Abstract
The fluid-absent reaction 12 zoisite = 3 lawsonite + 7 grossular + 8 kyanite + 1 coesite was experimentally reversed in the model system CaO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O (CASH) using a multi-anvil apparatus. The upper pressure stability limit for zoisite was found to extend to 5.0 GPa at 700 °C and to 6.6 GPa at 950 °C. Additional experiments both in the H2O-SiO2-saturated and in the H2O-Al2O3-saturated portions of CASH provide further constraints on high pressure phase relationships of lawsonite, zoisite, grossular, kyanite, coesite, and an aqueous fluid. Consistency of the present experiments with the H2O-saturated breakdown of lawsonite is demonstrated by thermodynamic analysis using linear programming techniques. Two sets of data consistent with databases of Berman (1988) and Holland and Powell (1990) were retrieved combining experimental phase relationships, calorimetric constraints, and recently measured elastic properties of solid phases. The best fits result in G f ,1,298 ∘,zoisite=−6,499,400 J and S 1,298 ∘,zoisite=302 J/K, and G f ,1,298 ∘,lawsonite=−4,514,600 J and S 1,298 ∘,lawsonite=220 J/K for the dataset of Holland and Powell, and G f ,1,298 ∘,zoisite=−6,492,120 J and S 1,298 ∘,zoisite=304 J/K, and G f ,1,298 ∘,lawsonite=−4,513,000 J and S 1,298 ∘,lawsonite= 218 J/K for the dataset of Berman. Examples of the usage of zoisite as a geohygrometer and as a geobarometer in rocks metamorphosed at eclogite facies conditions are worked, profiting from the thermodynamic properties retrieved here.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received: 23 December 1996 / Accepted: 29 August 1997
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Poli, S., Schmidt, M. The high-pressure stability of zoisite and phase relationships of zoisite-bearing assemblages. Contrib Mineral Petrol 130, 162–175 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004100050357
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004100050357