TY - JOUR A1 - Konrad-Schmolke, Matthias A1 - Halama, Ralf T1 - Combined thermodynamic-geochemical modeling in metamorphic geology: Boron as tracer of fluid-rock interaction JF - Lithos : an international journal of mineralogy, petrology, and geochemistry N2 - Quantitative geochemical modeling is today applied in a variety of geological environments from the petrogenesis of igneous rocks to radioactive waste disposal. In addition, the development of thermodynamic databases and computer programs to calculate equilibrium phase diagrams has greatly advanced our ability to model geodynamic processes. Combined with experimental data on elemental partitioning and isotopic fractionation, thermodynamic forward modeling unfolds enormous capacities that are far from exhausted. In metamorphic petrology the combination of thermodynamic and trace element forward modeling can be used to study and to quantify processes at spatial scales from mu m to km. The thermodynamic forward models utilize Gibbs energy minimization to quantify mineralogical changes along a reaction path of a chemically open fluid/rock system. These results are combined with mass balanced trace element calculations to determine the trace element distribution between rock and melt/fluid during the metamorphic evolution. Thus, effects of mineral reactions, fluid-rock interaction and element transport in metamorphic rocks on the trace element and isotopic composition of minerals, rocks and percolating fluids or melts can be predicted. Here we illustrate the capacities of combined thermodynamic-geochemical modeling based on two examples relevant to mass transfer during metamorphism. The first example focuses on fluid-rock interaction in and around a blueschist-facies shear zone in felsic gneisses, where fluid-induced mineral reactions and their effects on boron (B) concentrations and isotopic compositions in white mica are modeled. In the second example, fluid release from a subducted slab, the associated transport of B as well as variations in B concentrations and isotopic compositions in liberated fluids and residual rocks are modeled. We compare the modeled results of both examples to geochemical data of natural minerals and rocks and demonstrate that the combination of thermodynamic and geochemical models enables quantification of metamorphic processes and insights into element cycling that would have been unattainable if only one model approach was chosen. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Thermodynamic-geochemical modeling KW - Fluid-rock interaction KW - Subduction KW - Dehydration KW - Boron isotopes Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2014.09.021 SN - 0024-4937 SN - 1872-6143 VL - 208 SP - 393 EP - 414 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Duesterhoeft, Erik A1 - Quinteros, Javier A1 - Oberhänsli, Roland A1 - Bousquet, Romain A1 - de Capitani, Christian T1 - Relative impact of mantle densification and eclogitization of slabs on subduction dynamics: A numerical thermodynamic/thermokinematic investigation of metamorphic density evolution JF - Tectonophysics : international journal of geotectonics and the geology and physics of the interior of the earth N2 - Understanding the relationships between density and spatio-thermal variations at convergent plate boundaries is important for deciphering the present-day dynamics and evolution of subduction zones. In particular, the interaction between densification due to mineralogical phase transitions and slab pull forces is subject to ongoing investigations. We have developed a two-dimensional subduction zone model that is based on thermodynamic equilibrium assemblage calculations and includes the effects of melting processes on the density distribution in the lithosphere. Our model calculates the "metamorphic density" of rocks as a function of pressure, temperature and chemical composition in a subduction zone down to 250 km. We have used this model to show how the hydration, dehydration, partial melting and fractionation processes of rocks all influence the metamorphic density and greatly depend on the temperature field within the subduction system. These processes are largely neglected by other approaches that reproduce the density distribution within this complex tectonic setting. Our model demonstrates that the initiation of edogitization (i.e., when crustal rocks reach higher densities than the ambient mantle) of the slab is not the only significant process that makes the descending slab denser and generates the slab pull force. Instead, the densification of the lithospheric mantle of the sinking slab starts earlier than eclogitization and contributes significantly to slab pull in the early stages of subduction. Accordingly, the complex metamorphic structure of the slab and the mantle wedge has an important impact on the development of subduction zones. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Density KW - Melt KW - Metamorphism KW - Subduction KW - Thermodynamic modeling KW - Thermo-mechanical modeling Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2014.09.009 SN - 0040-1951 SN - 1879-3266 VL - 637 SP - 20 EP - 29 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -