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1. Lawsonite and Garnet Oxygen Isotope Record of Fluid‐Rock Interaction During Subduction

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GC011389  

   Kang, Patricia; Martin, Laure_A_J; Vitale_Brovarone, Alberto; Whitney, Donna_L (April 2024, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems)

   Abstract During the subduction of an oceanic plate, fluids are released from metabasaltic crust, metasediment, and serpentinite under high‐pressure/low‐temperature conditions. Although some fluids may eventually leave the slab, some participate in metamorphic reactions within the slab during subduction and exhumation. To identify fluid sources and other controls influencing mineral composition, we report the in situ‐measured δ¹⁸O of lawsonite and garnet in blueschist‐ to eclogite‐facies rocks from 10 subduction zones that represent various field settings, including mélanges, structurally coherent terranes, and an eclogite xenolith derived from a subducted plate. Lawsonite records distinct δ¹⁸O depending on the host rock type and other rock types that were fluid sources during lawsonite growth. In general, lawsonite in metabasalt (7.6 ± 0.2–14.8 ± 1.1‰) is isotopically lighter than in metasediment (20.6 ± 1.4–24.1 ± 1.3‰) but heavier than in metagabbro (4.0 ± 0.4–7.9 ± 0.3‰). The extent of δ¹⁸O fractionation was evaluated for lawsonite–fluid and lawsonite–garnet pairs as a function of temperature (T). Results demonstrate that variations of >1.7‰ in lawsonite and >0.9‰ in garnet are not related to changingT. More likely, the relative contributions of fluids derived from isotopically heavier lithologies (e.g., sediments) versus lighter lithologies (e.g., ultramafic rocks) are the major control. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to investigate the sources of metasomatic fluids and the water/rock ratio that formed lawsonite‐bearing metasomatite. Results indicate that δ¹⁸O_Lwsand δ¹⁸O_Grtrecord interactions with fluids sourced from diverse lithologies (sediment, serpentinite), further supporting that δ¹⁸O_Lwsis a useful indicator of subduction fluid‐rock interactions. 

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2. Reaction-Induced Porosity in an Eclogite-Facies Vein Selvage (Monviso Ophiolite, W. Alps): Textural Evidence and In Situ Trace Elements and Sr Isotopes in Apatite.

   https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egac128  

   Hoover, William F; Penniston-Dorland, Sarah; Piccoli, Philip; Kylander-Clark, Andrew (January 2023, Journal of Petrology)

   Porosity generated during fluid–rock reaction can facilitate fluid transport and metasomatism in low permeability high-pressure metamorphic rocks. Evidence for reaction-induced porosity is found in an eclogite-facies clinopyroxene + apatite vein in an undeformed eclogitized Fe–Ti metagabbro from the Monviso Ophiolite (W. Alps) with a distinct garnet-rich selvage. Vein-forming fluids were sourced from adjacent metagabbros and reaction with the host rock removed Ca and P from the selvage and added Fe, REE, Pb and Cr. Textures at the selvage–host rock interface and in the host rock record local heterogeneity in reactivity and porosity during metasomatism linked to variable initial lawsonite abundance. These features reflect a hierarchy of pervasive-to-channelized porosity structures that facilitated widespread metasomatism of the host rock. Development of this metasomatic system in response to locally derived fluids suggests large-scale externally derived fluid transport is not required to drive extensive fluid–rock exchange. The production of porosity during metasomatic reactions could be important in facilitating further fluid–rock reaction and fluid transport in subducting slabs where permeability is low. 

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3. Chemical and mechanical controls on metasomatic assimilation of eclogite blocks in high-pressure host gneiss

   Menold, C.A.; Grove, M.; Macris, C.A. (December 2019, AGU Fall Meeting 2019)

   Mica- and garnet-rich selvages are often developed around eclogitized mafic blocks within felsic gneiss in HP to UHP metamorphic terranes. The development of these metasomatic features ranges from readily identified reaction zones between the eclogite and host gneiss to shear zones where the spatial relationships between eclogite blocks and host gneiss are completely obscured. Block-selvage relationships within the Luliang Shan HP/UHP belt (North Qaidam, China) and the Tso Morari UHP terrane (NW Himalaya, India) approximate end members of the selvage preservation process. Here we apply whole-rock and incompatible trace element compositions coupled with B and O isotopic data in white mica to constrain the relationship of metasomatism vs. deformation during selvage formation. Within the Luliang Shan, extensive fluid flow formed thick, compositionally hybridized phengite- and garnet-bearing selvages between eclogite (SiO2 ~ 50%) and quartzofeldspathic gneiss (SiO2 ~ 80%). The Luliang Shan HP selvages have intermediate SiO2 and range from 5-10 m in thickness as "halos" around spheroidal eclogite blocks. Volatile enrichment at near-UHP conditions in the selvage is indicated by enrichment of Li, Cs, Ba, Ar, and δ18O and very light δ11B values in phengite. The retrograde muscovite from the host gneiss is low in Li, Cs, Rb, and Sr but possess remarkably high B concentrations (up to 3000 ppm) and positive δ11B values that are best explained by interaction with fluids devolatilized from accreted sediments within cooler regions of the subduction zone. Alternatively, the Tso Morari UHP terrane features boudinaged discoids of eclogite encased within highly strained quartzofeldspathic gneiss. Whole rock major element sampling performed normal to the foliation reveal consistently high SiO2 (78-80%). Highly variable degrees of metasomatic recrystallization occur within the phengite-rich rocks spatially associated with eclogite. The selvage rocks exhibit heterogeneous degrees of enrichment in Li, Be, B, and Ba and yield δ11B values of -4 to -6‰ typical of undevolatilized oceanic and continental crust. We conclude that fluid-mediated metasomatic reaction between eclogite and gneiss at Tso Morari is sheared out into lenses that are incorporated into, and heterogeneously distributed throughout, the host gneiss. 

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4. Mush, Melts and Metasediments: a History of Rhyolites from the Okataina Volcanic Centre, New Zealand, as Captured in Plagioclase

   https://doi.org/10.1093/petrology/egab038  

   Sas, May; Shane, Phil; Kuritani, Takeshi; Zellmer, Georg F; Kent, Adam J; Nakagawa, Mitsuhiro (August 2021, Journal of Petrology)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract The Okataina Volcanic Centre (OVC), located in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand, is a dominantly rhyolitic magmatic system in an arc setting, where eruptions are thought to be driven by mafic recharge. Here, Sr–Pb isotopes, and compositional and textural variations in plagioclase phenocrysts from 10 rhyolitic deposits (two caldera, one immediately post-caldera, four intra-caldera, and three extra-caldera) are used to investigate the OVC magmatic system and identify the sources and assimilants within this diverse mush zone. Plagioclase interiors exhibit normal and reverse zoning, and are commonly in disequilibrium with their accompanying glass, melt inclusions, and whole-rock compositions. This indicates that the crystals nucleated in melts that differed from their carrier magma. In contrast, the outermost rims of crystals exhibit normal zoning that is compositionally consistent with growth in cooling and fractionating melts just prior to eruption. At the intra-crystal scale, the total suite of 87Sr/86Sr ratios are highly variable (0·7042–0·7065 ± 0·0004 average 2SE); however, the majority (95 %) of the crystals are internally homogeneous within error. At whole-crystal scale (where better precision is obtained), 87Sr/86Sr ratios are much more homogeneous (0·70512–0·70543 ± 0·00001 average 2SE) and overlap with their host whole-rock Sr isotopic ratios. Whole-crystal Pb isotopic ratios also largely overlap with whole-rock Pb ratios. The plagioclase and whole-rock isotopic compositions indicate significant crustal assimilation (≥20 %) of Torlesse-like metasediments (local basement rock) by a depleted mid-ocean ridge mantle magma source, and Pb isotopes require variable fluid-dominant subduction flux. The new data support previous petrogenetic models for OVC magmas that require crystal growth in compositionally and thermally distinct magmas within a complex of disconnected melt-and-mush reservoirs. These reservoirs were rejuvenated by underplating basaltic magmas that serve as an eruption trigger. However, the outermost rims of the plagioclase imply that interaction between silicic melts and eruption-triggering mafic influx is largely limited to heat and volatile transfer, and results in rapid mobilization and syn-eruption mixing of rhyolitic melts. Finally, relatively uniform isotopic compositions of plagioclase indicate balanced contributions from the crust and mantle over the lifespan of the OVC magmatic system. 

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5. Fe ³⁺ ∕ΣFe variation in lawsonite and epidote in subducted oceanic crust

   https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-37-143-2025  

   Whitney, Donna L; Wilke, Max; Hanel, Sara E; Heidelbach, Florian; Mathon, Olivier; Rosa, Angelika D (January 2025, European Journal of Mineralogy)

   Abstract. The hydrous Ca–Al silicates lawsonite and epidote group minerals (EGMs) are key phases in subduction-zone H2O and element cycling. In high-pressure–low-temperature metamorphic rocks, Fe in both minerals is typically assumed to be entirely Fe3+, which substitutes for Al in octahedral sites as a major component in most EGMs and as a minor component in lawsonite and zoisite. New Fe micro-X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (μ-XANES) analyses show substantial Fe2+ in lawsonite in blueschist from New Caledonia and zoisite from an unknown locality. Analysed Fe-rich EGMs (epidote, clinozoisite) contain primarily Fe3+. Lawsonite and some EGMs in subducted oceanic crust may contain more Fe2+ than is currently known, with possible implications for understanding subduction redox processes and conditions and why they vary in different subduction zones. 

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