Abstract
Diopside granofels layers are associated with other metasedimentary rocks and gneisses near McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Disrupted diopside granofels layers form tectonic inclusions which may have reaction rims of amphibolite. This amphibolite may either be a typical hornblende-plagioclase amphiholite or a hornblende-quartz amphibolite according to the initial composition of the diopside granofels. Chemical analyses of the reaction rims show that some of the amphibolites have major element compositions near tholeiitic basalt but that a sedimentary origin could be recognized for others that are high in silica. During amphibolitization, the diopside granofels loses Ca and gains Fe and Mg by mutual exchange of material with the surrounding rock over short distances. The metasomatic amphibolites fall on the “igneous differentiation trend” in a Niggli mg-c plot. At least small volumes of metasedimentary rock can attain the composition of basalt by amphibolitization in a metasomatic reaction rim.
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Smithson, S.B., Fikkan, P.R. & Houston, R.S. Amphibolitization of calc-silicate metasedimentary rocks. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 31, 228–237 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00399652
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00399652