ABSTRACT:In southern Bahia, there are outcrops of migmatites and granulites in the Jequitinhonha Complex, which is part of the northern portion of the Araçuaí Orogen. Migmatites (garnet-cordierite diatexite) dominate the metamorphic rocks and host lenses and layers of felsic garnet granulite. The conditions of temperature and pressure of metamorphism were calculated using conventional thermobarometry and the software THERMOCALC. Values around 850 °C and 7 kbar were obtained with THERMOCALC. The calculations for the garnet-cordierite diatexite were made considering a H2O equal to 1, but the best results of calculations for the granulites are obtained with a H2O values of 0.3. Pressure values obtained with GAPES resulted in consistent values with THERMOCALC, but the pair garnet-orthopyroxene always produces low values for temperature and high ones for pressure. The results are consistent with the presence of the pair garnet and cordierite in diatexite and orthopyroxene in felsic granulite. From the tectonic point of view, the setting in which metamorphism of these rocks occurred requires high heat flow with a thermal anomaly in mid continental crust, as indicated by values of 7 kbar. Recent studies have favored the closure of a back-arc basin for this tectonic setting, but it does not solve the problem that the time span between metamorphic peak and the end of granite intrusions, involving large bodies of charnockite, is more than 80 million years.
RESUMO:
INTRODUCTIONTo calculate the conditions of pressure and temperature for rocks that underwent granulite facies metamorphism should be simple and straightforward, as the formation conditions overlap those used in most experiments to calibrate thermometers and barometers. However, several factors linked to the genesis of granulites and migmatites contribute negatively to make this task simple and easy. After the metamorphic peak temperature is achieved, often greater than 800°C, granulites and migmatites cool down slowly in the middle to lower portions of the continental crust, a situation that leads to their re-equilibration. Furthermore, the presence of a melt phase is common in granulite facies conditions and can enhance the rate of diffusion or even destroy anhydrous metamorphic peak mineralogy during cooling (Moraes et al. 2002;White & Powell 2002, 2010. For the effective calculation of P-T conditions, either corrections on mineral compositions or thermodynamic modeling must be done. The loss of simplicity makes the task complex, challenging, attractive and, particularly, an interesting subject.To illustrate some of the problems related to the P-T calculation in migmatites and granulites, rocks of the Araçuaí Orogen, in southern Bahia, will be used as an example. Once the results are obtained, an evaluation of their geological, metamorphic and tectonic meaning is undertaken.
Thermobarometry applied to granulites and migmatites: problems and restrictionsIn continental crust granulite facies metamorphism, in addition to recrystallization of the protolith, condi...