Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Metamorphism of Dolomites and Limestones

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Petrogenesis of Metamorphic Rocks

  • 612 Accesses

Abstract

Sedimentary carbonate rocks consist predominantly of carbonate minerals (as the name implies). There are two main types of carbonate rocks, dolomites and limestones. The first is modally dominated by dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2), the second by calcite (CaCO3) and there is a complete gradation between the pure dolomite and limestone “end members” indicated by the rock names, calcitic dolomite, dolomitic limestone, magnesian limestone.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References and Further Reading

Cited References

  • Bucher- K (1982a) Mechanism of mineral reactions inferred from textures of impure dolomitic marbles from East Greenland. J Petrol 23:325–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook SJ, Bowman JR (1994) Contact metamorphism surrounding the Alta Stock: thermal constraints and evidence of advective heat transport from calcite-dolomite geothermometry. Am Miner 79:513–525

    Google Scholar 

  • Durand C, Baumgartner LP, Marquer D (2015) Low melting temperature for calcite at 1000 bars on the join CaCO3-H2O—some geological implications. Terra Nova 27:364–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferry JM, Boswell AW, Rumble D (2001) Formation of wollastonite by chemically reactive fluid during contact metamorphism. Mt. Morrison pendant, Sierra Nevada, California, USA. J Petrol 42:1705–1728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grapes RH (2006) Pyrometamorphism. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, p 275

    Google Scholar 

  • Lü Z, Bucher K, Zhang L (2013) Omphacite-bearing calcite marble and associated coesite-bearing pelitic schist from the meta-ophiolitic belt of Chinese western Tianshan. J Asian Earth Sci 76:37–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morlidge M, Pawley A, Droop G (2006) Double carbonate breakdown reactions at high pressures: an experimental study in the system CaO-MgO-FeO-MnO-CO2. Contrib Miner Petrol 152:365–373

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rice JM (1977a) Progressive metamorphism of impure dolomitic limestone in the Marysville aureole, Montana. Am J Sci 277:1–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sato K, Katsura T (2001) Experimental investigation on dolomite dissociation into aragonite + magnesite up to 8.5 GPa. Earth Planet Sci Lett 184:529–534

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shirasaka M, Takahashi E, Nishihara Y, Matsukage K, Kikegawa T (2002) In situ X-ray observation of the reaction dolomite = aragonite + magnesite at 900–1300 K. Am Miner 87:922–930

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smit MA, Bröcker M, Scherer EE (2008) Aragonite and magnesite in eclogites from the Jæren nappe, SW Norway: disequilibrium in the system CaCO3-MgCO3 and petrological implications. J Metam Geol 26:959–979

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang L, Ellis DJ, Arculus RJ, Jiang W, Wei C (2003) ‘Forbidden zone’ subduction of sediments to 150 km depth—the reaction of dolomite to magnesite + aragonite in the UHPM metapelites from western Tianshan, China. J Metamorph Geol 21:523–529

    Article  Google Scholar 

Further Reading and Additional References

  • Anovitz LM, Essene EJ (1987) Phase equilibria in the system CaCO3-MgCO3-FeCO3. J Petrol 28:389–414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bickle MJ, Powell R (1977) Calcite-dolomite geothermometry for iron-bearing carbonates. The Glockner area of the Tauern window, Austria. Contrib Mineral Petrol 59:281–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowen NL (1940) Progressive metamorphism of siliceous limestones and dolomite. J Geol 48:225–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman JR, Essene EJ (1982) P-T-X(CO2) conditions of contact metamorphism in the Black Butte aureole, Elkhorn, Montana. Am J Sci 282:311–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bucher- K (1981) Petrology of chlorite-spinel marbles from NW Spitsbergen (Svalbard). Lithos 14:203–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bucher- K (1982b) On the mechanism of contact aureole formation in dolomitic country rock by the Adamello intrusion (N Italy). Am Mineral 67:1101–1117

    Google Scholar 

  • Cartwright I, Buick IS (1995) Formation of wollastonite-bearing marbles during late regional metamorphic channelled fluid in the Upper Calcsilicate Unit of the Reynolds Range Group, central Australia. J Metamorph Geol 13:397–417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castelli D (1991) Eclogitic metamorphism in carbonate rocks: the example of impure marbles from the Sesia-Lanzo zone, Italian Western Alps. J Metamorph Geol 9:61–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castelli D, Rolfo F, Groppo C, Compagnoni R (2007) Impure marbles from the UHP Brossasco-Isasca Unit (Dora-Maira Massif, western Alps): evidence for Alpine equilibration in the diamond stability field and evaluation of the X(CO2) fluid evolution. J Metamorph Geol 25:587–603

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connolly JAD, Trommsdorff V (1991) Petrogenetic grids for metacarbonate rocks: P-T phase-diagram projection for mixed-volatile systems. Contrib Miner Petrol 108:93–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook SJ, Bowman JR (2000) Mineralogical evidence for fluid-rock interaction accompanying prograde contact metamorphism of siliceous dolomites: Alta Stock Aureole, Utha, USA. J Petrol 41:739–758

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn SR, Valley JW (1992) Calcite-graphite isotope thermometry: a test for polymetamorphism in marble, Tudor gabbro aureole, Ontario, Canada. J Metamorph Geol 10:487–502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eggert RG, Kerrick DM (1981) Metamorphic equilibria in the siliceous dolomite system: 6 kbar experimental data and geologic implications. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 45:1039–1049

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehlers K, Hoinkes G (1987) Titanian chondrodite and clinohumite in marbles from the Ötztal crystalline basement. Mineral Petrol 36:13–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eveney B, Shermann D (1962) The application of chemical staining to the study of diagenesis in limestones. Proc Geol Soc Lond 1599:10pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández- JC, Galán E (1998) Effects of fluid infiltration on wollastonite genesis at the Mérida contact-metamorphic deposits, SW Spain. Mineral Petrol 62:247–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferry JM, Rumble D (1997) Formation and destruction of periclase by fluid flow in two contact aureoles. Contrib Mineral Petrol 128:313–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gieré R (1987) Titanian clinohumite and geikielite in marbles from the Bergell contact aureole. Contrib Mineral Petrol 96:496–502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldsmith JR, Newton RC (1969) P-T-X relations in the system CaCO3-MgCO3 at high temperatures and pressures. Am J Sci 267A:160–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Harker RI, Tuttle OF (1956) Experimental data on the PCO2-T curve for the reaction: calcite + quartz = wollastonite + carbon dioxide. Am J Sci 254:239–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harley SL, Buick IS (1992) Wollastonite-scapolite assemblages as indicators of granulite pressure-temperature-fluid histories: the Rauer Group, East Antarctica. J Petrol 33:693–728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holness MB (1997) Fluid flow path and mechanisms of fluid infiltration in carbonates during contact metamorphism: the Beinn an Dubhaich aureole, Skye. J Metamorph Geol 15:59–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jamtveit B, Dahlgren S, Austrheim H (1997) High grade contact metamorphism of calcareous rocks from the Oslo Rift, Southern Norway. Am Mineral 82:1241–1254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jansen JBH, van den Kratts AH, van der Rijst H, Schuiling RD (1978) Metamorphism of dolomites at Naxos, Greece. Contrib Mineral Petrol 67:279–288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kato T, Enami M, Zhai M (1997) Ultra-high-pressure (UHP) marble and eclogite in the Su-Lu UHP terrane, eastern China. J Metamorph Geol 15:169–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Letargo CMR, Lamb WM, Park J-S (1995) Comparison of calcite + dolomite thermometry and carbonate + silicate equilibria: constraints on the conditions of metamorphism of the Llano uplift, central Texas, U.S.A. Am Mineral 80:131–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu L-G, Lin C-C (1995) High-pressure phase transformations of carbonates in the system CaO-MgO-SiO2-CO2. Earth Planet Sci Lett 134:297–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore JN, Kerrick DM (1976) Equilbria in siliceous dolomites of the Alta aureole, Utah. Am J Sci 276:502–524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mposkos E, Baziotis I, Proyer A, Hoinkes G (2006) Dolomitic marbles from the ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic Kimi complex in Rhodope, N.E.Greece. Mineral Petrol 88:341–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ogasawara Y, Ohta M, Fukosawa K, Katayama I, Maruyama S (2000) Diamond-bearing and diamond-free metacarbonate rocks from Kumdy-Kol in the Kokchetav massif, northern Kazakhstan. The Island Arc 9:400–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Omori S, Liou JG, Zhang RY, Ogasawara Y (1998) Petrogenesis of impure dolomitic marble from the Dabie Mountains, Central China. The Island Arc 7:98–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell R, Condliffe DM, Condliffe E (1984) Calcite-dolomite geothermometry in the system CaCO3-MgCO3-FeCO3: an experimental study. J Metamorph Geol 2:33–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Proyer A, Mposkos E, Baziotis I, Hoinkes G (2008) Tracing high-pressure metamorphism in marbles: phase relations in high-grade aluminous calcite-dolomite marbles from the Greek Rhodope massif in the system CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-CO2 and indications of prior aragonite. Lithos 104:119–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rice JM (1977b) Contact metamorphism of impure dolomitic limestone in the Boulder Aureole, Montana. Contrib Mineral Petrol 59:237–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roselle GT, Baumgartner LP, Valley JW (1999) Stable isotope evidence of heterogeneous fluid infiltration at the Ubehebe Peak contact aureole, Death Valley National Park, California. Am J Sci 299:93–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmid J, Flammer I (2002) How grey limestones become white marbles. Eur J Mineral 14:837–848

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skippen G (1974) An experimental model for low pressure metamorphism of siliceous dolomitic marbles. Am J Sci 274:487–509

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skippen G, Trommsdorff V (1986) The influence of NaCl and KCl on phase relations in metamorphosed carbonate rocks. Am J Sci 286:81–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slaughter J, Kerrick DM, Wall VJ (1975) Experimental and thermodynamic study of equilibria in the system CaO-MgO-SiO2-H2O-CO2. Am J Sci 275:143–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki K (1977) Local equilibrium during the contact metamorphism of siliceous dolomites in Kasuga-mura, Gifu-ken, Japan. Contrib Mineral Petrol 61:79–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tilley CE (1951) A note on the progressive metamorphism of siliceous limestones and dolomites. Geol Mag 88:175–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trommsdorff V (1972) Change in T-X during metamorphism of siliceous dolomitic rocks of the central Alps. Schweiz Mineral Petrogr Mitt 52:567–571

    Google Scholar 

  • Valley JW, Peterson EU, Essene EJ, Bowman JR (1982) Fluorphlogopite and fluortremolite in Adirondack marbles and calculated C-O-H-F fluid compositions. Am Mineral 67:545–557

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Kurt Bucher

Authors
  1. Kurt Bucher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kurt Bucher .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Bucher, K. (2023). Metamorphism of Dolomites and Limestones. In: Petrogenesis of Metamorphic Rocks. Springer Textbooks in Earth Sciences, Geography and Environment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12595-9_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation