When The Continental Crust Melts

August 2011
Volume 7, Number 4
ISSN 1811-5209
When the Continental

Crust Melts
EDWARD W. SAWYER, BERNARDO CESARE, and MICHAEL BROWN, Guest Editors
How the Crust Gets Really Hot

Melting Experiments and
Thermodynamic Calculations
Interpreting Microstructures
Crustal Melting and the Flow
of Mountains
Melt Flow through
the Crust
Elements is published jointly by the Mineralogical Volume 7, Number 4 August 2011 ABOUT THE COVER:
Society of America, the Mineralogical Society Spider Wall on the south face
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Mineralogical of Nuptse (the summit ridge
Association of Canada, the Geochemical Society, is at ~7650 m, and the wall is
The Clay Minerals Society, the European
Association of Geochemistry, the International
When the Continental Crust Melts ~1700 m in height), showing a
network of leucogranite dykes
Association of GeoChemistry, the Socit Guest Editors: Edward W. Sawyer, Bernardo Cesare, and Michael Brown
in metasedimentary rocks of
Franaise de Minralogie et de Cristallographie, the Everest Series (centre)
the Association of Applied Geochemists,
When the Continental Crust Melts above the Nuptse leucogranite,
the Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft,
the Societ Italiana di Mineralogia e Petrologia,
229 Edward W. Sawyer, Bernardo Cesare, visible at the bottom left and
the International Association of Geoanalysts, right. Leucogranites emplaced
and Michael Brown in the shallow crust are the end
the Polskie Towarzystwo Mineralogiczne
(Mineralogical Society of Poland), the Sociedad product of melting of the deep
Espaola de Mineraloga, the Swiss Society of crust in orogenic belts. The
Mineralogy and Petrology, and the Meteoritical view is from Pokalde Peak in
Society. It is provided as a benefit to members of the Khumbu Himalaya, Nepal.
How Does the Continental Crust
these societies.
Elements is published six times a year. Individuals
235 Get Really Hot?
IMAGE COURTESY OF MICAH JESSUP,
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, USA
are encouraged to join any one of the partici- Chris Clark, Ian C. W. Fitzsimons, David
pating societies to receive Elements. Institutional
subscribers to any of the following journals Healy, and Simon L. Harley
American Mineralogist, Clay Minerals, Clays and
p q
Clay Minerals, Mineralogical Magazine, and The
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pl liq
Is the Crucible Reproducible?

241
liq
Canadian Mineralogistalso receive one copy

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grt opx bt
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Reconciling Melting Experiments

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of Elements as part of their 2011 subscription. grt bt pl liq grt opx kfs pl liq
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Institutional subscriptions are available for with Thermodynamic Calculations

US$160 (US$175 non-US addresses) a year in grt opx crd kfs pl liq opx pl liq Richard W. White, Gary Stevens, and Timothy E. Johnson
2011. Contact the managing editor (tremblpi@
ete.inrs.ca) for information.
Melted Rocks under the Microscope:
Copyright 2011 by the Mineralogical Society
of America 247 Microstructures and Their Interpretation
All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, Marian B. Holness, Bernardo Cesare, and Edward W. Sawyer
including translation to other languages, or by
any meansgraphic, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying or information storage
and retrieval systemswithout written permission Crustal Melting and the Flow of Mountains
from the copyright holder is strictly prohibited. 253 Rebecca A. Jamieson, Martyn J. Unsworth, Nigel B. W. Harris,
Publications mail agreement no. 40037944
Claudio L. Rosenberg, and Karel Schulmann
Printed in USA
ISSN 1811-5209 (print)
ISSN 1811-5217 (online)
Organizing Melt Flow through the Crust
www.elementsmagazine.org 261 Michael Brown, Fawna J. Korhonen, and Christine S. Siddoway
www.elements.
geoscienceworld.org
D E PA R T M E N T S
Editorial Is Science a Contact Sport? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
From the Editors John Valley, Principal Editor 20122014. . 220
The Elements Toolkit Smashing Up Stones . . . . . . . . . . . 221
People in the News Williams-Jones, Ferry, Stolper. . . . . . . 222
Meet the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Society News
Swiss Society of Mineralogy and Petrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Association of Applied Geochemists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .268
Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland . . . . . . . 269
International Association of GeoChemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . .270
European Association of Geochemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .271
The Clay Minerals Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .272
The Meteoritical Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .273
Mineralogical Society of America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
International Association of Geoanalysts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Socit Franaise de Minralogie et de Cristallographie . . .277
Geochemical Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278
Mineralogical Association of Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Book Review Timescales of Magmatic Processes . . . . . . . . . . 282
Meeting Report Making Science Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Advertisers in This Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Parting Shots Standing Stones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
217
PARTICIPATING SOCIETIES
The Mineralogical The Clay Minerals Society The Association of The Polskie
Society of America is 3635 Concorde Pkwy Ste 500 Applied Geochemists is Towarzystwo Mineral-
composed of individuals Chantilly, VA 20151-1110, USA an international organiza- ogiczne (Mineralogical
interested in mineralogy, Tel.: 703-652-9960; fax: 703-652-9951 tion founded in 1970 that Society of Poland), founded
crystallography, petrology, cms@clays.org specializes in the field of in 1969, draws together
and geochemistry. Founded www.clays.org applied geochemistry. It professionals and amateurs
in 1919, the Society promotes, aims to advance the science interested in mineralogy,
through education and research, the under- The Geochemical Society of geochemistry as it relates to exploration crystallography, petrology, geochemistry,
standing and application of mineralogy by (GS) is an international and the environment, further the common and economic geology. The Society promotes
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national society for all Washington University was founded in 1908 to annual conferences and furthers the training
those working in the Earth & Planetary Sciences promote mineralogy and of young researchers via seminars and
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crystallography, geochemistry, petrology, Explore GS online at www.geochemsoc.org fellows, who include M. v. Laue, G. v. Macla, a new journal containing scientific
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through scientific meetings and the publica- of Geochemistry was especially tries to support young researchers, Journal of Mineralogy, Macla, and Elements.
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E LEMENTS 218 A UGUS T 2011

EDITORIAL
IS SCIENCE A CONTACT SPORT? new offerings, panel members who fairly decide
which research proposals are most deserving of
PRINCIPAL EDITORS funding, members of advisory boards that thought-
HARRY Y. (Hap) McSWEEN, University of
Tennessee, USA (mcsween@utk.edu) fully set science priorities when everything cant
JAMES I. DREVER, University of Wyoming, USA
(drever@uwy.edu) be supported. Our referees ensure that we play by
GEORGES CALAS, IMPMC, France
(Georges.Calas@impmc.jussieu.fr) the rules, which for science means that truth and
ADVISORY BOARD 2011 accuracy should ultimately win.
JOHN BRODHOLT, University College London, UK
NORBERT CLAUER, CNRS/UdS, Universit de For the most part, being a referee is a difficult
Strasbourg, France
WILL P. GATES, SmecTech Research and thankless job, an uncompensated duty that
Consulting, Australia
GEORGE E. HARLOW, American Museum we assume for the betterment of our shared sci-
of Natural History, USA
JANUSZ JANECZEK, University of Silesia, Poland entific community. In science, virtually all of us,
HANS KEPPLER, Bayerisches Geoinstitut,
Germany Hap McSween sooner or later, get to be referees. Few of us are
DAVID R. LENTZ, University of New Brunswick, actually trained for these responsibilities, though,
Canada
My university plays (American) footballthese
ANHUAI LU, Peking University, China and that is probably unfortunate. Those of us who
ROBERT W. LUTH, University of Alberta, Canada are big-time contests, held in a stadium that seats
DAVID W. MOGK, Montana State University, USA teach need to share with our students the rules
TAKASHI MURAKAMI, University of Tokyo, Japan more than a hundred thousand spectators and
ROBERTA OBERTI, CNR Istituto di Geoscienze and techniques by which we referee, and instill
e Georisorse, Pavia, Italy televised more often than not. Watching a game
TERRY PLANK, Lamont-Doherty Earth
in them an appreciation for the trust we place in
Observatory, USA not long ago, I was taken aback by the crowds
referees and a sense of respect for its paramount
XAVIER QUEROL, Spanish Research Council, Spain vociferous reaction to a referees ruling against
MAURO ROSI, University of Pisa, Italy importance to science.
BARBARA SHERWOOD LOLLAR, University of the home team. Based on an instant
Toronto, Canada
TORSTEN VENNEMANN, Universit de replay projected onto a gigantic It is human nature to be loyal to the
Lausanne, Switzerland The loyal crowd just
OLIVIER VIDAL, Universit J. Fourier, France screen at the top of the stadium, home team, to our colleagues and
MEENAKSHI WADHWA, Arizona State
University, USA the ruling seemed fair to me. The wanted their team to friends, and even to our scientific
BERNARD WOOD, University of Oxford, UK referee was close to the action and win, and any rulings passions. Loyalty colors the way we
JON WOODHEAD, University of Melbourne,
Australia obviously had some experience in respond to our pastimes, our poli-
by the guy in the tics, and our professions. It seems
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE such matters. But the crowd around
CARLOS AYORA IBEZ, Sociedad Espaola
di Mineraloga me, none of whom I assume actu- striped shirt that did to me that in the past few decades,
LIANE G. BENNING, European Association
of Geochemistry ally had any experience refereeing, not further that cause various factions of society have
THOMAS D. BULLEN, International Association
of GeoChemistry was furious at the call and roared learned to express their loyalty in
PETER C. BURNS, Mineralogical Association
its displeasure. Later in the game,
were roundly booed. some angry and less-than-produc-
of Canada
GIUSEPPE CRUCIANI, Societ Italiana di a similar ruling against the oppo- tive ways, such as rudely booing the
Mineralogia e Petrologia
BARBARA L. DUTROW, Mineralogical nent resulted in the crowds jubilation. I doubt opposing team and polarizing our political discus-
Society of America, Chair
W. CRAWFORD ELLIOTT, The Clay Minerals Society that this was their vocal affirmation of excellence sions. I dont sense that this societal hardening
MONICA M. GRADY, The Meteoritical Society
BERNARD GROBTY, Swiss Society of and accuracy in officiating. A good call was, by has spilled over into science yet. But we should
Mineralogy and Petrology
GUY LIBOUREL, Socit Franaise definition, one that favored the home team. The guard against it. My hope, and my expectation, is
de Minralogie et de Cristallographie
MAREK MICHALIK, Mineralogical Society
loyal crowd just wanted their team to win, and that the community of scientists will continue to
of Poland any rulings by the guy in the striped shirt that did conduct their sparring contests with respect, and
EDWIN A. SCHAUBLE, Geochemical Society
CLIFFORD R. STANLEY, Association not further that cause were roundly booed. This to value our referees and spare them the jeers that
of Applied Geochemists
PETER TRELOAR, Mineralogical Society is American football, but the same fan behavior greet the guys in the zebra shirts on game day.
of Great Britain and Ireland
FRIEDHELM VON BLANCKENBURG, (or worse) is a part of the other football played Hap McSween, University of Tennessee
Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft
MICHAEL WIEDENBECK, International around the world. mcsween@utk.edu
Association of Geoanalysts
MANAGING EDITOR We all understand this, of course. Sports are all
PIERRETTE TREMBLAY, tremblpi@ete.inrs.ca
about winning, for the players and for the specta-
EDITORIAL OFFICE
tors, and it is easy to get caught up in the game
and lose track of the ideal of sportsmanship. The
reason I bring this up is that science is some-
times described as a contact sport. In science,
490, rue de la Couronne
competing ideas often collide. We are obligated
Qubec (Qubec) G1K 9A9, Canada to champion our hypotheses, at least until they
Tel.: 418-654-2606 Fax: 418-653-0777
Layout: POULIOT GUAY GRAPHISTES are proven wrong, and to marshal evidence against
Copy editor: THOMAS CLARK
Proofreaders: THOMAS CLARK hypotheses with which we disagree. This is the
and DOLORES DURANT
Printer: ALLEN PRESS
way science works. Our contests are based on ideas
The publishers assume no responsibility for rather than brawn, but sometimes they can get
any statement of fact or opinion expressed
in the published material. The appearance of confrontational or even nasty.
advertising in this magazine does not constitute
endorsement or approval of the quality or value Science, too, thankfully has its referees: reviewers
of the products or of claims made for them.
www.elementsmagazine.org who provide insightful criticisms of manuscripts,
editors who adjudicate when reviewers dont agree, Football referee signaling a touchdown. PHOTO YOBRO10 |
book reviewers who provide valuable insights into DREAMSTIME.COM

FROM THE EDITORS
THIS ISSUE Morin G, Calas G (2006) Arsenic in soils, mine tailings, and former
industrial sites. Elements 2: 97-101 (42)
What started as a proposal on the traditional aspects of migmatites
evolved into When the Continental Crust Melts after the proposers Ohtani E (2005) Water in the mantle. Elements 1: 25-30 (36)
were challenged by the editors to think big and show the relevance of Self S, Thordarson T, Widdowson M (2005) Gas fluxes from flood
their work to other disciplines. The focus became the impact of partial basalt eruptions. Elements 1: 283-287 (32)
melting on processes ranging from grain scale to crustal scale. As for Lumpkin GR (2006) Ceramic waste forms for actinides. Elements 2:
all issues, the guest editors worked hard with their international cast of 365-372 (32)
authors to bring you six stimulating papers. ODay PA (2006) Chemistry and mineralogy of arsenic. Elements 2:
77-83 (31)
JOHN VALLEY, PRINCIPAL EDITOR 20122014 Rubatto D, Hermann J (2007) Zircon behaviour in deeply subducted
rocks. Elements 3: 31-36 (30)
John Valley has accepted our invitation to join the editorial team,
Bruno J, Ewing RC (2006) Spent nuclear fuel. Elements 2: 343-349 (30)
starting officially in January 2012. He will replace Hap McSween, whose
term ends at the end of 2011. We will welcome John formally in the
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE ISSUE
first issue of 2012. In the meantime, he is being integrated into the team
and participates in all discussions. I mentioned in the April issue that, after the Fukushima nuclear acci-
dent, we made the Nuclear Fuel Cycle issue freely available on our
IMPACT FACTOR 2010 GeoScienceWorld site (www.elements.geoscienceworld.org) and on
Elements website at www.elementsmagazine.org. This was advertised
Elements 2010 impact factor was 3.105. Interestingly, Elements five-year
as widely as possible across our network, thanks to the efforts of Barb
impact factor is 3.561. This probably reflects the fact that articles are
Dutrow and the members of the Executive Committee. Did it work?
cited over several years.
Yes, there was a spike of at least one order of magnitude in downloads
The most cited articles from the time of publication to July 2011 are: from GeoScienceWorld for all articles in that issue. The article Spent
Geisler T, Schaltegger U, Tomaschek F (2007) Re-equilibration of Nuclear Fuel was downloaded 35 times more than in previous months.
zircon in aqueous fluids and melts. Elements 3: 43-50 (70 citations)
Harley SL, Kelly NM, Moller A (2007) Zircon behaviour and the FACEBOOK
thermal histories of mountain chains. Elements 3: 25-30 (64)
At the time of writing, we had gained 182 followers on Facebook in less
Charlet L, Polya DA (2006) Arsenic in shallow, reducing ground-
waters in southern Asia: An environmental health disaster. than two months. If you have a Facebook account, do like us. We will
Elements 2: 91-96 (59) keep you posted on when issues are taken to press and mailed, and we
Cartigny P (2005) Stable isotopes and the origin of diamond. will share timely news. Go to www.facebook.com/elementsmagazine.
Elements 1: 79-84 (51)
Pierrette Tremblay, Managing Editor

SMASHING UP STONES
A critical, but often neglected, aspect of the entire geoanalytical pro-

cess involves how one actually gets ones sample from the field and
back to the laboratory for analysis. Clearly collecting material that is
representative of the process being studied is the fi rst critical step. But
what does one do once the specimen arrives back home? I can well
remember the many hours I spent as a graduate student some decades
ago in the crushing lab reducing kilograms of sample down to grams
of representative powder; this powder would be the starting mate-
rial for my assigned tasks as a budding geochemist. Jaw mill to reduce An example of a phosphate starting material and end product from the
to centimetre-size puck and ring mill to reduce to coarse powder FIGURE 3 Aerodynamic Impact Reactor
agate ball mill to reduce to fi ne powder hours of processing keep
everything clean dont contaminate, dont fractionate Tedious, to matic flow established along the margin of the vessel. Within seconds
say the least. centimetre-size rock chips introduced into this environment undergo
So what technological progress has this aspect of mineralogy/geochem- a grain-size reduction through collisions within the reactor. The pro-
istry seen of late? Over roughly the past decade interest has grown in cessed material is ultimately ejected through a port in the base of the
the use of electrodynamic disaggregation. In this procedure, a high- reaction chamber (FIG. 2). The device has been integrated with multiple
voltage electrical impulse creates a shockwave either within the material cyclone separators, which allow the processed material to be binned
itself or within the fluid medium typically water that surrounds by grain size and which also remove particulates down to roughly
it. This method of using lightning strikes to reduce walnut-size rock 1 m grain size from the exhaust air. A number of parameters can be
chips down to individual mineral grains fi rst came to my attention adjusted on this apparatus, but it is commonly set to produce grain
at the Goldschmidt 2009 meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where hard- size fractions smaller than 100 or even 50 microns. By reprocessing
ware from the Swiss company Selfrag AG (www.selfrag.com) was on the coarser-grained materials separated by the cyclone, it is possible to
display. Subsequently a paper by Giese et al. (2010) described in detail produce ultimately a very fi ne-grained end product (FIG. 3).
the physical process involved in the various forms of electrodynamic So what are the advantages of this new approach to sample processing?
disaggregation and also demon- Though I have yet to see any concrete data, the method is supposed
strated that the high temperatures to be relatively contamination free. High processing rates of up to sev-
that briefly affect the sample do not eral metric tons per hour could be of interest to the mining industry.
bias apatite fission-track ages. Compared to some of the other competing methods, the Aerodynamic
Here I would like to describe briefly Impact Reactor is energy efficient, meaning lower operating costs. It is
an alternative technology which flexible in terms of the grain-size distribution it can produce and the
I learned about a year or so ago. nature of the feed stock. In fact, the method has been applied to the
It is being developed by Zybek processing of coal and even switch grass (FIG. 4). It tends to liberate
Advanced Products (www.zapmate- material along grain boundaries, but it also has been found to favour
rials.com), a small company located high surface-to-volume ratios for the end product a benefit if subse-
in Boulder, Colorado, USA. Zybeks quent chemical treatment is planned.
Aerody namic Impact Reactor
(FIG. 1) employs a high-pressure air
FIGURE 1
Model of the stream created by a series of impel-
Aerodynamic Impact lers. Within the reactor chamber,
Reactor (patent pending). The reactors
height is approximately 2 metres. the airflow is directed into a vortex
geometry with a high-speed pneu-
Scanning electron microscope images of two of the more unusual

FIGURE 4 material types on which the device has been used
What is the future of this technology in either the mining industry or

basic research? This is hard to say as the technology has not yet been
widely disseminated. Time will tell.
Michael Wiedenbeck, (michawi@gfz-potsdam.de)

Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam
REFERENCE
Giese J, Seward D, Finlay MS, Wthrich E, Gnos E, Kurz D, Eggenberger U,
Schreurs G (2010) Electrodynamic disaggregation: Does it affect apatite
fission-track and (U-Th)/He analyses? Geostandards and Geoanalytical
Diagram of the individual components within the Aerodynamic Impact Research 34: 39-48
FIGURE 2 Reactor processor integrated with cyclone separators

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
ANTHONY E. WILLIAMS- MGPV-sponsored session entitled Turning Up the Heat: Metamorphic

JONES, LOGAN MEDALIST Perspectives on Mineral Equilibria, Heat Transport, Tectonics, and
Thermochronology (T35).
During last Mays joint annual
meeting of the Geological Association Dr. Ferry is cited for his contributions to the theory of fluidrock interac-
of Canada and the Mineralogical tions. His science is fundamentally field-based and his tools predomi-
Association of Canada in Ottawa, nantly chemical and petrological, but the insights gained have signifi-
Anthony E. Willy Williams- cant physical implications. His systematic evaluation of the role of fluid
Jones of McGill University received migration during regional metamorphism in many field areas worldwide
the Logan Medal, the Geological forms the basis for understanding the long-term permeability of the
Association of Canadas highest award middle to lower crust. He conducts careful, systematic field studies to test
and presented to an individual for his and others models. These studies have demonstrated that different
sustained distinguished achievement models best explain observations from individual field sites: nature is
in Canadian Earth science. We reproduce excerpts of the citation below. not as simple as any single model. On Earth, crustal devolatilization
during metamorphism influences the mechanical strength and thermal
For thirty years, Willys influence on Canadian economic geology, and
structure of the continents and contributes to element cycling between
Earth science in general, has been profound. Willy is an extremely cre-
the Earth, the atmosphere, and the oceans. Until the pioneering field
ative and innovative researcher. The scope and breadth of his research
studies of John Ferry and his students and colleagues, these impacts
into the genesis of mineral deposits is unparalleled, not only in the array
could not be realistically quantified.
of types of mineral deposits that he and his group have tackled but also
in the methodologies applied and the approaches taken. His studies of
ED STOLPER ELECTED
mineralizing systems have included sediment-hosted base metal min- FOREIGN MEMBER OF
eralization, uranium, porphyry CuMo, granitoid-related WSnMo, THE ROYAL SOCIETY
pegmatite and hydrothermal rare-element mineralization, epithermal
Edward Stolper is the William E.
precious metals, asbestos, fluorite, Archean gold, and modern geothermal
Leonhard Professor of Geology and
systems. He and his group made a major research breakthrough recently
Provost, Division of Geological and
by showing that both petroleum and high-temperature vapor have the
Planetary Sciences at Caltech. He was
ability to transport important quantities of ore-forming metals.
recently elected as a Foreign Member
Although Willys contributions to economic geology are remarkable of the Royal Society. Each year 44
indeed, they are even more so when considered in the context of his fun- Fellows, 8 Foreign Members and up
damental contributions to other fields, including environmental geology, to 1 Honorary Fellow are elected from a group of over 700 candidates
biomineralization, igneous petrology, and volcanology. In many varied who are proposed by the existing Fellowship.
ways, Willy is a truly exceptional teacher and mentor. He has produced
Ed Stolper is renowned for his experimental and theoretical work on
legions of outstanding graduate and undergraduate students, inspiring
melting and igneous processes on the Earth, Mars and asteroids. He
them to follow careers in Earth science.
was the first to propose that the SNC meteorites came from Mars. He
developed the sandwich method of multiple saturation, which enabled
JOHN FERRY, 2011
quantification of melting in the mantles of Earth and other planets. He
DISTINGUISHED GEOLOGIC
CAREER AWARDEE developed the first quantitative model of water speciation in glasses
and silicate melts and showed that water dissolves both as OH and as
John M. Ferry, Johns Hopkins
molecular H2O. He was the first to show that silicate crystals float in
University, is the 2011 Distinguished
their melts at very high pressures, with implications for the differentia-
Geologic Career Awardee of the
tion of large silicate planets. He was the first to demonstrate a linear
Mineralogy, Geochemisty, Petrology,
relationship between the extent of melting and source water contents
and Volcanology (MGPV) Division
in the back-arc environment.
of the Geological Society of America.
The award will be presented during
the 2011 GSA Annual Meeting,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. The
presentation will take place at the MGPV Reception (held jointly with
the Mineralogical Society of America and the Geochemical Society).
Dr. Ferry will give the Distinguished Geologic Career Award Lecture,
When the Heat Is Turned Up, Look Out for the Hot Water, at the

www.wiley.com
Michael Brown held academic appointments in Nigel B. W. Harris, a graduate of the University of
the UK until 1990 when he moved to the University Cambridge, is a petrologist and geochemist who
of Maryland as Professor of Geology and Chair. His has studied the causes and consequences of melt
research interests are in high-temperature metamor- production in tectonically thickened crust since his
phic petrology, crustal melting, and tectonic first Tibetan field campaign in 1985. He was
geology. His work on migmatites and associated appointed Professor of Tectonics at the Open
granites has furthered our understanding of how University (UK) in 2001. In recent years his work
heat and mass are transferred within continents, has focused on chemical proxies for global weath-
and in particular the relationships between sources and sinks of melt ering fluxes and the linkage between tectonics, orography, and climate
and the importance of melt in the tectonic evolution of orogenic belts. in the Himalaya.
With time his research has broadened into ultrahigh-temperature and
high-pressure metamorphism, the origin of paired metamorphic belts, David Healy is Lecturer in Geomechanics at the
and secular change. University of Aberdeen. He has research interests
in structural geology, rock mechanics, tectonics,
Bernardo Cesare is a professor of petrology at the and metamorphic geology. He has a keen interest
University of Padova (Italy), where he earned a PhD in the theory of natural rock deformation and uses
in geology in 1992 studying the Vedrette di Ries quantitative models to explore the consequences
contact aureole. His research interests include low- of theoretical predictions in terms of field and labo-
pressure metamorphism and anatexis of pelitic ratory observations.
rocks, fluidmeltrock interactions in graphitic sys-
tems, fluid and melt inclusions, and the crystal Marian B. Holness studied for both her degrees at
chemistry of high-temperature minerals. His the University of Cambridge. After periods at the
approach to crustal melting involves primarily the multidisciplinary University of Chicago and the University of
study of anatectic enclaves from SE Spain and of nanogranite inclu- Edinburgh, she returned to Cambridge in 1997 to
sions in migmatites and granulites. During the last decade he was deeply take up a teaching post. Her interests are primarily
involved in coordinating the international training of early-stage in decoding the record of rock history left behind
researchers in metamorphic petrology. in grain-scale fabrics. She has progressed from
working on volatile fluids in metamorphic rocks,
Chris Clark is a senior research fellow in metamor- through the partial melting of high-grade metamorphic rocks, and is
phic geology and geochronology at Curtin now investigating the complex problem of solidification, in particular
University in Western Australia. His principal of gabbros.
research interests are in the linking of geochro-
nology, specifically the UPb method using zircon Rebecca A. Jamieson is a graduate of Memorial
and monazite, with the development of metamor- University of Newfoundland (PhD 1979) and is cur-
phic assemblages in order to constrain the dura- rently Carnegie Professor and Chair of Earth
tions of mountain-building events in high-grade Sciences at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.
metamorphic terranes. She studies interactions between metamorphic and
tectonic processes at all scales using a variety of
Ian C. W. Fitzsimons is a professor of metamorphic approaches, including field work, petrology, geo-
geology at Curtin University in Perth, Western chronology, and geodynamic modeling. She has
Australia. After an undergraduate degree at the worked on parts of the AppalachianCaledonian, Grenvillian, and
University of Cambridge, he completed a PhD on HimalayanTibetan orogenic belts. Her recent work has focused on the
granulite facies metamorphism at the University of causes and consequences of melting and ductile flow in orogens and on
Edinburgh, followed by research positions at Royal the exhumation of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks.
Holloway University of London, the University of
Edinburgh, and Monash University. He moved to Timothy E. Johnson is a postdoctoral research sci-
Perth in 1998, where he focuses his research on the field geology, min- entist at the University of Mainz. He received his
eralogy, petrology, and geochronology of metamorphic rocks, particu- BSc (1992) and PhD (1999) from the University of
larly the Precambrian granulites of Antarctica, India, and Madagascar. Derby and held postdoctoral positions at the uni-
versities of Graz and Maryland before moving to
Simon L. Harley is Professor of Lower Crustal Germany. His expertise is in metamorphic geology
Processes at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. and mineral equilibria modeling of subsolidus and
He has over 30 years experience in metamorphic suprasolidus rocks of varying compositions and
and experimental geology and geochemistry, which from a variety of tectonothermal environments. He has a particular
he has applied to understanding the high-temper- interest in the generation and segregation of melt and its consequences
ature processes that take place during the evolution for the compositional, thermal, and rheological evolution of the crust.
of continents. His approach emphasizes their chem-
ical, isotopic, and petrographic records as preserved
in minerals and mineral assemblages. He is internationally recognized
as a leading authority on ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism and
granulites and their implications for continental evolution.
Contd on page 227

Contd from page 226
Fawna J. Korhonen is a research fellow at Curtin Gary Stevens graduated with BSc and MSc degrees
University of Technology, Australia. She moved to from Rand Afrikaans University in Johannesburg
this position in 2009 after a three-year postdoctoral and received his PhD degree from the University
appointment at the University of Maryland. Fawna of Manchester in 1995. Following this, he spent 5
received her BA from Carleton College and her PhD years at the University of the Witwatersrand, where
from the University of Minnesota. Her research the Economic Geology Research Unit kindly
interests include the study of polyphase high-grade indulged his research interests in petrology. For the
metamorphism and anatexis, and the processes of past 10 years he has been employed at Stellenbosch
mass transfer within the crust that lead to intracrustal differentiation University, where he holds the position of South African Research Chair
during orogenesis. She is particularly interested in the chemical and in Experimental Petrology. His main research interests are the origins
physical effects of melting and melt loss during protracted crustal evolu- of the continental crust, partial melting of the crust, and the processes
tion, and the genetic link between residual granulites, migmatites, and that shape granite chemistry.
granites.
Martyn J. Unsworth has been a professor of geo-
Claudio L. Rosenberg graduated from the State physics at the University of Alberta in Edmonton,
University of Milano (Italy) in 1989, where he com- Canada, since 2000. He holds a BA in natural sci-
pleted an MSc thesis on the growth of K-feldspar ences (1986) and a PhD in marine geophysics
megacrysts in granites. After a PhD in Basel (1991), both from the University of Cambridge. His
(Switzerland) on the emplacement and solid-state research focuses on the use of electromagnetic geo-
flow of the Bergell pluton (Central Alps), he moved physics to study continental dynamics. His recent
to Giessen (Germany) where he studied the fabrics studies have been in the Tibetan Plateau, eastern
of synkinematic, partially melted rock using experi- Anatolia, Taiwan, and the Canadian Cordillera. He makes use of the
mental analogues. Based on these experiments and studies of natural magnetotelluric method to study the composition of the crust and
migmatitic fabrics, he described the modes of localization and melt mantle in regions undergoing deformation. He has also worked on the
segregation and the rheological changes during deformation of melting use of these geophysical techniques in environmental and geothermal
crust. He is now at the Freie Universitt Berlin (Germany), where he applications.
works on the syncollisional exhumation of the Alpine chain.
Richard W. White is a professor of metamorphic
Edward W. Sawyer received his first degree from geology at the University of Mainz, Germany. He
the University of Southampton. He then worked received his BSc and MSc from the University of
for the Geological Survey of South Africa in Namibia Sydney and his PhD from Macquarie University
for six years and obtained a masters degree from (Sydney) in 1998. He spent nine years at the
the University of Cape Town. He then moved to University of Melbourne in several postdoctoral
Canada and received a PhD from the University of positions, undertaking mineral equilibria modeling
Toronto, followed by postdoctoral research at the studies, focusing on partial melting. He then moved
Geological Survey of Norway. He returned to to Germany, where his main interests center on high-temperature meta-
Canada in 1986 to take a post at the Universit du Qubec Chicoutimi, morphic processes, the development of mineral and melt activitycom-
where he is now a professor. His principal research interest is in mig- position models, and their application to natural examples. He is cur-
matites and the segregation and migration of anatectic melt in the con- rently an editor of the Journal of Metamorphic Geology.
tinental crust.
Karel Schulmann started his career in 1987 at the

Czech Geological Survey in Prague. From 1991 to
2004 he was chair of the Department of Structural
Geology and Petrology of Charles University in
Prague. Since 2004 he has held the position of pro-
fessor of geology and tectonics at the University of
Strasbourg. His research interests include the struc-
tural geology and tectonics of orogenic collisional
systems, metamorphic petrology, metamorphic microstructures and tex-
tures, rock fabrics, orogenic processes such as the exhumation of orogenic
lower crust, the mechanisms of lower crustal flow, and the accretion of
juvenile crust in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt.
Christine S. Siddoway received her BA from

Carleton College and MSc from the University of
Arizona. Following her PhD from the University of
California, Santa Barbara, she completed a Fulbright
postdoctoral research fellowship at the University
of Siena (Italy). She has been an investigator in the
U.S. Antarctic research program since 1990, during
which time she has examined the history of breakup
between West Antarctica and New Zealand, the evolution of the active
margin of East Gondwana, and the deformation and metamorphism of
mid-crustal rocks in transcurrent settings. She is on the faculty of the
Geology Department at Colorado College and served as chair during
20072010.

When the Continental
Crust Melts
Edward W. Sawyer1, Bernardo Cesare2 and Michael Brown3
1811-5209/11/0007-0229$2.50 DOI: 10.2113/gselements.7.4.229
P
artial melting of the continental crust has long been of interest to Ga) continental crust appears to be
petrologists as a small-scale phenomenon. Mineral assemblages in the sl ig ht ly more felsic t ha n
Proterozoic (2.5 0.5 Ga) or
cores of old, eroded mountain chains that formed where continents Phanerozoic (< 0.5 Ga) crust
collided show that the continental crust was buried deeply enough to have (Rudnick and Gao 2003). Thus,
melted extensively. Geochemical, experimental, petrological and geodynamic juvenile material added to the
crust must be modified in order to
modelling now show that when the continental crust melts the consequences b e come cont i nent a l c r ust.
are crustal-scale. The combination of melting and regional deformation is Evidence from modern arcs indi-
critical: the presence of melt on grain boundaries weakens rocks, and weak cates that more felsic compositions
arise because the mafic magmas
rocks deform faster, influencing the way mountain belts grow and how rifts fractionate and because they cause
propagate. Tectonic forces also drive the movement of melt out of the lower the crust to partially melt.
continental crust, resulting in an irreversible chemical differentiation of Consequently, a layer of mafic
cumulate and residual material
the crust. develops at the base of arc crust.
KEYWORDS : continental crust, partial melting, microstructures, As the arc crust thickens, this
metamorphic petrology cumulate and residual part at the
base converts to denser material,
detaches (a process called delami-
INTRODUCTION
nation) and sinks into the mantle. Thus, the bulk composi-
The continental crust is 41.4 km thick on average and tion of the remaining continental crust becomes more
covers 39% of the Earths surface. Information from the felsic. The residual and cumulate material that returns to
isotopic and trace element composition of >4-billion-year- the mantle contains, and hence is enriched by, a small
old (Ga) zircon grains and the evolution of mantle isotopic proportion of felsic melt and becomes the Enriched Mantle
reservoirs indicates that 75%, and possibly more, of the I (EMI) isotopic reservoir (Tatsumi 2005).
continental crust was created before 2.5 Ga (Harrison 2009;
Belousova et al. 2010). Thus, the continental crust is much
longer-lived than oceanic crust and, consequently, has
EVIDENCE THAT THE CONTINENTAL CRUST
acquired considerable complexity. This is reflected in the PARTIALLY MELTED
petrological and structural characteristics of the rocks At the beginning of the last century, extensive mapping
within it. was done in the shield areas of Scandinavia, Canada and
elsewhere. This pioneering work revealed that large parts
The continental crust began to form in the Hadean, more of the continental crust have been metamorphosed to a
than 4.0 billion years ago, first as the mantle differentiated, higher degree and more strongly deformed than adjacent
then from thickened oceanic crust above hotspots and areas. We now know that the structures in these highly
at shallow levels (~15 km) above convergent margins deformed regions are similar to those in modern orogens
(Harrison 2009). Since the late Archean (from ca 2.8 Ga), where continents have collided and that the metamorphic
most new, or juvenile, continental crust has formed in temperature in these regions was high enough (> 700 oC)
magmatic arcs above subduction zones, but about 10% was for large areas to partially melt. Some continental crust
formed where mantle magmas were added to existing crust has experienced repeated episodes of modification by
by hotspots or plumes. If new, juvenile continental crust intense deformation, high-temperature metamorphism and
is formed from mantle magma in magmatic arcs and at partial melting: examples occur in the Grenville Province
hotspots or plumes, then its average composition should of Canada, in southern West Greenland, in the Western
be mafic. It is not. The average composition of the conti- Gneisses of Norway and in East Africa. Different terms are
nental crust is broadly andesitic, although Archean (>2.5 used to describe this modification. It is simply called
reworking by petrologists and structural geologists, but from
a geochemists perspective, it is intracrustal differentiation.
1 Dpartement des Sciences Appliques,
Universit du Qubec Chicoutimi The largest and most intensely reworked regions of conti-
Chicoutimi, Qubec G7H 2B1, Canada nental crust are located where continents collided and
E-mail: ewsawyer@uqac.ca major mountain chains were formed, for example, the East
2 Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Universit di Padova African Orogen. Reworking is not restricted to thickened
Via Gradenigo 6, I-35131 Padova, Italy orogens. Mantle melts emplaced into the continental crust
E-mail: bernardo.cesare@unipd.it at rifts or in large igneous provinces associated with
3 Department of Geology, University of Maryland hotspots can result in high-temperature metamorphism.
College Park, MD 20742-4211, USA Partial melting in such settings can lead to intense, local
E-mail: mbrown@umd.edu
E LEMENTS , V OL . 7, PP. 229234 229 A UGUS T 2011

reworking of the continental crust, but such thermal the source of the heat for melting, what happens at the
reworking is not generally accompanied by intense grain scale during anatexis, or how felsic melt moves from
deformation. the lower to the upper crust. Nor is it concerned with the
broader consequences of partial melting, such as its effect
The deformed and metamorphosed continental crust is not on the rheology of the continental crust and how this
uniform. The upper part is approximately granodioritic in affects the way mountain chains are built when continents
composition and is richer in SiO2 and K 2O relative to the collide. These and other questions are the subject of this
lower part, which is more mafic and richer in Al2O3, FeO, issue of Elements on the theme When the Continental
MgO and CaO (Rudnick and Gao 2003). These differences Crust Melts.
as well as the considerable enrichment in light rare earth
elements and the large negative Eu anomaly in the upper
crust relative to the lower crust are best explained by partial TYPES OF MELTING IN
melting, a process that is also called anatexis. Thus intra- THE CONTINENTAL CRUST
crustal differentiation occurs by partial melting of the Rock types such as metapelite, metagreywacke and granite
lower part of the continental crust and migration of the may begin to partially melt when the metamorphic temper-
melt to the upper part, leaving the lower crust with a more ature exceeds 650 oC (FIG. 3), and the melt they produce is
mafic and residual bulk composition (FIG. 1 AND 2). In addi- granitic in composition. Whether they melt or not and the
tion to these geochemical differences, this process imparts quantity of melt produced depend on the availability of
a layered structure to the continental crust, which is H2O. Melting may occur if H 2O is present as a free fluid in
revealed by an increase in seismic P- and S-wave velocities the pores and grain boundaries of the rock; this is called
with depth. Seismic profi les across young continental crust H 2O fluid-present melting and takes place at the lowest
affected by late Paleozoic collision and mountain building temperatures. Melting may also occur when hydrous
in western Europe show the same sub-horizontal Moho minerals (hydrates), such as muscovite, biotite and amphi-
and internal velocity structure as old crust in northern bole, melt incongruently (see glossary); other minerals,
Europe that was reworked by mountain building events in most commonly quartz and feldspar, may also participate
the Proterozoic and Archean. Thus, the acquisition of a in these melting reactions. Incongruent melting may be
sub-horizontal layered structured must happen soon after either H 2O fluid-present or, at higher temperature, H 2O
mountains stop growing. This same basic pattern of modi- fluid-absent. Crystalline rocks have very low porosity and
fication to continental crust has been going on since the so contain very little fluid H 2O; thus the amount of melt
late Archean, at least. produced from H 2O in the pores is too small to be easily
detected. Consequently, the production of large volumes
The geochemical approach has revealed that the large-scale
of granitic melt in continental crust is widely thought to
process of intracrustal differentiation occurs by partial
occur by fluid-absent incongruent melting, except for
melting, but it does not address other concerns, such as
instances where large volumes of aqueous fluid were intro-
duced into rocks already at high temperature, as discussed
below.
Schematic representation of the reworking of conti-

FIGURE 2 nental crust by partial melting. Partial melting occurs
Sill and dike network in stromatic metatexite migma- in the lower part of the crust where temperatures exceed the
FIGURE 1 tite at Maigetter Peak (height 480m) in the Fosdick solidus and migmatites are formed (brown). Melt is formed on
Mountains of West Antarctica (762638S, 1463000W). The grain boundaries but segregates from the residual solids along a
image is looking to the SE and was taken from the air (Twin Otter progressively more focussed pathway (shown in red), first through
wing tip in upper right). From the aerial perspective and also upon leucosomes then dykes. The melt collects to form plutons, typically
close examination in outcrops, intersecting dikes do not appear to at the transition from ductile middle crust (yellow) to brittle upper
truncate or displace each other; the sills and dikes of granite crust (green); some felsic lavas may be erupted. It is not yet clear
crosscut foliation but may be continuous with or discordant to whether melt ascent is uninterrupted or whether melt ponds at
leucosomes in the migmatite. The leucosomes contain peritectic intermediate levels, shown by the question marks. The ascent of
garnet and cordierite (see Figure 1 in Brown et al. this issue). some melt ends in the middle crust as dyke complexes, without
forming plutons.

Pelitic rocks contain a large amount of muscovite and
biotite 30 to 50 vol% is not unusual and will produce
melt progressively as the temperature rises above the
temperatures of the incongruent melting reactions
involving these minerals, typically ~720 oC and ~820 oC,
respectively. Other rock types also undergo fluid-absent
incongruent melting. Metagreywackes and meta-andesites
begin to melt between 750 oC and 800 oC. Amphibolites
follow at about 850 oC, but they produce melt of tonalitic
composition. Fluid-absent incongruent melting of micas
in metapelites and metagreywackes can produce as much
as 50 vol% melt. After all the mica is consumed at about
925 o C, the rate of melt production decreases, and the
composition of the melt is no longer granitic.
Fluid-absent incongruent melting of micas and amphibole
describes the melting of metapelite, metagreywacke and
mafic rocks quite well. It explains both the volumes of melt
generated and the granulite facies, residual mineral assem- Types of melting in PT space for continental crust
blages found deep in the crust that are left behind after FIGURE 3 thickened to 71 km. The base of average (41.4 km)
melt has been extracted. However, it is not a good descrip- crust is shown by the blue dashed line. The red curve is the
tion of melting in hydrate-poor quartzofeldspathic rocks, H2O-present solidus in the haplogranite system; subsolidus condi-
tions occur in the yellow field to its left, and partial melting can
such as leucocratic granites, trondhjemites and tonalites. occur in the pink field. Fields for melting by hydrate breakdown are
Recent studies in metamorphic terranes, ranging in age shown: blue for muscovite (Ms), brown for biotite (Bt) and green
from Archean to Phanerozoic, show far higher degrees of for amphibole (Amp). The purple line marks the start of ultrahigh-
partial melting in granitic rocks than can be accounted for temperature (UHT) metamorphism. Two equilibrium geotherms for
crust of normal thickness are shown as dotted black lines. Crustal
by H2O in pores or by the breakdown of their mica and
radiogenic heat production (0.61 Wm -3) and a mantle heat flux at
amphibole. Melting in these rocks occurred because an the Moho (30 mWm -2) are the same for both, but thermal conduc-
aqueous fluid infi ltrated them and led to what is called tivity is 3.0 Wm -1K-1 for geotherm A and 2.0 for B; hence
water-fluxed melting at low temperature, around 700 oC. geotherm B is hotter but still does not reach UT conditions.
Such an influx of H2O is now recognised as being respon-
sible for melting of metapelitic, metapsammitic and PETROLOGICAL ASPECTS OF MELTING
metamafic rocks in some anatectic terranes (Ward et al. THE CONTINENTAL CRUST
2008; Berger et al. 2008). Oxygen stable isotope studies The rocks in the continental crust that have partially
reveal diverse sources for this H2O. In some terranes it came melted are called migmatites; the nomenclature specific to
from dehydration reactions in nearby metapelites or from these rocks and the means by which they are identified in
crystallizing plutons, whereas in others it originated as the field are outlined by Sawyer (2008a, b). Migmatites are
deeply penetrating seawater or meteoric water, and in yet basically simple rocks with two components. One, which
others it came from the mantle. It is not surprising, there- is partially melted, is called neosome, and consists of the
fore, that many of the places where water-fluxed melting crystallized products from the melt and the complementary
has occurred in the continental crust are adjacent to major residual material. The second, called paleosome, consists of
crustal-scale shear zones that provided the pathways for rock that did not melt. In most cases, however, the melt
the H2O to infi ltrate the continental crust (Sawyer 2010). and residual solid have segregated from each other,
although not completely. The neosome then consists of
THE HEAT PROBLEM two petrologically different parts, one derived from the
The temperature required for H2O fluidpresent or water- melt and called leucosome, and the other derived from the
fluxed melting (700 oC) might be reached as a result of residual solid material and, if dark coloured, called melano-
mantle heat entering the base of the crust and radiogenic some, otherwise simply residue. In most cases this simple
heat generated in a continental crust thickened by orogen- petrological framework is made morphologically complex
esis (FIG. 3). However, large granulite terranes that under- by deformation during the melting process. Deformation
went melting at temperatures well above 850 oC and appear results in the translation, rotation and distortion of the
to have lost substantial volumes (>600,000 km3 for the constituents parts. If the strain is high enough, the migma-
Ashuanipi subprovince in Quebec; Guernina and Sawyer tite becomes attenuated, resulting in a banded or layered
2003) of granitic melt as determined from the composition appearance (FIG. 4) typically seen in the deep parts of orogens.
of their residual rocks are problematic in that they required
a great deal of heat. The average continental crust does not EXPERIMENTS AND PETROGENETIC
contain enough K, Th and U to produce sufficient radio- MODELLING
genic heat to sustain this degree of melting on the required The pressure and temperature conditions retrieved from
timescale. Other sources of heat are required. The mantle granulites and migmatites tell us how deep in the conti-
is an obvious source, and strain heating may be significant nental crust melting occurred and provide minima that
in some circumstances. New measurements (Whittington must be achieved by any proposed mechanism of heating.
et al. 2009) indicate that the thermal diffusivity of rocks Basic information for determining the pressure and temper-
at high temperature is low; consequently, the middle and ature (PT) history comes from well-controlled experi-
lower crust may retain heat better than previously thought. ments on the partial melting of rocks such as pelite,
Identifying the source of heat and the combination of greywacke and amphibolite. Phase equilibria modelling
parameters or circumstances required to focus the heat using internally consistent thermodynamic datasets
into thickening crust and produce a high degree of partial derived from experiments has now been added to the set
melting remains a major problem. Hence, the article by of tools available for understanding the PT conditions for
Clark et al. (2011 this issue) is the starting point for When partial melting in the continental crust. The article by White
the Continental Crust Melts. et al. (2011 this issue) compares the results from both

approaches to better understand the conditions and petro- Since leucosome cannot be considered as representative of
logical processes that occur when the continental crust melts. the initial melt composition, because of crystal fraction-
ation and contamination for example, the chemical compo-
Dating the time of formation of metamorphic minerals sition of quenched glass from melting experiments has
and adding this time constraint to PT information results been the principal source of information on the composi-
in a PTt trajectory, which charts the movement of rocks tion of anatectic melts. This situation is changing: micron-
through the continental crust. These trajectories provide sized inclusions of glass and nanogranite (FIG. 5), believed
a powerful tool for testing numerical models that investi- to be respectively quenched anatectic melt and its crystal-
gate the combination of parameters governing the develop- lization products, have been found in minerals from
ment of orogens. migmatite terranes (Cesare et al. 2011). These inclusions
could provide the major, trace and isotopic compositions
MELTED ROCKS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE of natural anatectic melts; such starting-point composi-
The microstructure in rocks continually readjusts to tions are required to understand what changes occur to
changes in conditions. Minerals disappear, new ones grow, anatectic melts in the crust. How can anatectic melt remain
and grain boundaries move, driven by the need to reduce as glass in slowly cooled rocks from deep in the continental
energy (e.g. Holness 2008), whether that is lattice, inter- crust? This and other questions are addressed in the contri-
facial or surface energy. The extent to which microstructure bution by Holness et al. (2011 this issue), which outlines
reaches the equilibrium state, often thought of as uniform what recent studies of the microstructure in partially
grain size and polygonal grain shapes, contains informa- melted rocks tell us about the processes that occur when
tion on driving forces and the kinetics of grain-boundary the continental crust melts and subsequently cools.
migration. These factors could be related to such diverse
and interesting parameters as the cooling and deformation TECTONIC AND GEODYNAMIC
histories of the rocks. The type of microstructural informa- IMPLICATIONS OF PARTIAL MELTING
tion sought must be matched to the rock sampled. It is
The onset of partial melting has a profound effect on the
fruitless, for example, to attempt to understand the melting
continental crust. The types of structures that form change
reactions or mineralmelt equilibration microstructures
and strain rates increase when the temperature of the conti-
by examining the paleosome, since it did not melt.
nental crust passes the solidus temperature. Because
Similarly, the microstructure of a leucosome contains infor-
anatectic melt is less dense and less viscous than either the
mation about the crystallization of anatectic melt rather
protolith or the solid residue, it is more mobile than the
than the melt-producing reactions. The correct identifica-
solid fraction and will separate from it. Buoyancy is a
tion of each petrological part of a migmatite is necessary
driving force, but differential stress acting on an inevitably
because each contains information about processes specific
anisotropic crust induces pressure gradients, and these
to its origin.
constitute another, locally stronger, driving force for the
movement of melt. Differential stress in anisotropic rocks
A results in the formation of many different types of dilatant
structures, the space between boudins being one well-known
example. Melt migrates to and collects in these structures.
The transfer of heat in the continental crust is largely by
the slow process of conduction, so the deep parts of the
crust are slow to heat up and slow to cool. Consequently,
metamorphic temperatures can remain above the solidus
(650 oC) for times as long as 30 million years, e.g. in the
HimalayanTibetan system. In that period melt can move
from one set of dilatant structures to the next as the crust
progressively deforms, crystallizing partially in each and
creating a complex network of leucosomes.
B C
Examples of partially melted rocks. (A) Migmatite migmatite derived from metatonalite partially melted under granu-
FIGURE 4 derived from pelite and psammite protoliths, lite facies conditions in the Limpopo Mobile Belt, a deeply eroded
Nemiscau subprovince, Quebec. The lightest-coloured parts are orogen. Penknife is 11 cm long. (C) Migmatite in which the garnet-
leucosome and the darkest parts, rich in biotite and conspicuous bearing neosomes have been highly strained, creating a banded or
red garnet, are residual material; together these are the neosome. layered structure typical of shear zones developed in melt-bearing
The medium-grey-coloured part is a psammite that did not partially rocks. Scale is 15 cm long.
melt; it is paleosome. Scale is 15 cm long. (B) Highly strained

produced when and where rocks become hot and melt.
Strain and advected heat may be focussed into a narrow
zone between a reverse-sense shear zone at the bottom and
a normal-sense one at the top, in a phenomenon called
channel flow. Over the past two decades, advances in under-
standing these topics and other tectonic and geodynamic
consequences of When the Continental Crust Melts have
occurred through the use of highly sophisticated numerical
models, and the article by Jamieson et al. (2011 this issue)
presents the state of the art in this critical field.
MOVING THE MELT TO DIFFERENTIATE

THE CONTINENTAL CRUST
Granites are accumulations of anatectic melt, albeit melt
that has had its composition changed through contamina-
tion by residuum (peritectic phases), wall rocks, or mixing
with different magmas and through fractional crystalliza-
tion. Melting takes place deep (>25 km) in the continental
Backscattered electron image of a nanogranite crust. However, most plutons of granite are emplaced in
FIGURE 5 derived from a small (6 m) inclusion of granitic melt its upper part, mostly at depths of 12 to 15 km where the
trapped in a garnet (Grt) crystal from a migmatite at Ronda transition from ductile to brittle rheology occurs (FIG. 2).
(Spain). The melt inclusion has a typical polyhedric shape (nega- To accomplish the differentiation of the continental crust,
tive crystal; see Cesare et al. 2011) and crystallized into a fine-
grained aggregate of quartz (Qtz), biotite (Bt), K-feldspar (Kfs), anatectic melt must migrate from the grain boundaries
apatite (Ap) and plagioclase (not visible in this image). where it was formed and become progressively concen-
IMAGE COURTESY OF O MAR BARTOLI, U NIVERSITY OF PARMA , ITALY trated into a more focussed flow pattern. Thus, the melt is
able to traverse rocks that are at subsolidus temperatures
Approximately 80% of grain boundaries have melt on them in the middle crust without freezing as dykes. In other
when the melt reaches ~7 vol%, and this results in a loss words the flow of granite melt must become organised.
of about 80% of the pre-melting strength of the protolith How this happens When the Continental Crust Melts is
(Rosenberg and Handy 2005). Rocks become very weak discussed by Brown et al. (2011 this issue) in the fi nal
long before melting advances enough (~26 vol%) to turn article.
them into magma, i.e. a suspension of crystals in melt. The
onset of melting and the weakening it causes have a ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
profound effect on the rheology of the continental crust,
Constructive reviews and comments by principal editor
on the way it deforms and on how orogens develop. The
Hap McSween and reviewers Tracy Rushmer, Nick Petford
location of weak rocks is controlled by where the heat
and Gary Stevens have greatly improved this contribution.
source is and by the rate at which hot rocks and cold rocks
On behalf of all the contributors we would like to express
are moved to advect heat and mass. These factors are
our collective thanks to Pierrette Tremblay for her encour-
controlled in part by isostasy, by the development of a
agement and help at all stages in the development of this
ductile root at the bottom of the continental crust and by
issue.
erosion at the top of it. A weak region in the crust is
REFERENCES Holness MB (2008) Decoding migmatite Sawyer EW (2008b) Identifying the parts
microstructures. In: Sawyer EW, Brown of migmatites in the field. In: Sawyer
Belousova EA, Kostitsyn YA, Griffi n WL, M (eds) Working with Migmatites. EW, Brown M (eds) Working with
Begg GC, OReilly SY, Pearson NJ (2010) Mineralogical Association of Canada, Migmatites. Mineralogical Association
The growth of the continental crust: Short Course Volume 38, pp 57-76 of Canada, Short Course Volume 38, pp
Constraints from zircon Hf-isotope 29-36
data. Lithos 119: 457-466 Holness MB, Cesare B, Sawyer EW (2011)
Melted rocks under the microscope: Sawyer EW (2010) Migmatites formed by
Berger A, Burri, T, Alt-Epping P, Engi M Microstructures and their interpreta- water-fluxed partial melting of a leuco-
(2008) Tectonically controlled fluid flow tion. Elements 7: 247-252 granodiorite protolith: Microstructures
and water-assisted melting in the in the residual rocks and source of the
middle crust: An example from the Jamieson RA, Unsworth MJ, Harris NBW, fluid. Lithos 116: 273-286.
Central Alps. Lithos 102: 598-615 Rosenberg CL, Schulmann K (2011)
Crustal melting and the flow of moun- Tatsumi Y (2005) The subduction factory:
Brown M, Korhonen FJ, Siddoway CS tains. Elements 7: 253-260 How it operates in the evolving Earth.
(2011) Organizing melt flow through GSA Today 15: 4-10
the crust. Elements 7: 261-266 Jessup MJ, Cottle JM, Searle MP, Law RD,
Newell DL, Tracy RJ, Waters DJ (2008) Ward R, Stevens G, Kisters A (2008) Fluid
Cesare B, Acosta-Vigil A, Ferrero S, Bartoli P-T-t-D paths of Everest Series schist, and deformation induced partial
O (2011) Melt inclusions in migmatites Nepal. Journal of Metamorphic Geology melting and melt volumes in low-
and granulites. Journal of the Virtual 26: 717-739 temperature granulite-facies metasedi-
Explorer 40: paper 2 ments, Damara Belt, Namibia. Lithos
Rosenberg CL, Handy MR (2005) 105: 253-271
Clark C, Fitzsimons ICW, Healy D, Harley Experimental deformation of partially
SL (2011) How does the continental melted granite revisited: implications White RW, Stevens G, Johnson TE (2011)
crust get really hot? Elements 7: for the continental crust. Journal of Is the crucible reproducible?
235-240 Metamorphic Geology 23: 19-28 Reconciling melting experiments with
Guernina S, Sawyer EW (2003) Large- thermodynamic calculations. Elements
Rudnick RL, Gao S (2003) The composi- 7: 241-246
scale melt-depletion in granulite tion of the continental crust. In:
terranes: an example from the Archean Rudnick RL (ed) The Crust. Treatise on Whittington AG, Hofmeister AM, Nabelek
Ashuanipi Subprovince of Quebec. Geochemistry 3, Elsevier-Pergamon, PI (2009) Temperature-dependent
Journal of Metamorphic Geology 21: Oxford, pp 1-64 thermal diffusivity of the Earths crust
181-201 and implications for magmatism.
Sawyer EW (2008a) Atlas of Migmatites. Nature 458: 319-321
Harrison TM (2009) The Hadean crust: The Canadian Mineralogist Special
Evidence from >4 Ga zircons. Annual Publication 9, NRC Research Press,
Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 371 pp
37: 479-505

GLOSSARY
Anatectic front The surface marking the beginning processes such as fractional crystallization and
of partial melting in the continental crust. It corre- contamination may have modified its composition.
sponds to the fi rst occurrence of neosome in the
Melanosome A type of residuum composed predomi-
direction of increasing metamorphic grade.
nantly of dark-colored minerals, such as biotite,
Anatectic melt A melt, generally granitic in composi- garnet, cordierite, amphibole or pyroxene
tion, produced by anatexis
Metatexite A type of migmatite in which coherent
Anatexis Partial melting of the continental crust, irre- prepartial melting structures, such as bedding, folia-
spective of the degree of partial melting tion and folds, are preserved
Brittleelastic fracturing Open-mode fracturing by Migmatite A metamorphic rock formed by partial

crack propagation normal to the direction of melting. At the outcrop scale migmatites are hetero-
minimum compression. It occurs when stresses at the geneous. In addition to two petrogenetically related
crack tips equal fracture toughness, or when reduced parts called leucosome and residuum, migmatites can
stresses lead to subcritical crack growth. also contain rocks, called paleosome, which did not
melt.
Constrictional strain Deformation resulting in
prolate fabrics in which linear structures dominate Neosome The part of a migmatite formed by partial
over planar structures melting and consisting of melt-derived and residual
fractions. The neosome may, or may not, have under-
Diatexite A migmatite in which neosome dominates gone segregation.
and prepartial melting structures (bedding, folia-
tion, folds) have been destroyed and commonly Orogenesis The process of forming a mountain chain
replaced by syn-anatectic flow structures in the Earths continental crust due to the conver-
gence and collision of tectonic plates
Ductile fracturing Fracturing due to creep and
growth of microscale voidsfi lled with either fluid Paleosome The non-neosome part of a migmatite that
or melt in rockthat become interconnected leading was not affected by partial melting because of its bulk
to rupture. composition
Ductile-to-brittle transition zone The depth in the Peritectic mineral(s) A new mineral (or minerals)
Earths crust where the brittle strength equals the produced in addition to melt during incongruent partial
ductile strength. It occurs in the range of 12 to 18 km. melting of a rock, mineral or mineral assemblage
Flattening strain A deformation resulting in oblate Protolith or parent rock The rock from which the
fabrics in which planar structures dominate over neosome in a migmatite was derived
linear structures Pseudosection A map of phase assemblages for two
Haplogranite system A simplification of the composi- specified intensive and or/extensive variables (for
tion of granite to just albite + orthoclase + quartz + example, pressure and temperature) and a specified
H2O components (the AbOrQz system). Adding an bulk composition
anorthite component creates the haplogranodiorite Residuum The solid fraction left in a migmatite after
system. partial melting and the extraction of some or all of
Incongruent melting The process by which partial the melt
melting of a rock, mineral or mineral assemblage Segregation The overall process in which anatectic
produces one or more new (peritectic) minerals, in melt is separated from the residuum in a migmatite
addition to melt
Solidus The boundary separating the solid ( fluid)
Leucosome The part of a migmatite derived from segre- phase assemblage fields (generally at lower tempera-
gated partial melt. Leucosome does not necessarily ture) from the melt-bearing phase fields (generally at
have the composition of an anatectic melt because higher temperature) in a PT phase diagram
Stromatic migmatite A type of metatexite migmatite
in which the leucosome and melanosome, or just the
leucosome, occur as laterally continuous, parallel
layers called stroma, which are commonly oriented
along the compositional layering or the foliation
Supercontinent A large continental landmass created
from the collision of several continental cores or
cratons
Ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism
Metamorphism that occurred at temperatures
above 900 oC and pressures compatible with the
stability of sillimanite

How Does the Continental
Crust Get Really Hot?
Chris Clark1, Ian C. W. Fitzsimons1, David Healy2
and Simon L. Harley3
1811-5209/11/0007-0235$2.50 DOI: 10.2113/gselements.7.4.235
T
here is widespread evidence that ultrahigh temperatures of 9001000 C and pressures of 0.7 to 1.3 GPa.
have been generated in the Earths crust repeatedly in time and space. Brown (2006) proposed a revised
upper pressure limit equivalent to
These temperatures were associated with thickened crust in collisional a P/T gradient of 750 C GPa 1,
mountain belts and the production of large volumes of magma. Numerical close to the kyanitesillimanite
modelling indicates that a long-lived mountain plateau with high internal reaction boundary (FIG. 1A). The
lower temperature limit of 900 C
concentrations of heat-producing elements and low erosion rates is the most is somewhat arbitrary, but it places
likely setting for such extreme conditions. Preferential thickening of already- the onset of UHT metamorphism
hot back-arc basins and mechanical heating by deformation in ductile shear beyond the conditions at which
many crustal rocks start to melt, a
zones might also contribute to elevated temperatures.
process that represents a signifi-
KEYWORDS : metamorphism, ultrahigh temperature, heat production, mountain cant barrier to the attainment of
belt, thermal modelling higher temperatures.
Recognition of UHT metamor-

INTRODUCTION phism is problematic because few rocks develop diagnostic
Evidence for the pressuretemperature (PT) conditions minerals at these conditions and widespread chemical
under which Earths crust has generated large volumes of equilibration during cooling makes temperature estimates
magma is provided by metamorphic rocks that represent based on mineral composition unreliable. Although rare
the solid residue of partial melting. Many of these rocks in metamorphic belts, Mg-rich mudstone does develop
preserve minerals formed at moderate pressures and very diagnostic mineral assemblages at UHT conditions, most
high temperatures, conditions consistent with substantial notably sapphirine + quartz (FIG. 1B), but also orthopy-
partial melting of continental crust. Although originally roxene + sillimanite + quartz, spinel + quartz, and osumilite
regarded as isolated anomalies, there is increasing evidence + garnet (Harley 2008). However, the stability of these
that these ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) conditions were assemblages is highly sensitive to minor chemical compo-
attained repeatedly in time and space. Our ability to quan- nents and the redox state of the rock, making them unreli-
tify this record has increased dramatically in recent years able indicators of UHT conditions. Thus sapphirine +
with improved thermodynamic constraints on mineral PT quartz is stable down to 850 C in highly oxidised systems
stability that allow us to derive robust PT data for meta- (Taylor-Jones and Powell 2010), and components such as
morphic rocks. These data can then be compared with Fe3+, Cr, Zn and Ti can extend spinel + quartz stability to
geothermal gradients predicted using mathematical models below 900 C (Harley 2008). Other evidence for UHT condi-
that describe the thermal behaviour of continental crust tions includes high Zr contents in rutile; aluminous ortho-
in simple tectonic settings. While standard numerical pyroxene coexisting with garnet, although the presence of
models for mountain building can reproduce the condi- Fe3+ can again lead to temperature overestimates; and
tions recorded by most metamorphic rocks, UHT metamor- extensive solid solution in feldspar and pyroxene resulting
phism is difficult to replicate. In this article we examine a in mesoperthite and pigeonite exsolution, although care
number of heat sources that might account for these must be taken to ensure these are not igneous relics (Harley
extreme temperatures. 2008).
Temperature estimates based on the distribution of Fe and

RECOGNITION OF UHT METAMORPHISM
Mg between different minerals are reset on cooling from
Metamorphic conditions are classified using metamorphic UHT conditions, but calculations that correct for this effect
facies, which are PT fields defi ned by distinctive mineral reveal a continuum in estimated peak temperature from
assemblages (FIG. 1A). UHT conditions lie at the high- the lower granulite facies into the UHT field (FIG. 1A ;
temperature extreme of the granulite facies and were Pattison et al. 2003). This suggests that UHT metamor-
defined by Harley (1998) as temperatures in excess of 900 C phism occurs in similar tectonic settings to lower-temper-
ature granulite metamorphism and is not a result of
anomalous processes, a conclusion supported by the
1 The Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR), Department of
discovery of UHT metamorphism at more than 40 localities
Applied Geology, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987
Perth WA 6845, Australia worldwide (Kelsey 2008) with ages spanning the last 3000
E-mail: c.clark@curtin.edu.au million years (Brown 2006). Inferred geothermal gradients
2 School of Geosciences, Kings College, University of Aberdeen beneath the Himalaya are consistent with UHT conditions
Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, UK at depth (Hacker et al. 2000), implying that the apparent
scarcity of Phanerozoic UHT metamorphism reflects the
3 Grant Institute of Earth Science, The University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh, EH9 3JW, UK time taken for deep crustal rocks to reach the surface and
E LEMENTS , V OL . 7, PP. 235240 235 A UGUS T 2011

A B C
(A) PT conditions of UHT and other styles of meta- albite; Coe, coesite; Jd, jadeite; Ky, kyanite; Qtz, quartz; Sil, silli-
FIGURE 1 morphism, from Brown (2007). Red circles are PT manite. (B AND C) Mineralogical indicators and field relationships
estimates for granulite facies rocks (Harley 1998; Pattison et al. of UHT metamorphism in the Napier Complex, Antarctica.
2003); their distribution shows that UHT metamorphism is contin- (B) Sapphirine (Spr) + orthopyroxene (Opx) + quartz (Qtz) assem-
uous with the granulite facies. Field abbreviations: A, amphibolite blage. Opx contains up to 10 wt% Al2O3. (C) Interlayered sequence
facies; BS, blueschist facies; E-HPG, medium-T eclogite high-P of UHT metamorphic rocks including quartzofeldspathic gneiss (a),
granulite facies; G, granulite facies; GS, greenschist facies; UHP, garnet-sillimanite metapelite with Spr-bearing layers (b),
ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism. Mineral abbreviations: Ab, metatonalite (c) and granodioritic gneiss (d)
not an absence of UHT conditions. The ages of UHT meta- where T is temperature, t is time, z is depth, is thermal
morphism show some correlation with periods of super- diffusivity, is density, cp is specific heat capacity, u is
continent assembly (Brown 2006), suggesting that UHT vertical transport velocity relative to Earths surface (rate
metamorphism occurs during continental collision or that of burial, or exhumation if negative), and Arad, Amech and
UHT terranes associated with collision are more likely to Achem are rates of heat production per unit volume by radio-
be preserved than those formed in other settings. active decay, mechanical deformation, and chemical reac-
tion, respectively. The fi rst term on the right-hand side of
WHAT DRIVES UHT METAMORPHISM? equation 1 describes conductive heat flow between rocks
of different temperature, the second quantifies vertical heat
While there is widespread agreement that UHT rocks occur
transport by advection (heat carried with rocks moving
in many metamorphic belts, there is no consensus on the
relative to Earths surface), and the third describes three
heat source for such extreme temperatures. Pervasive defor-
mechanisms that create heat (and also consume heat in
mation and widespread chemical and textural re-equili-
the case of Achem). One-dimensional models cannot account
bration at high temperature have destroyed much of the
for lateral movement of heat or rock, which will be signifi-
field and petrological evidence for how UHT conditions
cant close to plate boundaries and other large-scale dipping
are achieved (FIG. 1C). Some constraints are provided by
structures in mountain belts, but they do provide a fi rst-
the exposure of ancient UHT terranes at the surface of crust
order assessment of potential heat sources for UHT meta-
that is now of normal thickness and by mineral reactions
morphism, particularly for rocks located some distance
in UHT rocks indicating that peak conditions are typically
from plate boundaries. The use of one-dimensional models
followed by decompression. These relationships suggest
also maximizes the likelihood of replicating UHT condi-
that UHT rocks form in the mid levels of thickened crust,
tions, given that lateral heat flow will move heat away from
consistent with metamorphism during continental colli-
high-temperature rocks.
sion. However, some terranes, including the Napier
Complex of Antarctica, record prolonged cooling from UHT Important parameters in our models include the thick-
conditions at near constant pressure, implying that these nesses of the crust and lithosphere before and after thick-
areas were in isostatic equilibrium during and after meta- ening, the temperaturedepth profi le before thickening,
morphism. Another important observation is that UHT the geometry of thickening (e.g. homogenous deformation
metamorphism is typically not associated with the intru- or thrust stacking), the erosion rate, the values of , and
sion of substantial mafic or ultramafic rock, ruling out cp, the magnitude of heat flow from the mantle into the
mantle-derived magma as a major heat source. lithosphere, the magnitudes and spatial and/or temporal
distributions of Arad, Amech and Achem, and the magnitude
Given the limited geological evidence, the best quantitative
of heat advection by magma into or within the crust. These
constraints on the cause of UHT metamorphism come from
are constrained to varying degrees by geologic and experi-
numerical predictions of temperature variations in simple
mental data, and there has been considerable uniformity
tectonic settings. Two-dimensional numerical models are
in values used over the last 30 years (England and
increasingly used to reproduce the evolution of mountain
Thompson 1984); however, recent studies have questioned
belts (Jamieson and Beaumont 2010), but these require an
some of these assumptions. In particular, new experiments
understanding of regional-scale structure and rock distribu-
show that has a much stronger temperature dependence
tion that is lacking for deeply eroded UHT terranes. For
than thought previously, with values at lower crustal
this reason we investigate the factors that promote, or limit,
temperatures being about 50% of those used in most
UHT metamorphism in simple models of crustal thickening
models (Whittington et al. 2009). This reduces the rates
using the one-dimensional heat flow equation:
of conductive heat flow, allowing regions of high radioac-
tive, mechanical or chemical heat production to attain
, (1) higher temperatures, and we adopt temperature-dependent
values of in our models. Unlike many studies that assume
Achem to be negligible, we incorporate a term for the heat

consumed by melting reactions, which could be significant Radioactive Heat Production
under UHT conditions given the potential for extensive
Radioactive decay of U, Th and K has long been recognised
melt generation.
as an important heat source in continental crust, with
We investigate three heat sources that have been proposed typical heat-production values of 0.13.0 W m-3 (Vil et
to account for UHT conditions during continental al. 2010). The influence of radioactive heating during
collision: mountain building depends on the initial distribution of
heat-producing elements (generally assumed to be greater
Elevated radioactive heat production in thickened crust
in the upper crust due to its more felsic composition) and
Increased mantle heat input to back-arc basins how this distribution is modified during collision, including
Mechanical heating in ductile shear zones the addition of radioactive material by thickening and its
loss by erosion (Jamieson et al. 1998; Sandiford and
Another possible heat source is the addition of mantle- McLaren 2002). We investigate these parameters using a
derived magma to the crust, but we ignore this given the one-dimensional model in which crust, comprising a
lack of evidence for significant mafic magmatism in UHT 20 km thick upper radioactive layer (Arad = 2.0 W m3)
terranes. We also ignore the effects of magma movement and a 15 km thick lower non-radioactive layer, is instan-
within the crust because this does not add extra heat to taneously doubled in thickness by homogenous deforma-
the system and cannot, on its own, drive UHT metamor- tion (FIG. 2). There is no thickening of mantle lithosphere,
phism. Partial melting could, however, play an important consistent with its partial detachment or subduction
role in limiting crustal heat production and enabling the during collision, and, following modelling studies of the
crust to attain higher temperatures in later metamorphic European Alps (England and Thompson 1984), erosion
events, and we discuss this at the end of the article.
pre-thickening post-thickening post-erosion

Top of lithosphere: T = 0 C Top of lithosphere: T = 0 C Top of lithosphere: T = 0 C
AA Erosion rate = 0.7 mm y-1 upper crust
5 km
upper crust
20 km
Arad = 2 W m-3
Arad = 2 W m-3
upper crust
Arad = 2 W m-3
40 km
30 km
lower crust
15 km
lower crust Arad = 0 W m-3

Arad = 0 W m-3
lithosphere = 150 km
MOHO at 35 km
MOHO at 35 km
30 km
lower crust
Arad = 0 W m-3
mantle
mantle MOHO at 70 km
Arad = 0 W m-3
Arad = 0 W m-3
mantle
Arad = 0 W m-3
Base of lithosphere: Base of lithosphere:
T = 1300 C T = 1300 C
Base of lithosphere:
T = 1300 C
Temperature (C) Temperature (C)

0 300 600 900 1200 0 300 600 900 1200
0 My (before thickening) PTt for initial depth 30 km
0 My (after thickening) PTt for initial depth 50 km
10 20 My 80 My
0.2
PTt for initial depth 70 km
40 My 100 My 0.4
Pressure (GPa)
60 My 120 My
Depth (km)
20
0.6
30 0.8
40 UHT 1.0 UHT
1.2
50
1.4
60 1.6
70
B
B 1.8 C
C
1-D thermal model for instantaneous doubling of particle paths for rocks buried to 30, 50 and 70 km depths on
FIGURE 2 crustal thickness by homogenous deformation, with thickening. All models solve equation 1 by finite difference with
erosion at 0.7 mm y-1 starting 20 My after thickening. (A) Model fixed T at the surface (0 C) and the base of the lithosphere
geometry and A rad immediately before thickening, immediately (1300 C). The latent heat of melting is 320 kJ kg -1 (see FIG. 4C), and
after thickening and 120 My after thickening when erosion has the T-dependent expressions for and cp are from McKenzie et al.
returned crust to its original thickness. (B) Evolution of the (2005) for the mantle and from Mottaghy et al. (2008) for the
geothermal gradient with time, showing gradients immediately crust. Boxes in (B) and (C) mark UHT conditions.
before and after thickening and then at 20 My intervals. (C) PTt

When The Continental Crust Melts

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When The Continental Crust Melts

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August 2011

When the Continental

How the Crust Gets Really Hot

Is the Crucible Reproducible?

Canadian Mineralogistalso receive one copy

Reconciling Melting Experiments

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A critical, but often neglected, aspect of the entire geoanalytical pro-

Scanning electron microscope images of two of the more unusual

What is the future of this technology in either the mining industry or

Michael Wiedenbeck, (michawi@gfz-potsdam.de)

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ANTHONY E. WILLIAMS- MGPV-sponsored session entitled Turning Up the Heat: Metamorphic

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Contd on page 227

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Karel Schulmann started his career in 1987 at the

Christine S. Siddoway received her BA from

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1811-5209/11/0007-0229$2.50 DOI: 10.2113/gselements.7.4.229

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Schematic representation of the reworking of conti-

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MOVING THE MELT TO DIFFERENTIATE

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Brittleelastic fracturing Open-mode fracturing by Migmatite A metamorphic rock formed by partial

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Recognition of UHT metamor-

Temperature estimates based on the distribution of Fe and

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pre-thickening post-thickening post-erosion

AA Erosion rate = 0.7 mm y-1 upper crust

lower crust Arad = 0 W m-3

Temperature (C) Temperature (C)

E LEMENTS 237 A UGUS T 2011

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