Abstract
Models for the formation of crustal granulites, which include the metamorphism of anhydrous lithologies1,2, the extraction of hygroscopic granite melts3,4 and fluxing by CO25–7 constrain the thermal and geochemical evolution of the lower crust and its interaction with mantle-derived volatiles. Here we present abundances and carbon isotope compositions of CO2 in fluid inclusions in quartz and garnet from gneiss–granulite pairs from the incipient char-nockite quarries of southern India, determined by a stepped combustion/thermal decrepitation carbon–extraction technique, which quantifies problematic sample contamination and allows precise lithological control. The results show that the CO2 in incipient charnockite is more abundant and isotopically heavier than the CO2 in associated gneiss, providing evidence for the influx of CO2-rich fluids during their formation. The inferred carbon isotope compositions of these fluids are consistent with a mantle source, and at Ponmudi, the isotopic composition of coexisting graphite and CO2 implies fluid/rock volume ratios in excess of 0.15.
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Jackson, D., Mattey, D. & Harris, N. Carbon isotope compositions of fluid inclusions in charnockites from southern India. Nature 333, 167–170 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/333167a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/333167a0
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