Abstract
Texturally and chemically sector-zoned garnet crystals in two contiguous metapelitic rocks from the Danba dome, eastern Tibetan Plateau (SW China) were investigated. A petrographic boundary in one of the rocks (sample 21DB103) separates a thin section into two zones. Whereas one zone containing sector-zoned garnet and fined-grained matrix is enriched in graphite and quartz, the other zone encompasses garnets with relatively regular habit in a coarse-grained matrix poor in graphite and quartz. The two zones are distinct with regards to the chemical compositions of biotite and plagioclase, as well as the major and trace element zoning patterns of garnet. Electron back-scattered diffraction analysis shows that all the investigated garnet crystals in this sample are single crystals. Relatively higher P-T conditions are estimated for the initial growth of sector-zoned garnet (~ 5.0 kbar / ~540 ℃) compared to the regular garnet (~ 3.8 kbar / ~510 ℃) in this rock, possibly indicating that growth of the sector-zoned garnet postdates growth of the regular garnet. Texturally and chemically radial sectors with garnet-quartz intergrowths and irregular sectors of garnet are preserved in the other graphite-rich rock (sample 21DB104). Isopleth thermobarometry applied to the core of the largest garnet crystal exhibiting sector zoning in this sample reveals P-T conditions of initial garnet crystallization (~ 4.4 kbar / ~512 ℃) that deviate far (~ 0.8 kbar/~45 ℃) from equilibrium, potentially indicating significant overstepping required for garnet nucleation. Plagioclase inclusions in garnet display varying trace element abundances, indicating their replacements of different preexisting phases. These results suggest that abundant graphite may play a pivotal role in changing fluid conditions and reducing the solubility of SiO2 to grow sector-zoned garnet, as well as impeding matrix coarsening. Development of sector-zoned core and dodecahedral faces of garnet may be related to rapid growth with changes in crystal morphology. Irregular sectors may have developed through fluid infiltration and local chemical adjustments.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The relevant data are given in supplementary data.
References
Airaghi L, Lanari P, de Sigoyer J, Guillot S (2017) Microstructural vs compositional preservation and pseudomorphic replacement of muscovite in deformed metapelites from the Longmen Shan (Sichuan, China). Lithos 282–283:262–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2017.03.013
Andersen TB (1984) Inclusion patterns in zoned garnets from Magerøy, north Norway. Mineral Mag 48:21–26. https://doi.org/10.1180/minmag.1984.048.346.03
Atherton MP (1964) The garnet isograd in pelitic rocks and its relation to metamorphic facies. Am Mineral 49:1331–1349
Baldwin JA, Powell R, Brown M et al (2005) Modelling of mineral equilibria in ultrahigh-temperature metamorphic rocks from the Anápolis-Itauçu Complex, central Brazil. J Metamorph Geol 23:511–531. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1314.2005.00591.x
Burns RG (1993) Mineralogical applications of crystal field theory, vol 5. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Burton KW (1986) Garnet-quartz intergrowths in graphitic pelites: the role of the fluid phase. Mineral Mag 50:611–620. https://doi.org/10.1180/minmag.1986.050.358.06
Carlson WD, Pattison DRM, Caddick MJ (2015a) Beyond the equilibrium paradigm: how consideration of kinetics enhances metamorphic interpretation. Am Mineral 100:1659–1667. https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2015-5097
Carlson WD, Hixon JD, Garber JM, Bodnar RJ (2015b) Controls on metamorphic equilibration: the importance of intergranular solubilities mediated by fluid composition. J Metamorph Geol 33:123–146. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmg.12113
Castellanos O, Ríos C, Takasu A (2004) Chemically Sector-Zoned garnets in the Metapelitic rocks of the Silgará formation in the Central Santander Massif, Colombian Andes:occurrence and growth history. Boletín Geol 26:9–18
Castellanos O, Ríos C, Chacón C (2016) Occurrence and growth history of texturally sector-and sigmoidal-zoned garnet in the san lo renzo schists in the sierra nevada de santa marta massif (Colombia). Bol Geol 38:71–88. https://doi.org/10.18273/revbol.v38n3-2016005
Chakraborty S, Ganguly J (1992) Cation diffusion in aluminosilicate garnets: experimental determination in spessartine-almandine diffusion couples, evaluation of effective binary diffusion coefficients, and applications. Contrib Mineral Petrol 111:74–86. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00296579
Cheng S, Lai X, You Z (2009) P-T paths derived from garnet growth zoning in Danba domal metamorphic terrain, Sichuan Province, West China. J Earth Sci 20:219–240. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-009-0022-3
Coggon R, Holland TJB (2002) Mixing properties of phengitic micas and revised garnet-phengite thermobarometers. J Metamorph Geol 20:683–696. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1314.2002.00395.x
Connolly JAD, Cesare B (1993) C-O-H-S fluid composition and oxygen fugacity in graphitic metapelites. J Metamorph Geol 11:379–388
Corrie SL, Kohn MJ (2008) Trace-element distributions in silicates during prograde metamorphic reactions: implications for monazite formation. J Metamorph Geol 26:451–464. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1314.2008.00769.x
De Capitani C, Petrakakis K (2010) The computation of equilibrium assemblage diagrams with Theriak/Domino software. Am Mineral 95:1006–1016. https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2010.3354
Florence FP, Spear FS (1991) Effects of diffusional modification of garnet growth zoning on P-T path calculations. Contrib Mineral Petrol 107:487–500
Forshaw JB, Pattison DRM (2023) Major-element geochemistry of pelites. Geology 51:39–43. https://doi.org/10.1130/G50542.1
Gaidies F, Abart R, De Capitani C et al (2006) Characterization of polymetamorphism in the Austroalpine basement east of the Tauern window using garnet isopleth thermobarometry. J Metamorph Geol 24:451–475. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1314.2006.00648.x
Gaidies F, de Capitani C, Abart R (2008) THERIA_G: A software program to numerically model prograde garnet growth. Contrib Mineral Petrol 155:657–671. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-007-0263-z
Gaidies F, Morneau YE, Petts DC et al (2021) Major and trace element mapping of garnet: unravelling the conditions, timing and rates of metamorphism of the Snowcap assemblage, west-central Yukon. J Metamorph Geol 39:133–164. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmg.12562
Gaidies F, Mccarron T, Simpson AD, Easton RM, Glorie S, Putlitz B, Trebus K (2024) Polymetamorphism during the Grenvillian Orogeny in SE Ontario: results from trace element mapping, in situ geochronology, and diffusion geospeedometry. J Metamorph Geol 45:35–61. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmg.12745
George FR, Gaidies F (2017) Characterisation of a garnet population from the Sikkim Himalaya: insights into the rates and mechanisms of porphyroblast crystallisation. Contrib Mineral Petrol 172:1–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-017-1372-y
George FR, Gaidies F, Boucher B (2018) Population-wide garnet growth zoning revealed by LA-ICP-MS mapping: implications for trace element equilibration and syn-kinematic deformation during crystallisation. Contrib Mineral Petrol 173:1–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-018-1503-0
Greenwood HJ (1967) Wollastonite: Stability in H2O-CO2 mixtures and occurrence in a contact-metamorphic aureole near Salmo, British Columbia, Canada. Am Mineral 52:1669–1680
Holdaway MJ (2000) Application of new experimental and Garnet Margules data to the garnet-biotite geothermometer. Am Mineral 85:881–892. https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2000-0701
Holdaway MJ (2001) Recalibration of the GASP geobarometer in light of recent garnet and plagioclase activity models and versions of the garnet-biotite geothermometer. Am Mineral 86:1117–1129. https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2001-1001
Holland TJB, Powell R (1998) An internally consistent thermodynamic data set for phases of petrological interest. J Metamorph Geol 16:309–343. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1314.1998.00140.x
Huang M, Maas R, Buick IS, Williams IS (2003a) Crustal response to continental collisions between the Tibet, Indian, South China and North China blocks: geochronological constraints from the Songpan-Garzê Orogenic Belt, western China. J Metamorph Geol 21:223–240. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1314.2003.00438.x
Huang MH, Buick IS, Hou LW (2003b) Tectonometamorphic evolution of the Eastern Tibet Plateau: evidence from the Central Songpan-Garzê orogenic belt, Western China. J Petrol 44:255–278. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/44.2.255
Jamtveit B, Andersen TB (1992) Morphological instabilities during rapid growth of metamorphic garnets. Phys Chem Min 19:176–184. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00202106
Jolivet M, Roger F, Xu ZQ et al (2015) Mesozoic-cenozoic evolution of the Danba dome (Songpan Garzê, East Tibet) as inferred from LA-ICPMS U-Pb and fission-track data. J Asian Earth Sci 102:180–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2015.02.009
Kerrick DM (1974) Review of metamorphic mixed-volatile (H2O-CO2) Equilibria. Am Mineral 59:729–762
Ketcham RA (2005) Computational methods for quantitative analysis of three-dimensional features in geological specimens. Geosphere 1:32–41. https://doi.org/10.1130/GES00001.1
Kohn MJ (2004) Oscillatory- and sector-zoned garnets record cyclic (?) Rapid thrusting in central Nepal. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 5:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GC000737
Kohn V, Alifirova T, Daneu N et al (2024) Directed growth of a sector-zoned garnet in a pegmatoid from the Bohemian Massif, Austria. Lithos 466–467:107461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2023.107461
Lanari P, Hermann J (2021) Iterative thermodynamic modelling—part 2: tracing equilibrium relationships between minerals in metamorphic rocks. J Metamorph Geol 39:651–674. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmg.12575
Li ZMG, Chen YC, Gaidies F, Zhao YL, Wu CM (2024) Identical metamorphic record in distinct petrochemical systems: Case study of microscopically interlayered garnet amphibolite and metapelite from the Danba dome, SW China. Lithos 468–469:107488. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2023.107488
Mahar EM, Baker JMB, Powell R et al (1997) The effect of Mn on mineral stability in metapelites. J Metamorph Geol 15:223–238. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02646517
Palin RM, Weller OM, Waters DJ, Dyck B (2016) Quantifying geological uncertainty in metamorphic phase equilibria modelling; a Monte Carlo assessment and implications for tectonic interpretations. Geosci Front 7:591–607. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2015.08.005
Pattison DRM, Tinkham DK (2009) Interplay between equilibrium and kinetics in prograde metamorphism of pelites: an example from the Nelson Aureole, British Columbia. J Metamorph Geol 27:249–279. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1314.2009.00816.x
Pattison DRM, de Capitani C, Gaidies F (2011) Petrological consequences of variations in metamorphic reaction affinity. J Metamorph Geol 29:953–977. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1314.2011.00950.x
Pullen A, Kapp P, Gehrels GE et al (2008) Triassic continental subduction in central tibet and Mediterranean-style closure of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean. Geology 36:351–354. https://doi.org/10.1130/G24435A.1
Rice AHN, Mitchell JI (1991) Porphyroblast textural sector-zoning and matrix displacement. Mineral Mag 55:379–396. https://doi.org/10.1180/minmag.1991.055.380.08
Rice AHN, Habler G, Carrupt E et al (2006) Textural Sector-Zoning in Garnet: theoretical patterns and natural examples from Alpine Metamorphic Rocks. Aust J Earth Sci 99:70–89
Roger F, Arnaud N, Gilder S et al (2003) Geochronological and geochemical constraints on mesozoic suturing in east central Tibet. Tectonics 22:1037. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002TC001466
Roger F, Malavieille J, Leloup PH et al (2004) Timing of granite emplacement and cooling in the Songpan-Garzê Fold Belt (eastern tibetan Plateau) with tectonic implications. J Asian Earth Sci 22:465–481. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1367-9120(03)00089-0
SBGMR (Sichuan Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources) (1991) Regional Geology of Sichuan Province. Geological Publishing House, Beijing. (in Chinese with English summary)
Spear FS (1993) Metamorphic phase equilibria and pressure-temperature-time paths. Mineralogical Society of America, Washington, D.C., p 799
Spear FS, Florence FP (1992) Thermobarometry in granulites: pitfalls and new approaches. Precambrian Res 55:209–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/0301-9268(92)90025-J
Spear FS, Thomas JB, Hallett BW (2014) Overstepping the garnet isograd: a comparison of QuiG barometry and thermodynamic modeling. Contrib Mineral Petrol 168:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-014-1059-6
Stowell H, Zuluaga C, Boyle A, Bulman G (2011) Garnet sector and oscillatory zoning linked with changes in crystal morphology during rapid growth, North Cascades, Washington. Am Mineral 96:1354–1362. https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2011.3759
Symmes GH, Ferry JM (1991) Evidence from mineral assemblages for infiltration of pelitic schists by aqueous fluids during metamorphism. Contrib Mineral Petrol 108:419–438. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00303447
Symmes GH, Ferry JM (1992) The effect of whole-rock MnO content on the stability of garnet in pelitic schists during metamorphism. J Metamorph Geol 10:221–237. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1314.1992.tb00080.x
Thompson JB (1957) The graphical analysis of mineral assemblages in pelitic schists. Am Mineral 42:842–858
Wang F, Ge C, Ning S, Nie L, Zhong G, White N (2017) A new approach to LA-ICP-MS mapping and application in geology. Acta Petrol Sin 33:3422–3436 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Weller OM, St-Onge MR, Waters DJ et al (2013) Quantifying Barrovian metamorphism in the Danba structural culmination of eastern Tibet. J Metamorph Geol 31:909–935. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmg.12050
White RW, Powell R, Holland TJB, Worley BA (2000) The effect of TiO2 and Fe2O3 on metapelitic assemblages at greenschist and amphibolite facies conditions: Mineral equilibria calculations in the system K2O-FeO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O-TiO2-Fe2O3. J Metamorph Geol 18:497–511. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1314.2000.00269.x
White RW, Pomroy NE, Powell R (2005) An in situ metatexite-diatexite transition in upper amphibolite facies rocks from Broken Hill, Australia. J Metamorph Geol 23:579–602. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1314.2005.00597.x
White RW, Powell R, Johnson TE (2014) The effect of Mn on mineral stability in metapelites revisited: New a-x relations for manganese-bearing minerals. J Metamorph Geol 32:809–828. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmg.12095
Whitney DL, Evans BW (2010) Abbreviations for names of rock-forming minerals. Am Mineral 95:185–187. https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2010.3371
Whitney DL, Goergen ET, Ketcham RA, Kunze K (2008) Formation of garnet polycrystals during metamorphic crystallization. J Metamorph Geol 26:365–383. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1314.2008.00763.x
Wilbur DE, Ague JJ (2006) Chemical disequilibrium during garnet growth: Monte Carlo simulations of natural crystal morphologies. Geology 34:689–692. https://doi.org/10.1130/G22483.1
Woodsworth GJ (1977) Homogenization of zoned garnets from pelitic schists. Can Mineral 15:230–242
Wu CM (2017) Calibration of the garnet–biotite–Al2SiO5–quartz geobarometer for metapelites. J Metamorph Geol 35:983–998. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmg.12264
Wu CM, Zhang J, Ren LD (2004) Empirical garnet-biotite-plagioclase-quartz (GBPQ) geobarometry in medium- to high-grade metapelites. J Petrol 45:1907–1921. https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egh038
Yang P, Rivers T (2001) Chromium and manganese zoning in pelitic garnet and kyanite: spiral, overprint, and oscillatory (?) Zoning patterns and the role of growth rate. J Metamorph Geol 19:455–474. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0263-4929.2001.00323.x
Yogi MTAG, Gaidies F, Heldwein OKA, Rice AHN (2024) Mechanisms and durations of metamorphic garnet crystallization in the lower nappes of the Caledonian Kalak Nappe Complex, Arctic Norway. J Metamorph Geol. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmg.12766
Zhou MF, Yan DP, Vasconcelos PM et al (2008) Structural and geochronological constraints on the tectono-thermal evolution of the Danba domal terrane, eastern margin of the tibetan plateau. J Asian Earth Sci 33:414–427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2008.03.003
Acknowledgements
We sincerely appreciate Yong-Hong Shi, Juan Wang and Glenn Poirier for their help with EPMA analyses. Bo Zhang and Hai-Ping Ren are thanked for their assistance with TIMA analysis. Fenghua Liang and Xiaomin Wang are thanked for their help with EBSD analysis. Fangyue Wang is acknowledged for his help with processing trace element data using LIMS. Constructive comments by three anonymous reviewers and the editorial work by Dante Canil are gratefully acknowledged. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42330303, 42172054) and the China Scholarship Council (202104910335).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no potential conflict of interest that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Additional information
Communicated by Dante Canil.
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Li, Z.M., Gaidies, F., Chen, YC. et al. Petrogenesis of sector-zoned garnet in graphitic metapelite from the Danba dome, eastern Tibetan Plateau (SW China). Contrib Mineral Petrol 179, 56 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-024-02139-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-024-02139-8