Abstract
Materials balance calculations on amphibolite facies and granulite facies rocks from the Adirondack region and from some areas of New Quebec demonstrate that the rocks of the two facies differ by near granite-minimum melt compositions. The implication of these results are; granulites of both regions result from partial melting of greywacke-type metasedimentary rocks during upper amphibolite facies metamorphism.
The New Quebec region contains granuites produced by partial melting as well as granulites produced by simple mineral dehydration reactions (no melting of the rocks occurred). These observations combined with the knowledge that some New Quebec granulites have produced abnormally high quantities of melts provide evidence that large sources and sinks for H2O exist in the lower crust and that there is significant H2O transport between these regions.
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Nesbitt, H.W. Genesis of the New Quebec and Adirondack granulites: Evidence for their production by partial melting. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 72, 303–310 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00376149
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00376149