Significance of viscous coalescence in migmatites of the Assam-Meghalaya Gneissic Complex, eastern India

Abstract

The magnetite ocelli preserved in the Chandrapur area of the Assam-Meghalaya Gneissic Complex, eastern India, display viscous coalescence. The viscous coalescence phenomenon generally occurs below a critical capillary number, which is governed by the size of the coalescing droplets. The smaller the size of the coalescing droplets, the greater the possibility that they will exhibit viscous coalescing. From our results we infer that intrusion of younger pegmatitic magma into the much older polyphase deformed quartzofeldspathic gneiss of Chandrapur initiated localized partial melting in the gneissic rocks surrounding the intrusions. This localized partial melting produced small magma pools or leucocratic neosome, which was followed by intermingling between the in situ melt (leucocratic neosome) and external melt (pegmatite), leading to chaotic mixing between the two magmatic phases. Chaotic mixing produced thin veins or filaments of the pegmatitic magma as a result of stretching and folding dynamics. Gradually, the thin filaments underwent capillary instability to produce discrete viscous swirls or ocelli. The ocelli consist of leucocratic minerals like K-feldspar, plagioclase, and quartz, with crystals of magnetite at the center representing magnetite ocelli. The mineralogical assemblage of the ocelli matches that of the pegmatitic rocks. After their formation, some of the smaller magnetite ocelli underwent very gentle collisions due to the effect of capillary and viscous forces. Such collisions produced pairs, clusters, or linear structures that are now preserved in the migmatites of the study area.