Reactions Leading to the Disappearance of Pumpellyite in Low-grade Metamorphic Rocks of the Sanbagawa Metamorphic Belt in Central Shikoku, Japan

The major mineral assemblages of the metabasites of the Omoiji-Nagasawaarea in central Shikoku are hematite+epidote+chlorite+actinolite,riebeckitic actinolite+epidote+chlorite, epidote+chlorite+actinolite,and pumpellyite+epidote+chlorite+actinolite. The constituentminerals are often heterogeneous and assemblages in the fieldof a thin section sometimes do not obey the phase rule, butif grains apparently in non-equilibrium with others are excludedand domains of chemical equilibrium are appropriately chosenthe assemblages approximately obey the phase rule. The stability of hematite, pumpellyite, and epidote associatedwith chlorite and actinolite can be dealt with in terms of aternary system with appropriate excess phases. By fixing theFe²⁺/(Fe²⁺ +Mg) ratio of chlorite, it is dealt with in termsof stability relations in the system Ca₂Al₃Si₃O₁₂(OH)–Ca₂AlFe₂Si₃O₁₂(OH)with excess chlorite, actinolite, quartz, and controlled P_H2O.The maximum and minimum Fe³⁺ contents of epidote in this modelsystem are determined by hematite+epidote+chlorite+actinoliteand pumpellyite+epidote+chlorite+actinolite assemblages. Themaximum Fe³⁺ of the three phase assemblage epidote+chlorite+actinoliteis insensitive to temperature, but the minimum Fe³⁺ contentof epidote is sensitive to temperature and can be used to definethe metamorphic grade by a continuous quantity related to temperature.The phase relations expected for the model system are in goodagreement with the parageneses of the Sanbagawa terrain in centralShikoku and offer an explanation to the rule of Miyashiro &Seki (1958a) that the compositional range of epidote enlargeswith increasing temperature. The model also makes it possibleto estimate semi-quantitatively the temperature range in whichthe assemblage pumpellyite+epidote+chlorite+actinolite is stable.The possible maximum range is about 120 ?C, but the assemblageis stable in metabasite only for about 90 ?C. The higher temperaturelimit of the pumpellyite-actinolite facies defined by the disappearanceof pumpellyite in metabasite corresponds to the temperatureat which epidote with Fe³⁺/(Fe³⁺ +Al) = 0.10 0.15 coexistswith pumpellyite, actinolite, and chlorite. The compositions of epidotes in the metabasites of the Omoiji-Nagasawaarea cluster around Fe³⁺/(Fe³⁺ +Al) = 0.33. The grade of thisarea is close to the lower temperature stability limit of thepumpellyite+epidote+chlorite+actinolite assemblage.