Presidential Address. Scales of disequilibrium and rates of equilibration during metamorphism
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William D. Carlson
Abstract
Mounting evidence suggests that partial disequilibrium-meaning disequilibrium for some elements, but not for others-may be a common but rarely detected phenomenon during metamorphic mineral growth, even in ordinary prograde reactions that progress to completion. Detailed examination of compositional variations in garnet crystals over a range of metamorphic grade suggests distinctly different scales of equilibration for common elements, with strong temperature dependence. Under lower greenschist-facies conditions, Fe and Mg may equilibrate at hand-sample scale, whereas Mn and Ca may not equilibrate even at millimeter-scale. Although Mn may achieve hand-samplescale equilibration under upper greenschist-facies conditions, Ca and many trivalent cations (e.g., REEs) may not do so until temperatures exceed those of the middle amphibolite facies. Even in the lower granulite facies, some elements (e.g., Y, Yb) show indications of disequilibrium at sub-centimeter- scales during garnet growth.
Analysis and numerical modeling of undisputed disequilibrium textures demonstrate that the most common impediment to equilibration during metamorphism is the sluggishness of intergranular diffusion, the same mechanism known to govern porphyroblast crystallization in many metamorphic environments. Despite this importance to petrology, few quantitative determinations exist of intergranular diffusion rates under metamorphic conditions. Using numerical simulations of coupled intergranular and intracrystalline diffusion processes in coronal textures around partially resorbed garnet crystals from the Llano Uplift, U.S.A., a very precise and relatively accurate estimate is obtained for the rate of intergranular diffusion of Al in fluid-undersaturated systems. This result and an earlier estimate for fluid-saturated systems provide bracketing values for Al diffusivity during metamorphism.
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Presidential Address. Scales of disequilibrium and rates of equilibration during metamorphism
- Characterization of coexisting NH4- and K-micas in very low-grade metapelites
- Effect of sonic and ultrasonic frequencies on the crystallization of basalt
- Sulfur saturation limits in silicate melts and their implications for core formation scenarios for terrestrial planets
- Molecular water in beryl, VIAl2 [Be3Si6O18]·nH2O, as a function of pressure and temperature: An experimental study
- Fluid-induced nucleation of (Y + REE)-phosphate minerals within apatite: Nature and experiment. Part I. Chlorapatite
- X-ray spectroscopic investigations of fluids in the hydrothermal diamond anvil cell: The hydration structure of aqueous La3+ up to 300 °C and 1600 bars
- Fibrous nanoinclusions in massive rose quartz: HRTEM and AEM investigations
- Polysomatism in högbomite: The crystal structures of 10T, 12H, 14T, and 24R polysomes
- Ordering of hydroxyl defects in hydrous wadsleyite (β-Mg2SiO4)
- The crystal structure and cation ordering of Phase-X-(K1–x–n)2(Mg1–n[Al,Cr]n)2Si2O7H2x: A potential K- and H-bearing phase in the mantle
- Feasibility of determining the quantitative OH content of garnets with Raman spectroscopy
- Raman spectroscopic study of garnet inclusions in diamonds from the mantle transition zone
- Raman spectroscopy of Fe2O3 to 62 GPa
- Study of the (010) olivine surface by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry in channeling geometry
- Equation of state of dense hydrous magnesium silicate phase A, Mg7Si2O8(OH)6
- Si-F bonding in aluminosilicate glasses: Inferences from ab initio NMR calculations
- Monoclinic nearly stoichiometric wüstite at low temperatures
- On the nature of tincalconite
- Letters. Chloride ion sites in silicate and aluminosilicate glasses: A preliminary study by 35Cl solid-state NMR
- Nuclear magnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopic study of excess-boron olenite from Koralpe, Styria, Austria
Articles in the same Issue
- Presidential Address. Scales of disequilibrium and rates of equilibration during metamorphism
- Characterization of coexisting NH4- and K-micas in very low-grade metapelites
- Effect of sonic and ultrasonic frequencies on the crystallization of basalt
- Sulfur saturation limits in silicate melts and their implications for core formation scenarios for terrestrial planets
- Molecular water in beryl, VIAl2 [Be3Si6O18]·nH2O, as a function of pressure and temperature: An experimental study
- Fluid-induced nucleation of (Y + REE)-phosphate minerals within apatite: Nature and experiment. Part I. Chlorapatite
- X-ray spectroscopic investigations of fluids in the hydrothermal diamond anvil cell: The hydration structure of aqueous La3+ up to 300 °C and 1600 bars
- Fibrous nanoinclusions in massive rose quartz: HRTEM and AEM investigations
- Polysomatism in högbomite: The crystal structures of 10T, 12H, 14T, and 24R polysomes
- Ordering of hydroxyl defects in hydrous wadsleyite (β-Mg2SiO4)
- The crystal structure and cation ordering of Phase-X-(K1–x–n)2(Mg1–n[Al,Cr]n)2Si2O7H2x: A potential K- and H-bearing phase in the mantle
- Feasibility of determining the quantitative OH content of garnets with Raman spectroscopy
- Raman spectroscopic study of garnet inclusions in diamonds from the mantle transition zone
- Raman spectroscopy of Fe2O3 to 62 GPa
- Study of the (010) olivine surface by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry in channeling geometry
- Equation of state of dense hydrous magnesium silicate phase A, Mg7Si2O8(OH)6
- Si-F bonding in aluminosilicate glasses: Inferences from ab initio NMR calculations
- Monoclinic nearly stoichiometric wüstite at low temperatures
- On the nature of tincalconite
- Letters. Chloride ion sites in silicate and aluminosilicate glasses: A preliminary study by 35Cl solid-state NMR
- Nuclear magnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopic study of excess-boron olenite from Koralpe, Styria, Austria
