Calculated phase equilibria for MORB compositions: a reappraisal of the metamorphic evolution of lawsonite eclogite

Pseudosections calculated with thermocalc predict that lawsonite-bearing assemblages, including lawsonite eclogite, will be common for subducted oceanic crust that experiences cool, fluid-saturated conditions. For glaucophane–lawsonite eclogite facies conditions (500–600 °C and 18–28 kbar), MORB compositions are predicted in the NCKMnFMASHO system to contain glaucophane, garnet, omphacite, lawsonite, phengite and quartz, with chlorite at lower temperature and talc at higher temperature. In these assemblages, the pyrope content in garnet is mostly controlled by variations in temperature, and grossular content is strongly controlled by pressure. The silica content in phengite increases linearly with pressure. As the P–T conditions for these given isopleths are only subtly affected by common variations in bulk-rock compositions, the P–T pseudosections potentially present a robust geothermobarometric method for natural glaucophane-bearing eclogites. Thermobarometric results recovered both by isopleth and conventional approaches indicate that most natural glaucophane–lawsonite eclogites (Type-L) and glaucophane–epidote eclogites (Type-E) record similar peak P–T conditions within the lawsonite stability field. Decompression from conditions appropriate for lawsonite stability should result in epidote-bearing assemblages through dehydration reactions controlled by lawsonite + omphacite = glaucophane + epidote + H2O. Lawsonite and omphacite breakdown will be accompanied by the release of a large amount of bound fluid, such that eclogite assemblages are variably recrystallized to glaucophane-rich blueschist. Calculated pseudosections indicate that eclogite assemblages form most readily in Ca-rich rocks and blueschist assemblages most readily in Ca-poor rocks. This distinction in bulk-rock composition can account for the co-existence of low-T eclogite and blueschist in high-pressure terranes.