An experimental study of glaucophanic amphiboles in the system Na₂O-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-SiF₄ (NMASF): some implications for glaucophane stability in natural and synthetic systems at high temperatures and pressures

Abstract

The phase relations of glaucophanic amphiboles have been studied at 18–31 kbar/680–950°C in the synthetic system Na₂O−MgO−Al₂O₃−SiO₂−SiF₄ (NMASF) using the bulk composition of fluor-glaucophane, Na₂Mg₃Al₂Si₈O₂₂F₂. Previous experimental studies of glaucophane in the water-bearing system (NMASH) have been hampered by problems of fine grain size (electron microprobe analyses with low oxide totals and contamination by other phases), and consequently good compositional data are lacking. Fluor-amphiboles, on the other hand, generally have much higher thermal stabilities than their hydrous counterparts. By using the fluorine-analogue system NMASF, amphibole crystals sufficiently coarse for electron microprobe analysis have been obtained. Furthermore, NMASH amphibole phase relations are directly analogous to those of the NMASF system because SiF₄ fills the role of H₂O as the fluid species. High-pressure NMASF amphibole parageneses are comparable to those obtained for NMASH amphiboles under similar pressure-temperature conditions, except that the NMASF solidus was not encountered. In the pressure-temperature range of the NMASF experiments, fluor-glaucophane is unstable relative to glaucophanenyböite-Mg-magnesio-katophorite amphiboles. Variations in synthetic fluor-amphibole composition with P and T are discussed in terms of changes in the thermodynamic activities of the principal amphibole end-members, such as glaucophane (a_Gp) and nyböite (a_Ny) using an ideal-mixing-on-sites model. The most glaucophanic amphiboles analysed have a_Gp=0.50–0.60 and coexist with jadeite and coesite at 30 kbar/800°C. Amphiboles become increasingly nyböitic with decreasing pressure through the NaAlSi_-1 exchange, which is the principal variation observed. The most nyböitic amphiboles have a_Ny =0.65–0.70 and coexist with fluor-sodium-phlogopite and quartz at 21–24 kbar/800–850°C. At 800°C amphiboles are essentially glaucophane-nyböite solid solutions. At 850°C there is some minor displacement along MgMgSi_-1, but Mg-magnesio-katophorite activities are very low (<0.06). Activities of the eight other NMASF amphibole end-members are <0.001, except for eckermannite activity which varies from 0.01–0.11. Our results indicate that: (a) synthetic amphiboles mimic the essential stoichiometries observed in blueschist amphiboles; (b) synthetic studies should be relevant to petrologically important high-pressure parageneses and reactions involving glaucophanicamphiboles, sodic pyroxenes, albite and talc; (c) the high-pressure stability limit of fluorglaucophane lies at pressures higher than those reached in this study (31 kbar); (d) in natural systems an approach to glaucophane stoichiometry should be favoured by high water activities as well as high pressures.