Metamorfismo

Basalto fresco y
basalto alterado
 Metamorfismo
IUGS-SCMR definición:

“El metamorfismo es un proceso subsólido que conduce

a cambios en la mineralogía y / o textura (por ejemplo,
tamaño de grano) y, a menudo, en la composición
química de una roca.
Estos cambios se deben a condiciones físicas y / o
químicas que difieren de las que normalmente ocurren
en la superficie de los planetas y en las zonas de
cementación y diagénesis debajo de esta superficie”
 Límites del metamorfismo
Low-temperature limit grades into diagenesis
• Proceso casi indistinguible
• El metamorfismo comienza en el rango de
los100-150oC para los protolitos mas inestables
Marked by the
formation of minerals
such as laumontite,
analcime, heulandite,
carpholite, paragonite,
prehnite, pumpellyite,
lawsonite, glaucophane
or stilpnomelane
 Los límites del metamorfismo

• High-temperature limit grades into melting

• Over the melting range solids and liquids coexist
• Xenoliths, restites, and other enclaves?
• Migmatites (“mixed rocks”) are gradational
Límite inferior 
0 ºC for processes in near surface environments,  rock–water
reactions 
Conventionally, the term metamorphism implies T > 150–200 ºC

Límite superior
In crustal rocks: 750–850ºC (max. recorded T~1150 ºC) 
In many regional scale metamorphic areas T does not exceed ~
650–700 ºC
 Cambios y agentes metamorficos
• Temperatura:
Usualmente el mas
importante

Figure 1.9. 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.
 Cambios y agentes metamorficos
El aumento de la temperatura tiene varios efectos.
1) Promueve la recrystallization  incremento del
tamaño de grano
2) Induce reacciones
3) Supera las barreras cinéticas
 Cambios y agentes metamórficos
Presión
Los gradientes
"normales" se
perturban de varias
maneras, más
comúnmente:

•Geotermas con alto T

/ P en áreas de
actividad plutónica o
rifting

•Geotermas de baja
T / P en zonas de
subducción.
 Cambios y agentes metamorficos
• Grado metamórfico: Un incremento general
en el grado de metamorfismo sin especificar
la relación exacta entre T°y P°

High T/P paths (low P) favor

the formation of low-density
metamorphic minerals as
temperature rises
Low T/P paths (high P) favor
denser minerals
 Cambios y agentes metamórficos
• Lithostatic pressure - uniform stress (hydrostatic)
• Deviatoric stress = pressure unequal in different
directions
• Resolved into three mutually perpendicular stress
() components:
1 is the maximum principal stress
2 is an intermediate principal stress
3 is the minimum principal stress
• In hydrostatic situations all three are equal
 Metamorphic Agents and Changes
• Stress
• Strain  deformation
• Deviatoric stress affects the textures and
structures, but not the equilibrium mineral
assemblage
• Foliation is a common result, which allows us to
estimate the orientation of 1
1
Strain
ellipsoid

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

 1 = 2 > 3  lineation and no foliation
 1 > 2 > 3  both foliation and lineation
Figure 21.3. Flattening of a ductile homogeneous sphere (a) containing randomly oriented flat disks or flakes. In (b), the matrix
flows with progressive flattening, and the flakes are rotated toward parallelism normal to the predominant stress. Winter
(2001) An Introduction to Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice Hall.
 Metamorphic Agents and Changes
Shear motion occurs along planes at an angle to 1

1

Figure 21.2. The three main types of deviatoric stress with an example of possible resulting structures. b. Shear, causing slip
along parallel planes and rotation. Winter (2001) An Introduction to Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice Hall.
 Fluidos
Evidence for the existence of a metamorphic fluid:
• Inclusiones fluidas

• Las reacciones que involucran volátiles ocurren a

temperaturas y presiones que requieren presiones
finitas de fluidos
 The Types of Metamorphism
Diferentes formas de clasificación
1. Based on principal process or agent
• Dynamic Metamorphism
• Thermal Metamorphism
• Dynamo-thermal Metamorphism
 The Types of Metamorphism
2. Basados en el escenario
• Contact Metamorphism
 Pyrometamorphism
• Regional Metamorphism
 Orogenic Metamorphism
 Burial Metamorphism
 Ocean Floor Metamorphism
• Hydrothermal Metamorphism
• Fault-Zone Metamorphism
• Impact or Shock Metamorphism
 TIPOS DE METAMORFISMO
1. Contact Metamorphism  Aureola de contacto
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
 Profundidad
 Permeability
Porosidad:
la porosidad se clasifica
como Porosidad
absoluta (porosidad total de una
roca) y Porosidad efectiva (la
porosidad de los espacios vacíos
que están interconectados)
Puede ser primaria y secundaria
Permeabilidad:
La permeabilidad es una medida
de la capacidad de las rocas para
transmitir fluidos.
Además de ser porosa, una roca de
yacimiento debe permitir que los
fluidos fluyan a través de su red de
poros a velocidades prácticas bajo
razonables diferencias de presión.
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
 Pyrometamorphism

A minor type of contact

metamorphism. Very high
temperatures at low
pressures, generado por un
cuerpo volcánico o
subvolcánico.
Also developed in xenoliths
 2. Regional Metamorphism
Afecta grandes cuerpos de roca además de una gran
extension lateral

Three principal types:

 Orogenico

 De enterramiento

 De fondo oceánico
 Metamorfismo orogénico
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
• ALGUNAS CARACTERÍSTICAS
• Uplift/Alzamiento and erosion
• Metamorphism often continues after major
deformation ceases
• Pattern of increasing metamorphic grade from
both directions toward the core area
• Batholiths are usually present in the highest grade
areas
• Regional contact metamorphism*
 Metamorfismo de enterramiento
• Southland Syncline in New Zealand: thick pile (> 10 km)
of Mesozoic volcaniclastics
• Deformación leve, 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 grades into the formation of zeolites, prehnite,
pumpellyite, laumontite, etc.
 De fondo oceánico*
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
tiene lugar en el entorno de las dorsales oceánicas. Se debe
a la circulación del agua del mar en las grietas de la corteza
recién formada y aún caliente. Es el tipo de metamorfismo
más extendido geográficamente.
3.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
4. 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
 Metamorfismo prógrado
• Prograde: El aumento del grado metamórfico con el
tiempo como una roca se somete a condiciones
gradualmente más severas (mx menos hidratados)
• Prograde metamorphism: Cambios en una roca que
acompañan al aumento del grado metamórfico.
• Retrograde: La disminución de la pendiente
conforme la roca se enfría y se recupera de un
evento metamórfico o ígneo (mx mas hidratados)
• Retrograde metamorphism: Cualquier cambio que
lo acompañe
La naturaleza progresiva del metamorfismo

Una roca en un alto grado metamórfico

probablemente progresó a través de una secuencia
de conjuntos minerales en lugar de saltar
directamente de una roca sin metamorfosearse a la
roca metamórfica que encontramos hoy
 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
 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
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 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
 Orogenic Regional Metamorphism of the
Scottish Highlands
• George Barrow (1893, 1912)
• SE Highlands of Scotland - Caledonian Orogeny
~ 500 Ma
• Nappes
• Granites
 Barrow’s
Area

Figure 21.8. 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.
 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
The sequence of zones now recognized, and the typical
metamorphic mineral assemblage in each, are:
• 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
• 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, uartz, plagioclase, garnet, and perhaps staurolite. Some
kyanite may also be present (although kyanite and sillimanite are
both polymorphs of Al2SiO5)
• 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)
Figure 21.8. 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.
To summarize:
• 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
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
 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

Figure 21.9. The P-T phase diagram for the system Al2SiO5 showing the stability fields for the three polymorphs andalusite, kyanite, and
sillimanite. Also shown is the hydration of Al 2SiO5 to pyrophyllite, which limits the occurrence of an Al2SiO5 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)
 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 Turner (1981)
Metamorphic Petrology: Mineralogical, Field, 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)
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.
 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.
Paired Metamorphic Belts of Japan
Figure 21.13. Some of the
paired metamorphic belts
in the circum-Pacific
region. From Miyashiro
(1994) Metamorphic
Petrology. Oxford
University Press.
 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
 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
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.
 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
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.
 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
 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)
• Burnham (1959) mapped the following zones and the
mineral assemblages in each (listed in order of
increasing grade):
• 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:
 grossular + diopside + wollastonite
 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.
 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
 Contact Metamorphism and Skarn
Formation at Crestmore, CA, USA
a) Calcite + 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
 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)
Figure 21.18. 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)
Figures not used

Figure 21.4. A situation in which lithostatic

pressure (Plith) exerted by the mineral grains
is greater than the intergranular fluid
pressure (Pfluid). At a depth around 10 km (or
T around 300oC) minerals begin to yield or
dissolve at the contact points and shift
toward or precipitate in the fluid-filled
areas, allowing the rock to compress. The
decreased volume of the pore spaces will
raise Pfluid until it equals Plith. Winter (2001)
An Introduction to Igneous and
Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice Hall.
 Figures not used

Figure 21.5. Temperature distribution within a 1-km thick vertical dike and in the country rocks (initially at 0 oC) as a function of time. Curves are
labeled in years. The model assumes an initial intrusion temperature of 1200 oC and cooling by conduction only. After Jaeger, (1968) Cooling and
solidification of igneous rocks. In H. H. Hess and A. Poldervaart (eds.), Basalts, vol. 2. John Wiley & Sons. New York, pp. 503-536.