces of growing garnet crystals to produce annuli. Co-enrichments in Li and Y + REEs are attributed to mutual incorporation via charge-coupled substitutions; thus, increased Li uptake was a passive consequence of elevated concentrations of Y + REEs. The small-scale fluctuations in δ7Li (overall range of ~9%) observed in some crystals may correlate with abrupt shifts in major- and trace-element concentrations, suggesting that changes in reactant phases exerted some control on the evolution of δ7Li. For one garnet crystal, late-stage growth following partial resorption produced deviation in major- and trace-element compositions, including Li concentration, accompanied by a 10%–15% negative shift in δ7Li, perhaps reflecting a change in the mechanism of incorporation or source of Li. These results highlight the value of measuring the major- and trace-element and isotope compositions of garnets in high-pressure and UHP metamorphic rocks in which matrix mineral assemblages are extensively overprinted by recrystallization during exhumation histories. Lithium concentrations and isotope compositions of the garnets can add valuable information regarding prograde (and retrograde) reaction history, kinetics of porphyroblast growth, intracrystalline diffusion, and fluid-rock interactions. This work, integrated with previous study of devolatilization in the Schistes Lustrés/Cignana metasedimentary suite, indicates retention of a large fraction of the initially subducted sedimentary Li budget to depths approaching those beneath volcanic fronts, despite the redistribution of this Li among mineral phases during complex mineral reaction histories.

Formation of the Nkob talc deposit by contact metamorphism and fluid infiltration into siliceous dolostones (Moroccan Anti-Atlas)

The Nkob talc deposit located in the central Anti-Atlas Pan-African belt is hosted by magnesian and siliceous metacarbonates in the contact aureole of the Ediacaran Amassine granite. It consists of a stratified succession of green serpentine-rich marbles, black dolomitic marbles, talcitites and phlogopitites (variously retrogressed into chloritites) enclosed within andalusite metapelite hornfels and quartzites. Two main metamorphic stages have been defined for the formation of the marbles and talcitites: (1) high-temperature recrystallization occurred under amphibolite facies conditions (>500 °C). Temperature increase during granite emplacement led to the formation of forsterite, tremolite, phlogopite (±diopside) bearing assemblages in siliceous marbles and to transformation of dolomitic (calcite-free) marbles from pure dolostones. This high temperature stage is also characterized by the growth of andalusite porphyroblasts in the metapelites surrounding the deposit. (2) A low temperature retrograde hydrothermal stage characterized by the reactive infiltration of aqueous silica-rich fluid (presumably derived from the granitic body), in greenschist facies conditions (<520 °C). Hydrous silicate minerals, mostly serpentine and talc (+calcite), were formed during this stage within the rocks (after fluid infiltration along grain boundaries) or within veins (marking channeled fluid circulation). Talc in ores formed by two processes at Nkob: acicular talc near the granite formed after the breakdown of tremolite in a temperature range of 350 to 500 °C, while tabular talc in the external aureole formed via reaction between dolomite and siliceous-aqueous fluids in temperatures below 350 °C. The different types of marbles derive from pure to slightly siliceous dolomite but green and green-black marbles were strongly affected by interactions with siliceous-aqueous fluids forming serpentine-phlogopite veins with calcite reaction zones. The talcitite layers were also affected by similar hydrothermal H2O-Si enrichment but their dolomitic precursor probably contained a more important detrital silicate fraction.

Bulk inclusion micro‐zircon U–Pb geochronology: A new tool to date low‐grade metamorphism

AbstractDating low‐grade metamorphism is challenging since such rocks commonly lack suitable target minerals for acquiring pressure–temperature–time–deformation (P–T–t–d) data. Herein a new geochronological method termed ‘bulk inclusion dating’ is applied to a chloritoid‐bearing schist from the Staufen‐Höllengebirge Nappe (SHN, Austroalpine Unit, Eastern Alps, Austria) for which Cretaceous metamorphism is imprecisely constrained. Thermodynamic modelling of the phase relations and mineral chemistry predicts the stability of the equilibrium assemblage in a P–T field between 450–490℃ and 0.5–0.7 GPa, which agrees with peak temperature constraints ~490℃ derived from Raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material. Chemical zoning of, and the zonation of inclusions within, chloritoid confirm porphyroblast growth at these conditions. High‐resolution imaging reveals thousands of minute (length: 0.1–3 µm), euhedral micro‐zircon crystals included in chloritoid porphyroblasts and in the matrix. The morphological and microstructural characteristics of micro‐zircon as well as the crystal size distributions indicate that it nucleated and grew at greenschist facies conditions most likely from a Zr‐saturated fluid. In situ laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy bulk inclusion dating of metamorphic zircon in the chloritoid rim using a laser spot diameter of 120 μm yields a U–Pb age of 116.7 ± 9.1 Ma (MSWD: 1.5, n: 79). We interpret zircon precipitation and progressive coarsening coeval with chloritoid growth during prograde metamorphism and thus link the age to the late prograde part of the P–T evolution. The contribution of other U‐bearing phases (apatite, epidote, rutile) does not significantly disturb the U–Pb age. The data provide clear evidence for Early Cretaceous metamorphism in the SHN and indicates that metamorphism started at least 20 m.y. before the formation of eclogites in the Austroalpine Unit. The method introduced here allows integration between metamorphic conditions and age constraints in low‐grade metamorphic rocks and opens up new potential applications in petrochronology.

Proterozoic High-Temperature–Low-Pressure Metamorphism in the Mahakoshal Belt, Central Indian Tectonic Zone (India): Structure, Metamorphism, U-Th-Pb Monazite Geochronology, and Tectonic Implications

To understand the protracted accretionary evolution along the Central Indian Tectonic Zone (CITZ), we investigated garnet-staurolite schists and associated lithologies from the central Mahakoshal Belt (MB). Mesoscale structures, porphyroblast growth, garnet zoning, and pseudosection modeling were coupled with U-Th-Pb monazite dating to reconstruct a clockwise pressure-temperature-time (P-T-t) path for the garnet- and staurolite-bearing schists. The prograde path is characterized by near isobaric heating conditions, which initiates at pressure-temperature (P-T) conditions of 4.5–5.0 kbar and 550°–560°C and attains peak metamorphism at 5.5–6.0 kbar and 610°–620°C. The peak metamorphism was contemporaneous with the emplacement of southern-margin granitoids at ~1.70 Ga, resulting in the perturbation of geotherms in the collision setting. The retrograde arm (MR) of the P-T path passes through isobaric cooling at ~5.0 kbar and ~500°C. This late Paleoproterozoic P-T-t path is overprinted by hitherto uncharacterized tectonism that coincides with the Sausar orogeny and provides evidence for the northward extension of 0.95–0.85 Ga orogenic activity within the CITZ. The 1.80–1.55 and 0.95–0.85 Ga tectonothermal events identified in this study support that crustal evolution in the CITZ involved a mosaic of domains that were accreted together in the Neoproterozoic time.

Growth mechanism of garnet megaporphyroblasts of the Passos Nappe, Southern Brasília Orogen, Brazil

The Passos Nappe is an important tectonic unit of the Southern Brasília Orogen with inverted metamorphism, grading from greenschist facies at the base to granulite facies in the upper part. In the central part, of amphibolite facies, mica schist layers contain garnet megaporphyroblasts (3–9 cm diameter) that contrast with the common-size garnet (0.2–1.5 cm diameter) present in other mica schist layers above and below. This paper intends to describe this textural feature in detail and to discuss its genesis. The megaporphyroblasts are ellipsoidal, with major axis parallel to the mineral and stretching lineation, associated with the main foliation (S2). Inclusion trails analysis in forty-six megaporphyroblasts, demonstrate straight internal foliation (Si = S1) in the core, progressively crenulated towards the rim by D2. Si is discontinuous with the external foliation (Se = S2), which wraps around the megaporphyroblasts, indicating early syn-D2 growth. The angle between the axial planes of the included crenulations and S2 in the matrix indicates that the D2 deformation continued after porphyroblast growth. Asymmetric deformation shadows reveal non-coaxial D2 deformation, associated with the emplacement of the nappe (top-to-the SE). The megaporphyroblasts are almandine-rich (73–82%) and spessartine-poor (0.1–2.5%) exhibiting prograde growth zonation. The common-size garnet porphyroblasts of the adjacent micaschists show similar inclusion patterns and chemical zonation indicating a similar tectonometamorphic evolution. A possible origin of the megaporphyroblasts by introduction of fluids along shear zones is discarded because the megaporphyroblasts are distributed along S0//S1 planes that make an angle with S2. Since the porphyroblasts grew early syn-D2, these shear zones should be parallel to S2 which does not match the observations. The chemical data indicate that megaporphyroblast formation is related to a high-Al protolith composition, associated with scarce nucleation sites.

Calculation of effective bulk composition and its application in metamorphic phase equilibria modeling

变质相平衡模拟是变质岩领域近几十年最重要的进展之一，它已经成为确定变质作用P-T-t轨迹和探索变质演化过程的有力工具。变质岩的矿物组合不但与其形成的温度（T）和压力（P）条件有关，而且受控于岩石的全岩成分（X）。但是变质岩通常是不均匀的并且往往保留两期以上的矿物组合，因此计算不同成分域或不同变质演化期次的有效全岩成分是模拟P-T视剖面图的核心问题之一。在中-低温变质岩中，石榴石变斑晶的生长会不断地将其核部成分冻结而不参与后续变质反应，这导致根据实测全岩成分计算的P-T视剖面图无法有效地模拟石榴石幔部或边部生长阶段的变质演化过程。瑞利分馏法和球体积法利用电子探针实测的石榴石成分环带可以模拟计算石榴石各个生长阶段所对应的有效全岩成分，本文推荐使用这两个方法来处理石榴石变斑晶的分馏效应问题。相比较而言，石榴石在高温变质岩中通常无法保留生长阶段的成分环带特征，这是因为石榴石成分在高温条件下会发生扩散再平衡，并同时与多数基质矿物达到热力学平衡，这时一般不需要考虑石榴石的分馏效应。但是高温变质岩通常会发生部分熔融并伴随熔体的迁移，进而改变岩石的有效全岩成分。因此，通过P-T视剖面图模拟熔体迁移前后的变质演化过程需要使用相平衡法计算迁移的熔体成分以及熔体迁移前后岩石的有效全岩成分。此外，后成合晶与反应边是变质岩中最常见的退变质反应结构，但是后成合晶或反应边中的矿物之间并未达到热力学平衡。这种情况需要结合岩相学观察和矿物成分，利用最小二乘法确定后成合晶或反应边中发生的平衡反应方程式，进而获取变质反应发生时的有效全岩成分并通过计算P-T视剖面图来估算退变质的温压条件。除此之外，岩石体系中三价铁（Fe₂O₃）和H₂O含量的估算一直以来都是相平衡模拟研究中的难点，本文推荐使用P/T-X（Fe³⁺/Fe^tot，MH₂O）视剖面图来确定这两个组分的含量，这是因为P/T-X图可以估算各个变质演化阶段或特定矿物组合的Fe₂O₃或H₂O含量。;Phase equilibria modeling is one of the most important advances in metamorphic petrology in recent decades,which has become a useful tool for determining the P-T-t paths and understanding the metamorphic evolution. The metamorphic mineral assemblages are not only determined by pressure (P) and temperature (T), but also controlled by the bulk-rock compositions (X). However, the metamorphic rocks are commonly heterogeneous and preserve two or more mineral assemblages. Thus, to perform P-T pseudosections, it is critical to calculate the effective bulk compositions of different compositional domains and/or mineral assemblages. In low-medium temperature metamorphic rocks,the growth of garnet porphyroblasts will continuously isolate the garnet core from the matrix. Thus, the P-T pseudosection calculated using the analyzed bulk-rock composition may not represent the metamorphic evolution related to the growth of garnet mantle or rim. Using the measured garnet zoning profiles, both Rayleigh fractionation and ball volume methods can be applied to calculate the effective bulk composition corresponding to each stage of garnet growth. Therefore, it is recommended to treat the garnet fractionation through these two methods. By contrast, garnet does not commonly show growth compositional zoning profile in high-temperature metamorphic rocks, because the garnet composition will suffer volume diffusion and re-equilibrated at high temperature conditions. This will lead to the thermodynamic equilibrium between garnet and matrix minerals. In this case, it is unnecessary to consider the garnet fractionation. However, high-temperature metamorphic rocks usually undergo partial melting and melt migration, which in turn changes the bulk-rock compositions. Therefore, to model the metamorphic evolutions before and/or after melt migration through the P-T pseudosection requires the phase equilibria method to calculate the migrated melt compositions and the effective bulk compositions before and/or after the melt migration. The symplectites and corona are the most common retrograde microstructures in metamorphic rocks, but the thermodynamic equilibrium has not been reached between the minerals in symplectites and corona. In this case, we suggest determining the equilibrium reaction equation that occurs in the symplectites and corona through the least square method combined with the petrographic observation and mineral compositions. Thus, the bulk composition of the reactants or products represents the effective bulk composition when the equilibrium reaction occurs. In addition,the estimation of ferric iron (Fe₂O₃) and H₂O content in bulk-rock composition is always critical to the phase equilibria modeling. It is suggested to apply the P/T-X (Fe³⁺/Fe^tot, MH₂O) pseudosections to determine the content of these two components. Because the P/T-X pseudosections are robust to estimate the Fe₂O₃ or H₂O content for any metamorphic evolution stage or mineral assemblage.

Native copper formation in mine-prop wood from Cyprus illustrates displacive growth by force of crystallization

A long-standing issue in the study of metamorphic rocks concerns the question in how far replacement of the protolith assemblage during the growth of metamorphic porphyroblasts is accompanied by the additional operation of a displacive mechanism due to an alleged ‘crystallization force’ exerted by the growing porphyroblast. Whilst in few cases a component of displacive growth can be corroborated, unequivocal criteria to identify such displacements are lacking. It follows that the concept of a so-called ‘crystallization force’ is surrounded by uncertainties on the viability and operation of displacive growth in natural systems. We investigate the growth of Cu porphyroblasts in a sample of mine-prop wood from a Bronze Age copper mine in Cyprus. The pit prop became infiltrated with copper-saturated, polluted mine water during collapse of an ancient mine gallery. The microstructures associated with the copper porphyroblasts strongly indicate displacive growth, whilst the matrix wood has not been affected by any externally imposed deformation. We suggest that the displacement microstructures associated with the copper porphyroblasts substantiate the existence of ‘crystallization forces’.

Sequential syndeformational porphyroblast growth during low-pressure/high temperature contact regional metamorphism in the Ghandab region, NE Iran

Sequential syndeformational porphyroblast growth during low-pressure/high temperature contact regional metamorphism in the Ghandab region, NE Iran

Evolution of Hutti-Maski greenstone belt of the Eastern Dharwar Craton: Evidence for metamorphic and hydrothermal phases from the Hira-Buddini deposit, Raichur district, Karnataka, India

The Hira-Buddini gold deposit is located along the steeply dipping ENE trending sheared contact of felsic and mafic rocks of strike length of about 600 m with mylonitic foliation parallel to the S1 schistosity in amphibolites. Second-generation open folds with axial planes (S2) marked by fractures that are often filled by later calcite veins are observed in surface and underground exposures. Garnetiferous amphibolites occur in patches on the footwall side of the shear in the western part of the deposit. This rock shows garnet porphyroblasts, coarse second-generation hornblende and large grains of biotite that grow over an early S1 fabric which is made up of early hornblende, plagioclase, ilmenite and retrograde first-generation chlorite. Second-generation hornblende and biotite grains make high angles to S1 schistosity and are sub-parallel to S2. Late hydrothermal alteration is marked by an albite-epidote-chlorite-zoisite assemblage. Geothermometric estimates based on garnet-biotite, and garnet-hornblende pairs, as well as Ti in biotite, show that temperatures during D2 deformation that led to the growth of the porphyroblasts were \(530{\pm }20^{\circ }\hbox {C}\). The fabric and mineralogy of the rock indicate that porphyroblastic growth of garnet, hornblende and biotite was preceded and succeeded by stages of hydrothermal alteration. Primary gold mineralization is inferred to be associated with the early stage of hydrothermal ingress.

Metamorphic evolution and age constraints of the garnet-bearing mica schist from the Xindaduo area of the Sumdo (U)HP metamorphic belt, Tibet

AbstractAs one of the major components of the Himalayan–Tibetan Orogeny, the Lhasa terrane plays a key role in understanding the origin and evolution of this giant orogenic belt and the opening and closure of the Tethys oceans. The eclogite-bearing Sumdo Complex in the central Lhasa terrane was recognized as the main suture of the Palaeo-Tethys Ocean between the north and south Lhasa sub-terranes. Despite the eclogite having been studied for a long time, no attempts have been applied to studying the country rocks, causing confusion in understanding the relationship between the eclogite and the adjacent schist. Petrological investigations and phase equilibrium calculations on the garnet-bearing mica schist of the Sumdo Complex have been performed to constrain its metamorphic evolution. The P–T conditions for three metamorphic stages are constrained as P1 (480–500°C, 2.6–2.7 GPa), P2 (580–600°C, 1.3–1.4 GPa) and R (530°C, 0.9 GPa), which represent the prograde, temperature peak and retrograde stages. Two possible P–T paths were constructed, which experienced isothermal decompression (PT1) or heating with a decompression process (PT2), corresponding to the growth and extinction of garnet porphyroblasts in the matrix. The LA-MC-ICP-MS U–Pb dating method yielded a metamorphic age of 229.7±3.5 Ma, which was interpreted as the age of amphibolite-facies metamorphism at c. 600°C, 1.2–1.4 GPa during the closure of the Palaeo-Tethys Ocean, resulting in the aggregation of the north and south Lhasa sub-terranes. The close relationship between the eclogite and garnet-bearing mica schist, and their similar P–T–t paths indicate an in situ tectonic evolution rather than tectonic juxtaposition during exhumation.

Intergranular diffusion rates from the analysis of garnet surfaces: Implications for metamorphic equilibration

ABSTRACTNovel approaches to garnet analysis have been used to assess rates of intergranular diffusion between different matrix phases and garnet porphyroblasts in a regionally metamorphosed staurolite‐mica‐schist from the Barrovian‐type area in Scotland. X‐ray maps and chemical traverses of planar porphyroblast surfaces reveal chemical heterogeneity of the garnet grain boundary linked to the nature of the adjacent matrix phase. The garnet preserves evidence of low temperature retrograde exchange with matrix minerals and diffusion profiles documenting cation movement along the garnet boundaries. Garnet–quartz and garnet–plagioclase boundaries preserve evidence of sluggish Mg, Mn and Fe diffusion at comparable rates to volume diffusion in garnet, whereas diffusion along garnet–biotite interfaces is much more effective. Evidence of particularly slow Al transport, probably coupled to Fe3+ exchange, is locally preserved on garnet surfaces adjacent to Fe‐oxide phases. The Ca distribution on the garnet surface shows the most complex behaviour, with long‐wavelength heterogeneities apparently unrelated to the matrix grain boundaries. This implies that the Ca content of garnet is controlled by local availability and is thought likely to reflect disequilibrium established during garnet growth. Geochemical anomalies on the garnet surfaces are also linked to the location of triple junctions between the porphyroblasts and the matrix phases, and imply enhanced transport along these channels. The slow rates of intergranular diffusion and the characteristics of different boundary types may explain many features associated with the prograde growth of garnet porphyroblasts. Thus, minerals such as quartz, Fe‐oxides and plagioclase whose boundaries with garnet are characterized by slow intergranular diffusion rates appear to be preferentially trapped as inclusions within porphyroblasts. As such grain boundary diffusion rates may be a significant kinetic impediment to metamorphic equilibrium and garnet may struggle to maintain chemical and textural equilibrium during growth in pelites.

Ediacaran (∼620 Ma) high-grade regional metamorphism in the northern Arabian Nubian Shield: U-Th-Pb monazite ages of the Elat schist

Ediacaran times witnessed a hemisphere-scale orogenesis, forming the extensive Pan-African mountain ranges and resulting in the final assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent. The Elat metamorphic association (S Israel), located at the northernmost tip of the Arabian Nubian Shield (ANS), comprises amphibolite-facies pelitic and psammitic schists and orthogneisses and was presumably shaped by Ediacaran East African orogenesis. However, the timing, number and duration of metamorphic events in Elat and elsewhere in the ANS are inconclusive and a major emphasis was previously given to pre-Ediacaran island-arc related tectonics. Here U-Th-Pb dating of monazite, a precise chronometer of metamorphic mineral growth, is systematically applied to the Elat schist and unveils the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the Elat association.In-situ analysis of metamorphic monazites by LASS-ICPMS (Laser-Ablation Split-Stream Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) yields two concordant age clusters at ∼710 and 620Ma, recording two regional metamorphic events. The corresponding REE patterns of the dated monazite grains indicate that garnet porphyroblast growth took place only during the younger event (M2). Likewise, the regional south-dipping penetrative foliation (S2), common to the Elat schist and the surrounding orthogneisses, formed during the Ediacaran event (M2). The peak M2 staurolite-garnet-sillimanite assemblage was overprinted by retrograde andalusite and cordierite during decompression, followed by the intrusion of andesitic dykes that were immediately metamorphosed at greenschist-facies conditions. This metamorphic P-T-d-t path corresponds to the collision of the already accreted arc terranes of the ANS with the Saharan Metacraton, as also suggested by the large geochronological database of 610–580Ma post collisional granitoid batholiths throughout NE Africa and Arabia. The Cryogenian M1 metamorphism therefore records arc-arc collision during major convergence forming the proto-ANS to the south.

Sadiola Hill: A World-Class Carbonate-Hosted Gold Deposit in Mali, West Africa

The ~8-Moz Sadiola Hill gold deposit is located in the Kedougou-Kenieba inlier, a window of deformed ca. 2200 to 2050 Ma rocks that crop out in eastern Senegal and western Mali. The geology of the inlier differs from other Paleoproterozoic granite-greenstone belts and sedimentary basins by the abundance of carbonate rocks. The Sadiola Hill gold deposit occurs within 3 km of the Senegal-Mali shear zone, and country rocks in the region have undergone polycyclic deformation. The lithostratigraphy of the open pit consists of impure limestones overlain by younger sequences of detrital sedimentary rocks, which include arenite, wacke, and siltstone. The sedimentary rocks have been subjected to regional greenschist-facies metamorphism and have been intruded by multiple generations of synkinematic, calc-alkaline stocks and dikes. The bulk of the ore is hosted within a N-S- to NNW-trending, 10- to 50-m-wide, brittle-ductile dilational shear zone defined as the Sadiola shear zone. Gold lodes also occur along an array of steep NNE-trending shear zones. Geometric and kinematic analyses indicate that the ore-hosting structures were undergoing sinistral displacement at the time of mineralization, locally defined as the D3s NNW-SSE-shortening event. Hydrothermal alteration is polyphase and includes an early high-temperature calc-silicate phase (i.e., porphyroblastic growth of actinolite-tremolite) followed by a potassic phase (i.e., biotite-calcite-quartz ± K-feldspar-tourmaline-actinolite) that was synchronous with ore mineral deposition. Paragenetic studies reveal a multistage ore development that includes an As-rich sulfide stage, followed by an Au-Sb stage. The ore is associated with a metal enrichment suite of Au-As-Sb ± Cu-Fe-W-Mo-Ag-Bi-Zn-Pb-Te. The Sadiola Hill deposit shares a similar relative timing and structural setting to that of other world-class orogenic gold systems in the West African craton (e.g., Ashanti, Loulo), with gold deposition occurring during a period of transcurrent tectonics, after the cessation of region-wide compressional deformation. The high-temperature paragenesis at Sadiola Hill is atypical of gold mineralization in the craton and indicates that the late Eburnean tectono-magmatic activity between ca. 2080 and 2060 Ma played an important role in the dynamics of hydrothermal fluid circulation along the Senegal-Mali shear zone.

Growth of mica porphyroblasts under low-grade metamorphism – A Taiwanese case using in-situ40Ar/39Ar laser microprobe dating

Mica porphyroblasts, a common metamorphic microstructure, are analyzed in the slate belt of northern Taiwan where large fish-like growths are found within a meta-pyroclastics. With constraints on the time-temperature history from deposition through peak metamorphic state to exhumation, in-situ40Ar/39Ar laser microprobe dating was carried out on muscovite and corrensite fibers of mm-scale mica porphyroblasts grown on a pressure-solution seam. Because the peak metamorphic temperature and the porphyroblast formation condition (∼250 °C) remained far below the closure temperature of the K-Ar radioisotope system in muscovite, and the absence of muscovite in the mafic protolith, the dating results likely document the growth of the mica porphyroblast fabrics. The syn-kinematic nature of the analyzed porphyroblasts is confirmed by the ∼6 to ∼2.5 Ma growth ages, suggesting that the host rock was continuously deformed during the earlier two-thirds of the Taiwan Orogeny. The pattern of fiber growth, in contrast to outward-decreasing ages normally observed in peripheral recrystallization, appears random and resembles void fills in boudin openings. We postulate that syntaxial crack-seal following tensile micro-boudinage, along with slips on sub-grain boundaries, as a viable mechanism for the development of mica porphyroblasts and fish especially in lower-grade metamorphic rocks.

Holistic microstructural techniques reveal synchronous and alternating andalusite and staurolite growth during three tectonic events resulted from shifting partitioning of growth vs deformation

Excellent inclusion trails in a sample containing both staurolite and andalusite porphyroblasts are used to demonstrate techniques that allow the intimate relationships between deformation and porphyroblast growth to be recognized, described in detail and understood. This approach reveals three main phases of growth of both mineral phases, some of which was demonstrably synchronous, during three tectonic events. Each main period of growth occurred during the early stages of three deformations that were successively near orthogonal. However, extra periods are distinguishable in andalusite in some of these events because this phase occurs as clusters of large crystals that vary in orientation by 2° to >10°. All foliations defined by all inclusion trails within every porphyroblast inflect/intersect about an axis trending at 025° (called a FIA). This indicates that the direction of the horizontal component of bulk shortening was identical for the first and third of the three deformations recorded by porphyroblast growth. Portions of sigmoidal to slightly spiral-shaped inclusion trails in most porphyroblast clusters locally diverge in opposite directions due to overprinting orthogonal bulk shortening typical of that which forms millipede geometries. These microstructures confirm the role of coaxial bulk shortening in initiating porphyroblast growth in an environment that locally becomes strongly non-coaxial as the deformation intensifies in the same event.In this sample, increasing non-coaxiality as the deformation intensified resulted in the same asymmetry for each of the three events and thus an overall spiral-like shape. Differing stages in the development of these bulk-shortening geometries preserved in adjacent or touching phases negate any role for porphyroblast rotation during ductile deformation. Andalusite and staurolite grew without any inter-reaction in locations where they lie in contact. This multiply repeated growth behaviour initiated within zones of spatially partitioned crenulation deformation of pre-existing foliations. This varied slightly in timing and in the subsequent development of successive surrounding foliations from location to location over distances around 5mm. Growth ceased adjacent to any zone where metamorphic differentiation associated with the development of new foliations initiated. This also varied in timing locally as a result of migrating and/or shifting partitioning of the deformation at similar to smaller scales. A pseudosection for the bulk composition of this sample shows that andalusite and staurolite grow simultaneously only over a very tightly constrained range of P–T conditions. Yet these occurred for at least three tectonic events, two of which produced strong schistosities. This required bulk coaxial orogen-scale deformation with slight crustal thickening during two periods of bulk horizontal shortening balanced by gravitational collapse in the intervening event.

Transformation of kyanite to andalusite in the Benamocarra Unit (Betic Cordillera, S. Spain). Kinetics and petrological significance

Kyanite is directly replaced by andalusite in quartz–plagioclase veins included within graphite-bearing micaschists of the Alpine Benamocarra Unit (Betic Cordillera, Spain). Electron back-scattered diffraction indicates that: i) precursory kyanite contains planar defects; ii) andalusite growth was crystallographically controlled by the kyanite; and iii) the structure of both Al2SiO5 phases shares nearly the closest-packed oxygen array and chains of edge-sharing octahedra. The small entropy difference of the kyanite–andalusite polymorphic inversion makes it difficult to overcome the energy barrier of this transformation. The driving force needed for the kyanite-to-andalusite reaction was a temperature ( T ) increase during a pre-Alpine tectonometamorphic evolution. The low- P /medium- T metamorphic conditions that affected the rocks studied took place in relation to a late Variscan extensional collapse. The reaction pathway proposed here corresponds to the first part of a poly-orogenic tectonometamorphic evolution, consisting of a pre-Alpine metamorphism of high thermal gradient with mainly static growth of porphyroblasts, followed by an essentially dynamic metamorphism during the Alpine orogeny.

White mica 40Ar/39Ar age spectra and the timing of multiple episodes of high‐P metamorphic mineral growth in the Cycladic eclogite–blueschist belt, Syros, Aegean Sea, Greece

AbstractNew geochronology from Syros in the Cycladic eclogite–blueschist belt, Aegean Sea, Greece, shows that 40Ar/39Ar geochronology consistently dates microstructural events in metamorphic rocks. We demonstrate that the age spectra depend on microstructure in a predictable and systematic way. Ages can be inferred by applying the method of asymptotes and limits to data from the step‐heating experiments. The results are consistent with previously published estimates for the timing of a sequence of distinct and discrete episodes of high‐P metamorphic mineral growth observed regionally across this belt. Arrhenius plots from these experiments imply that phengitic white mica is highly retentive of argon, and therefore (if these data can be extrapolated to the natural environment) the ages can be interpreted as recording the timing of episodic deformation and metamorphism. Porphyroblastic growth begins: (i) for omphacite–jadeite–eclogite facies parageneses at c. 53 Ma; and (ii) for garnet–glaucophane facies parageneses at c. 47 Ma. The Kini Shear Zone started as an extensional post‐epidote–albite‐transitional–blueschist facies shear zone that had completed operation by c. 31 Ma. The scatter in ages is due to the effect of deformation, recrystallization and multiple growth events in shear zones that continued operating for 3–6 million years from the start of each episode.

Diffusion-controlled growth and degree of disequilibrium of garnet porphyroblasts: is diffusion-controlled growth of porphyroblasts common?

Rate-limiting processes and the degree of disequilibrium during metamorphic mineral growth are key controls on the rate of dehydration and hydration in the Earth’s crust. This paper examines diffusion-controlled growth and the degree of disequilibrium of garnet porphyroblasts in the Tsukuba metamorphic rocks of central Japan. The analyzed porphyroblasts have irregular and branching morphologies with clear diffusional haloes, indicating that they grew in a diffusion-controlled regime. Mathematical analysis shows that the dominant wavelength of the interface of a garnet porphyroblast is dependent on the extent of supersaturation (Δζ), which is an index for the degree of disequilibrium. Using the calculated upper and lower limits of the dominant wavelength, the value of Δζ is estimated to be 0.05 × 10−1–0.16, which corresponds to a Gibbs free energy (ΔG r ) overstep of 0.9–27 kJ per mole of garnet (12 oxygen atoms) and a temperature overstep (ΔT) of 1.7–50 °C. Using the average value of the dominant wavelength, the following results are obtained: Δζ = 0.15 × 10−1, ΔG r = 2.7 kJ per mole of garnet, and ΔT = 5 °C. These values bring into question the importance of diffusion-controlled growth of garnet porphyroblasts, as highly irregular and branching garnet porphyroblasts are rare in most metamorphic belts. After significant overstepping for the nucleation of garnet, the garnet porphyroblasts grow at a high degree of disequilibrium. However, a high degree of disequilibrium under diffusion-controlled growth would be characterized by diffusional instability. The results indicate that garnet porphyroblasts that lack an irregular and branching morphology may grow at a high degree of disequilibrium under interface-controlled growth, provided they are set in a medium where the diffusion and supply of constituent elements are sufficient, such as a sufficient volume of metamorphic fluid.