ALBERT

Notizen: A combination of fluid inclusion, stable isotope and geochemical techniques has been used to study the nature of fluids present and their behaviour during Caledonian low-grade metamorphism of the Harlech Dome, north Wales. Fluid inclusion studies show that in most of the metasedimentary sequence the peak metamorphic fluid was an aqueous Na–K–Cl brine but in the graphitic Clogau Formation and in parts of the overlying Maentwrog Formation immiscible H2O-rich and CH4-rich fluids coexisted.Late-stage inclusions are of calcium-rich brine and a dilute aqueous fluid. The chemical composition of chlorite in metamorphic veins and rocks varies between different formations and quartz-oxygen isotopic compositions show considerable variation between different units. Both of these features are taken to indicate that there was little or no pervasive movement of fluid between different units at the peak of metamorphism. After the metamorphic peak there was focused flow of fluid upward through the sequence along fractures, in response to end-Caledonian uplift and unloading. Where the migrating fluid crossed the graphitic shales, interaction between the fluid and the shales gave rise to the formation of the auriferous veins of the Dolgellau Gold Belt. Subsequent to this mineralizing event there was widespread development of 18O-enriched calcites and micas.In the case of vein minerals it is possible that these crystallized directly from late-stage fluids at lower temperature than the quartz in the same veins. Alternatively, the original vein minerals may have re-equilibrated with later 18O-enriched or cooler fluid. In the case of muscovites in the rock matrix it is proposed that the isotopically heavy compositions are the result of re-equilibration of initially light grains with an introduced fluid, requiring considerable influx of fluid. This event may relate to either of two late-stage fluids observed as inclusions.

Notizen: Incipient metamorphism accompanying thrusting, folding and cleavage development has been investigated in a varied sequence of Palaeozoic sediments near the Variscan front in SW Dyfed, Wales. The aim was to evaluate a critical stage in the progression from heterogeneous sediment, whose detrital phases are neither in equilibrium with one another, nor with pore fluids, through indurated sedimentary rock to metamorphic rock comprising newly formed crystals that equilibrated with one another as they grew.Quartz veins are widely developed in the area, especially in the more psammitic lithologies, while finer grained rocks became cleaved during tectonic deformation. Mineralogical constraints and fluid inclusion measurements suggest maximum temperatures around 200-310d̀ C (slightly higher in the Marloes-Musselwick Thrust Sheet than in other parts of the structural succession) at depths of the order of 6-13 km.Quartz veins yield distinctly heavier oxygen isotopic compositions than detrital quartz grains in the adjacent wall rocks, although care must be taken in interpreting the data because slivers of detrital grains may become incorporated into veins, while matrix detrital grains may incorporate veinlets or rims of newly formed quartz. It is concluded that vein quartz grew in isotopic equilibrium with a fluid phase whose isotopic composition was primarily controlled by exchange with phyllosilicates, not detrital quartz grains. Vein and matrix quartzes from the Marloes-Musselwick Thrust Sheet are distinctly lighter (δ18Oveins=+14 to +18% and δ18Omatrix=+11 to +14%) than those from other thrust sheets (δ18O =+17 to +20% and +14 to +17%, respectively).We conclude that vein quartz and phyllosilicate grains in cleavage domains probably attained equilibrium with a locally buffered pore fluid at the peak of metamorphism, but many relict grains of different chemical and isotopic composition remained elsewhere in the rock. Local fluid migration along veins and through cleavage lamellae facilitated the attainment of equilibrium, but there is little evidence for large-scale infiltration of externally derived fluids. With further metamorphism the quartz in these rocks would attain an isotopic composition intermediate between that of the heavy vein material and light detritus which coexist here.

Notizen: Quartz veins are developed in a wide range of metasediment types in the upper amphibolite facies rocks of Connemara, and attest to considerable migration of silica. Contrary to common assumptions, there is clear evidence that these veins do not primarily result from movement of fluid to regions of lower P–T down the regional geothermal gradient. Under amphibolite facies conditions, a dilute chloride fluid moving down temperature has the potential to alter 60g of plagioclase to muscovite for each gram of vein quartz precipitated, while cooling over the temperature interval from 650 to 500° C. The absence of significant metasomatic effects in the vein walls effectively precludes a simple origin from such through-flowing, externally derived fluids. The oxygen isotopic composition of matrix quartz shows considerable differences between different rock types (quartzite, pelite and marble), with a range of δ18OSMOW from c.+ 11.5% (quartzite) to + 18.5% (marble). In each rock type, vein quartz compositions closely match those of the matrix quartz. These results demonstrate the importance of local segregation processes in the formation of veins, and suggest that fluid convection cells were not developed during metamorphism on a scale larger than the individual sedimentary formations, if at all.Both oxygen isotope data and the absence of metasomatism indicate that veins form primarily by segregation of quartz from the host lithologies, with only a relatively minor component of through flow of externally derived fluid. Veins are clearly not the major pathways of metamorphic dewatering.It is proposed that abundant veins in the predominantly pelitic Ballynakill Formation formed during peak metamorphic D3 folding because the formation was embrittled by high fluid pressures but was capped by impermeable marble. Hence the pelitic formation fractured repeatedly and the pore fluid drained through the fractures to form veins, while irreversible loss through the rest of the succession was a much less important process.In the central mountains of Connemara, rather pure, unreactive quartzites are cut by widely spaced, laterally extensive quartz veins that are axial planar to D3 folds. These veins may mark pathways whereby metamorphic fluid made its way through the massive impermeable quartzite from lower parts of the nappe pile, but here too, oxygen isotope data indicate considerable segregation of locally derived quartz, reflecting the importance of pumping of fluid between wail rocks and fractures relative to the component of through flow.

Notizen: Abstract A metasomatic diopside rock occurs at the top of the dolomitic Connemara Marble Formation of western Ireland and contains titanite and K-feldspar in addition to around 90% diopside (XMg= 0.90–0.97). U–Pb isotopic measurements on this mineral assemblage show that the titanite is both unusually uranium-rich and isotopically concordant, with the result that a precise U–Pb age of 478 ± 2.5 Ma can be determined. The age is identical within error to a less precise Rb–Sr age of diopside–K-feldspar of 483 ± 6 Ma. Petrological evidence indicates that the assemblage crystallized at c. 620° C close to or below the closure temperature of titanite. The age thus provides a precise estimate of the time of metamorphism; this age is 11 ± 3 Ma younger than the 490 Ma age for nearby gabbroic plutons which has previously been used to constrain the peak metamorphic age. This difference accords well with geological evidence that the gabbros were emplaced prior to the metamorphic peak. Analysis of minerals with high closure temperature from assemblages whose crystallization is unambiguously associated with a specific episode of fluid infiltration at the peak of metamorphism provides the basis for a new approach to dating metamorphism. The success of this approach is demonstrated by the results from Connemara.