Mineralogic and Textural Evidence for Polymetamophism Along a Traverse from Oquossoc to Phillips to Weld, ME

Guidebook for field trips in southern and west-central Maine, October 13, 14 and 15, 1989: New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference 81st annual meeting: Trip B-

Carboniferous metamorphism on the north (upper) side of the Sebago Batholith

Guidebook for field trips in southwestern Maine: New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference, 78th annual meeting, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, October 17, 18, and 19, 1986: Trip C-

Dioctahedral mixed K-Na-micas and paragonite in diagenetic to low-temperature metamorphic terrains: bulk rock chemical, thermodynamic and textural constraints

Abstract Metamorphic mineral assemblages in low-temperature metaclastic rocks often contain paragonite and/or its precursor metastable phase (mixed K-Na-white mica). Relationships between the bulk rock major element chemistries and the formation of paragonite at seven localities from Central and SE-Europe were studied, comparing the bulk chemical characteristics with mineral assemblage, mineral chemical and metamorphic petrological data. Considerable overlaps between the projection fields of bulk chemistries of the Pg-free and Pg-bearing metaclastic rocks indicate significant differences between the actual (as analyzed) and effective bulk chemical compositions. Where inherited, clastic, inert phases/constituents were excluded, it was found that a decrease in Na/(Na+Al*) and in K/(K+Al*) ratios of rocks favors the formation and occurrence of Pg and its precursor phases (Al* denotes here the atomic quantity of aluminum in feldspars, white micas and “pure” hydrous or anhydrous aluminosilicates). In contrast to earlier suggestions, enrichment in Na and/or an increase in Na/K ratio by themselves do not lead to formation of paragonite. Bulk rock chemistries favorable to formation of paragonite and its precursor phases are characterized by enrichment in Al and depletion in Na, K, Ca (and also, Mg and Fe2+). Such bulk rock chemistries are characteristic of chemically “mature” (strongly weathered) source rocks of the pelites and may also be formed by synand post-sedimentary magmatism-related hydrothermal (leaching) activity. What part of the whole rock is active in determining the effective bulk chemistry was investigated by textural examination of diagenetic and anchizone-grade samples. It is hypothesized that although solid phases act as local sources and sinks, transport of elements such as Na through the grain boundaries have much larger communication distances. Sodium-rich white micas nucleate heterogeneously using existing phyllosilicates as templates and are distributed widely on the thin section scale. The results of modeling by THERMOCALC suggest that paragonite preferably forms at higher pressures in low-T metapelites. The stability fields of Pg-bearing assemblages increase, the Pg-in reaction line is shifted towards lower pressures, while the stability field of the Chl-Ms-Ab-Qtz assemblage decreases and is shifted towards higher temperatures with increasing Al* content and decreasing Na/(Na+Al*) and K/(K+Al*) ratios

The effects of ferromagnesian components on the paragonite-muscovite solvus: a semiquantitative analysis based on chemical data for natural paragonite-muscovite pairs.

Chemical data for 139 natural paragonite-muscovite (Pg-Ms) pairs illustrate the effects of ferromagnesian components on the P-T-X topology of the Pg-Ms solvus. The pairs were selected on the basis of: reasonably accurate knowledge of the P-T conditions of formation; evidence for close approach to equilibrium at peak metamorphic conditions; exclusion of pairs in which paragonite contains more than 5 mol% margarite; and exclusion of pairs from polymetamorphic rocks that contain more than one set of cogenetic Pg-Ms pairs. Graphical analysis reveals considerable scatter in the data; nevertheless, it is evident that the muscovite limb of the solvus shifts markedly toward end-member muscovite with increasing pressure from approximately 7 kbar to 21 kbar. This shift is attributed to a pressure-induced increase of the ferromagnesian content of muscovite, which increases the size of the XII alkali site - to the effect that K is more readily accommodated than Na. The data also suggest that the paragonite limb of the solvus migrates slightly toward end-member paragonite with increasing pressure. Broadening of the Pg-Ms solvus with increasing pressure reflects increasingly nonideal Na-K mixing as the phengite content of muscovite increases. Due to the wide scatter of data for Pg-phengitic-Ms pairs, it is concluded that, at the present time, Pg-Ms solvus thermometry is only viable for quasibinary Pg-Ms pairs