ISSN:
1525-1314
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Geosciences
Notes:
Abstract In the Twin Lakes area, central Sierra Nevada, California, most contact metamorphosed marbles contain calcite + dolomite + forsterite ± diopside ± phlogopite ± tremolite, and most calc-silicate hornfelses contain calcite + diopside + wollastonite + quartz ± anorthite ± K-feldspar ± grossular ± titanite. Mineral-fluid equilibria involving calcite + dolomite + tremolite + diopside + forsterite in two marble samples and wollastonite + anorthite + quartz + grossular in three hornfels samples record P± 3 kbar and T± 630° C. Various isobaric univariant assemblages record CO2-H2O fluid compositions of χCO2= 0.61–0.74 in the marbles and χCO2= 0.11 in the hornfelses. Assuming a siliceous dolomitic limestone protolith consisting of dolomite + quartz ° Calcite ± K-feldspar ± muscovite ± rutile, all plausible prograde reaction pathways were deduced for marble and hornfels on isobaric T-XCO2 diagrams in the model system K2O-CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O-CO2. Progress of the prograde reactions was estimated from measured modes and mass-balance calculations. Time-integrated fluxes of reactive fluid which infiltrated samples were computed for a temperature gradient of 150 °C/km along the fluid flow path, calculated fluid compositions, and estimated reaction progress using the mass-continuity equation. Marbles and hornfelses record values in the range 0.1–3.6 × 104 cm3/cm2 and 4.8–12.9 × 104 cm3/cm2, respectively. For an estimated duration of metamorphism of 105 years, average in situ metamorphic rock permeabilities, calculated from Darcy's Law, are 0.1–8 × 10−6 D in the marbles and 10–27 × 10−6 D in the hornfelses. Reactive metamorphic fluids flowed up-temperature, and were preferentially channellized in hornfelses relative to the marbles. These results appear to give a general characterization of hydrothermal activity during contact metamorphism of small pendants and screens (dimensions ± 1 km or less) associated with emplacement of the Sierra Nevada batholith.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1314.1993.tb00132.x
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