Home Thermal modification of hematite-ilmenite intergrowths in the Ecstall pluton, British Columbia, Canada
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Thermal modification of hematite-ilmenite intergrowths in the Ecstall pluton, British Columbia, Canada

  • Sarah J. Brownlee EMAIL logo , Joshua M. Feinberg , Richard J. Harrison , Takeshi Kasama , Gary R. Scott and Paul R. Renne
Published/Copyright: April 2, 2015
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Abstract

In this study, we examine the effects of reheating on finely exsolved hematite-ilmenite intergrowths from the ~91 Ma Ecstall pluton using reflected light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). As a result of the emplacement of the younger adjacent ~52 Ma Quottoon pluton, samples closer to a thermal boundary have experienced greater degrees of thermal alteration. Five main microstructural features characterize hematite-ilmenite intergrowths from the Ecstall: (I) exsolution lamellae of hematite and ilmenite; (II) oxidation of ilmenite to form hematite, rutile, and other Ti-rich phases; (III) 20-50 nm magnetite precipitates in hematite; (IV) rutile blitz texture; and (V) exsolution of hematite in rutile. Based on spatial relationships, textures II through V appear to be related to reheating of the Ecstall by the Quottoon, and samples up to ~14 km from the thermal boundary intrusive contact have been affected. We propose a mechanism, similar to that of Kontny and Dietl (2001), in which reheating has driven T-ƒO₂ conditions across the hematite-magnetite buffer to lower ƒO₂ resulting in the reduction of hematite. Higher temperatures also enhanced oxidation in ilmenite. The formation of magnetite altered the bulk magnetic properties of these samples, increasing NRM intensity. This study underscores the need to consider a pluton’s post-emplacement thermal history before making tectonic interpretations based on paleomagnetic data.

Received: 2009-1-7
Accepted: 2009-8-19
Published Online: 2015-4-2
Published in Print: 2010-1-1

© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Metamorphic ultrahigh-pressure tourmaline: Structure, chemistry, and correlations to P-T conditions
  2. Slavikite—Revision of chemical composition and crystal structure
  3. Anisotropic elasticity of jarosite: A high-P synchrotron XRD study
  4. Tourmaline of the elbaite-schorl series from the Himalaya Mine, Mesa Grande, California: A detailed investigation
  5. Characterization of Al-Si ordering state in an alkali feldspar using atom location by channeling-enhanced microanalysis (ALCHEMI)
  6. The relative stability of stoichiometrically related natural and synthetic double salts
  7. Free energy of formation of zircon based on solubility measurements at high temperature and pressure
  8. Structure refinement of a synthetic knorringite, Mg3(Cr0.8Mg0.1Si0.1)2(SiO4)3
  9. A mineral tracer toward high-resolution dust provenance on the Chinese Loess Plateau: SEM, TEM, and sulfur isotopes of sulfate inclusions in biotite
  10. High-resolution TEM study of jimthompsonite, chesterite, and chain-width disorder in Archean ultramafic rocks from Isua, West Greenland
  11. Retrograde hydration sequence in disordered Mg amphiboles: A TEM investigation
  12. Can electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) be used to quantify hydrogen in minerals from the O K edge?
  13. Texture analysis of a turbostratically disordered Ca-montmorillonite
  14. Packing systematics of the silica polymorphs: The role played by O-O nonbonded interactions in the compression of quartz
  15. Calorimetric study of the surface energy of forsterite
  16. Crystallographic texture of the magnetite-hematite transformation: Evidence for topotactic relationships in natural samples from Quadrilátero Ferrífero, Brazil
  17. Semi-ordered crystalline structure of the Santa Olalla vermiculite inferred from X-ray powder diffraction
  18. Stishovite single-crystal growth and application to silicon self-diffusion measurements
  19. Density of dry peridotite magma at high pressure using an X-ray absorption method
  20. The crystal-structure and vacancy distribution in 6C pyrrhotite
  21. Thermal modification of hematite-ilmenite intergrowths in the Ecstall pluton, British Columbia, Canada
  22. A new Al-rich hydroxylian pseudorutile from Kalimantan, Indonesia
  23. Lapeyreite, Cu3O[AsO3(OH)]2·0.75H2O, a new mineral: Its description and crystal structure
  24. High P-T phase relation of magnesian (Mg0.7Fe0.3) staurolite compositon in the system FeO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O: Implications for prograde high-pressure history of ultrahigh-temperature metamorphic rocks
  25. Letter: Hibonite-(Fe), (Fe,Mg)Al12O19, a new alteration mineral from the Allende meteorite
  26. Letter: Ion irradiation of the TiO2 polymorphs and cassiterite
  27. Letter: Corundum + orthopyroxene ± spinel intergrowths in an ultrahigh-temperature Al-Mg granulite from the Southern Marginal Zone, Limpopo Belt, South Africa
  28. Letter: Fe3+ spin transition in CaFe2O4 at high pressure
  29. Density functional theory and Monte Carlo study of octahedral cation ordering of Al/Fe/Mg cations in dioctahedral 2:1 phyllosilicates
Downloaded on 31.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.2138/am.2010.3191/html
Scroll to top button