Metamorphism

06/04/24 SUTANTO 1
 Metamorphism
• The IUGS-SCMR has proposed the following definition of
metamorphism:
“Metamorphism is a subsolidus process leading to changes
in mineralogy and/or texture (for example grain size) and
often in chemical composition in a rock.
These changes are due to physical and/or chemical
conditions that differ from those normally occurring at the
surface of planets and in zones of cementation and
diagenesis below this surface. They may coexist with partial
melting.”

06/04/24 SUTANTO 2
 The Limits of Metamorphism
• Low-temperature limit grades into
diagenesis

are indistinguishable

Metamorphism begins in the range of 100-
150oC for the more unstable types of protolith

Some zeolites are considered diagenetic and
others metamorphic – pretty arbitrary
06/04/24 SUTANTO 3
 The Limits of Metamorphism

• High-temperature limit grades into melting

• Over the melting range solids and liquids coexist
• Xenoliths, restites, and other enclaves?
• Migmatites (“mixed rocks”) are gradational

06/04/24 SUTANTO 4
 Metamorphic Agents and Changes
• Temperature: typically the most
important factor in
metamorphism

Estimated ranges of oceanic

and continental steady-state
geotherms to a depth of 100
km using upper and lower
limits based on heat flows
measured near the surface.
After Sclater et al. (1980),
Earth. Rev. Geophys. Space
Sci., 18, 269-311.
06/04/24 SUTANTO 5
 Metamorphic Agents and Changes
Increasing temperature has several
effects
1) Promotes recrystallization 
increased grain size
2) Drive reactions (endothermic)
3) Overcomes kinetic barriers

06/04/24 SUTANTO 6
 Pressure
“Normal” gradients may be perturbed in
several ways, typically:

High T/P geotherms in areas of
plutonic activity or rifting

Low T/P geotherms in subduction
zones

06/04/24 SUTANTO 7
Metamorphic field gradients (estimated P-T conditions along surface traverses directly up metamorphic grade) for several
06/04/24areas. After Turner (1981). Metamorphic Petrology:
metamorphic SUTANTO 8
Mineralogical, Field, and Tectonic Aspects. McGraw-Hill.
 Metamorphic Agents and Changes

• Metamorphic grade: a general increase

in degree of metamorphism without
specifying the exact relationship
between temperature and pressure

06/04/24 SUTANTO 9
 Metamorphic Agents and Changes
• Lithostatic pressure is uniform stress (hydrostatic)
• Deviatoric stress = unequal pressure in different
directions
• Resolved into three mutually perpendicular stress (s)
components:
s1 is the maximum principal stress
s2 is an intermediate principal stress
s3 is the minimum principal stress
• In hydrostatic situations all three are equal

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 Metamorphic Agents and Changes

• Stress
• Strain ® deformation
• Deviatoric stress affects the textures and
structures, but not the equilibrium mineral
assemblage
• Strain energy may overcome kinetic barriers to
reactions

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06/04/24 SUTANTO 12
• Foliation is a common result, which allows us to
estimate the orientation of 1
1

 1 > 2 = 3  foliation and no lineation

 1 = 2 > 3  lineation and no foliation
 1 > 2 > 3  both foliation and lineation
Flattening of a ductile homogeneous sphere (a) containing randomly oriented flat disks or flakes. In (b), the matrix flows with
06/04/24
progressive flattening, and the flakes are rotated toward SUTANTO
parallelism normal to the predominant stress. Winter (2001) An 13
Introduction to Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice Hall.
 Metamorphic Agents and Changes
Shear motion occurs along planes at an angle to 1

1

The three main types of deviatoric stress with an example of possible resulting structures. b. Shear, causing slip along parallel
06/04/24
planes SUTANTO
and rotation. Winter (2001) An Introduction to Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice Hall. 14
 Metamorphic Agents and Changes
Fluids
Evidence for the existence of a metamorphic fluid:

Fluid inclusions

Fluids are required for hydrous or carbonate
phases

Volatile-involving reactions occur at
temperatures and pressures that require finite
fluid pressures

06/04/24 SUTANTO 15
 Metamorphic Agents and Changes

• Pfluid is the sum of the partial pressures of each

component (Pfluid = pH2O + pCO2 + …)
• Mole fractions of the components, which must
sum to 1.0 (XH2O + XCO2 + … = 1.0)
• Gradients in T, P, Xfluid
• ® Zonation in mineral assemblages

06/04/24 SUTANTO 16
 The Types of Metamorphism
Different approaches to classification

1. Based on principal process or agent


Dynamic Metamorphism

Thermal Metamorphism

Dynamo-thermal Metamorphism

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 2. Based on setting

Contact Metamorphism

Pyrometamorphism

Regional Metamorphism

Orogenic Metamorphism

Burial Metamorphism

Ocean Floor Metamorphism

Hydrothermal Metamorphism

Fault-Zone Metamorphism

Impact or Shock Metamorphism
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 Contact Metamorphism
• Adjacent to igneous intrusions
• Thermal (± metasomatic) effects of hot magma
intruding cooler shallow rocks
• Occurs over a wide range of pressures, including
very low
• Contact aureole

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 Contact Metamorphism
The size and shape of an aureole is controlled by:

The nature of the pluton

Size 
Temperature

Shape 
Composition

Orientation

The nature of the country rocks

Composition

Depth and metamorphic grade prior to intrusion

Permeability
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 Contact Metamorphism

Most easily recognized where a pluton is

introduced into shallow rocks in a static
environment
® Hornfelses (granofelses) commonly with
relict textures and structures

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 Contact Metamorphism

Polymetamorphic rocks are common, usually

representing an orogenic event followed by a
contact one
• Spotted phyllite (or slate)
• Overprint may be due to:

Lag time for magma migration

A separate phase of post-orogenic collapse
magmatism (Chapter 18)
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 Contact Metamorphism

Pyrometamorphism
Very high temperatures at very low pressures,
generated by a volcanic or subvolcanic
body

Also developed in xenoliths

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 Regional Metamorphism sensu lato:
metamorphism that affects a large body of rock, and thus covers a great lateral
extent

Three principal types:


Orogenic metamorphism

Burial metamorphism

Ocean-floor metamorphism

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 Regional Metamorphism
Orogenic Metamorphism is the type of
metamorphism associated with convergent plate
margins
• Dynamo-thermal: one or more episodes of
orogeny with combined elevated geothermal
gradients and deformation (deviatoric stress)
• Foliated rocks are a characteristic product

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 Regional Metamorphism
Orogenic
Metamorphism

Schematic model for the

sequential (a  c)
development of a
“Cordilleran-type” or
active continental
margin orogen. The
dashed and black layers
on the right represent
the basaltic and gabbroic
layers of the oceanic
crust. From Dewey and
Bird (1970) J. Geophys.
Res., 75, 2625-2647;
and Miyashiro et al.
(1979) Orogeny. John
Wiley & Sons.
06/04/24 SUTANTO 26
 The Types of Metamorphism
Orogenic Metamorphism

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Orogenic Metamorphism
• Uplift and erosion
• Metamorphism often continues after major
deformation ceases

Metamorphic pattern is simpler than the
structural one
• Pattern of increasing metamorphic grade from
both directions toward the core area

From Understanding
Earth, Press and Siever.
06/04/24 SUTANTO Freeman. 28
 Regional Metamorphism

Orogenic Metamorphism
• Polymetamorphic patterns
• Continental collision
• Batholiths are usually present in the highest grade
areas
• If plentiful and closely spaced, may be called
regional contact metamorphism

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 Burial metamorphism
• Southland Syncline in New Zealand: thick pile (> 10 km) of
Mesozoic volcaniclastics
• Mild deformation, no igneous intrusions discovered
• Fine-grained, high-temperature phases, glassy ash: very
susceptible to metamorphic alteration
• Metamorphic effects attributed to increased temperature and
pressure due to burial
• Diagenesis to the formation of zeolites, prehnite,
pumpellyite, laumontite, etc.

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 Burial metamorphism
occurs in areas that have not experienced
significant deformation or orogeny
•Restricted to large, relatively undisturbed
sedimentary piles away from active plate margins

The Gulf of Mexico?

Bengal Fan?

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• Bengal Fan  sedimentary pile > 22 km
• Extrap.  250-300oC at the base (P ~ 0.6 GPa)
• Passive margins often become active
• Areas of burial metamorphism may thus
become areas of orogenic metamorphism

06/04/24 SUTANTO 32
 Hydrothermal metamorphism
• Hot H2O-rich fluids

• Usually involves metasomatism

• Difficult type to constrain: hydrothermal

effects often play some role in most of the
other types of metamorphism

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 Ocean-Floor Metamorphism
Ocean-Floor Metamorphism affects the oceanic crust at
ocean ridge spreading centers
•Considerable metasomatic alteration, notably loss of Ca
and Si and gain of Mg and Na
•Highly altered chlorite-quartz rocks- distinctive high-Mg,
low-Ca composition
•Exchange between basalt and hot seawater
•Another example of hydrothermal metamorphism

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 Fault-Zone and Impact Metamorphism


High rates of deformation and strain with only
minor recrystallization

Impact metamorphism at meteorite (or other
bolide) impact craters

Both correlate with dynamic metamorphism,
based on process

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(a) Shallow fault
zone with fault
breccia
(b) Slightly deeper
fault zone (exposed
by erosion) with
some ductile flow
and fault mylonite

Schematic cross
section across fault
zones. After Mason
(1978) Petrology of
the Metamorphic
Rocks. George Allen &
Unwin. London.

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 Prograde Metamorphism
• Prograde: increase in metamorphic grade with time
as a rock is subjected to gradually more severe
conditions

Prograde metamorphism: changes in a rock that
accompany increasing metamorphic grade
• Retrograde: decreasing grade as rock cools and
recovers from a metamorphic or igneous event

Retrograde metamorphism: any accompanying
changes

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 The Progressive Nature of Metamorphism

• A rock at a high metamorphic grade probably

progressed through a sequence of mineral
assemblages rather than hopping directly from an
unmetamorphosed rock to the metamorphic rock
that we find today

06/04/24 SUTANTO 38
 The Progressive Nature of Metamorphism
Retrograde metamorphism typically of minor
significance
• Prograde reactions are endothermic and easily
driven by increasing T
• Devolatilization reactions are easier than
reintroducing the volatiles
• Geothermometry indicates that the mineral
compositions commonly preserve the maximum
temperature

06/04/24 SUTANTO 39
 Types of Protolith
Lump the common types of sedimentary and igneous
rocks into six chemically based-groups
1. Ultramafic - very high Mg, Fe, Ni, Cr
2. Mafic - high Fe, Mg, and Ca
3. Shales (pelitic) - high Al, K, Si
4. Carbonates- high Ca, Mg, CO2
5. Quartz - nearly pure SiO2.
6. Quartzo-feldspathic - high Si, Na, K, Al

06/04/24 SUTANTO 40
 Why Study Metamorphism?

• Interpretation of the conditions and evolution of

metamorphic bodies, mountain belts, and ultimately
the state and evolution of the Earth's crust

• Metamorphic rocks may retain enough inherited

information from their protolith to allow us to
interpret much of the pre-metamorphic history as
well

06/04/24 SUTANTO 41
 Orogenic Regional Metamorphism of
the Scottish Highlands

• George Barrow (1893, 1912)

• SE Highlands of Scotland - Caledonian
Orogeny ~ 500 Ma
• Nappes
• Granites

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 Barrow’s
Area

Regional metamorphic map of

the Scottish Highlands,
showing the zones of minerals
that develop with increasing
metamorphic grade. From
Gillen (1982) Metamorphic
Geology. An Introduction to
Tectonic and Metamorphic
Processes. George Allen &
Unwin. London.
06/04/24 SUTANTO 43
 Orogenic Regional Metamorphism of
the Scottish Highlands
• Barrow studied the pelitic rocks

• Could subdivide the area into a series of

metamorphic zones, each based on the
appearance of a new mineral as metamorphic
grade increased

06/04/24 SUTANTO 44
The sequence of zones, and the typical metamorphic
mineral assemblage;

Chlorite zone. Pelitic rocks are slates or phyllites

and typically contain chlorite, muscovite,
quartz and albite
Biotite zone. Slates give way to phyllites and
schists, with biotite, chlorite, muscovite,
quartz, and albite
Garnet zone. Schists with conspicuous red
almandine garnet, usually with biotite,
chlorite, muscovite, quartz, and albite or
oligoclase
06/04/24 SUTANTO 45
The sequence of zones, and the typical metamorphic
mineral assemblage;
Staurolite zone. Schists with staurolite, biotite,
muscovite, quartz, garnet, and plagioclase. Some
chlorite may persist
Kyanite zone. Schists with kyanite, biotite, muscovite,
quartz, plagioclase, and usually garnet and
staurolite
Sillimanite zone. Schists and gneisses with sillimanite,
biotite, muscovite, quartz, plagioclase, garnet, and
perhaps staurolite. Some kyanite may also be
present (although kyanite and sillimanite are both
polymorphs of Al2SiO5)

06/04/24 SUTANTO 46
• Sequence = “Barrovian zones”

• The P-T conditions referred to as “Barrovian-type”

metamorphism (fairly typical of many belts)
• Now extended to a much larger area of the Highlands
• Isograd = line that separates the zones (a line in the
field of constant metamorphic grade)

06/04/24 SUTANTO 47
Regional
metamorphic map
of the Scottish
Highlands, showing
the zones of
minerals that
develop with
increasing
metamorphic
grade. From Gillen
(1982)
Metamorphic
Geology. An
Introduction to
Tectonic and
Metamorphic
Processes. George
Allen & Unwin.
London.

06/04/24 SUTANTO 48
summary:
• An isograd represents the first appearance of a particular
metamorphic index mineral in the field as one progresses
up metamorphic grade
• When one crosses an isograd, such as the biotite isograd,
one enters the biotite zone
• Zones thus have the same name as the isograd that forms
the low-grade boundary of that zone
• Because classic isograds are based on the first appearance
of a mineral, and not its disappearance, an index mineral
may still be stable in higher grade zones

06/04/24 SUTANTO 49
A variation occurs in the area just to the north of
Barrow’s, in the Banff and Buchan district
• Pelitic compositions are similar, but the sequence
of isograds is:

chlorite

biotite

cordierite

andalusite

sillimanite

06/04/24 SUTANTO 50
 The stability field of andalusite occurs at pressures less than
0.37 GPa (~ 10 km), while kyanite  sillimanite at the
sillimanite isograd only above this pressure

The P-T phase diagram for the system Al 2SiO5 showing the stability fields for the three polymorphs andalusite, kyanite, and sillimanite.
06/04/24 SUTANTO 51
Also shown is the hydration of Al 2SiO5 to pyrophyllite, which limits the occurrence of an Al 2SiO5 polymorph at low grades in the presence
of excess silica and water. The diagram was calculated using the program TWQ (Berman, 1988, 1990, 1991).
 Regional Burial Metamorphism
Otago, New Zealand
• Jurassic graywackes, tuffs, and volcanics in a deep
trough metamorphosed in the Cretaceous
• Fine grain size and immature material is highly
susceptible to alteration (even at low grades)

06/04/24 SUTANTO 52
 Regional Burial Metamorphism
Otago, New Zealand
Section X-Y shows more detail

Figure 21-10. Geologic sketch map of the South Island of

New Zealand showing the Mesozoic metamorphic rocks east
of the older Tasman Belt and the Alpine Fault. The Torlese
Group is metamorphosed predominantly in the prehnite-
pumpellyite zone, and the Otago Schist in higher grade
zones. X-Y is the Haast River Section of Figure 21-11. From
06/04/24
Turner (1981) Metamorphic Petrology: Mineralogical, Field, SUTANTO 53
and Tectonic Aspects. McGraw-Hill.
 Regional Burial Metamorphism
Otago, New Zealand
Isograds mapped at the lower grades:
1) Zeolite
2) Prehnite-Pumpellyite
3) Pumpellyite (-actinolite)
4) Chlorite (-clinozoisite)
5) Biotite
6) Almandine (garnet)
7) Oligoclase (albite at lower grades is replaced by a
more calcic plagioclase)
06/04/24 SUTANTO 54
 Regional Burial Metamorphism
Figure 21-11. Metamorphic zones of the Haast
Group (along section X-Y in Figure 21-10).
After Cooper and Lovering (1970) Contrib.
Mineral. Petrol., 27, 11-24.

06/04/24 SUTANTO 55
 Paired Metamorphic Belts of Japan

Figure 21-12. The Sanbagawa and Ryoke

metamorphic belts of Japan. From Turner
(1981) Metamorphic Petrology:
Mineralogical, Field, and Tectonic Aspects.
McGraw-Hill and Miyashiro (1994)
Metamorphic Petrology. Oxford University
Press.

06/04/24 SUTANTO 56
 Paired Metamorphic Belts of Japan

06/04/24 SUTANTO 57
 Figure 21-13. Some of the
paired metamorphic belts
in the circum-Pacific
region. From Miyashiro
(1994) Metamorphic
Petrology. Oxford
University Press.

06/04/24 SUTANTO 58
 Contact Metamorphism of Pelitic Rocks
in the Skiddaw Aureole, UK
• Ordovician Skiddaw Slates (English Lake District)
intruded by several granitic bodies
• Intrusions are shallow
• Contact effects overprinted on an earlier low-grade
regional orogenic metamorphism

06/04/24 SUTANTO 59
 Contact Metamorphism of Pelitic Rocks
in the Skiddaw Aureole, UK
• The aureole around the Skiddaw granite was sub-
divided into three zones, principally on the basis of
textures:

Unaltered slates
Increasing 
Outer zone of spotted slates
Metamorphic
Grade 
Middle zone of andalusite slates

Inner zone of hornfels
Contact

Skiddaw granite

06/04/24 SUTANTO 60
 Figure 21-14. Geologic
Map and cross-section of
the area around the
Skiddaw granite, Lake
District, UK. After
Eastwood et al (1968).
Geology of the Country
around Cockermouth and
Caldbeck. Explanation
accompanying the 1-inch
Geological Sheet 23, New
Series. Institute of
Geological Sciences.
London.

06/04/24 SUTANTO 61
 Contact Metamorphism of Pelitic Rocks
in the Skiddaw Aureole, UK
• Middle zone: slates more thoroughly recrystallized, contain
biotite + muscovite + cordierite + andalusite + quartz

Figure 21-15. Cordierite-

andalusite slate from the
middle zone of the
Skiddaw aureole. From
Mason (1978) Petrology of
the Metamorphic Rocks.
George Allen & Unwin.
London.
1 mm

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Contact Metamorphism of Pelitic Rocks
in the Skiddaw Aureole, UK
Inner zone:
Thoroughly recrystallized
Lose foliation

1 mm
Figure 21-16. Andalusite-cordierite
schist from the inner zone of the
Skiddaw aureole. Note the chiastolite
cross in andalusite (see also Figure 22-
49). From Mason (1978) Petrology of
the Metamorphic Rocks. George Allen
& Unwin. London.

06/04/24 SUTANTO 63
Contact Metamorphism of Pelitic Rocks
in the Skiddaw Aureole, UK
• The zones determined on a textural basis
• Prefer to use the sequential appearance of
minerals and isograds to define zones
• But low-P isograds converge in P-T
• Skiddaw sequence of mineral development with
grade is difficult to determine accurately

06/04/24 SUTANTO 64
 Contact Metamorphism and Skarn
Formation at Crestmore, CA, USA
• Crestmore quarry in the Los Angeles basin
• Quartz monzonite porphry intrudes Mg-bearing
carbonates (either late Paleozoic or Triassic)
• Brunham (1959) mapped the following zones and the
mineral assemblages in each (listed in order of
increasing grade):

06/04/24 SUTANTO 65

Forsterite Zone:

calcite + brucite + clinohumite + spinel

calcite + clinohumite + forsterite + spinel

calcite + forsterite + spinel + clintonite

Monticellite Zone:

calcite + forsterite + monticellite + clintonite

calcite + monticellite + melilite + clintonite

calcite + monticellite + spurrite (or tilleyite) + clintonite

monticellite + spurrite + merwinite + melilite

Vesuvianite Zone:

vesuvianite + monticellite + spurrite + merwinite +
melilite

vesuvianite + monticellite + diopside + wollastonite

Garnet Zone:
06/04/24

grossular + diopside SUTANTO
+ wollastonite 66
 Contact Metamorphism and Skarn Formation
at Crestmore, CA, USA

An idealized cross-section through the aureole

Figure 21-17.
Idealized N-S cross
section (not to scale)
through the quartz
monzonite and the
aureole at
Crestmore, CA.
From Burnham
(1959) Geol. Soc.
Amer. Bull., 70, 879-
920.

06/04/24 SUTANTO 67
 Contact Metamorphism and Skarn
Formation at Crestmore, CA, USA
1. The mineral associations in successive zones (in all
metamorphic terranes) vary by the formation of new
minerals as grade increases

This can only occur by a chemical reaction in which some

minerals are consumed and others produced

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 Contact Metamorphism and Skarn
Formation at Crestmore, CA, USA
a) Calcite
C + brucite + clinohumite + spinel zone to the
Calcite + clinohumite + forsterite + spinel sub-zone
involves the reaction:
 2 Clinohumite + SiO2  9 Forsterite + 2 H2O

b) Formation of the vesuvianite zone involves the reaction:


Monticellite + 2 Spurrite + 3 Merwinite + 4 Melilite
+ 15 SiO2 + 12 H2O  6 Vesuvianite + 2 CO2

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 Contact Metamorphism and Skarn
Formation at Crestmore, CA, USA
2) Find a way to display data in simple, yet useful ways
• If we think of the aureole as a chemical system, we note
that most of the minerals consist of the components
CaO-MgO-SiO2-CO2-H2O (with minor Al2O3)

06/04/24 SUTANTO 70
Figure 21-17. CaO-MgO-SiO2 diagram at a fixed
pressure and temperature showing the
compositional relationships among the minerals
and zones at Crestmore. Numbers correspond to
zones listed in the text. After Burnham (1959) Geol.
Soc. Amer. Bull., 70, 879-920; and Best (1982)
Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. W. H.
Freeman.
Zones are numbered
(from outside inward)

06/04/24 SUTANTO 71