Search

Xenoliths in kimberlites are the most promising material for studying the composition and structure of the lower levels of the continental crust. This study is aimed at the estimation of P–T parameters and fluid regime of metamorphism for garnet–biotite–feldspar and orthopyroxene–garnet–biotite–feldspar rocks found as xenoliths in kimberlites of the Yubileynaya and Sytykanskaya pipes, Yakutian kimberlite province. The seven studied samples show inverse dependences of relative contents of garnet and orthopyroxene, orthopyroxene and biotite, garnet and plagioclase, plagioclase and potassium feldspar. This indicates a consistent series of transformations of the assemblage garnet + plagioclase + orthopyroxene ± quartz to the assemblage garnet + biotite + potassium feldspar. In this process, the replacement of plagioclase by potassium feldspar was the leading reaction. Evidence of this reaction is specific reaction textures in the rocks, negative correlations between the contents of the minerals, and petrochemical characteristics of the rocks. Modeling of the mineral assemblages of the xenoliths using the pseudosection approach (PERPLE_X) revealed two groups of rocks corresponding to different depth levels of the Siberian cratonic crust. For rocks without orthopyroxene or with this mineral as single relics, the pressure was estimated at 9.5–10 kbar, and it is 6–7 kbar for orthopyroxene-bearing samples. The xenolith rocks have close metamorphic peak temperatures of 750–800°C. They experienced 200–250°C cooling and 3–4 kbar decompression, regardless of the level of the crust at which they had initially occurred. This indicates that the metamorphic evolution of the rocks during their exhumation was probably associated with collisional processes during the amalgamation of individual terrains of the Siberian craton. Xenoliths enriched in K-feldspar might have been products of metamorphic reactions with participation of aqueous–(carbonic)–salt fluids, which were sourced from basaltic magmas in the lower crust. The most strongly metasomatized rocks were located closest to the place of accumulation of crystallizing magmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents experimental data on the interaction of amphibole with NaCl–H2O and (K, Na)Cl–H2O solutions at varying salt content. When interacting with H2O–NaCl fluid, amphibole remains the predominant mineral in all experiments, and the newly formed minerals are Na-phlogopite, plagioclase, and nepheline/sodalite. At > 0.6, the amphibole melts. When amphibole interacts with H2O–NaCl–KCl fluid at < 0.40 and ХKCl/(ХKCl + ХNaCl) in the fluid, defined as ХNaCl = 0.506 – 0.84ХKCl, the amphibole is replaced by the association of nepheline with sodic plagioclase, sodalite, and biotite. At ХKCl/(ХKCl + ХNaCl) > 0.3, nepheline, sodalite, and plagioclase become unstable, K-feldspar is formed, and biotite, clinopyroxene, and amphibole remain stable. At ХKCl/(ХKCl + ХNaCl) > 0.5, the association Cpx + Bt + Kfs + Grt (grossular–andradite) is stable. Thus, grossular–andradite garnet is an indicator of a high potassium activity in the fluid, whereas nepheline testifies that the sodium activity was high. Na → K exchange is typical of the amphibole and biotite, and Ca → Na exchange occurs in the clinopyroxene, and all of these minerals (but neither nepheline nor garnet) remain generally stable within a wide range of the K/Na ratio in the fluid. Clinopyroxene in the experiments spans Ca–Fe–Mg compositions with a varying, sometimes high, Al content, and the amphiboles belong to the pargasite–hastingsite series. With an increase in ( > 0.57), i.e., a decrease in the gross salinity of the fluid, melts are generated, and their composition varies from trachyte to phonolite. An increase in the ХKCl/(ХKCl + ХNaCl) ratio in the fluids leads to a decrease in alumina content of the melts. An increase in the total salinity of the fluid leads to an increase in the content of potassium in the melt and a decrease in the content of chlorine in it. The experiments have shown that interaction between amphibole and fluids containing high NaCl and KCl concentrations results in mineral associations typically produced by alkaline metasomatism of amphibole-bearing rocks and concomitant HCl enrichment in the fluid phase. The substitution of highly saline fluids for highly acidic ones leads to the leaching of Ca, Mg, Fe from the metamorphic rocks, and the transport and redeposition of these components. It follows that significant removal of FeO, MgO, CaO from rocks is sometimes a consequence of the interaction of the host rocks with saline aqueous solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aegirine end-member (NaFe3+Si2O6) in clinopyroxenes resulted from incorporation of Fe3+ into the mineral structure. Its presence affects the accuracy of reconstruction of the P-T conditions in the high-grade metamorphic rocks and allows the evaluation of the redox conditions of their formation. The content of this end-member in clinopyroxenes is usually estimated using crystal chemical recalculations of microprobe analyses. However, in some publications on eclogites, the comparison of microprobe-based recalculations with Mössbauer data revealed significant difference between the measured and calculated Fe3+/ΣFe ratios, which can significantly affect the results of geothermometry. This paper presents the results of the Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements of clinopyroxene fractions separated from three samples of garnet–clinopyroxene granulites from the Udachnaya kimberlite pipe. The ratios Fe3+/ΣFe = 0.22–0.26 measured in the clinopyroxenes correspond to 6–10 mol % aegirine. These estimates are in good agreement with the values obtained for the same clinopyroxenes by the recalculation of microprobe analyses using the charge balance method. Following this conclusion, we believe that crystal chemical recalculations of microprobe analyzes of clinopyroxenes from non-eclogitic rocks make it possible to correctly estimate the Fe3+ content in them. Similar recalculation of microprobe analyses of clinopyroxenes in crustal xenoliths from other localities, as well as from ferrobasalts of the continental flood basalts provinces, ferrodolerite dikes, and gabbroid xenoliths (similar in bulk chemical composition to many lower–middle crustal xenoliths) revealed significant amounts of previously unaccounted aegirine (up to 13 and 4–9 mol %, respectively), which holds the potential for deciphering redox conditions in many rocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the mechanisms explaining relationships between CO2-rich fluids and granitoid magmas at high-temperature crustal metamorphism is the melting of protoliths that originally contained carbonate minerals. In order to study the coupled processes of dehydration/decarbonation and melting, experiments were conducted with carbonate–biotite gneiss from an Archean greenstone belt at pressures of 6, 10, and 15 kbar in the temperature range of 800–950°C, and phase relations in this rock were modeled using the pseudo-section method. The experiments and modeling revealed a subvertical positive dP/dT slope of the solidus of the rock. In comparison to the calculated solidus temperatures, the experiments showed higher melting temperatures (~800°C at 6 kbar and ~850°C at 10 and 15 kbar). The products of the experiments at pressures of 6 and 10 kbar and temperatures >850°C were found out to contain assemblages of clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, and ilmenite. The products of the experiments at 15 kbar did not contain either orthopyroxene or ilmenite, but calcium garnet and rutile were stable. The first portions of the near-solidus melts at 6 and 10 kbar were poor in SiO2 (44–50 wt %) and were formed because carbonate phases were involved in the melting reactions. With a temperature increase, the melts acquired a granite composition that was close to the composition of melts formed during the melting of the carbonate-free plagioclase + biotite + quartz assemblage. An aqueous–carbonic fluid containing Ca–Mg–Fe carbonate components coexisted with the melts. The phase assemblages and compositions of the granite melts obtained in the experiments are consistent with the modeling results. Comparison of the experimental results with published data on the partial melting of the carbonate-free plagioclase + biotite + quartz assemblages led us to the preliminary conclusion that Ca–Mg–Fe carbonates are able to decrease the melting temperature. The experiments have demonstrated that granite magmas can be derived together with aqueous–carbonic fluids from a carbonate-bearing protolith during high-grade metamorphism in the middle and lower crust. The occurrence of clinopyroxene or two-pyroxene assemblages in granitoids can be considered as a mineralogical indicator of this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper summarizes authors' earlier and newly obtained experimental data on the formation of phlogopite and chromium-bearing potassium titanates of the crichtonite, magnetoplumbite, and hollandite groups, which are indicator minerals that characterize various stages of modal metasomatism in the upper mantle. Phlogopite-forming reactions were studied in the garnet–orthopyroxene system in the presence of H2O–KCl fluid at 3 and 5 GPa and 900–1000°C as simulating phlogopite formation in garnet peridotites and pyroxenites. Experiments have demonstrated regular variations in Ca and Cr contents in the garnet and Al in the pyroxenes, as well as the composition of the newly formed phlogopite, depending on the concentration of the potassium component (KCl or K2CO3) of the fluid. Experiments on the formation of potassium titanates (yimengite, mathiasite, and priderite) in the chromite–rutile/ilmenite–K2CO3–H2O–CO2 system at 3.5 and 5 GPa and 1200°C have proved that these minerals can be formed when chromite reacts with potassic aqueous–carbonic fluid, but these reactions require additional sources of titanium. These sources may be rutile and/or ilmenite, which are usually also produced by modal metasomatism of peridotites. The experiments thus confirm that the formation of titanates marks the most advanced stages of metasomatism in mantle peridotites. The experiments have shown that the formation of potassium titanates follows the formation of phlogopite, whereas assemblages of the titanates with phlogopite are produced at higher concentrations of the potassium component of the fluid than phlogopite alone. The relationships between the titanates are also a function of the activity of the potassium component in the fluid and, probably, pressure. The relationships and trends reproduced in the experiments clearly illustrate features of mineral assemblages and variations in compositions of minerals from metasomatized peridotites in the lithospheric mantle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of experimental studies are presented for reactions in the orthopyroxene–garnet–phlogopite system in the presence of H2O–KCl fluid at 3–5 GPa and 900–1000°C, which model the processes of phlogopite formation in garnet peridotites and pyroxenites during alkaline metasomatism of the upper mantle. The experiments demonstrated regular variations in the composition of garnet, pyroxenes, and phlogopite depending on the KCl content of the fluid. With increasing KCl content of the fluid, enstatite and garnet become unstable, the Al2O3 content of enstatite decreases, and the amount of grossular and knorringite components in garnet are maximum at a KCl content of ~10 mol %. Our results illustrate well the regular variations in the compositions of the coexisting minerals and their zoning in phlogopite-bearing peridotites of the lithospheric mantle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]