Home Physical Sciences Fluids in the crust during regional metamorphism: Forty years in the Waterville limestone
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Fluids in the crust during regional metamorphism: Forty years in the Waterville limestone

  • John M. Ferry EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: March 4, 2016
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Abstract

Research over the last four decades on carbonate rocks of the Waterville limestone, Maine, U.S.A., has contributed to the development of both concepts and methodologies for understanding fuid-rock interaction during regional metamorphism, including: (1) buffering of fluid composition by mineral reactions, (2) infiltration of carbonate rocks by aqueous fluids, (3) petrologic fluid-rock ratios, (4) infiltration-driven metamorphism, (5) one- and two-dimensional continuum models for coupled fluid flow and mineral reaction, (6) time-integrated fluid fluxes, and (7) channelized, horizontal fluid flow in the direction of increasing temperature within chemically isolated layers. Disagreement between the last concept and both hydrodynamic models for metamorphic fluid flow and empirical evidence for homogenization of fluid composition at a scale much larger than layer thickness motivated development of the latest models for coupled fluid flow and mineral reaction in the Waterville limestone. The new models consider a flow medium composed of layers that differ in the initial amounts and compositions of minerals, both horizontal flow in the direction of increasing temperature and vertical flow in the direction of decreasing pressure and temperature, significant but imperfect homogenization of fluid composition across layering by CO2-H2O interdiffusion, and infiltration by fluids that are spatially variable in composition on the kilometer scale with CO2 content increasing with increasing grade of metamorphism. The new models reproduce measured progress of the biotite-forming reaction in the Waterville limestone over a range of spatial scales spanning six orders of magnitude, from differences in reaction progress of up to a factor of ~100 between adjacent centimeter-thick layers to the coexistence of mineral reactants and products over a distance of ~13 km parallel to the metamorphic field gradient. Results imply that the present spatial distributions of reaction progress represent a steady state achieved when rocks closely approached equilibrium with the infiltrating fluid during metamorphism. The new models resolve what for many years appeared to be fundamental discrepancies among petrologic data for regionally metamorphosed carbonate rocks, hydrodynamic models of regional metamorphism, and the length scales of mass transport of volatiles across layering by diffusion.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (grant number EAR-1118713). I warmly thank Jay Ague, Lukas Baumgartner, Mike Bickle, Katy Evans, Brooks Hanson, Peter Nabelek, Doug Rumble, and Danny Rye, all of my Ph.D. students, and many others for contributing over the last 40 yr to my better understanding of metamorphism. The paper was improved by the thoughtful, constructive reviews of Jay Ague, Katy Evans, and Sarah Penniston-Dorland.

References Cited

Ague, J.J. (2000) Release of CO2 from carbonate rocks during regional metamorphism of lithologically heterogeneous crust. Geology, 28, 1123–1126.10.1130/0091-7613(2000)28<1123:ROCFCR>2.0.CO;2Search in Google Scholar

Ague, J.J. (2002) Gradients in fluid composition across metacarbonate layers of the Wepawaug Schist, Connecticut, USA. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 143, 38–55.10.1007/s00410-001-0330-9Search in Google Scholar

Ague, J.J. (2003) Fluid flow in the deep crust. In R.L. Rudnick, Ed., The Crust. Treatise on Geochemistry, vol. 3, p. 195–228. Elsevier, Amsterdam.10.1016/B0-08-043751-6/03023-1Search in Google Scholar

Ague, J.J., and Rye, D.M. (1999) Simple models of CO2 release from metacarbonates with implications for interpretation of directions and magnitudes of fluid flow in the deep crust. Journal of Petrology, 40, 1443–1462.10.1093/petroj/40.9.1443Search in Google Scholar

Baumgartner, L.P., and Ferry, J.M. (1991) A model for coupled fluid-flow and mixed-volatile mineral reactions with applications to regional metamorphism. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 106, 273–285.10.1007/BF00324557Search in Google Scholar

Baumgartner, L.P., Ferry, J.M., and Phillips, O.M. (1988) Infiltration driven mixed volatile reactions: A continuum mechanics approach. EOS, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union, 69, 467.Search in Google Scholar

Berman, R.G. (1988) Internally-consistent thermodynamic data for minerals in the system Na2O-K2O-CaO-MgO-FeO-Fe2O3-Al2O3-SiO2-TiO2-H2O-CO2. Journal of Petrology, 29, 445–522.10.1093/petrology/29.2.445Search in Google Scholar

Bickle, M.J., and Baker, J. (1990) Advective-diffusive transport of isotopic fronts: An example from Naxos, Greece. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 97, 78–93.10.1016/0012-821X(90)90100-CSearch in Google Scholar

Bickle, M.J., and McKenzie, D.P. (1987) The transport of heat and matter by fluids during metamorphism. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 95, 384–392.10.1007/BF00371852Search in Google Scholar

Bickle, M.J., Chapman, H.J., Ferry, J.M., Rumble, D. III, and Fallick, A.E. (1997) Fluid flow and diffusion in the Waterville limestone, south-central Maine: Constraints from strontium, oxygen and carbon isotope profiles. Journal of Petrology, 38, 1489–1512.10.1093/petroj/38.11.1489Search in Google Scholar

Bowen, N.L. (1940) Progressive metamorphism of siliceous limestone and dolomite. Journal of Geology, 48, 225–274.10.1086/624885Search in Google Scholar

Carmichael, D.M. (1970) Intersecting isograds in the Whetstone Lake area, Ontario. Journal of Petrology, 11, 147–181.10.1093/petrology/11.1.147Search in Google Scholar

Chayes, F. (1956) Petrographic Modal Analysis: An Elementary Statistical Appraisal, 113 p. Wiley, New York.Search in Google Scholar

Crawford, M.L. (1966) Composition of plagioclase and associated minerals in some schists from Vermont, U.S.A., and South Westland, New Zealand, with inferences about the peristerite solvus. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 13, 269–294.10.1007/BF00506529Search in Google Scholar

De Groot, S.R., and Mazur, P. (1962) Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics, 510 p. North-Holland, New York.Search in Google Scholar

Essene, E.J. (1982) Geologic thermometry and barometry. In J.M. Ferry, Ed., Characterization of Metamorphism through Mineral Equilibria, 10, 153–206. Reviews in Mineralogy, Mineralogical Society of America, Chantilly, Virginia.10.1515/9781501508172-009Search in Google Scholar

Evans, B.W. (2007) Landmark Papers: Metamorphic Petrology, 332 p. Mineral-ogical Society of Great Britain & Ireland, Twickenham.Search in Google Scholar

Evans, K.A., and Bickle, M.J. (1999) Determination of time-integrated metamorphic fluid fluxes from reaction progress of multivariant assemblages. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 134, 277–293.10.1007/s004100050484Search in Google Scholar

Evans, K.A., and Bickle, M.J. (2005) An investigation of the relationship between bulk composition, inferred reaction progress and fluid-flow parameters for layered micaceous carbonates from Maine, USA. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 23, 181–197.10.1111/j.1525-1314.2005.00571.xSearch in Google Scholar

Ferry, J.M. (1976) Metamorphism of calcareous sediments in the Waterville-Vassalboro area, south-central Maine: Mineral reactions and graphical analysis. American Journal of Science, 276, 841–882.10.2475/ajs.276.7.841Search in Google Scholar

Ferry, J.M. (1978) Fluid interaction between granite and sediment during metamorphism, south-central Maine. American Journal of Science, 278, 1025–1056.10.2475/ajs.278.8.1025Search in Google Scholar

Ferry, J.M. (1979) A map of chemial potential differences within an outcrop. American Mineralogist, 64, 966–985.Search in Google Scholar

Ferry, J.M. (1980) A case study of the amount and distribution of heat and fluid during metamorphism. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 71, 373–385.10.1007/BF00374708Search in Google Scholar

Ferry, J.M. (1981) Petrology of graphitic sulfide-rich schists from south-central Maine: An example of desulfidation during prograde regional metamorphism. American Mineralogist, 66, 908–930.Search in Google Scholar

Ferry, J.M. (1983) Regional metamorphism of the Vassalboro Formation, south-central Maine, USA: A case study of the role of fluid in metamorphic petrogenesis. Journal of the Geological Society of London, 140, 551–576.10.1144/gsjgs.140.4.0551Search in Google Scholar

Ferry, J.M. (1984) A biotite isogrand in south-central Maine, U.S.A.: Mineral reactions, heat transfer, and fluid transfer. Journal of Petrology, 25, 871–893.10.1093/petrology/25.4.871Search in Google Scholar

Ferry, J.M. (1987) Metamorphic hydrology at 13-km depth and 400–550 °C. American Mineralogist, 72, 39–58.Search in Google Scholar

Ferry, J.M. (1988) Infiltration-driven metamorphism in northern New England, USA. Journal of Petrology, 29, 1121–1159.10.1093/petrology/29.6.1121Search in Google Scholar

Ferry, J.M. (1992) Regional metamorphism of the Waits River Formation, eastern Vermont: Delineation of a new type of giant metamorphic hydrothermal system. Journal of Petrology, 33, 45–94.10.1093/petrology/33.1.45Search in Google Scholar

Ferry, J.M. (1994) Overview of the petrologic record of fluid flow during regional metamorphism in northern New England. American Journal of Science, 294, 905–988.10.2475/ajs.294.8.905Search in Google Scholar

Ferry, J.M., and Gottschalk, M. (2009) The effect of salinity on infiltration-driven contact metamorphism of carbonate rocks. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 158, 619–636.10.1007/s00410-009-0400-ySearch in Google Scholar

Ferry, J.M., Winslow, N.W., and Penniston-Dorland, S.C. (2013) Re-evaluation of infiltration-driven regional metamorphism in northern New England: New transport models with solid solution and cross-layer equilibration of fluid composition. Journal of Petrology, 54, 2455–2485.10.1093/petrology/egt053Search in Google Scholar

Goldschmidt, V.M. (1912) Die Gesetze der Gesteinmetamorphose. Norsk Viden-kapsselskaps Skrifter I. Matematisk-Naturvidenskapelig Klasse, 22, 16 p.Search in Google Scholar

Greenwood, H.J. (1963) Metamorphic reactions involving two volatile components. Carnegie Institution of Washington Yearbook, 61, 82–85.Search in Google Scholar

Greenwood, H.J. (1967) Mineral equilibria in the system MgO-SiO2-H2O-CO2. In P.H. Abelson, Ed., Researches in Geochemistry, 2, p. 542–567. Wiley, New York.Search in Google Scholar

Hanson, R.B. (1992) Effects of fluid production on fluid flow during regional and contact metamorphism. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 10, 87–97.10.1111/j.1525-1314.1992.tb00073.xSearch in Google Scholar

Hanson, R.B. (1997) The hydrodynamics of regional metamorphism due to continental collision. Economic Geology, 92, 880–891.10.2113/gsecongeo.92.7-8.880Search in Google Scholar

Hewitt, D.A. (1973) The metamorphism of micaceous limestones from south-central Connecticut. American Journal of Science, 273-A, 444–469.Search in Google Scholar

Kerrick, D.M., and Jacobs, G.K. (1981) A modified Redlich-Kwong equation for H2O, CO2, and H2O-CO2 mixtures at elevated pressures and temperatures. American Journal of Science, 281, 735–767.10.2475/ajs.281.6.735Search in Google Scholar

Lyubetskaya, T., and Ague, J.J. (2009) Modeling the magnitudes and directions of regional metamorphic fluid flow in collisional orogens. Journal of Petrology, 50, 1505–1531.10.1093/petrology/egp039Search in Google Scholar

Lyubetskaya, T., and Ague, J.J. (2010) Modeling metamorphism in collsional orogens intruded by magmas: II. Fluid flow and implications for Barrovian and Buchan metamorphism, Scotland. American Journal of Science, 310, 459–491.10.2475/06.2010.02Search in Google Scholar

Olsen, S.N., and Ferry, J.M. (1995) A comparative fluid inclusion study of the Waterville and Sangerville Formations, south-central Maine. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 118, 396–413.10.1007/s004100050022Search in Google Scholar

Orville, P.M. (1972) Plagioclase cation exchange equilibria with aqueous chloride solutions: Results at 700 °C and 2000 bars in the presence of quartz. American Journal of Science, 272, 234–272.10.2475/ajs.272.3.234Search in Google Scholar

Osberg, P.H. (1968) Stratigraphy, structural geology, and metamorphism in the Waterville-Vassalboro area, Maine. Maine Geological Survey Bulletin 20.Search in Google Scholar

Osberg, P.H. (1979) Geologic relationships in south-central Maine. In P.H. Osberg and J. W. Skehan, Eds., The Caledonides in the U.S.A., p. 37–62. Weston Observatory of Boston College, Weston, Massachusetts.Search in Google Scholar

Osberg, P.H. (1988) Geologic relations in the shale-wacke sequence in south-central Maine. Maine Geological Survey Studies in Maine Geology, 1, 51–73.Search in Google Scholar

Penniston-Dorland, S.C., and Ferry, J.M. (2006) Development of spatial variations in reaction progress during regional metamorphism of micaceous carbonate rocks, northern New England. American Journal of Science, 306, 475–524.10.2475/07.2006.01Search in Google Scholar

Rice, J.M. (1977a) Contact metamorphism of impure dolomitic limestone in the Marysville aureole, Montana. American Journal of Science, 277, 1–24.10.2475/ajs.277.1.1Search in Google Scholar

Rice, J.M. (1977b) Contact metamorphism of impure dolomitic limestone in the Boulder aureole, Montana. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 59, 237–259.10.1007/BF00374555Search in Google Scholar

Rumble, D. III. (1974) Gibbs phase rule and its application to geochemistry. Journal of the Washington Academy of Science, 62, 199–208.Search in Google Scholar

Rumble, D. III. (1978) Mineralogy, petrology, and oxygen isotope geochemistry of the Clough Formation, Black Mountain, western New Hampshire. Journal of Petrology, 19, 317–340.10.1093/petrology/19.2.317Search in Google Scholar

Rumble, D. III, Oliver, N.H.S., Ferry, J.M., and Hoering, T.C. (1991) Carbon and oxygen isotope geochemistry of chlorite-zone rocks of the Waterville limestone, Maine, U.S.A. American Mineralogist, 76, 857–866.Search in Google Scholar

Rye, R.O., Schuiling, R.D., Rye, D.M., and Jansen, J.B.H. (1976) Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen isotope studies of the regional metamorphic complex at Naxos, Greece. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 40, 1031–1049.10.1016/0016-7037(76)90045-4Search in Google Scholar

Sisson, V.B., and Hollister, L.S. (1990) A fluid-inclusion study of metamorphosed pelitic and carbonate rocks, south-central Maine. American Mineralogist, 75, 59–70.Search in Google Scholar

Skelton, A. (2011) Flux rates for water and carbon dioxide during greenschist facies metamorphism. Geology, 39, 43–46.10.1130/G31328.1Search in Google Scholar

Skelton, A.D.L., Graham, C.J., and Bickle, M.J. (1997) Lithological and structural controls on regional 3-D fluid flow patterns during greenschist facies metamorphism of the Dalradian of the SW Scottish Highlands. Journal of Petrology, 36, 563–586.10.1093/petrology/36.2.563Search in Google Scholar

Taylor, H.P. Jr. (1974) The application of oxygen and hydrogen isotope studies to problems of hydrothermal alteration and ore deposition. Economic Geology, 69, 843–883.10.2113/gsecongeo.69.6.843Search in Google Scholar

Taylor, H.P. Jr. (1977) Water-rock interactions and the origin of H2O in granitic batholiths. Journal of the Geological Society of London, 133, 509–558.10.1144/gsjgs.133.6.0509Search in Google Scholar

Taylor, H.P. Jr. (1978) Oxygen and hydrogen isotope studies of plutonic granitic rocks. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 38, 177–210.10.1016/0012-821X(78)90131-0Search in Google Scholar

Thompson, J.B. Jr. (1982) Reaction space: An algebraic and geometric approach. In J.M. Ferry, Ed., Characterization of Metamorphism through Mineral Equilibria, 10, p. 33–52. Reviews in Mineralogy, Mineralogical Society of America, Chantilly, Virginia.10.1515/9781501508172-006Search in Google Scholar

Tucker, R.D., Osberg, P.H., and Berry, H.N. IV (2001) The geology of part of Acadia and the nature of the Acadian orogeny across central and eastern Maine. American Journal of Science, 301, 205–260.10.2475/ajs.301.3.205Search in Google Scholar

Wark, D., and Watson, E.B. (2004) Interdiffusion of H2O and CO2 in metamorphic fluids at ~490–660 °C and 1 GPa. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 68, 2693–2698.10.1016/j.gca.2003.12.006Search in Google Scholar

Wing, B.A., and Ferry, J.M. (2002) Three-dimensional geometry of metamorphic fluid flow during Barrovian regional metamorphism from an inversion of combined petrologic and stable isotopic data. Geology, 30, 639–642.10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0639:TDGOMF>2.0.CO;2Search in Google Scholar

Wing, B.A., Ferry, J.M., and Harrison, T.M. (2003) Prograde destruction and formation of monazite and allanite during contact and regional metamorphism of pelites: Petrology and geochronology. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 145, 228–250.10.1007/s00410-003-0446-1Search in Google Scholar

Zhao, Z., and Skelton, A. (2013) Simultaneous calculation of metamorphic fluid fluxes, reaction rates and timescales of fluid-rock interaction using a novel inverse modeling framework. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 373, 217–227.10.1016/j.epsl.2013.05.007Search in Google Scholar

  1. Manuscript handled by Sarah Penniston-Dorland.

Received: 2014-7-7
Accepted: 2015-5-19
Published Online: 2016-3-4
Published in Print: 2016-3-1

© 2016 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Editorial
  2. The most-cited journal in mineralogy and petrology (and what scientists can learn from baseball)
  3. Fluids in the Crust
  4. Fluids in the crust during regional metamorphism: Forty years in the Waterville limestone
  5. Research Article
  6. Remanent magnetization, magnetic coupling, and interface ionic configurations of intergrown rhombohedral and cubic Fe-Ti oxides: A short survey
  7. Research Article
  8. Are covalent bonds really directed?
  9. Dana Medal Paper
  10. Constraints on the early delivery and fractionation of Earth’s major volatiles from C/H, C/N, and C/S ratios
  11. Crossroads in Earth and Planetary Materials
  12. Octahedral chemistry of 2:1 clay minerals and hydroxyl band position in the near-infrared: Application to Mars
  13. Special Collection: Advances in Ultrahigh-Pressure Metamorphism
  14. Multi-stage barite crystallization in partially melted UHP eclogite from the Sulu belt, China
  15. Spinels Renaissance: The Past, Present, and Future of those Ubiquitous Minerals and Materials
  16. Crystal chemistry of spinels in the system MgAl2O4-MgV2O4-Mg2VO4
  17. Spinels Renaissance: The Past, Present, and Future of those Ubiquitous Minerals and Materials
  18. Magnetite spherules in pyroclastic iron ore at El Laco, Chile
  19. Special Collection: Apatite: A Common Mineral, Uncommonly Versatile
  20. Evidence for dissolution-reprecipitation of apatite and preferential LREE mobility in carbonatite-derived late-stage hydrothermal processes
  21. Special Collection: Apatite: A Common Mineral, Uncommonly Versatile
  22. Compositional variation of apatite from rift-related alkaline igneous rocks of the Gardar Province, South Greenland
  23. Special Collection: Perspectives on Origins and Evolution of Crustal Magmas
  24. Dynamics and thermodynamics of magma mixing: Insights from a simple exploratory model
  25. Special Collection: From Magmas to Ore Deposits
  26. Geochemistry, petrologic evolution, and ore deposits of the Miocene Bodie Hills Volcanic Field, California and Nevada
  27. Research Article
  28. Recognizing sulfate and phosphate complexes chemisorbed onto nanophase weathering products on Mars using in-situ and remote observations
  29. Research Article
  30. Crystallographic orientation relationships in host–inclusion systems: New insights from large EBSD data sets
  31. Research Article
  32. In-situ infrared spectroscopic studies of hydroxyl in amphiboles at high pressure
  33. Research Article
  34. Confined water in tunnel nanopores of sepiolite: Insights from molecular simulations
  35. Research Article
  36. Equation of state of the high-pressure Fe3O4 phase and a new structural transition at 70 GPa
  37. Research Article
  38. Reflectance spectroscopy of chromium-bearing spinel with application to recent orbital data from the Moon
  39. Research Article
  40. Temperature dependences of the hyperfine parameters of Fe2+ in FeTiO3 as determined by 57Fe-Mössbauer spectroscopy
  41. Letter
  42. Accurate predictions of iron redox state in silicate glasses: A multivariate approach using X-ray absorption spectroscopy
  43. Research Article
  44. New Mineral Names
Downloaded on 19.1.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.2138/am-2016-5118/html
Scroll to top button