GENERATION OF GRANITES AFTER AMPHIBOLITES

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive experimental study of the formation of granitoid melts at the expense of olivine-normative amphibolites. It was shown that trondhjemite-tonalite and granite-granodiorite melts can be generated by incongruent melting reactions at pressures of 5–25 kbar at T = 800–1000°C. The compositions of coexisting phases and phase reactions were investigated in detail. It was found that interaction between these hydrous melts and the overlying peridotite material results in the metasomatic alteration of peridotites and formation of andesite melts. The granitization of amphibolite was explored. Infiltration granitization was experimentally reproduced for the first time at T = 750°C and P f = 5 kbar. Fluid percolation through amphibolite produced a column of feldspathized and debasified rocks and granite melt completely replacing amphibolite in the proximal zone. Another extreme type of granitization occurring in amphibolite at the contact with granite melt was investigated at T = 800–950°C and P f = 7 kbar. The diffusion of silica and alkalis resulted in the metasomatic alteration of amphibolite and formation of granitic droplets and lenses with the development of migmatite-like zones, which significantly differ in composition and structure from the zones of infiltration granitization. All the models addressed in this paper (derivation of granitoid series, interaction of granitoid melts with peridotites, and infiltration and diffusion granitization) provide insight into the mechanism of formation of many natural objects.