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NH4-bearing micas in poly-metamorphic Alpujárride micaschists and gneisses from the central zone of the Betic Cordillera (Spain): tectono-metamorphic and crystal-chemical constraints

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Abstract

The content and distribution of NH4-bearing micas in micaschists and paragneisses of the Alpujárride complex (Betic Cordillera, Spain) are interpreted on the basis of textures, metamorphic history and crystal-chemical constraints. NH4 is present in important amounts in early micas, recording their older diagenetic-to-metamorphic history. NH4 was inherited by micas formed in successive metamorphic events. At similar metamorphic grade, annite is enriched in NH4 relative to muscovite with a fractionation of 4:1. Maximum NH4 contents were estimated in golden annite from medium-grade schists and in retrogressive annite-chlorite mixed-layers (~1.0 wt.%). A Ti-NH4 avoidance gives rise to associated chemical changes, such as the enrichment in Mg and in VIAl. These data suggest that NH4 can be a decisive factor in chemical equilibrium and element partitioning between coexisting phases, thus affecting to the commonly used thermobarometers. Estimation of the P-T conditions from texturally different muscovite-annite pairs reveals the superposition of several stages of mica growth, under different geothermal gradients.

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Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to M. Okrusch for its excellent editorial work; to B. Mingram-Plessen and E. Puga for the careful revision of the manuscript and their constructive comments. To C. Sanz de Galdeano for help in field work and for the discussion of the results; to M.M. Abad for help in obtaining TEM–AEM data; and to M. Bentabol for the FTIR spectra. This study has received financial support from the Project CGL 2009-08186 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación) and from the Research Group RNM–199 (Junta de Andalucía).

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    Maria Dolores Ruiz Cruz

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Ruiz Cruz, M.D. NH4-bearing micas in poly-metamorphic Alpujárride micaschists and gneisses from the central zone of the Betic Cordillera (Spain): tectono-metamorphic and crystal-chemical constraints. Miner Petrol 101, 225–244 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-011-0146-x

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