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The mechanism of infiltration of metamorphic fluids recorded by hydration and carbonation of epidote-amphibolite facies metabasaltic sills in the SW Scottish Highlands
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Department of Geological Sciences.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6435-2732
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Department of Geological Sciences.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0847-9258
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Department of Geological Sciences.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3732-7993
2015 (English)In: American Mineralogist, ISSN 0003-004X, E-ISSN 1945-3027, Vol. 100, no 11-12, p. 2702-2717Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In this study we investigate a group of metabasaltic sills from the SW Scottish Highlands metamorphosed at epidote-amphibolite facies conditions that provide useful insight into the mechanisms and characteristics of fluid infiltration during metamorphism. The sills are amphibole and garnet bearing and exhibit a strong foliation in the sill margins that developed pre- to syn- peak metamorphism. Fluid infiltration caused hydration and carbonation in the sills, expressed as 1) replacement of garnet and amphibole by chlorite and calcite and 2) replacement of amphibole and epidote to form chlorite and calcite. Using garnet-amphibole and garnet-chlorite geothermometers we show that these reactions occurred after peak metamorphism at T = 290 to 400°C. Reaction textures show that the fluid infiltration into the sill that caused hydration and carbonation occurred in the absence of deformation. The fluid infiltration was mineralogically controlled with greater fluid access in areas of abundant fine-grained elongate minerals such as amphibole and chlorite. The replacement of garnet by chlorite most likely occurred by an interface-coupled dissolution-precipitation mechanism as evidenced by perfect pseudomorphic textures of garnet, porosity generation behind the reactive interface and fracturing ahead of this interface. Porosity generated in the product chlorite enhanced fluid access to the replacement front. The study shows that deformation was not required for extensive fluid infiltration and alteration during metamorphism. Fluid flow uses a pre-existing foliation to gain access to the rock, taking advantage of the anisotropic shape of the aligned minerals.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2015. Vol. 100, no 11-12, p. 2702-2717
Keywords [en]
Hydration, carbonation, deformation, metamorphic fluid flow, epidote-amphibolite facies metamorphism, fluid infiltration mechanisms
National Category
Geology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-118402DOI: 10.2138/am-2015-5321ISI: 000365374400034OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-118402DiVA, id: diva2:822296
Available from: 2015-06-16 Created: 2015-06-16 Last updated: 2022-02-23Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. How do metamorphic fluids move through rocks?: An investigation of timescales, infiltration mechanisms and mineralogical controls
Open this publication in new window or tab >>How do metamorphic fluids move through rocks?: An investigation of timescales, infiltration mechanisms and mineralogical controls
2015 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

This thesis aims to provide a better understanding of the role of mountain building in the carbon cycle. The amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere due to metamorphic processes is largely unknown. To constrain the quantity of CO2 released, fluid-driven reactions in metamorphic rocks can be studied by tracking fluid-rock interactions along ancient fluid flow pathways. The thesis is divided into two parts: 1) modeling of fluid flow rates and durations within shear zones and fractures during greenschist- and blueschist-facies metamorphism and 2) the assessment of possible mechanisms of fluid infiltration into rocks during greenschist- to epidote-amphibolite-facies metamorphism and controlling chemical and mineralogical factors of reaction front propagation.

On the island Syros, Greece, fluid-rock interaction was examined along a shear zone and within brittle fractures to calculate fluid flux rates, flow velocities and durations. Petrological, geochemical and thermodynamic evidence show that the flux of CO2-bearing fluids along the shear zone was 100-2000 times larger than the fluid flux in the surrounding rocks. The time-averaged fluid flow velocity and flow duration along brittle fractures was calculated by using a governing equation for one-dimensional transport (advection and diffusion) and field-based parameterization. This study shows that fluid flow along fractures on Syros was rapid and short lived.

Mechanisms and controlling factors of fluid infiltration were studied in greenschist- to epidote-amphibolite-facies metabasalts in SW Scotland. Fluid infiltration into metabasaltic sills was unassisted by deformation and occurred along grain boundaries of hydrous minerals (e.g. amphibole) while other minerals (e.g. quartz) prevent fluid infiltration. Petrological, mineralogical and chemical studies of the sills show that the availability of reactant minerals and mechanical factors, e.g. volume change in epidote, are primary controls of reaction front propagation.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Stockholm: Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University, 2015. p. 35
Series
Meddelanden från Stockholms universitets institution för geologiska vetenskaper ; 356
Keywords
Metamorphic fluid flow, fluid-rock interaction, fluid infiltration mechanisms, fluid flux rates, thermodynamic modeling, reaction front propagation, fluid flux calculation
National Category
Geology
Research subject
Geology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:su:diva-115172 (URN)978-91-7649-120-1 (ISBN)
Public defence
2015-04-28, De Geersalen, Geovetenskapens hus, Svante Arrhenius väg 14, Stockholm, 10:00 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Note

At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.

 

Available from: 2015-03-31 Created: 2015-03-17 Last updated: 2022-02-23Bibliographically approved

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Kleine, Barbara I.Pitcairn, Iain K.Skelton, Alasdair D. L.

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