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The Metamorphosis of Metamorphic Petrology

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The Metamorphosis of Metamorphic Petrology Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on May 16, 2016 The Geological Society of America Special Paper 523 The metamorphosis of metamorphic petrology Frank S. Spear Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, JRSC 1W19, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street, Troy, New York 12180-3590, USA David R.M. Pattison Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada John T. Cheney Department of Geology, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts 01002, USA ABSTRACT The past half-century has seen an explosion in the breadth and depth of studies of metamorphic terranes and of the processes that shaped them. These developments have come from a number of different disciplines and have culminated in an unprece- dented understanding of the phase equilibria of natural systems, the mechanisms and rates of metamorphic processes, the relationship between lithospheric tecton- ics and metamorphism, and the evolution of Earth’s crust and lithospheric mantle. Experimental petrologists have experienced a golden age of systematic investigations of metamorphic mineral stabilities and reactions. This work has provided the basis for the quantifi cation of the pressure-temperature (P-T) conditions associated with various metamorphic facies and eventually led to the development of internally con- sistent databases of thermodynamic data on nearly all important crustal minerals. In parallel, the development of the thermodynamic theory of multicomponent, multi- phase complex systems underpinned development of the major methods of quantita- tive phase equilibrium analysis and P-T estimation used today: geothermobarometry, petrogenetic grids, and, most recently, isochemical phase diagrams. New analytical capabilities, in particular, the development of the electron micro- probe, played an enabling role by providing the means of analyzing small volumes of materials in different textural settings in intact rock samples. It is now understood that most (if not all) metamorphic minerals are chemically zoned, and that this zon- ing contains a record of sometimes complex metamorphic histories involving more than one period of metamorphism. The combination of careful fi eld studies, detailed petrographic analysis, application of diverse methods of chemical analysis, and phase equilibrium modeling has resulted in at least a fi rst-order understanding of the meta- morphic evolution of nearly every metamorphic belt on the planet. Additionally, the behavior of fl uids in the crust, although still not fully understood, has been examined experimentally, petrographically, chemically, isotopically, and via geodynamic model- ing, leading to recognition of the central role fl uids play in metamorphic processes. Spear, F.S., Pattison, D.R.M., and Cheney, J.T., 2016, The metamorphosis of metamorphic petrology, in Bickford, M.E., ed., The Web of Geological Sciences: Advances, Impacts, and Interactions II: Geological Society of America Special Paper 523, p. 31–74, doi:10.1130/2016.2523(02). © 2016 The Geological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permission to copy, contact [email protected]. 31 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on May 16, 2016 32 Spear et al. The plate-tectonic revolution placed metamorphic facies types into a dynamic new context—one in which the peak metamorphic conditions were seen as the interplay of thermal perturbations due to tectonic and magmatic processes, thermal relaxation via conduction, and exhumation rates. The discovery of coesite and diamond from demonstrably supracrustal rocks revealed an extent of recycling between Earth’s sur- face and the mantle that was previously unimagined. Numerous ultrahigh-pressure and ultrahigh-temperature terranes have now been recognized, forcing a reconsid- eration of the diversity and vigor of lithospheric processes that permit the formation and exhumation of rocks showing such extreme metamorphic conditions. Revolutions in the fi eld of geochronology have had a fundamental impact on meta- morphic studies in that it is now possible to obtain ages from different parts of age- zoned minerals, thereby permitting absolute time scales to be constructed for the rates of metamorphic recrystallization and their tectonic driving forces. Application of dif- fusion and kinetic theory is providing additional insights into the time scales of meta- morphic recrystallization, which are emerging to be shorter than previously suspected. Many unanswered questions remain. As thermodynamic and kinetic theory evolves and new analytical methods emerge, augmenting the fundamental contribu- tions of fi eldwork and petrography, metamorphic petrology will continue to provide unique and irreplaceable insights into Earth processes and evolution. INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE basis for the mineral facies concept in 1955. The importance of kinetics in governing whether a new mineral assemblage Fifty years ago (ca. 1965—about the time Spear began to would nucleate and grow was acknowledged. Also appreciated be interested in geology as a career), the fundamental goals of was the relative rapidity of kinetic processes during prograde metamorphic petrology were not particularly different from what metamorphism and the relative sluggishness during retrograde is practiced today. At the forefront of the science, there was the metamorphism, presumably owing to the availability of copious enquiry into what metamorphic rocks could tell us about how the quantities of H2O released during heating and the absence of crust has evolved. However, the revolutions that have occurred fl uids during cooling. throughout the geosciences in terms of global tectonics, new What was missing, however, was the array of tools— instrumentation, application of fundamental theoretical develop- analytical, theoretical, and conceptual—required to move the ments, and blending of once highly specialized and diverse sub- fi eld to the next stages of truly quantitative material science. disciplines have resulted in transformations in the fi eld that have Electron microprobes were just becoming available to the com- led to broad new understanding of the evolution of metamorphic munity. Mass spectrometry was in its infancy, and it would be terranes. Practitioners from 50 years ago would undoubtedly rec- a number of decades before geochronology could be directed ognize the core of the science but would equally be amazed at the at metamorphic processes. Understanding of relatively simple range of available tools and the degree of insight into metamor- thermodynamics and phase equilibria was universal, but the phic parageneses. extension to multicomponent, multiphase systems had not been Reading over F.J. Turner and J. Verhoogen’s Igneous and developed. Computers capable of performing the sorts of cal- Metamorphic Petrology (2nd ed.; 1960), it is impressive to culations that would be needed were just being conceived, and appreciate the depth of understanding of the scope, and the the crust of Earth, even during orogenesis, was considered a important issues, of metamorphic petrology. While it is true that relatively static environment as the fi rst compelling evidence for this era of metamorphic studies was focused on classifi cation of plate tectonics had yet to be unveiled. rocks into various categories and especially on differentiating the metamorphic facies, the principal factors affecting metamor- Minerals in P-T-X (Composition) Space—The Impact of phism such as pressure (P, depth), temperature (T), fl uid pres- Experimental Studies on Metamorphic Petrology sure, surface tension, and strain were all recognized as signifi - cant. It was understood and appreciated that the metamorphic Historical Setting facies concept implied a close approach to equilibrium by rocks In the early 1960s, experimental petrology was blossoming at their peak temperatures and that these relationships could be into a major force in the geosciences. Tuttle and Bowen (1958) described, explained, and predicted by chemical thermodynam- had just published their seminal study on the origin of granites, ics. J.B. Thompson Jr. (1955) had laid out the thermodynamic resolving the controversy surrounding the magmatic origin of Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on May 16, 2016 The metamorphosis of metamorphic petrology 33 granites, and Yoder and Tilley (1962) had published their treatise perature in the same aureoles) and volume measurements (e.g., on the origin of basalt magmas, just in time for the discovery of kyanite, with the smallest molar volume, being stable at higher seafl oor spreading and a renewed interest in ocean fl oor volca- pressure). Based on such relationships, Miyashiro (1949) was nism. Experimental studies were being conducted on common the fi rst to propose the shape of an inverted “Y” for the Al2SiO5 metamorphic phases such as micas, pyroxenes, amphiboles, phase diagram. From the late 1950s through the early 1970s, Fe-Ti oxides, staurolite, chloritoid, garnet, and cordierite, so that several experimental studies on the Al2SiO5 triple point were the broad ranges of metamorphic P-T conditions could fi nally conducted (e.g., Clark et al., 1957; Clark, 1961; Newton, 1966a, be quantifi ed. 1966b; Richardson et al., 1969; Holdaway, 1971), and continued through the 1990s (e.g., Bohlen et al., 1991; Kerrick, 1990; Hold- Al2SiO5 System away and Mukhopadhyay, 1993). Estimates of the Al2SiO5 triple One of the most important sets of phase boundaries in meta- point ranged widely, with most falling in the range 500–620
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