Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Significance of “stretched” mineral inclusions for reconstructing P–T exhumation history

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Analysis of mineral inclusions in chemically and physically resistant hosts has proven to be valuable for reconstructing the P–T exhumation history of high-grade metamorphic rocks. The occurrence of cristobalite-bearing inclusions in garnets from Gore Mountain, New York, is unexpected because the peak metamorphic conditions reached are well removed (>600 °C too cold) from the stability field of this low-density silica polymorph that typically forms in high temperature volcanic environments. A previous study of samples from this area interpreted polymineralic inclusions consisting of cristobalite, albite and ilmenite as representing crystallized droplets of melt generated during a garnet-in reaction, followed by water loss from the inclusion to explain the reduction in inclusion pressure that drove the transformation of quartz to cristobalite. However, the recent discovery of monomineralic inclusions of cristobalite from the nearby Hooper Mine cannot be explained by this process. For these inclusions, we propose that the volume response to pressure and temperature changes during exhumation to Earth’s surface resulted in large tensile stresses within the silica phase that would be sufficient to cause transformation to the low-density (low-pressure) form. Elastic modeling of other common inclusion–host systems suggests that this quartz-to-cristobalite example may not be a unique case. The aluminosilicate polymorph kyanite also has the capacity to retain tensile stresses if exhumed to Earth’s surface after being trapped as an inclusion in plagioclase at P–T conditions within the kyanite stability field, with the stresses developed during exhumation sufficient to produce a transformation to andalusite. These results highlight the elastic environment that may arise during exhumation and provide a potential explanation of observed inclusions whose stability fields are well removed from P–T paths followed during exhumation.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abeele WV, Wheeler ML, Burton BW (1981) Geohydrology of bandelier tuff. In: Los Alamos National Laboratory Report LA-8962

  • Alvarenga AD, Grimsditch M, Bodnar RJ (1993) Elastic properties of water under negative pressures. J Chem Phys 98(11):8392–8396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angel RJ, Brown JM, Abramson E, Johnson E (2006) Elasticity of plagioclase feldspars. Geol Soc Am Abstr Progr 38(7):114

    Google Scholar 

  • Angel RJ, Mazzucchelli ML, Alvaro M, Nimis P, Nestola F (2014) Geobarometry from host-inclusion systems: the role of elastic relaxation. Am Mineral 99(10):2146–2149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashley KT, Caddick MJ, Steele-MacInnis M, Bodnar RJ, Dragovic B (2014) Geothermobarometric history of subduction recorded by quartz inclusions in garnet. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 15(2):350–360. doi:10.1002/2013GC005106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrow NJ, Bowden JW (1987) A comparison of models for describing the adsorption of anions on a variable charge mineral surface. J Colloid Interface Sci 119(1):236–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonamici CE, Kozdon R, Ushikubo T, Valley JW (2011) High-resolution P–T–t paths from δ 18O zoning in titanite: a snapshot of late-orogenic collapse in the Grenville of New York. Geology 39(10):959–962

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briggs RJ, Ramdas AK (1977) Piezospectroscopy of the Raman spectrum of α-quartz. Phys Rev B 16(8):3815–3826

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casimir HBG (1948) Proc Kon Ned Akad Wetensch B51:793

    Google Scholar 

  • Caupin F, Stroock AD (2013) The stability limit and other open questions on water at negative pressure. Liq Polymorph Adv Chem Phys 152:51–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Chopin C (1984) Coesite and pure pyrope in high-grade blueschists of the Western Alps: a first record and some consequences. Contrib Mineral Petrol 86:107–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cole SS (1934) The conversion of quartz into cristobalite below 1000 °C, and some properties of the cristobalite formed. American ceramic society (refractories division), Cincinnati

    Google Scholar 

  • Connolly JAD (2009) The geodynamic equation of state: what and how. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 10(10):1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darling RS (2013) Zircon-bearing, crystallized melt inclusions in peritectic garnet from the western Adirondack Mountains, New York State, USA. Geofluids 13:453–459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darling RS, Chou IM, Bodnar RJ (1997) An occurrence of metastable cristobalite in high-pressure garnet granulite. Science 276(5309):91–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeVore GW (1956) Surface chemistry as a chemical control on mineral association. Geology 64(1):31–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eitel W (1957) Structural anomalies in tridymite and cristobalite. Am Ceram Soc Bull 57:142–148

    Google Scholar 

  • Enami M (2012) Influence of garnet hosts on the Raman spectra of quartz inclusions. J Mineral Petrol Sci 107:173–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enami M, Nishiyama T, Mouri T (2007) Laser Raman microspectrometry of metamorphic quartz: a simple method for comparison of metamorphic pressures. Am Mineral 92(1303–1):315

    Google Scholar 

  • Fall A, Rimstidt JD, Bodnar RJ (2009) The effect of fluid inclusion size on determination of homogenization temperature and density of liquid-rich aqueous inclusions. Am Mineral 94:1569–1579

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenner CN (1913) The stability relations of the silica minerals. Am J Sci 36:331–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Florence FP, Darling RS, Orrell SE (1995) Moderate pressure metamorphism and anatexis due to anorthosite intrusion, western Adirondack Highlands, New York. Contrib Mineral Petrol 121:424–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flörke OW (1955) Strukturanomalien bei Tridymit und Cristobalit. Ber Deut Keram Ges 32:369–381

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillet P, Ingrin J, Chopin C (1984) Coesite in subducted continental crust: P–T history deduced from an elastic model. Earth Planet Sci Lett 70:426–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green JC, Fitz TJ III (1993) Extensive felsic lavas and rheoignimbrites in the Keweenawan Midcontinent Rift plateau volcanics, Minnesota: petrographic and field recognition. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 54:177–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grevel C, Schreyer W, Grevel K-D, Schertl H-P, Willner AP (2009) REE distribution, mobilization and fractionation in the coesite-bearing ‘pyrope quartzite’ and related rocks of the Dora-Maira Massif, Western Alps. Eur J Mineral 21:1213–1224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guiraud M, Powell R (2006) P–V–T relationships and mineral equilibria in inclusions in minerals. Earth and Planet Sci Lett 244:683–694

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heaney PJ (1994) Structure and chemistry of the low-pressure silica polymorphs. In: Heaney PJ, Prewitt CT, Gibbs GV (eds) Silica: physical behavior, geochemistry, and materials applications, vol 29. Mineralogical Society of America, Washington, D.C., pp 1–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill VG, Roy R (1958) Silica structure studies VI. On tridymite. Trans Br Ceram Soc 57:496–510

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoisch TD, Wells ML, Grove M (2008) Age trends in garnet-hosted monazite inclusions from upper amphibolite facies schists in the northern Grouse Creek Mountains, Utah. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 72(22):5505–5520

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holland TJB, Powell R (1998) An internally consistent thermodynamic data set for phases of petrological interest. J Metamorph Geol 16:309–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holland T, Powell R (2011) An improved and extended internally consistent thermodynamic dataset for phases of petrological interest, involving a new equation of state for solids. J Metamorph Geol 29:333–383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horwell CJ, WIlliamson BJ, Llewellin EW, Damby DE, Le Blond JS (2013) The nature and formation of cristobalite at the Soufrière Hills volcano, Montserrat: implications for the petrology and stability of silicic lava domes. Bull Volcanol 75:19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kingma KJ, Hemley RJ (1994) Raman spectroscopic study of microcrystalline silica. Am Mineral 79:269–273

    Google Scholar 

  • Klasik JA (1975) High cristobalite and high tridymite in a middle Eocene deep-sea chert. Science 189(4203):631–632

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klein C, Hurlbut CSJ (1993) Manual of mineralogy, 21st edn. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohn MJ (2014) “Geoba-Raman-try”: calibration of spectroscopic barometers and thermometers for mineral inclusions. Earth and Planet Sci Lett 388:187–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kouketsu Y, Nishiyama T, Ikeda T, Enami M (2014) Evaluation of residual pressure in an inclusion-host system using negative frequency shift of quartz Raman spectra. Am Mineral 99:433–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kretz R (1966) Interpretation of the shape of mineral grains in metamorphic rocks. J Petrol 7(1):68–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krüger Y, Stoller P, Rička J, Frenz M (2007) Femtosecond lasers in fluid inclusion analysis: overcoming metastable phase states. Eur J Mineral 19:693–706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levin SB (1950) Genesis of some Adirondack garnet deposits. Geol Soc Am Bull 61(6):519–565

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matthews A, Schliestedt M (1984) Evolution of the blueschist and greenschist facies rocks of Sifnos, Cyclades, Greece—a stable isotope study of subduction-related metamorphism. Contrib Mineral Petrol 88:150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McSkimin HJ, Andreatch P (1972) Elastic moduli of diamond as a function of pressure and temperature. J Appl Phys 43:2944–2948

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mezger K, Rawnsley CM, Bohlen SR, Hanson GN (1991) U-Pb garnet, titanite, monazite, and rutile ages: implications for the duration of high-grade metamorphism and cooling histories, Adirondack Mountains, New York. J Geol 99:415–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moehlman RS (1935) Quartz paramorphs after tridymite and cristobalite. Am Mineral 20:808–810

    Google Scholar 

  • Mosenfelder JL, Bohlen SR (1997) Kinetics of the coesite to quartz transformation. Earth and Planet Sci Lett 153:133–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nishiyama T, Aikawa K (2011) Implication of the residual pressure recorded in quartz inclusions in garnet from high T metamorphic terranes. Japan Geoscience Union Meeting Abstract: SMP046-005

  • Parkinson CD, Katayama I (1999) Present-day ultrahigh-pressure conditions of coesite inclusion in zircon and garnet: evidence from laser Raman microspectroscopy. Geology 27:979–982

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson DG, Brenker FE, Nestola F, McNeill J, Nasdala L, Hutchison MT, Matveev S, Mather K, Silversmit G, Schmidt S, Vekemans B, Vincze L (2014) Hydrous mantle transition zone indicated by ringwoodite included within diamond. Nature 507:221–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perrillat JP, Daniel I, Lardeaux JM, Cardon H (2003) Kinetics of the coesite-quartz transition: application to the exhumation of ultrahigh-pressure rocks. J Petrol 44(4):773–788

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rivera E, Celaya LE, Rincόn JM (1987) Microstructural characterization of an opal glass in the Na2O–CdO–SiO2 system. Mater Lett 5(5,6):185–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roedder E (1967) Metastable superheated ice in liquid-water inclusions under high negative pressure. Science 155:1413–1417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarnoski AH, Severs MJ, Remuzzi MR, Booty SJ (2011) Geochemical investigation of Adirondack garnets. Geol Soc Am Abstr Progr 43(1):65

    Google Scholar 

  • Sato M (1963) X-ray study of tridymite (1): on tridymite M and tridymite S. Mineral J (Japan) 4:115–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sato K, Santosh M, Tsunogae T (2009) A petrologic and laser Raman spectroscopic study of sapphirine–spinel–quartz–Mg-staurolite inclusions in garnet from Kumiloothu, southern India: implications for extreme metamorphism in a collisional orogen. J Geodyn 47:107–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt C, Ziemann MA (2000) In-situ Raman spectroscopy of quartz: a pressure sensor for hydrothermal diamond-anvil cell experiments at elevated temperatures. Am Mineral 85:1725–1734

    Google Scholar 

  • Shen AH, Bassett WA, Chou IM (1993) The α–β transition at high temperatures and pressures in a diamond-anvil cell by laser interferometry. Am Mineral 78:694–698

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith DC (1984) Coesite in clinopyroxene in the Caledonides and its implications for geodynamics. Nature 310:641–644

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spear FS, Markussen JC (1997) Mineral zoning, P–T–X–M phase relations, and metamorphic evolution of some Adirondack Granulites, New York. J Petrol 38(6):757–783

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • St-Onge MR (1987) Zoned poikiloblastic garnets: P–T paths and syn-metamorphic uplift through 30 km of structural depth, Wopmay Orogen, Canada. J Petrol 28:1–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tajčmanová L, Podladchikov Y, Powell R, Moulas E, Vrijmoed JC, Connolly JAD (2014) Grain-scale pressure variations and chemical equilibrium in high-grade metamorphic rocks. J Metamorph Geol 32:195–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Molen I, Van Roermund HLM (1986) The pressure path of solid inclusions in minerals: the retention of coesite inclusions during uplift. Lithos 19:317–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Valkenburg A, Buie BF (1945) Octahedral cristobalite with quartz paramorphs from Ellora Caves, Hyderabad State, India. Am Mineral 30:526–535

    Google Scholar 

  • Vityk MO, Bodnar RJ, Schmidt C (1994) Fluid inclusions as tectonothermobarometers: relation between P–T history and re-equilibration morphology during crustal thickening. Geology 22:731–734

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vityk MO, Bodnar RJ, Dudok IV (1995) Natural and synthetic re-equilibration textures of fluid inclusions in garnet (Marmarosh Diamonds): evidence for refilling under conditions of compressive loading. Eur J Mineral 7:1071–1087

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Z, Ji S (2001) Elasticity of six polycrystalline silicate garnets at pressure up to 3.0 GPa. Am Mineral 86:1209–1218

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang H, Banfield JF (2014) Interatomic Coulombic interactions as the driving force for oriented attachment. CrystEngComm 16:1568–1578

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Matthew Steele–MacInnis for thoughtful discussions on several aspects of this study. We appreciate constructive reviews by Richard Palin and Evangelos Moulas, and for review of earlier drafts of this manuscript by Frank Spear and John Wheeler which greatly improved the quality of this work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, 4044 Derring Hall (0420), Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Kyle T. Ashley, Robert J. Bodnar & Richard D. Law

  2. Department of Geology, State University of New York College at Cortland, P.O. Box 2000, Cortland, NY, 13045, USA

    Robert S. Darling

Authors
  1. Kyle T. Ashley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert S. Darling
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Robert J. Bodnar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Richard D. Law
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kyle T. Ashley.

Additional information

Communicated by Timothy L. Grove.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ashley, K.T., Darling, R.S., Bodnar, R.J. et al. Significance of “stretched” mineral inclusions for reconstructing P–T exhumation history. Contrib Mineral Petrol 169, 55 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-015-1149-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-015-1149-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation