The fluid regime of high-temperature metamorphism during granitoid magma genesis

Abstract.

The strong negative correlation between the temperatures and melt H₂O contents of granitoid magmas implies that the crustal melting reactions that produced the magmas were strongly buffered, with T and aH₂O co-varying within a narrow band. This observation can only be explained if the partial melting reactions that created the magmas were either fluid-absent from the outset or evolved toward this condition as melting progressed. Since these melting reactions occur during upper amphibolite- to granulite-facies metamorphism, it is reasonable to conclude that metamorphic events responsible for the generation of granitoid magmas generally occur in the absence of excess pervasive fluid.