Geothermobarometry and Fluid Inclusion Studies of Leucogneisses from Schirmacher Region, East Antarctica

The granulite-gneiss terrain of Schirmacher region, East Antarctica includes mafic to acid granulites pervasively intruded by stringers, bands, lenses and stocks of felsic rocks. The late stage felsic rocks are the leucocratic rocks and are the focus of this paper. They have concordant to discordant relation with the associated felsic and other granulitic rocks of the region.

The fluid inclusions, show three stages of f1uid entrapment. The monophase CO₂ inclusions, with densities in the range of 0.996 to 0.811 g/cm³, show pressures of about 5.1 ± 0.6 kbars at inferred temperatures of 675 ± 25°C and indicate peak metamorphism after crystallization. Early stage deformed aqueous inclusions, however, represent initial crystallization. Entrapment of these inclusions was followed by carbonic aqueous inclusions, whose CO₂ densities range from 0.816 to 0.624 g/cm³ with increasing H₂O fluid entrapment occurring during the retrogressive stages. The increased concentration of aqueous fluids has resulted in biphase aqueous inclusions in trails. Their density and homogenization temperatures indicate a pressure of 2 ± 0.5 kbars.

The P-T trend observed from fluid inclusion studies is ref1ected from mineral equilibria studies. The GMBPQ assemblage of these rocks gave temperatures and pressures of 675 ± 25°C and 5.5 ± 0.3 kbars respectively. Further, the two-feldspar thermometry for these rocks record a reequilibrated temperatures of 444 ± 9°C. These P-T conditions of the leucogneisses suggest around 18 km of crust to have been removed, indicating > 50 km thick crust during the amphibolite facies metamorphism corresponding to geothermal gradients of around 37°C/km. A successive decrease in estimated P-T conditions along with density and compositional information suggests retrogression and compressional cooling path for these rocks.