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Presents a list of articles to be published in the "Journal of Metamorphic Geology." "Shape, Size, Spatial Distribution and Composition of Garnet Crystals in Highly Deformed Gneiss of the Otter Lake Area, Québec, and a Model for Garnet Crystallization," by R. Kretz; "Devolatilisation of Metabasic Rocks During Greenschistamphibolite Facies Metamorphism," by F. L. Elmer, R. W. White and R. Powell.

The growth history of two populations of snowball garnet from the Lukmanier Pass area (central Swiss Alps) was examined through a detailed analysis of three-dimensional geometry, chemical zoning and crystallographic orientation. The first population, collected in the hinge of a chevron-type fold, shows an apparent rotation of 360°. The first 270° are characterized by spiral-shaped inclusion trails, gradual and concentric Mn zoning and a single crystallographic orientation, whereas in the last 90°, crenulated inclusion trails and secondary Mn maxima centred on distinct crystallographic garnet domains are observed. Microstructural, geochemical and textural data indicate a radical change in growth regime between the two growth sequences. In the first 270°, growth occurred under rotational non-coaxial flow, whereas in the last 90°, garnet grew under a non-rotational shortening regime. The second population, collected in the limb of the same chevron-type fold structure, is characterized by a spiral geometry that does not exceed 270° of apparent rotation. These garnet microstructures do not record any evidence for a modification of the stress field during garnet growth. Concentric Mn zoning as well as a single crystallographic orientation are observed for the entire spiral. Electron backscatter diffraction data indicate that nearly all central domains in the snowball garnet are characterized by one [001] axis oriented (sub-)parallel to the symmetry axis and by another [001] axis oriented (sub-)parallel to the orientation of the internal foliation. These features suggest that the crystallographic orientation across the garnet spiral is not random and that a relation exists among the symmetry axis, the internal foliation and the crystallographic orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultra-high-pressure eclogites from the Dabie orogen that formed over a range in temperatures (∼600 to > 700 °C) have been investigated with combined Lu–Hf and Sm–Nd geochronology. Three eclogites, sampled from Zhujiachong, Huangzhen and Shima, yield Lu–Hf ages of 240.0 ± 5.0, 224.4 ± 1.9 and 230.8 ± 5.0 Ma and corresponding Sm–Nd ages of 222.5 ± 5.0, 217.6 ± 6.1 and 224.2 ± 2.1 Ma respectively. Well-preserved prograde major- and trace-element zoning in garnet in the Zhujiachong eclogite suggests that the Lu–Hf age mostly reflects an early phase of garnet growth that continued over a time interval of c. 17.5 Myr. For the Huangzhen eclogite, despite preserved elemental growth zoning in garnet, textural study reveals that the Lu–Hf age is biased towards a later garnet growth episode rather than representing early growth. The narrow time interval of <6.6 Myr defined by the difference between Lu–Hf and Sm–Nd ages indicates a short final garnet growth episode and suggests a rapid cooling stage. By contrast, the rather flat element zoning in garnet in the Shima eclogite suggests that Lu–Hf and Sm–Nd ages for this sample have been reset by diffusion and are cooling ages. The new Lu–Hf ages point to an initiation of prograde metamorphism prior to c. 240 Ma for the Dabie orogen, while the exact peak metamorphic timing experienced by specific samples ranges between c. 230 to c. 220 Ma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The El Arenal metagabbros preserve coronitic shells of orthopyroxene ± Fe-oxide around olivine, as well as three different types of symplectite consisting of amphibole + spinel, clinopyroxene + spinel and, more rarely, orthopyroxene + spinel. The textural features of the metagabbros can be explained by the breakdown of the olivine + plagioclase pair, producing orthopyroxene coronas and clinopyroxene + spinel symplectites, followed by the formation of amphibole + spinel symplectites, reflecting a decrease in temperature and, possibly, an increase in water activity with respect to the previous stage. The metagabbros underwent a complex P–T history consisting of an igneous stage followed by cooling in granulite, amphibolite and greenschist facies conditions. Although the P–T conditions of emplacement of the igneous protolith are still doubtful, the magmatic assemblage suggests that igneous crystallization occurred at a pressure lower than 6 kbar and at 900–1100 °C. Granulitic P–T conditions have been estimated at about 900 °C and 7–8 kbar combining conventional thermobarometry and pseudosection analysis. Pseudosection calculation has also shown that the formation of the amphibole + spinel symplectite could have been favoured by an increase in water activity during the amphibolite stage, as the temperature of formation of this symplectite strongly depends on aH2O (<740 °C for aH2O = 0.5; <790 °C for aH2O = 1). Furthermore, but not pervasive, re-equilibration under greenschist facies P–T conditions is documented by retrograde epidote and chlorite. The resulting counterclockwise P–T path consists of progressive, nearly isobaric cooling from the igneous stage down to the granulite, amphibolite and greenschist stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A structural, petrological and geochronological (U-Th-Pb of zircon and monazite) study reveals that the lower crust sequences of the Variscan high-grade basement cropping out between Solenzara and Porto Vecchio, south-east Corsica (France) have been tectonically juxtaposed along with middle crustal rocks during the extrusion of the orogenic root of the Variscan chain. We propose that a system of high-temperature, orogen-parallel shear zones that developed under a transpressive dextral tectonic regime caused the exhumation of the entire sequence. This tectonic complex is thus made up of rocks having undergone different P–T conditions (eclogite-?, high-pressure granulite facies and amphibolite facies) at different times, reflecting the progressive foreland migration of the orogenic front. The Solenzara granulites were derived from burial of continental crust to high-pressure (1.8–1.4 GPa) and high- to ultrahigh-temperature conditions (900–1000 °C) during the Variscan convergence: U–Pb ELA-ICPMS zircon dating constrained the timing of this metamorphism at c. 360 Ma. The gneisses cropping out at Porto Vecchio are middle crustal-level rocks that reached their peak temperature conditions (700–750 °C at <1.0 GPa) at c. 340 Ma. The diachronism of the metamorphic events, the foliation patterns and their geometry suggest that the granulites were exhumed to middle crustal levels through channel flow tectonics under continuous compression. The amphibolite facies gneisses of Porto Vecchio and the granulites of Solenzara were accreted through the development of a major dextral mylonitic zone forming under amphibolite facies conditions: in situ monazite isotope dating (ELA-ICPMS) revealed that this deformation occurred at c. 320 Ma and was accompanied by the emplacement of syntectonic high-K melts. A final HTLP static overprint, constrained at 312–308 Ma by monazite U-Th-Pb isotope dating, is related to the emplacement of the igneous products of the Sardinia-Corsica batholith and marks the transition from the Variscan orogenic event to the Permian extension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chloritoid–glaucophane-bearing rocks are widespread in the high-pressure belt of the north Qilian orogen, NW China. They are interbedded and cofacial with felsic schists originated from greywackes, mafic garnet blueschists and low- T eclogites. Two representative chloritoid–glaucophane-bearing assemblages are chloritoid + glaucophane + garnet + talc + quartz (sample Q5-49) and chloritoid + glaucophane + garnet + phengite + epidote + quartz (sample Q5-12). Garnet in sample Q5-49 is coarse-, medium- and fine-grained and shows two types of zonation patterns. In pattern I, Xgrs is constant as Xpy rises, and in pattern II Xgrs decreases as Xpy rises. Phase equilibrium modelling in the NC(K)MnFMASH system with Thermocalc 3.25 indicates that pattern I can be formed during progressive metamorphism in lawsonite-stable assemblages, while pattern II zonation can be formed with further heating after lawsonite has been consumed. Garnet growth in Q5-49 is consistent with a continuous progressive metamorphic process from ∼14.5 kbar at 470 °C to ∼22.5 kbar at 560 °C. Garnet in sample Q5-12 develops with pattern I zonation, which is consistent with a progressive metamorphic process from ∼21 kbar at 540 °C to ∼23.5 kbar at 580 °C with lawsonite present in the whole garnet growth. The latter sample shows the highest P– T conditions of the reported chloritoid–glaucophane-bearing assemblages. Phase equilibrium calculation in the NCKFMASH system with a recent mixing model of amphibole indicates that chloritoid + glaucophane paragenesis does not have a low-pressure limit of 18–19 kbar as previously suggested, but has a much larger pressure range from 7–8 to 27–30 kbar, with the low-pressure part being within the stability field of albite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eclogite facies metarodingites occur as deformed dykes in serpentinites of the Zermatt-Saas ophiolite (Western Alps). They formed during the subduction of the Tethys oceanic lithosphere in the Early Tertiary. The metarodingites developed as a consequence of serpentinization of the oceanic mantle. Three major types of metarodingites (R1, R2 & R3) can be distinguished on the basis of their mineralogical composition. All metarodingites contain vesuvianite, chlorite and hydrogrossular in high modal amounts. In addition they contain: R1 – diopside, tremolite, clinozoisite, calcite; R2 – hydroandradite, diopside, epidote, calcite; and R3 – hydroandradite. Both garnets contain a small but persistent amount of hydrogarnet component. The different metarodingites reflect different original dyke rocks in the mantle. In each group of metarodingite, textural relations suggest that reactions adjusted the assemblages along the P–T path travelled by the ophiolite during subduction and exhumation. Reactions and phase relations derived from local textures in metarodingite can be modelled in the eight-component system: SiO2-Al2O3-Fe2O3-FeO-MgO-CaO-CO2-H2O. This permits the analysis of redox reactions in the presence of andradite garnet and epidote in many of the rocks. Within this system, the phase relations in eclogite facies metarodingites have been explored in terms of T– XCO2, T–μ(SiO2), μ(Cal)–μ(SiO2) and P–T sections. It was found that rodingite assemblages are characterized by low μ(SiO2) and low XCO2 conditions. The low SiO2 potential is externally imposed onto the rodingites by the large volume of antigorite-forsterite serpentinites enclosing them. Moreover, μ(SiO2) decreases consistently from metarodingite R1 to R3. The low μ(SiO2) enforced by the serpentinites favours the formation of hydrogarnet and vesuvianite. Rodingite formation is commonly associated with hydrothermal alteration of oceanic lithosphere at the ocean floor, in particular to ocean floor serpentinization. Our analysis, however, suggests that the metarodingite assemblages may have formed at high-pressure conditions in the subduction zone as a result of serpentinization of oceanic mantle by subduction zone fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porphyroblastic biotite and garnet in the Barrovian metapelites of the Imjingang belt, Korea, were investigated to unravel the sequence and mechanism of mineral growth. Poikiloblastic biotite contains straight inclusion trails (Si) discontinuous to the major foliation, and develops clear zones at the grain margin. These microstructures suggest an initial growth of biotite between two contractional deformations (Dn−1 and Dn) followed by an overgrowth during Dn. Although garnet poikiloblasts contain variable Si patterns, their major growth is likely to have occurred during Dn on the basis of compositional relationships among variable garnet types. Early poikiloblasts of both minerals were formed by chemical replacement of the matrix that consisted mainly of chlorite, muscovite and quartz. Subsequent growth of biotite was governed by a crack-filling mechanism, and was accompanied by the production of extensional cracks inside or around biotite, providing fluid pathways. The overgrowth of garnet was favoured at the biotite–garnet interface, and the consequence was a partial replacement of inclusion-poor garnet after biotite subsequent to Dn. In addition, clear zones and pressure shadows as well as the matrix around biotite porphyroblasts were replaced by garnet, suggesting an inheritance of various pre-existing microstructures in the Si pattern of garnet. Further attention is thus required for any attempt to delineate the microstructural interaction between deformation and metamorphism, particularly in a sample containing early-grown porphyroblasts. Microstructural evidence for the two-stage growth of biotite and garnet is present up to the kyanite zone, indicating that this growth mechanism is prevalent during progressive metamorphism of Barrovian metapelites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evolving pressure–temperature conditions during metamorphism drive changes in the stable mineral assemblage, mineral proportions and mineral compositions in rocks. These changes are achieved via the diffusion of components between minerals, fluid and melt, the driving force for diffusion being the gradients in chemical potential of the components developed spatially within the rock. This study utilises recent developments in the softwarethermocalc to investigate quantitatively chemical potential relationships in rocks, with the phases involved being (solid) solutions. Phase diagrams with chemical potentials as axes are used to understand better the spatial rearrangement of components during the metamorphic evolution of rocks and the metamorphic textures that result. In contrast to qualitative chemical potential diagrams, quantitative diagrams can be contoured for mineral composition, allowing consideration of chemical zoning in minerals. Furthermore, the amount of material required to diffuse to equalise chemical potentials can be calculated. We start by demonstrating the approach via an example of retrograde corona development in an ultra-high-temperature granulite. Whereas the use of chemical potentials to consider the retrograde development of corona textures is well known, they are also significant in considering the prograde history. The role of chemical potentials in prograde metamorphic textural evolution is highlighted in consideration of the consumption and growth of aluminosilicates during the kyanite-to-sillimanite reaction, and the growth of garnet porphyroblasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pressure–temperature pseudosections for ‘greyschist’ (metamorphosed greywacke and argillite) from the Alpine Schist (Haast Schist group) near Hokitika (Southern Alps, New Zealand) are used to gain new insights into its metamorphic history. The rocks were metamorphosed at relatively low-grade conditions associated with the first appearance and initial growth of garnet in the stability field of albite. The measured and predicted garnet compositional zoning data are used to construct an overall P–T path by combining P–T path results from nearby rocks that have a range of MnO contents. The P–T path obtained is steep from ∼380 °C/2.5 kbar up to ∼490 °C/8.5 kbar, then recurves sharply with garnet growth continuing during early decompression to ∼500 °C/6.5 kbar. Most garnet growth in the study area took place in the stability field of albite, with oligoclase appearing only during decompression, when the peristerite gap was entered. On appearance of oligoclase, there is a marked decrease in the CaO content of garnet. The preservation of mineral assemblages from near-peak temperature conditions can be understood in terms of the P–T path subsequently becoming tangential to water content contours, during cooling with further decompression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pan-African high-pressure granulites occur as boudins and layers in the Lurio Belt in north-eastern Mozambique, eastern Africa. Mafic granulites contain the mineral assemblage garnet + clinopyroxene + plagioclase + quartz ± magnesiohastingsite. Garnet porphyroblasts are zoned with increasing almandine and spessartine contents and decreasing grossular and pyrope contents from core (Alm46Prp32Grs21Sps2) to rim (Alm52Prp26Grs19Sps3). This pattern is interpreted as a retrograde diffusion zoning with the preserved core chemistry representing the peak metamorphic composition. Mineral reaction textures occur in the form of monomineralic and composite plagioclase ± orthopyroxene ± amphibole ± biotite ± magnetite coronas around garnet porphyroblasts. Thermobarometry indicates peak metamorphic conditions of up to 1.57 ± 0.14 GPa and 949 ± 92 °C (stage I), corresponding to crustal depths of ∼55 km. Zircon yielded an U–Pb age of 557 ± 16 Ma, inferred to date crystallization of zircon during peak or immediately post-peak metamorphism. Formation of plagioclase + orthopyroxene-bearing coronas surrounding garnet indicates a near-isothermal decompression of the high-pressure granulites to lower pressure granulite facies conditions (stage II). Development of plagioclase + amphibole-coronas enclosing the same garnet porphyroblasts shows subsequent cooling into amphibolite facies conditions (stage III). Symplectitic textures of the corona assemblages indicate rapid decompression. The high-pressure granulite facies metamorphism of the Lurio Belt, followed by near-isothermal decompression and subsequent cooling, is in accordance with a long-lived tectonic history accompanied by high magmatic activity in the Lurio Belt during the late Neoproterozoic–early Palaeozoic East-African–Antarctic orogeny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migmatite gneisses are widespread in the Dabie orogen, but their formation ages are poorly constrained. Eight samples of migmatite, including leucosome, melanosome, and banded gneiss, were selected for U–Pb dating and Hf isotope analysis. Most metamorphic zircon occurs as overgrowths around inherited igneous cores or as newly grown grains. Morphological and internal structure features suggest that their growth is associated with partial melting. According to the Hf isotope ratio relationships between metamorphic zircon and inherited cores, three formation mechanisms for metamorphic zircon can be determined, which are dissolution–reprecipitation of pre-existing zircon, breakdown of Zr-bearing phase other than zircon in a closed system and crystallization from externally derived Zr-bearing melt. Four samples contain magmatic zircon cores, yielding upper intercept U–Pb ages of 807 ± 35–768 ± 12 Ma suggesting that the protoliths of the migmatites are Neoproterozoic in age. The migmatite zircon yields weighted mean two-stage Hf model ages of 2513 ± 97–894 ± 54 Ma, indicating reworking of both juvenile and ancient crustal materials at the time of their protolith formation. The metamorphic zircons give U–Pb ages of 145 ± 2–120 ± 2 Ma. The oldest age indicates that partial melting commenced prior to 145 Ma, which also constrains the onset of extensional tectonism in this region to pre-145 Ma. The youngest age of 120 Ma was obtained from an undeformed granitic vein, indicating that deformation in this area was complete at this time. Two major episodes of partial melting were dated at 139 ± 1 and 123 ± 1Ma. The first episode of partial melting is obviously older than the timing of post-collision magmatism, corresponding to regional extension. The second episode of partial melting is coeval with the widespread post-collision magmatism, indicating the gravitational collapse and delamination of the orogenic lithospheric keel of the Dabie orogen, which were possibly triggered by the uprising of the Cretaceous mid-Pacific superplume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porphyroblastic garnet schists from northern Samos contain in their matrix the assemblage Ca-rich garnet + phengite + paragonite ± chloritoid equilibrated at ∼530 °C and ∼19 kbar during early Tertiary metamorphism. These high-pressure/low-temperature (HP-LT) metapelitic rocks also exhibit mineralogical and microstructural evidence of an older, higher temperature metamorphism. Large, centimetre-sized Fe-rich garnet showing growth zoning developed discontinuous, <0.5 mm thick, Ca-rich and Mn-poor overgrowths, compositionally matching small (<1 mm) high- P matrix garnet. Because the discontinuous garnet rims are in textural and chemical equilibrium with Alpine high- P minerals, the central parts of the garnet porphyroblasts were found to have formed prior to the Tertiary metamorphism. This is supported by electron microprobe U-Th-Pb dating of monazite inclusions yielding partly reset Variscan ages between 360 and 160 Ma. Monazite-xenotime and garnet-muscovite thermometry applied to inclusions in the pre-Alpine garnet yielded temperatures of 600–625 °C (at 3–8 kbar). Prismatic Al-rich pseudomorphs, possibly after kyanite/sillimanite, and inclusions in garnet composed of white K-Na mica + quartz ± albite ± K feldspar, interpreted as possible replacements of an intermediate K-Na feldspar, further support Variscan amphibolite facies conditions. The Samos metapelites thus experienced higher temperatures during the Variscan than during Alpine metamorphism. Diffusional relaxation was very limited between pre-Alpine garnet and Alpine garnet; both were filled with Alpine garnet along overgrowths and fractures. Fluid-mediated intergranular element transport, enhanced by deformation, appears crucial in transforming the Variscan garnet into a grossular richer composition during Alpine subduction-zone metamorphism. At such conditions, dissolution–reprecipitation appears to be a much more effective mechanism for modifying garnet compositions than diffusion. Amphibolite facies conditions are typical for Variscan basement relics exposed in central Cycladic and Dodecanese islands as well as in eastern Crete. The Samos metapelites studied comprise a north-eastern extension of these basement occurrences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mylonitic granites from two shear zones in northern Victoria Land (Antarctica) were investigated in order to examine the behaviour of the U–Th–Pb system in zircon and monazite and of the 40Ar–39Ar system in micas during ductile deformation. Meso- and micro-structural data indicate that shear zones gently dip to the NE and SW, have an opposite sense of shear (top-to-the-SW and -NE, respectively) and developed under upper greenschist facies conditions. In situ U–Pb dating by laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry of zircon areas with well-preserved igneous zoning patterns ( c. 490 Ma) confirm that granites were emplaced during the Early Cambrian to Early Ordovician Ross–Delamerian Orogeny. Monazite from the Bier Point Shear Zone (BPSZ) mainly yielded U–Th–Pb ages of c. 440 Ma, in agreement with in-situ Ar laserprobe ages of syn-shear muscovite and with most Ar ages of coexisting biotite. The agreement of ages derived from different decay schemes and from minerals with different crystal-chemical features suggests that isotope transport in the studied sample was mainly controlled by (re)crystallization processes and that the main episode of ductile deformation in the BPSZ occurred at c. 440 Ma. Cathodoluminscence imaging showed that zircon from the BPSZ contains decomposed areas with faint relics of oscillatory zoning. These areas yielded a U–Pb age pattern which mimics that of monazite but is slightly shifted towards older ages, supporting previous studies which suggest that ‘ghost’ structures may be affected by inheritance. In contrast, secondary structures in zircon from the Mt. Emison Shear Zone (MESZ) predominantly consist of overgrowths or totally recrystallized areas and gave U–Pb ages of c. 450 and 410 Ma. The c. 450-Ma date matches within errors most monazite U–Th–Pb ages and in-situ Ar ages on biotite aligned along the mylonitic foliation. This again suggests that isotope ages from the different minerals are (re)crystallization ages and constrains the time of shearing in the MESZ to the Late Ordovician. Regionally, results indicate that shear zones were active in the Late Ordovician–Early Silurian and that their development was partially synchronous at c. 440 Ma, suggesting that they belong to a shear-zone system formed in response to ∼NE–SW-directed shortening. Taking into account the former juxtaposition of northern Victoria Land and SE Australia, we propose that shear zones represent reactivated zones formed in response to stress applied along the new plate margin as a consequence of contractional tectonics associated with the early stages (Benambran Orogeny) of the development of the Late Ordovician–Late Devonian Lachlan Fold Belt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-temperature eclogite and eclogite facies metapelite together with serpentinite and marble occur as blocks within foliated blueschist that was originated from greywacke matrix; they formed a high-pressure low-temperature (HPLT) subduction complex (mélange) in the North Qilian oceanic-type suture zone, NW China. Phengite–eclogite (type I) and epidote–eclogite (type II) were recognized on the basis of mineral assemblage. Relic lawsonite and lawsonite pseudomorphs occur as inclusions in garnet from both types of eclogite. Garnet–omphacite–phengite geothermobarometry yields metamorphic conditions of 460–510 °C and 2.20–2.60 GPa for weakly deformed eclogite, and 475–500 °C and 1.75–1.95 GPa for strongly foliated eclogite. Eclogite facies metasediments include garnet–omphacite–phengite–glaucophane schist and various chloritoid-bearing schists. Mg-carpholite was identified in some high-Mg chloritoid schists. P– T estimates yield 2.60–2.15 GPa and 495–540 °C for Grt–Omp–Phn–Gln schist, and 2.45–2.50 GPa and 525–530 °C for the Mg-carpholite schist. Mineral assemblages and P– T estimates, together with isotopic ages, suggest that the oceanic lithosphere as well as pelagic to semi-pelagic sediments have been subducted to the mantle depths (≥75 km) before 460 Ma. Blueschist facies retrogression occurred at c. 454–446 Ma and led to eclogite deformation and dehydration of lawsonite during exhumation. The peak P– Tconditions for eclogite and metapelite in the North Qilian suture zone demonstrate the existence of cold subduction-zone gradients (6–7 °C km−1), and this cold subduction brought a large amount of H2O to the deep mantle in the Early Palaeozoic times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-pressure schists (2–2.5 GPa) from the Eclogite Zone in the Tauern Window contain honeycomb garnet in which fine webs of garnet surround strain-free quartz ± carbonate grains. High-resolution X-ray computed tomography shows that the garnet webs form a cellular structure that coats all surfaces of the inclusions. Electron backscatter diffraction analysis shows that the garnet cells are crystallographically continuous with more massive garnet regions, and that the quartz ± carbonate inclusions have random orientations; in contrast, matrix quartz exhibits a prominent crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO). High-resolution transmission electron microscopy shows few dislocations in either the garnet or the inclusion quartz. Most honeycomb garnet is chemically homogeneous, but some displays asymmetric core–rim zoning. Taken together, these observations are most consistent with formation of the garnet sheets via precipitation from a wetting fluid along quartz–quartz grain boundaries, or possibly via wholesale precipitation of garnet + quartz ± carbonate from a fluid. In either case, a silicate-rich aqueous fluid must have been present. The likelihood that a fully wetting fluid existed at high pressure has important implications for rheology during subduction of metasedimentary rocks: strain may be accommodated by grain rotation and sliding in an aqueous silicate slurry, rather than via dislocation creep mechanisms at high pressures. The absence of a CPO in early quartz may thus point to involvement of a pervasive grain-boundary fluid rather than requiring low differential stresses during subduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesoproterozoic terranes of the Australian craton exhibit complex tectonometamorphic histories that are generally considered to result from low-pressure/high-temperature (LPHT) metamorphism with an anticlockwise pressure ( P)–temperature ( T) path. Yet studies regarding the nature of the P–T history and tectonic regime that led to such a LPHT signature have been quite limited. A foliation intersection/inflection axes preserved in the porphyroblast (FIA) analysis combined with textural relationships and P–T pseudosections, using a key locality of the Eastern Fold Belt of the Mt Isa Inlier, has resolved the cause of the LPHT signature in this region. Two periods of porphyroblast growth have been distinguished using a change in FIA trends with time; the first formed during N–S shortening and the second during W–E shortening orogenesis (D1 & D2, respectively). Significantly, D1 porphyroblasts preserving W–E FIAs are minerals of the Barrovian style, whereas D2 formed porphyroblasts preserving N–S FIAs are Buchan in style. This is consistent with the emplacement of the Williams/Naraku Batholiths after D1 around the onset of D2. Higher-pressure garnet cores, that can be modelled in MnNCKFMASH P–T pseudosections, preserve early W–E FIA and formed during D1. This was followed by decompression and then LPHT metamorphism and deformation during which N–S FIAs were preserved within porphyroblasts. This is supported by the presence of at least two generations of staurolite that crystallized before and after andalusite/cordierite. Middle to upper amphibolite facies metamorphic conditions occurred during D1 with crustal thickening followed by near-isothermal decompression leading to LPHT conditions. This was followed by D2 and a second period of middle to upper amphibolite facies metamorphism that obliterated and/or obscured the tectonometamorphic signature of D1 in the matrix of most rocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A reaction zone between a metamorphosed basic dyke and marble at Hirao-dai, north Kyushu, Japan, consists of well-organized sequential zones of diopside, garnet and wollastonite; textures are characteristic of diffusion-controlled structures. The reaction zone formed during contact metamorphism associated with intrusion of a Cretaceous granodiorite at ∼300 MPa and 700 °C. The metamorphosed basic dyke consists of diopside, biotite and plagioclase ( XAb = 0.4–0.8), whereas the marble is almost pure calcite. The initial boundary between the dyke and the marble is probably located within the current diopside zone, as calcite occurs as remnants among diopside grains in areas close to the boundary with the garnet zone. This observation provides a criterion to judge the stability of the zonal sequence in our modelling. The formation of the reaction zone is attributed to a single-stage steady-state process with five overstepping reactions. CaO, MgO, FeO, SiO2 and AlO3/2 are the reaction-controlling components that are necessary to describe the growth of the reaction zone. An isochemical steady-diffusion model cannot reproduce the measured phase ratios of product minerals; this indicates open-system behaviour of the reaction zone. The choice of closure components is an essential task in the treatment of open-system modelling, together with determination of phase ratios (Ashworth & Birdi model) or estimation of boundary fluxes (Johnson & Carlson model). Of all the possible combinations of closure components, closure conditions for CaO and MgO provide the best results for both models. The stability of the zonal sequence is limited at relatively large values of LSiSi/ LCaCa. Similar results from the two models confirm their consistency under the same closure conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oscillatory zoning in low δ18O skarn garnet from the Willsboro wollastonite deposit, NE Adirondack Mts, NY, USA, preserves a record of the temporal evolution of mixing hydrothermal fluids from different sources. Garnet with oscillatory zoning are large (1–3 cm diameter) euhedral crystals that grew in formerly fluid filled cavities. They contain millimetre-scale oscillatory zoning of varying grossular–andradite composition ( XAdr = 0.13–0.36). The δ18O values of the garnet zones vary from 0.80 to 6.26‰ VSMOW and correlate with XAdr. The shape, pattern and number of garnet zones varies from crystal to crystal, as does the magnitude of the correlated chemistry changes, suggesting fluid system variability, temporal and/or spatial, over the time of garnet growth. The zones of correlated Fe content and δ18O indicate that a high Fe3+/Al, high δ18O fluid mixed with a lower Fe3+/Al and δ18O fluid. The high δ18O, Fe enriched fluids were likely magmatic fluids expelled from crystallizing anorthosite. The low δ18O fluids were meteoric in origin. These are the first skarn garnet with oscillatory zoning reported from granulite facies rocks. Geochronologic, stable isotope, petrologic and field evidence indicates that the Adirondacks are a polymetamorphic terrane, where localized contact metamorphism around shallowly intruded anorthosite was followed by a regional granulite facies overprint. The growth of these garnet in equilibrium with meteoric and magmatic fluids indicates an origin in the shallow contact aureole of the anorthosite prior to regional metamorphism. The zoning was preserved due to the slow diffusion of oxygen and cations in the large garnet and protection from deformation and recrystallization in zones of low strain in thick, rigid, garnetite layers. The garnet provide new information about the hydrothermal system adjacent to the shallowly intruded massif anorthosite that predates regional metamorphism in this geologically complex, polymetamorphic terrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Nanometric solid inclusions in diamond incorporated in garnet and zircon from felsic gneiss of the Kokchetav massif, Kazakhstan, have been examined utilizing electron microscopy and focused ion beam techniques. Host garnet and zircon contain numerous pockets of multiple inclusions, which consist of 1–3 diamond crystals intergrown with quartz, phengite, phlogopite, albite, K-feldspar, rutile, apatite, titanite, biotite, chlorite and graphite in various combinations. Recalculation of the average chemical composition of the entrapped fluid represented by multiple inclusion pockets indicates that such fluid contained a low wt% of SiO2 , suggesting a relatively low-temperature fluid rather than a melt. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the diamond contains abundant nanocrystalline inclusions of oxides, rare carbonates and silicates. Within the 15 diamond crystals studied, abundant inclusions were found of SiO2 , TiO2 , Fex Oy , Cr2 O3 , ZrSiO4 , and single grains of Thx Oy , BaSO4 , MgCO3 , FeCr2 O4 and a stoichiometric Fe-rich pyroxene. The diversity of trace elements within inclusions of essentially the same stoichiometry suggests that the Kokchetav diamond crystallized from a fluid containing variable amounts of Si, Fe, Ti, Cr, Zr, Ba, Mg and Th and other minor components such as K, Na, P, S, Pb, Zn, Nb, Al, Ca, Cl. Most of the components in crystals included in diamond appear to have their origin in the subducted metasediments, but some of them probably originate from the mantle. It is concluded that Kokchetav diamond most likely crystallized from a COH-rich multicomponent supercritical fluid at a relatively low temperature (hence the apparently low content of rock-forming elements), and that the diversity of major and minor components suggests interactions between subducted... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serial sectioning and imaging with a flatbed scanner yielded the three-dimensional size and spatial distribution of garnet porphyroblasts in two garnet schists and one staurolite-bearing schist from the Everett Formation, north-west Connecticut. The dominant garnet-producing reaction in all samples was chlorite+quartz=garnet+H2O. The appearance of staurolite, and additional garnet growth in the staurolite-bearing sample, was due to the reaction chloritoid=garnet+staurolite+chlorite. Statistical measures of garnet spatial distributions, using the pair correlation function (PCF), indicate that garnet crystals are weakly to strongly clustered at length scales between 2 and 10 mm. Such clustered nucleation may reflect minor bulk compositional variations. Covariance measures between garnet size and nearest-neighbour distance, using the mark covariance function (MCF), suggest a very weak correlation between crystal size and nearest-neighbour distance for length scales of 2 mm or less. These statistical data suggest that if diffusional gradients were present around growing garnet crystals, they did not influence nucleation and growth patterns at length scales greater than c. 2 mm. Compositional maps, through the garnet centres, show that the smaller crystals have lower Mn core compositions relative to larger crystals, consistent with progressive nucleation during pro-grade metamorphism. Radius-rate plots calculated from compositional X-ray maps show similar growth rates for garnet crystals of different size, consistent with an interface-controlled growth model for garnet. The presence of minor diffusional gradients around growing garnet cannot be entirely dismissed, but the lack of observable reaction rims, the clustered spatial distribution and the radius-rate data are most consistent with an interface-controlled garnet growth model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]