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Experimental investigation and application of garnet granulite equilibria

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Abstract

Two mineralogic geobarometers based on the assemblages olivine-plagioclase-garnet and orthopyroxeneplagioclase-garnet-quartz have been calibrated from the reaction (1) fayalite+anorthite⇋garnet (Gr1Alm2). The reaction boundary has been determined to within 0.2 kbar using piston-cylinder apparatus. It is located at 4.7, 5.1, 5.5, 5.8, 6.2, 6.6, and 7.0 kbar at 750, 800, 850, 900, 950, 1,000, and 1,050° C, respectively. Summation of ΔG for reaction (1) and fayalite +quartz⇋ferrosilite locates to within 0.3 kbar the following model garnet-forming reaction for quartz-saturated granulites: (2) ferrosilite+ anorthite⇋garnet(Gr1 Alm2) + quartz. Geobarometers based on (1) and (2) are widely applicable in granulite terranes and yield precise pressures that are in agreement with other well-calibrated barometers. Pressures of 7–10 kbar are inferred for many granulite terranes requiring the widespread development of 60–70 km thick continental crust by mid-Proterozoic.

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  1. S. R. Bohlen

    Present address: Department of Earth and Space Sciences, State University of New York, 11794, Stony Brook, New York, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, 90024, Los Angeles, California, USA

    S. R. Bohlen

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Monash University, 3168, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    V. J. Wall

  3. Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics and Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, 90024, Los Angeles, California, USA

    A. L. Boettcher

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  1. S. R. Bohlen
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  2. V. J. Wall
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  3. A. L. Boettcher
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Bohlen, S.R., Wall, V.J. & Boettcher, A.L. Experimental investigation and application of garnet granulite equilibria. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 83, 52–61 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00373079

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