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Upon exhumation and cooling, contrasting compressibilities and thermal expansivities induce differential strains (volume mismatches) between a host crystal and its inclusions. These strains can be quantified in situ using Raman spectroscopy or X-ray diffraction. Knowing equations of state and elastic properties of minerals, elastic thermobarometry inverts measured strains to calculate the pressure-temperature conditions under which the stress state was uniform in the host and inclusion. These are commonly interpreted to represent the conditions of inclusion entrapment. Modeling and experiments quantify corrections for inclusion shape, proximity to surfaces, and (most importantly) crystal-axis anisotropy, and they permit accurate application of the more common elastic thermobarometers. New research is exploring the conditions of crystal growth, reaction overstepping, and the magnitudes of differential stresses, as well as inelastic resetting of inclusion and host strain, and potential new thermobarometers for lower-symmetry minerals. ▪ A physics-based method is revolutionizing calculations of metamorphic pressures and temperatures. ▪ Inclusion shape, crystal anisotropy, and proximity to boundaries affect calculations but can be corrected for. ▪ New results are leading petrologists to reconsider pressure-temperature conditions, differential stresses, and thermodynamic equilibrium. 

Abstract Current models for elastic geobarometry have been developed with the assumption that the host and/or inclusion minerals are elastically isotropic. This assumption has limited applications of elastic thermobarometry to mineral inclusions contained in cubic quasi‐isotropic host minerals (e.g., garnet). Here, we report a new elastic model that takes into account the anisotropic elastic properties and relative crystallographic orientation (RCO) of a host‐inclusion system where both minerals are noncubic. This anisotropic elastic model can be used for host‐inclusion elastic thermobarometric calculations provided that the RCO and elastic properties of both the host and inclusion are known. We then used this anisotropic elastic model to numerically evaluate the effects of elastic anisotropy and RCO on the strains and stresses developed in a quartz inclusion entrapped in a zircon host after exhumation from known entrapmentP‐Tconditions to roomP‐Tconditions. We conclude that the anisotropic quartz‐in‐zircon elastic model is suitable for elastic thermobarometry and may be widely applicable to crustal rocks. Our results demonstrate that isotropic elastic models cannot be used to determine the entire strain state of an elastically anisotropic inclusion contained in an elastically anisotropic host mineral, and therefore may lead to errors on estimated remnant inclusion pressures.