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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]

Data on the carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of carbonates from the rocks of the Giyani greenstone belt, Kaapvaal craton, South Africa are presented. This belt is immediately adjacent to the Hout River Shear Zone, along which the Southern Marginal Zone (SMZ) of the Limpopo granulite complex is overthrusted onto the Kaapvaal craton. The δ13C values are –2.1 and –2.2‰ for carbonates from two metapelite samples, –5.1‰ for a meta ultrabasite sample, and –7.1 and –7.7‰ for two metabasite samples, respectively. The δ18О values are 17.1 and 17.5‰ for carbonates from the metapelites, 14.3‰ for carbonates from the metaultrabasite, and 12.9 and 13.0‰ for carbonates from the metabasites. The comparison of the data obtained to the published data on the isotopic composition of carbonates from the rocks of the different greenstone belts indicates both hydrothermal (in the metabasites and the metaultrabasite) and sedimentary (in the metapelites) origins of the carbonate material in the rocks studied. Based on the comparison of these data to δ13C of magnesite that formed in ultrabasic granulites during the interaction of the Limpopo complex with the craton, the graphite and fluid inclusions in leucocratic garnet-bearing granitoids that transported fluids, and the carbon isotopic composition of graphite from metapelites of the SMZ, it is concluded that the carbon source was located outside the SMZ and represented a heterogeneous carbonate-bearing lithologies. It could be carbonate-bearing volcanogenic–sedimentary sequences of the greenstone belts of the Kaapvaal craton, which underwent prograde metamorphism during the interaction with the SMZ granulites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Data on the carbon isotope composition of graphite and CO2 from inclusions in quartz of granitoids of the Southern Marginal Zone (SMZ) of the Limpopo granulite belt, South Africa, are presented. The average values of δ13C for graphite and СО2 from fluid inclusions in quartz are found within the range that is typical of deep (mantle) carbon sources. The data are evidence of an external source of granitoid magmas. They are likely to be hybrid rocks that appeared during assimilation of host metapelites by trondhjemite magmas, while graphite in trondhjemites and granodiorites is a product of high-temperature (~900-1000°С) evolution of the CO2-rich fluid phase of granitoid magmas when they intrude the rocks of the granulite complex and was formed during assimilation that led to reduction of CO2 when sulfide-bearing metapelite material was contaminated by the magma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper summarizes data on the petrology of granitoid intrusions in the Southern Marginal Zone (SMZ) of the Neoarchean Limpopo granulite complex, South Africa, and discusses the thermal and fluid effects of these intrusions on the granulites. The intrusions were emplaced in SMZ at 2680-2640 Ma, when the granulite complex was overthrust on the rocks of the adjacent Kaapvaal Craton. The mineral assemblages of the granitoids reflect temperatures above 900°C for the magmas that crystallized under pressures of 6-9 kbar. The granitoid magmas assimilated host rocks and were thereby enriched in MgO, FeO, and Al2O3, which was favorable for the crystallization of garnet, spinel, sillimanite, and corundum in the granitoids. Fluid inclusions in the granitoids and estimates of the fluid composition based on mineral equilibria indicate that the CO2/H2O ratio of the fluids broadly varied. Along with H2O-CO2 fluid, the magmas carried H2O-salt fluids, which penetrated the host rocks and triggered various metasomatic reactions in them. The thermal effects of the intrusions on the host granulites resulted in the development of partial melting zones that host orthopyroxene with >7 wt % Al2O3. Depending on the fluid regime and temperature, the orthopyroxene is found in equilibrium with either garnet and potassic feldspar or with biotite. The ages of the partial melting zones are comparable with those of the intrusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]