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
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Printed in USA
ISSN 1811-5209 (print)
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Volume 7, Number 4 • August 2011 ABOUT THE COVER:
Spider Wall on the south face
of Nuptse (the summit ridge
is at ~7650 m, and the wall is
When the Continental Crust Melts ~1700 m in height), showing a
network of leucogranite dykes
Guest Editors: Edward W. Sawyer, Bernardo Cesare, and Michael Brown
in metasedimentary rocks of
the Everest Series (centre)
When the Continental Crust Melts above the Nuptse leucogranite,
229 Edward W. Sawyer, Bernardo Cesare, visible at the bottom left and
right. Leucogranites emplaced
and Michael Brown in the shallow crust are the end
product of melting of the deep
crust in orogenic belts. The
view is from Pokalde Peak in
the Khumbu Himalaya, Nepal.
How Does the Continental Crust
235 Get Really Hot?
IMAGE COURTESY OF MICAH JESSUP,
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, USA
Chris Clark, Ian C. W. Fitzsimons, David
Healy, and Simon L. Harley
p q
kfs pl liq
pl liq
Is the Crucible Reproducible?
241
liq
q
grt bt kfs pl
grt opx bt
l li
Reconciling Melting Experiments
xp
op
grt bt pl liq grt opx kfs pl liq
t
gr
with Thermodynamic Calculations
grt opx crd kfs pl liq opx pl liq Richard W. White, Gary Stevens, and Timothy E. Johnson
Melted Rocks under the Microscope:
247 Microstructures and Their Interpretation
Marian B. Holness, Bernardo Cesare, and Edward W. Sawyer
Crustal Melting and the Flow of Mountains
253 Rebecca A. Jamieson, Martyn J. Unsworth, Nigel B. W. Harris,
Claudio L. Rosenberg, and Karel Schulmann
Organizing Melt Flow through the Crust
261 Michael Brown, Fawna J. Korhonen, and Christine S. Siddoway
D E PA R T M E N T S
Editorial – Is Science a Contact Sport? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
From the Editors – John Valley, Principal Editor 2012–2014. . 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
Société Française de Minéralogie 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

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218
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PRINCIPAL EDITORS
HARRY Y. (Hap) McSWEEN, University of
Tennessee, USA (mcsween@utk.edu)
JAMES I. DREVER, University of Wyoming, USA
(drever@uwy.edu)
GEORGES CALAS, IMPMC, France
(Georges.Calas@impmc.jussieu.fr)
ADVISORY BOARD 2011
JOHN BRODHOLT, University College London, UK
NORBERT CLAUER, CNRS/UdS, Université de
Strasbourg, France
WILL P. GATES, SmecTech Research
Consulting, Australia
GEORGE E. HARLOW, American Museum
of Natural History, USA
JANUSZ JANECZEK, University of Silesia, Poland
HANS KEPPLER, Bayerisches Geoinstitut,
Germany
DAVID R. LENTZ, University of New Brunswick,
Canada
ANHUAI LU, Peking University, China
ROBERT W. LUTH, University of Alberta, Canada
DAVID W. MOGK, Montana State University, USA
TAKASHI MURAKAMI, University of Tokyo, Japan
ROBERTA OBERTI, CNR Istituto di Geoscienze
e Georisorse, Pavia, Italy
TERRY PLANK, Lamont-Doherty Earth
Observatory, USA
XAVIER QUEROL, Spanish Research Council, Spain
MAURO ROSI, University of Pisa, Italy
BARBARA SHERWOOD LOLLAR, University of
Toronto, Canada
TORSTEN VENNEMANN, Université de
Lausanne, Switzerland
OLIVIER VIDAL, Université J. Fourier, France
MEENAKSHI WADHWA, Arizona State
University, USA
BERNARD WOOD, University of Oxford, UK
JON WOODHEAD, University of Melbourne,
Australia
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
CARLOS AYORA IBÁÑEZ, Sociedad Española
di Mineralogía
LIANE G. BENNING, European Association
of Geochemistry
THOMAS D. BULLEN, International Association
of GeoChemistry
PETER C. BURNS, Mineralogical Association
of Canada
GIUSEPPE CRUCIANI, Società Italiana di
Mineralogia e Petrologia
BARBARA L. DUTROW, Mineralogical
Society of America, Chair
W. CRAWFORD ELLIOTT, The Clay Minerals Society
MONICA M. GRADY, The Meteoritical Society
BERNARD GROBÉTY, Swiss Society of
Mineralogy and Petrology
GUY LIBOUREL, Société Française
de Minéralogie et de Cristallographie
MAREK MICHALIK, Mineralogical Society
of Poland
EDWIN A. SCHAUBLE, Geochemical Society
CLIFFORD R. STANLEY, Association
of Applied Geochemists
PETER TRELOAR, Mineralogical Society
of Great Britain and Ireland
FRIEDHELM VON BLANCKENBURG,
Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft
MICHAEL WIEDENBECK, International
Association of Geoanalysts
MANAGING EDITOR
PIERRETTE TREMBLAY, tremblpi@ete.inrs.ca
EDITORIAL OFFICE
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and DOLORES DURANT
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www.elementsmagazine.org
E LEMENTS
EDITORIAL
IS SCIENCE A CONTACT SPORT? new offerings, panel members who fairly decide
which research proposals are most deserving of
funding, members of advisory boards that thought-
fully set science priorities when everything can’t
be supported. Our referees ensure that we play by
the rules, which for science means that truth and
accuracy should ultimately win.
For the most part, being a referee is a difficult
and thankless job, an uncompensated duty that
we assume for the betterment of our shared sci-
entific community. In science, virtually all of us,
Hap McSween sooner or later, get to be referees. Few of us are
actually trained for these responsibilities, though,
My university plays (American) football—these
and that is probably unfortunate. Those of us who
are big-time contests, held in a stadium that seats
teach need to share with our students the rules
more than a hundred thousand spectators and
and techniques by which we referee, and instill
televised more often than not. Watching a game
in them an appreciation for the trust we place in
not long ago, I was taken aback by the crowd’s
referees and a sense of respect for its paramount
vociferous reaction to a referee’s ruling against
importance to science.
the home team. Based on an instant
replay projected onto a gigantic It is human nature to be loyal to the
The loyal crowd just
screen at the top of the stadium, home team, to our colleagues and
the ruling seemed fair to me. The wanted their team to friends, and even to our scientific
referee was close to the action and win, and any rulings passions. Loyalty colors the way we
obviously had some experience in respond to our pastimes, our poli-
by the guy in the tics, and our professions. It seems
such matters. But the crowd around
me, none of whom I assume actu- striped shirt that did to me that in the past few decades,
ally had any experience refereeing, not further that cause various factions of society have
was furious at the call and roared learned to express their loyalty in
its displeasure. Later in the game,
were roundly booed. some angry and less-than-produc-
a similar ruling against the oppo- tive ways, such as rudely booing the
nent resulted in the crowd’s jubilation. I doubt opposing team and polarizing our political discus-
that this was their vocal affirmation of excellence sions. I don’t sense that this societal hardening
and accuracy in officiating. A good call was, by has spilled over into science yet. But we should
definition, one that favored the home team. The guard against it. My hope, and my expectation, is
loyal crowd just wanted their team to win, and that the community of scientists will continue to
any rulings by the guy in the striped shirt that did conduct their sparring contests with respect, and
not further that cause were roundly booed. This to value our referees and spare them the jeers that
is American football, but the same fan behavior greet the guys in the zebra shirts on game day.
(or worse) is a part of the other “football” played Hap McSween, University of Tennessee
around the world. mcsween@utk.edu
We all understand this, of course. Sports are all
about winning, for the players and for the specta-
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,
competing ideas often collide. We are obligated
to champion our hypotheses, at least until they
are proven wrong, and to marshal evidence against
hypotheses with which we disagree. This is the
way science works. Our contests are based on ideas
rather than brawn, but sometimes they can get
confrontational or even nasty.
Science, too, thankfully has its referees: reviewers
who provide insightful criticisms of manuscripts,
editors who adjudicate when reviewers don’t agree, Football referee signaling a touchdown. PHOTO YOBRO10 |
book reviewers who provide valuable insights into DREAMSTIME.COM
219 A UGUS T 2011
 FROM THE EDITORS
THIS ISSUE
What started as a proposal on the traditional aspects of migmatites
evolved into “When the Continental Crust Melts” after the proposers
were challenged by the editors to think big and show the relevance of
their work to other disciplines. The focus became the impact of partial
melting on processes ranging from grain scale to crustal scale. As for
all issues, the guest editors worked hard with their international cast of
authors to bring you six stimulating papers.
JOHN VALLEY, PRINCIPAL EDITOR 2012–2014
John Valley has accepted our invitation to join the editorial team,
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
first issue of 2012. In the meantime, he is being integrated into the team
and participates in all discussions.
IMPACT FACTOR 2010
Elements’ 2010 impact factor was 3.105. Interestingly, Elements’ five-year
impact factor is 3.561. This probably reflects the fact that articles are
cited over several years.
The most cited articles from the time of publication to July 2011 are:
• Geisler T, Schaltegger U, Tomaschek F (2007) Re-equilibration of
zircon in aqueous fluids and melts. Elements 3: 43-50 (70 citations)
• Harley SL, Kelly NM, Moller A (2007) Zircon behaviour and the
thermal histories of mountain chains. Elements 3: 25-30 (64)
• Charlet L, Polya DA (2006) Arsenic in shallow, reducing ground-
waters in southern Asia: An environmental health disaster.
Elements 2: 91-96 (59)
• Cartigny P (2005) Stable isotopes and the origin of diamond.
Elements 1: 79-84 (51)
E LEMENTS 220
• Morin G, Calas G (2006) Arsenic in soils, mine tailings, and former
industrial sites. Elements 2: 97-101 (42)
• Ohtani E (2005) Water in the mantle. Elements 1: 25-30 (36)
• Self S, Thordarson T, Widdowson M (2005) Gas fluxes from flood
basalt eruptions. Elements 1: 283-287 (32)
• Lumpkin GR (2006) Ceramic waste forms for actinides. Elements 2:
365-372 (32)
• O’Day PA (2006) Chemistry and mineralogy of arsenic. Elements 2:
77-83 (31)
• Rubatto D, Hermann J (2007) Zircon behaviour in deeply subducted
rocks. Elements 3: 31-36 (30)
• Bruno J, Ewing RC (2006) Spent nuclear fuel. Elements 2: 343-349 (30)
“NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE” ISSUE
I mentioned in the April issue that, after the Fukushima nuclear acci-
dent, we made the “Nuclear Fuel Cycle” issue freely available on our
GeoScienceWorld site (www.elements.geoscienceworld.org) and on
Elements’ website at www.elementsmagazine.org. This was advertised
as widely as possible across our network, thanks to the efforts of Barb
Dutrow and the members of the Executive Committee. Did it work?
Yes, there was a spike of at least one order of magnitude in downloads
from GeoScienceWorld for all articles in that issue. The article “Spent
Nuclear Fuel” was downloaded 35 times more than in previous months.
FACEBOOK
At the time of writing, we had gained 182 followers on Facebook in less
than two months. If you have a Facebook account, do “like” us. We will
keep you posted on when issues are taken to press and mailed, and we
will share timely news. Go to www.facebook.com/elementsmagazine.
Pierrette Tremblay, Managing Editor
A UGUS T 2011
SMASHING UP STONES

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

cess involves how one actually gets one’s 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 – don’t contaminate, don’t 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 µm 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. Zybek’s 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 reactor’s
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, Wüthrich 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

E LEMENTS 221 A UGUS T 2011

 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 May’s joint annual
meeting of the Geological Association Dr. Ferry is cited for his contributions to the theory of fluid–rock 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 Canada’s 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, Willy’s 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 Cu–Mo, granitoid-related W–Sn–Mo, 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 Willy’s 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

E LEMENTS 222 A UGUS T 2011

www.wiley.com
 Michael Brown held academic appointments in
the UK until 1990 when he moved to the University
of Maryland as Professor of Geology and Chair. His
research interests are in high-temperature metamor-
phic petrology, crustal melting, and tectonic
geology. His work on migmatites and associated
granites has furthered our understanding of how
heat and mass are transferred within continents,
and in particular the relationships between sources and sinks of melt
and the importance of melt in the tectonic evolution of orogenic belts.
With time his research has broadened into ultrahigh-temperature and
high-pressure metamorphism, the origin of paired metamorphic belts,
and secular change.
Bernardo Cesare is a professor of petrology at the
University of Padova (Italy), where he earned a PhD
in geology in 1992 studying the Vedrette di Ries
contact aureole. His research interests include low-
pressure metamorphism and anatexis of pelitic
rocks, fluid–melt–rock interactions in graphitic sys-
tems, fluid and melt inclusions, and the crystal
chemistry of high-temperature minerals. His
approach to crustal melting involves primarily the multidisciplinary
study of anatectic enclaves from SE Spain and of “nanogranite” inclu-
sions in migmatites and granulites. During the last decade he was deeply
involved in coordinating the international training of early-stage
researchers in metamorphic petrology.
Chris Clark is a senior research fellow in metamor-
phic geology and geochronology at Curtin
University in Western Australia. His principal
research interests are in the linking of geochro-
nology, specifically the U–Pb method using zircon
and monazite, with the development of metamor-
phic assemblages in order to constrain the dura-
tions of mountain-building events in high-grade
metamorphic terranes.
Ian C. W. Fitzsimons is a professor of metamorphic
geology at Curtin University in Perth, Western
Australia. After an undergraduate degree at the
University of Cambridge, he completed a PhD on
granulite facies metamorphism at the University of
Edinburgh, followed by research positions at Royal
Holloway University of London, the University of
Edinburgh, and Monash University. He moved to
Perth in 1998, where he focuses his research on the field geology, min-
eralogy, petrology, and geochronology of metamorphic rocks, particu-
larly the Precambrian granulites of Antarctica, India, and Madagascar.
Simon L. Harley is Professor of Lower Crustal
Processes at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
He has over 30 years experience in metamorphic
and experimental geology and geochemistry, which
he has applied to understanding the high-temper-
ature processes that take place during the evolution
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.
E LEMENTS 226
Nigel B. W. Harris, a graduate of the University of
Cambridge, is a petrologist and geochemist who
has studied the causes and consequences of melt
production in tectonically thickened crust since his
first Tibetan field campaign in 1985. He was
appointed Professor of Tectonics at the Open
University (UK) in 2001. In recent years his work
has focused on chemical proxies for global weath-
ering fluxes and the linkage between tectonics, orography, and climate
in the Himalaya.
David Healy is Lecturer in Geomechanics at the
University of Aberdeen. He has research interests
in structural geology, rock mechanics, tectonics,
and metamorphic geology. He has a keen interest
in the theory of natural rock deformation and uses
quantitative models to explore the consequences
of theoretical predictions in terms of field and labo-
ratory observations.
Marian B. Holness studied for both her degrees at
the University of Cambridge. After periods at the
University of Chicago and the University of
Edinburgh, she returned to Cambridge in 1997 to
take up a teaching post. Her interests are primarily
in decoding the record of rock history left behind
in grain-scale fabrics. She has progressed from
working on volatile fluids in metamorphic rocks,
through the partial melting of high-grade metamorphic rocks, and is
now investigating the complex problem of solidification, in particular
of gabbros.
Rebecca A. Jamieson is a graduate of Memorial
University of Newfoundland (PhD 1979) and is cur-
rently Carnegie Professor and Chair of Earth
Sciences at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.
She studies interactions between metamorphic and
tectonic processes at all scales using a variety of
approaches, including field work, petrology, geo-
chronology, and geodynamic modeling. She has
worked on parts of the Appalachian–Caledonian, Grenvillian, and
Himalayan–Tibetan orogenic belts. Her recent work has focused on the
causes and consequences of melting and ductile flow in orogens and on
the exhumation of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks.
Timothy E. Johnson is a postdoctoral research sci-
entist at the University of Mainz. He received his
BSc (1992) and PhD (1999) from the University of
Derby and held postdoctoral positions at the uni-
versities of Graz and Maryland before moving to
Germany. His expertise is in metamorphic geology
and mineral equilibria modeling of subsolidus and
suprasolidus rocks of varying compositions and
from a variety of tectonothermal environments. He has a particular
interest in the generation and segregation of melt and its consequences
for the compositional, thermal, and rheological evolution of the crust.
Cont’d on page 227
A UGUS T 2011
Cont’d from page 226

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

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
2007–2010.

E LEMENTS 227 A UGUS T 2011

 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 Earth’s 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 geochemist’s perspective, it is intracrustal differentiation.
1 Département des Sciences Appliquées,
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi The largest and most intensely reworked regions of conti-
Chicoutimi, Québec 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, Università 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. 229–234 229 A UGUS T 2011

reworking of the continental crust, but such thermal
reworking is not generally accompanied by intense
deformation.
The deformed and metamorphosed continental crust is not
uniform. The upper part is approximately granodioritic in
composition and is richer in SiO2 and K 2O relative to the
lower part, which is more mafic and richer in Al2O3, FeO,
MgO and CaO (Rudnick and Gao 2003). These differences
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
melting, a process that is also called anatexis. Thus intra-
crustal differentiation occurs by partial melting of the
lower part of the continental crust and migration of the
melt to the upper part, leaving the lower crust with a more
mafic and residual bulk composition (FIG. 1 AND 2). In addi-
tion to these geochemical differences, this process imparts
a layered structure to the continental crust, which is
revealed by an increase in seismic P- and S-wave velocities
with depth. Seismic profi les across young continental crust
affected by late Paleozoic collision and mountain building
in western Europe show the same sub-horizontal Moho
and internal velocity structure as old crust in northern
Europe that was reworked by mountain building events in
the Proterozoic and Archean. Thus, the acquisition of a
sub-horizontal layered structured must happen soon after
mountains stop growing. This same basic pattern of modi-
fication to continental crust has been going on since the
late Archean, at least.
The geochemical approach has revealed that the large-scale
process of intracrustal differentiation occurs by partial
melting, but it does not address other concerns, such as
Sill and dike network in stromatic metatexite migma-
FIGURE 1 tite at Maigetter Peak (height 480m) in the Fosdick
Mountains of West Antarctica (76°26’38”S, 146°30’00”W). The
image is looking to the SE and was taken from the air (Twin Otter
wing tip in upper right). From the aerial perspective and also upon
close examination in outcrops, intersecting dikes do not appear to
truncate or displace each other; the sills and dikes of granite
crosscut foliation but may be continuous with or discordant to
leucosomes in the migmatite. The leucosomes contain peritectic
garnet and cordierite (see Figure 1 in Brown et al. this issue).
E LEMENTS
the source of the heat for melting, what happens at the
grain scale during anatexis, or how felsic melt moves from
the lower to the upper crust. Nor is it concerned with the
broader consequences of partial melting, such as its effect
on the rheology of the continental crust and how this
affects the way mountain chains are built when continents
collide. These and other questions are the subject of this
issue of Elements on the theme “When the Continental
Crust Melts.”
TYPES OF MELTING IN
THE CONTINENTAL CRUST
Rock types such as metapelite, metagreywacke and granite
may begin to partially melt when the metamorphic temper-
ature exceeds 650 oC (FIG. 3), and the melt they produce is
granitic in composition. Whether they melt or not and the
quantity of melt produced depend on the availability of
H2O. Melting may occur if H 2O is present as a free fluid in
the pores and grain boundaries of the rock; this is called
H 2O fluid-present melting and takes place at the lowest
temperatures. Melting may also occur when hydrous
minerals (hydrates), such as muscovite, biotite and amphi-
bole, melt incongruently (see glossary); other minerals,
most commonly quartz and feldspar, may also participate
in these melting reactions. Incongruent melting may be
either H 2O fluid-present or, at higher temperature, H 2O
fluid-absent. Crystalline rocks have very low porosity and
so contain very little fluid H 2O; thus the amount of melt
produced from H 2O in the pores is too small to be easily
detected. Consequently, the production of large volumes
of granitic melt in continental crust is widely thought to
occur by fluid-absent incongruent melting, except for
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
in the lower part of the crust where temperatures exceed the
solidus and migmatites are formed (brown). Melt is formed on
grain boundaries but segregates from the residual solids along a
progressively more focussed pathway (shown in red), first through
leucosomes then dykes. The melt collects to form plutons, typically
at the transition from ductile middle crust (yellow) to brittle upper
crust (green); some felsic lavas may be erupted. It is not yet clear
whether melt ascent is uninterrupted or whether melt ponds at
intermediate levels, shown by the question marks. The ascent of
some melt ends in the middle crust as dyke complexes, without
forming plutons.
230 A UGUS T 2011
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-
blages found deep in the crust that are left behind after
melt has been extracted. However, it is not a good descrip-
tion of melting in hydrate-poor quartzofeldspathic rocks,
such as leucocratic granites, trondhjemites and tonalites.
Recent studies in metamorphic terranes, ranging in age
from Archean to Phanerozoic, show far higher degrees of
partial melting in granitic rocks than can be accounted for
by H2O in pores or by the breakdown of their mica and
amphibole. Melting in these rocks occurred because an
aqueous fluid infi ltrated them and led to what is called
water-fluxed melting at low temperature, around 700 oC.
Such an influx of H2O is now recognised as being respon-
sible for melting of metapelitic, metapsammitic and
metamafic rocks in some anatectic terranes (Ward et al.
2008; Berger et al. 2008). Oxygen stable isotope studies
reveal diverse sources for this H2O. In some terranes it came
from dehydration reactions in nearby metapelites or from
crystallizing plutons, whereas in others it originated as
deeply penetrating seawater or meteoric water, and in yet
others it came from the mantle. It is not surprising, there-
fore, that many of the places where water-fluxed melting
has occurred in the continental crust are adjacent to major
crustal-scale shear zones that provided the pathways for
the H2O to infi ltrate the continental crust (Sawyer 2010).
THE HEAT PROBLEM
The temperature required for H2O fluid–present or water-
fluxed melting (700 oC) might be reached as a result of
mantle heat entering the base of the crust and radiogenic
heat generated in a continental crust thickened by orogen-
esis (FIG. 3). However, large granulite terranes that under-
went melting at temperatures well above 850 oC and appear
to have lost substantial volumes (>600,000 km3 for the
Ashuanipi subprovince in Quebec; Guernina and Sawyer
2003) of granitic melt as determined from the composition
of their residual rocks are problematic in that they required
a great deal of heat. The average continental crust does not
contain enough K, Th and U to produce sufficient radio-
genic heat to sustain this degree of melting on the required
timescale. Other sources of heat are required. The mantle
is an obvious source, and strain heating may be significant
in some circumstances. New measurements (Whittington
et al. 2009) indicate that the thermal diffusivity of rocks
at high temperature is low; consequently, the middle and
lower crust may retain heat better than previously thought.
Identifying the source of heat and the combination of
parameters or circumstances required to focus the heat
into thickening crust and produce a high degree of partial
melting remains a major problem. Hence, the article by
Clark et al. (2011 this issue) is the starting point for “When
the Continental Crust Melts.”
E LEMENTS 231
Types of melting in P–T space for continental crust
FIGURE 3 thickened to 71 km. The base of average (41.4 km)
crust is shown by the blue dashed line. The red curve is the
H2O-present solidus in the haplogranite system; subsolidus condi-
tions occur in the yellow field to its left, and partial melting can
occur in the pink field. Fields for melting by hydrate breakdown are
shown: blue for muscovite (Ms), brown for biotite (Bt) and green
for amphibole (Amp). The purple line marks the start of ultrahigh-
temperature (UHT) metamorphism. Two equilibrium geotherms for
crust of normal thickness are shown as dotted black lines. Crustal
radiogenic heat production (0.61 µW·m -3) and a mantle heat flux at
the Moho (30 mW·m -2) are the same for both, but thermal conduc-
tivity is 3.0 W·m -1·K-1 for geotherm A and 2.0 for B; hence
geotherm B is hotter but still does not reach UT conditions.
PETROLOGICAL ASPECTS OF MELTING
THE CONTINENTAL CRUST
The rocks in the continental crust that have partially
melted are called migmatites; the nomenclature specific to
these rocks and the means by which they are identified in
the field are outlined by Sawyer (2008a, b). Migmatites are
basically simple rocks with two components. One, which
is partially melted, is called neosome, and consists of the
crystallized products from the melt and the complementary
residual material. The second, called paleosome, consists of
rock that did not melt. In most cases, however, the melt
and residual solid have segregated from each other,
although not completely. The neosome then consists of
two petrologically different parts, one derived from the
melt and called leucosome, and the other derived from the
residual solid material and, if dark coloured, called melano-
some, otherwise simply residue. In most cases this simple
petrological framework is made morphologically complex
by deformation during the melting process. Deformation
results in the translation, rotation and distortion of the
constituents parts. If the strain is high enough, the migma-
tite becomes attenuated, resulting in a banded or layered
appearance (FIG. 4) typically seen in the deep parts of orogens.
EXPERIMENTS AND PETROGENETIC
MODELLING
The pressure and temperature conditions retrieved from
granulites and migmatites tell us how deep in the conti-
nental crust melting occurred and provide minima that
must be achieved by any proposed mechanism of heating.
Basic information for determining the pressure and temper-
ature (P–T) history comes from well-controlled experi-
ments on the partial melting of rocks such as pelite,
greywacke and amphibolite. Phase equilibria modelling
using internally consistent thermodynamic datasets
derived from experiments has now been added to the set
of tools available for understanding the P–T conditions for
partial melting in the continental crust. The article by White
et al. (2011 this issue) compares the results from both
A UGUS T 2011
approaches to better understand the conditions and petro-
logical processes that occur when the continental crust melts.
Dating the time of formation of metamorphic minerals
and adding this time constraint to P–T information results
in a P–T–t trajectory, which charts the movement of rocks
through the continental crust. These trajectories provide
a powerful tool for testing numerical models that investi-
gate the combination of parameters governing the develop-
ment of orogens.
MELTED ROCKS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
The microstructure in rocks continually readjusts to
changes in conditions. Minerals disappear, new ones grow,
and grain boundaries move, driven by the need to reduce
energy (e.g. Holness 2008), whether that is lattice, inter-
facial or surface energy. The extent to which microstructure
reaches the equilibrium state, often thought of as uniform
grain size and polygonal grain shapes, contains informa-
tion on driving forces and the kinetics of grain-boundary
migration. These factors could be related to such diverse
and interesting parameters as the cooling and deformation
histories of the rocks. The type of microstructural informa-
tion sought must be matched to the rock sampled. It is
fruitless, for example, to attempt to understand the melting
reactions or mineral–melt equilibration microstructures
by examining the paleosome, since it did not melt.
Similarly, the microstructure of a leucosome contains infor-
mation about the crystallization of anatectic melt rather
than the melt-producing reactions. The correct identifica-
tion of each petrological part of a migmatite is necessary
because each contains information about processes specific
to its origin.
A results in the formation of many different types of dilatant
B C
Examples of partially melted rocks. (A) Migmatite
FIGURE 4 derived from pelite and psammite protoliths,
Nemiscau subprovince, Quebec. The lightest-coloured parts are
leucosome and the darkest parts, rich in biotite and conspicuous
red garnet, are residual material; together these are the neosome.
The medium-grey-coloured part is a psammite that did not partially
melt; it is paleosome. Scale is 15 cm long. (B) Highly strained
E LEMENTS
Since leucosome cannot be considered as representative of
the initial melt composition, because of crystal fraction-
ation and contamination for example, the chemical compo-
sition of quenched glass from melting experiments has
been the principal source of information on the composi-
tion of anatectic melts. This situation is changing: micron-
sized inclusions of glass and “nanogranite” (FIG. 5), believed
to be respectively quenched anatectic melt and its crystal-
lization products, have been found in minerals from
migmatite terranes (Cesare et al. 2011). These inclusions
could provide the major, trace and isotopic compositions
of natural anatectic melts; such “starting-point” composi-
tions are required to understand what changes occur to
anatectic melts in the crust. How can anatectic melt remain
as glass in slowly cooled rocks from deep in the continental
crust? This and other questions are addressed in the contri-
bution by Holness et al. (2011 this issue), which outlines
what recent studies of the microstructure in partially
melted rocks tell us about the processes that occur when
the continental crust melts and subsequently cools.
TECTONIC AND GEODYNAMIC
IMPLICATIONS OF PARTIAL MELTING
The onset of partial melting has a profound effect on the
continental crust. The types of structures that form change
and strain rates increase when the temperature of the conti-
nental crust passes the solidus temperature. Because
anatectic melt is less dense and less viscous than either the
protolith or the solid residue, it is more mobile than the
solid fraction and will separate from it. Buoyancy is a
driving force, but differential stress acting on an inevitably
anisotropic crust induces pressure gradients, and these
constitute another, locally stronger, driving force for the
movement of melt. Differential stress in anisotropic rocks
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
Himalayan–Tibetan 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.
migmatite derived from metatonalite partially melted under granu-
lite facies conditions in the Limpopo Mobile Belt, a deeply eroded
orogen. Penknife is 11 cm long. (C) Migmatite in which the garnet-
bearing neosomes have been highly strained, creating a banded or
layered structure typical of shear zones developed in melt-bearing
rocks. Scale is 15 cm long.
232 A UGUS T 2011
 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

Backscattered electron image of a “nanogranite”
FIGURE 5 derived from a small (6 µm) inclusion of granitic melt
trapped in a garnet (Grt) crystal from a migmatite at Ronda
(Spain). The melt inclusion has a typical polyhedric shape (“nega-
tive crystal”; see Cesare et al. 2011) and crystallized into a fine-
grained aggregate of quartz (Qtz), biotite (Bt), K-feldspar (Kfs),
apatite (Ap) and plagioclase (not visible in this image).
IMAGE COURTESY OF O MAR BARTOLI, U NIVERSITY OF PARMA , ITALY
Approximately 80% of grain boundaries have melt on them
when the melt reaches ~7 vol%, and this results in a loss
of about 80% of the pre-melting strength of the protolith
(Rosenberg and Handy 2005). Rocks become very weak
long before melting advances enough (~26 vol%) to turn
them into magma, i.e. a suspension of crystals in melt. The
onset of melting and the weakening it causes have a
profound effect on the rheology of the continental crust,
on the way it deforms and on how orogens develop. The
location of weak rocks is controlled by where the heat
source is and by the rate at which hot rocks and cold rocks
are moved to advect heat and mass. These factors are
controlled in part by isostasy, by the development of a
ductile root at the bottom of the continental crust and by
erosion at the top of it. A weak region in the crust is
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
crust. However, most plutons of granite are emplaced in
its upper part, mostly at depths of 12 to 15 km where the
transition from ductile to brittle rheology occurs (FIG. 2).
To accomplish the differentiation of the continental crust,
anatectic melt must migrate from the grain boundaries
where it was formed and become progressively concen-
trated into a more focussed flow pattern. Thus, the melt is
able to traverse rocks that are at subsolidus temperatures
in the middle crust without freezing as dykes. In other
words the flow of granite melt must become organised.
How this happens “When the Continental Crust Melts” is
discussed by Brown et al. (2011 this issue) in the fi nal
article.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Constructive reviews and comments by principal editor
Hap McSween and reviewers Tracy Rushmer, Nick Petford
and Gary Stevens have greatly improved this contribution.
On behalf of all the contributors we would like to express
our collective thanks to Pierrette Tremblay for her encour-
agement and help at all stages in the development of this
issue.

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E LEMENTS 233 A UGUS T 2011

GLOSSARY
Anatectic front – The surface marking the beginning
of partial melting in the continental crust. It corre-
sponds to the fi rst occurrence of neosome in the
direction of increasing metamorphic grade.
Anatectic melt – A melt, generally granitic in composi-
tion, produced by anatexis
Anatexis – Partial melting of the continental crust, irre-
spective of the degree of partial melting
Brittle–elastic fracturing – Open-mode fracturing by
crack propagation normal to the direction of
minimum compression. It occurs when stresses at the
crack tips equal fracture toughness, or when reduced
stresses lead to subcritical crack growth.
Constrictional strain – Deformation resulting in
prolate fabrics in which linear structures dominate
over planar structures
Diatexite – A migmatite in which neosome dominates
and pre–partial melting structures (bedding, folia-
tion, folds) have been destroyed and commonly
replaced by syn-anatectic flow structures
Ductile fracturing – Fracturing due to creep and
growth of microscale voids—fi lled with either fluid
or melt in rock—that become interconnected leading
to rupture.
Ductile-to-brittle transition zone – The depth in the
Earth’s crust where the brittle strength equals the
ductile strength. It occurs in the range of 12 to 18 km.
Flattening strain – A deformation resulting in oblate
fabrics in which planar structures dominate over
linear structures
Haplogranite system – A simplification of the composi-
tion of granite to just albite + orthoclase + quartz +
H2O components (the Ab–Or–Qz system). Adding an
anorthite component creates the haplogranodiorite
system.
Incongruent melting – The process by which partial
melting of a rock, mineral or mineral assemblage
produces one or more new (peritectic) minerals, in
addition to melt
Leucosome – The part of a migmatite derived from segre-
gated partial melt. Leucosome does not necessarily
have the composition of an anatectic melt because
E LEMENTS 234
processes such as fractional crystallization and
contamination may have modified its composition.
Melanosome – A type of residuum composed predomi-
nantly of dark-colored minerals, such as biotite,
garnet, cordierite, amphibole or pyroxene
Metatexite – A type of migmatite in which coherent
pre–partial melting structures, such as bedding, folia-
tion and folds, are preserved
Migmatite – A metamorphic rock formed by partial
melting. At the outcrop scale migmatites are hetero-
geneous. In addition to two petrogenetically related
parts called leucosome and residuum, migmatites can
also contain rocks, called paleosome, which did not
melt.
Neosome – The part of a migmatite formed by partial
melting and consisting of melt-derived and residual
fractions. The neosome may, or may not, have under-
gone segregation.
Orogenesis – The process of forming a mountain chain
in the Earth’s continental crust due to the conver-
gence and collision of tectonic plates
Paleosome – The non-neosome part of a migmatite that
was not affected by partial melting because of its bulk
composition
Peritectic mineral(s) – A new mineral (or minerals)
produced in addition to melt during incongruent partial
melting of a rock, mineral or mineral assemblage
Protolith or parent rock – The rock from which the
neosome in a migmatite was derived
Pseudosection – A map of phase assemblages for two
specified intensive and or/extensive variables (for
example, pressure and temperature) and a specified
bulk composition
Residuum – The solid fraction left in a migmatite after
partial melting and the extraction of some or all of
the melt
Segregation – The overall process in which anatectic
melt is separated from the residuum in a migmatite
Solidus – The boundary separating the solid (± fluid)
phase assemblage fields (generally at lower tempera-
ture) from the melt-bearing phase fields (generally at
higher temperature) in a P–T 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
A UGUS T 2011
 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 900–1000 °C
have been generated in the Earth’s crust repeatedly in time and space.
These temperatures were associated with thickened crust in collisional
mountain belts and the production of large volumes of magma. Numerical
modelling indicates that a long-lived mountain plateau with high internal
concentrations of heat-producing elements and low erosion rates is the most
likely setting for such extreme conditions. Preferential thickening of already-
hot back-arc basins and mechanical heating by deformation in ductile shear
zones might also contribute to elevated temperatures.
KEYWORDS : metamorphism, ultrahigh temperature, heat production, mountain
belt, thermal modelling
INTRODUCTION
Evidence for the pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions
under which Earth’s crust has generated large volumes of
magma is provided by metamorphic rocks that represent
the solid residue of partial melting. Many of these rocks
preserve minerals formed at moderate pressures and very
high temperatures, conditions consistent with substantial
partial melting of continental crust. Although originally
regarded as isolated anomalies, there is increasing evidence
that these ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) conditions were
attained repeatedly in time and space. Our ability to quan-
tify this record has increased dramatically in recent years
with improved thermodynamic constraints on mineral P–T
stability that allow us to derive robust P–T data for meta-
morphic rocks. These data can then be compared with
geothermal gradients predicted using mathematical models
that describe the thermal behaviour of continental crust
in simple tectonic settings. While standard numerical
models for mountain building can reproduce the condi-
tions recorded by most metamorphic rocks, UHT metamor-
phism is difficult to replicate. In this article we examine a
number of heat sources that might account for these
extreme temperatures.
RECOGNITION OF UHT METAMORPHISM
Metamorphic conditions are classified using metamorphic
facies, which are P–T fields defi ned by distinctive mineral
assemblages (FIG. 1A). UHT conditions lie at the high-
temperature extreme of the granulite facies and were
defined by Harley (1998) as temperatures in excess of 900 °C
1 The Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR), Department of
Applied Geology, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987
Perth WA 6845, Australia
E-mail: c.clark@curtin.edu.au
2 School of Geosciences, King’s College, University of Aberdeen
Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, UK
3 Grant Institute of Earth Science, The University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh, EH9 3JW, UK
E LEMENTS , V OL . 7, PP. 235–240
and pressures of 0.7 to 1.3 GPa.
Brown (2006) proposed a revised
upper pressure limit equivalent to
a P/T gradient of 750 °C GPa –1,
close to the kyanite–sillimanite
reaction boundary (FIG. 1A). The
lower temperature limit of 900 °C
is somewhat arbitrary, but it places
the onset of UHT metamorphism
beyond the conditions at which
many crustal rocks start to melt, a
process that represents a signifi-
cant barrier to the attainment of
higher temperatures.
Recognition of UHT metamor-
phism is problematic because few rocks develop diagnostic
minerals at these conditions and widespread chemical
equilibration during cooling makes temperature estimates
based on mineral composition unreliable. Although rare
in metamorphic belts, Mg-rich mudstone does develop
diagnostic mineral assemblages at UHT conditions, most
notably sapphirine + quartz (FIG. 1B), but also orthopy-
roxene + sillimanite + quartz, spinel + quartz, and osumilite
+ garnet (Harley 2008). However, the stability of these
assemblages is highly sensitive to minor chemical compo-
nents and the redox state of the rock, making them unreli-
able indicators of UHT conditions. Thus sapphirine +
quartz is stable down to 850 °C in highly oxidised systems
(Taylor-Jones and Powell 2010), and components such as
Fe3+, Cr, Zn and Ti can extend spinel + quartz stability to
below 900 °C (Harley 2008). Other evidence for UHT condi-
tions includes high Zr contents in rutile; aluminous ortho-
pyroxene coexisting with garnet, although the presence of
Fe3+ can again lead to temperature overestimates; and
extensive solid solution in feldspar and pyroxene resulting
in mesoperthite and pigeonite exsolution, although care
must be taken to ensure these are not igneous relics (Harley
2008).
Temperature estimates based on the distribution of Fe and
Mg between different minerals are reset on cooling from
UHT conditions, but calculations that correct for this effect
reveal a continuum in estimated peak temperature from
the lower granulite facies into the UHT field (FIG. 1A ;
Pattison et al. 2003). This suggests that UHT metamor-
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
discovery of UHT metamorphism at more than 40 localities
worldwide (Kelsey 2008) with ages spanning the last 3000
million years (Brown 2006). Inferred geothermal gradients
beneath the Himalaya are consistent with UHT conditions
at depth (Hacker et al. 2000), implying that the apparent
scarcity of Phanerozoic UHT metamorphism reflects the
time taken for deep crustal rocks to reach the surface and
235 A UGUS T 2011
 A B
(A) P–T conditions of UHT and other styles of meta-
FIGURE 1 morphism, from Brown (2007). Red circles are P–T
estimates for granulite facies rocks (Harley 1998; Pattison et al.
2003); their distribution shows that UHT metamorphism is contin-
uous with the granulite facies. Field abbreviations: A, amphibolite
facies; BS, blueschist facies; E-HPG, medium-T eclogite – high-P
granulite facies; G, granulite facies; GS, greenschist facies; UHP,
ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism. Mineral abbreviations: Ab,
not an absence of UHT conditions. The ages of UHT meta-
morphism show some correlation with periods of super-
continent assembly (Brown 2006), suggesting that UHT
metamorphism occurs during continental collision or that
UHT terranes associated with collision are more likely to
be preserved than those formed in other settings.
WHAT DRIVES UHT METAMORPHISM?
While there is widespread agreement that UHT rocks occur
in many metamorphic belts, there is no consensus on the
heat source for such extreme temperatures. Pervasive defor-
mation and widespread chemical and textural re-equili-
bration at high temperature have destroyed much of the
field and petrological evidence for how UHT conditions
are achieved (FIG. 1C). Some constraints are provided by
the exposure of ancient UHT terranes at the surface of crust
that is now of normal thickness and by mineral reactions
in UHT rocks indicating that peak conditions are typically
followed by decompression. These relationships suggest
that UHT rocks form in the mid levels of thickened crust,
consistent with metamorphism during continental colli-
sion. However, some terranes, including the Napier
Complex of Antarctica, record prolonged cooling from UHT
conditions at near constant pressure, implying that these
areas were in isostatic equilibrium during and after meta-
morphism. Another important observation is that UHT
metamorphism is typically not associated with the intru-
sion of substantial mafic or ultramafic rock, ruling out
mantle-derived magma as a major heat source.
Given the limited geological evidence, the best quantitative
constraints on the cause of UHT metamorphism come from
numerical predictions of temperature variations in simple
tectonic settings. Two-dimensional numerical models are
increasingly used to reproduce the evolution of mountain
belts (Jamieson and Beaumont 2010), but these require an
understanding of regional-scale structure and rock distribu-
tion that is lacking for deeply eroded UHT terranes. For
this reason we investigate the factors that promote, or limit,
UHT metamorphism in simple models of crustal thickening
using the one-dimensional heat flow equation:
, (1)
E LEMENTS
C
albite; Coe, coesite; Jd, jadeite; Ky, kyanite; Qtz, quartz; Sil, silli-
manite. (B AND C) Mineralogical indicators and field relationships
of UHT metamorphism in the Napier Complex, Antarctica.
(B) Sapphirine (Spr) + orthopyroxene (Opx) + quartz (Qtz) assem-
blage. Opx contains up to 10 wt% Al2O3. (C) Interlayered sequence
of UHT metamorphic rocks including quartzofeldspathic gneiss (a),
garnet-sillimanite metapelite with Spr-bearing layers (b),
metatonalite (c) and granodioritic gneiss (d)
where T is temperature, t is time, z is depth, κ is thermal
diffusivity, ρ is density, cp is specific heat capacity, u is
vertical transport velocity relative to Earth’s surface (rate
of burial, or exhumation if negative), and Arad, Amech and
Achem are rates of heat production per unit volume by radio-
active decay, mechanical deformation, and chemical reac-
tion, respectively. The fi rst term on the right-hand side of
equation 1 describes conductive heat flow between rocks
of different temperature, the second quantifies vertical heat
transport by advection (heat carried with rocks moving
relative to Earth’s surface), and the third describes three
mechanisms that create heat (and also consume heat in
the case of Achem). One-dimensional models cannot account
for lateral movement of heat or rock, which will be signifi-
cant close to plate boundaries and other large-scale dipping
structures in mountain belts, but they do provide a fi rst-
order assessment of potential heat sources for UHT meta-
morphism, particularly for rocks located some distance
from plate boundaries. The use of one-dimensional models
also maximizes the likelihood of replicating UHT condi-
tions, given that lateral heat flow will move heat away from
high-temperature rocks.
Important parameters in our models include the thick-
nesses of the crust and lithosphere before and after thick-
ening, the temperature–depth profi le before thickening,
the geometry of thickening (e.g. homogenous deformation
or thrust stacking), the erosion rate, the values of κ, ρ and
cp, the magnitude of heat flow from the mantle into the
lithosphere, the magnitudes and spatial and/or temporal
distributions of Arad, Amech and Achem, and the magnitude
of heat advection by magma into or within the crust. These
are constrained to varying degrees by geologic and experi-
mental data, and there has been considerable uniformity
in values used over the last 30 years (England and
Thompson 1984); however, recent studies have questioned
some of these assumptions. In particular, new experiments
show that κ has a much stronger temperature dependence
than thought previously, with values at lower crustal
temperatures being about 50% of those used in most
models (Whittington et al. 2009). This reduces the rates
of conductive heat flow, allowing regions of high radioac-
tive, mechanical or chemical heat production to attain
higher temperatures, and we adopt temperature-dependent
values of κ in our models. Unlike many studies that assume
Achem to be negligible, we incorporate a term for the heat
236 A UGUS T 2011
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 0.1–3.0 μW m-3 (Vilà 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 μW m–3)
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 Arad = 2 μW m-3
20 km

Arad = 2 μW m-3
upper crust
Arad = 2 μW m-3
40 km

30 km
lower crust
15 km

lower crust Arad = 0 μW m-3

Arad = 0 μW m-3
lithosphere = 150 km

MOHO at 35 km

lithosphere = 150 km
MOHO at 35 km
30 km

lower crust
Arad = 0 μW m-3

mantle
lithosphere = 185 km

mantle MOHO at 70 km
Arad = 0 μW m-3
Arad = 0 μW m-3

mantle
Arad = 0 μW 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)
0.2 PTt for initial depth 50 km
10 20 My 80 My 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
FIGURE 2 crustal thickness by homogenous deformation, with
erosion at 0.7 mm y-1 starting 20 My after thickening. (A) Model
geometry and A rad immediately before thickening, immediately
after thickening and 120 My after thickening when erosion has
returned crust to its original thickness. (B) Evolution of the
geothermal gradient with time, showing gradients immediately
before and after thickening and then at 20 My intervals. (C) P–T–t
particle paths for rocks buried to 30, 50 and 70 km depths on
thickening. All models solve equation 1 by finite difference with
fixed T at the surface (0° C) and the base of the lithosphere
(1300 °C). The latent heat of melting is 320 kJ kg -1 (see FIG. 4C), and
the T-dependent expressions for κ and cp are from McKenzie et al.
(2005) for the mantle and from Mottaghy et al. (2008) for the
crust. Boxes in (B) and (C) mark UHT conditions.

E LEMENTS 237 A UGUS T 2011

 1200 1000
A
A 4.0
3.5
1000 3.0
Temperature (°C)
2.5 800
Temperature (°C) 2.0
800 1.5
1.0 600
600
400
400
200
200
Varying heat production (μW m-3)
0 0
20 40 60 80 100 120
Time (My)
commences 20 million years (My) after thickening at a rate
of 0.7 mm y–1. These last aspects of the model set-up maxi-
mise the likelihood of UHT metamorphism. The results
are illustrated as a series of geotherms showing how the
temperature–depth profi le changes with time (FIG. 2B) and
as particle paths depicting P–T histories of rocks originating
at different depths in the mountain belt (FIG. 2 C ). The
geothermal profi le cools instantaneously as thickening
transports rock to greater depths, then heats up as the extra
radioactivity in thickened crust takes effect, and fi nally
cools as erosion removes heat-producing crust at the
surface. Although a thermal anomaly develops near the
base of the radioactive upper crust 40–60 My after thick-
ening, this temperature falls 300 °C short of UHT condi-
tions. Particle paths show an initial 20 My period of
heating at constant pressure and then decompression as
the onset of erosion moves rocks towards the surface, but
temperatures at mid-crustal levels never exceed 600 °C.
Several authors have suggested that elevated mid-crustal
temperatures result from higher-than-normal radioactive
heating (e.g. Chamberlain and Sonder 1990). We investi-
gate this effect in FIGURE 3A, which compares thermal histo-
ries for the Alpine model of FIGURE 2 using different values
of Arad. For each value we plot the temperature history of
a rock at the base of the heat-producing upper crust (40 km
depth immediately after thickening). Peak temperatures
occur 55–60 My after thickening, and an Arad value of at
least 3.5 μW m –3 is needed to achieve UHT conditions.
Although such values are inferred at least locally for UHT
terranes (e.g. Andreoli et al. 2006), our model underesti-
mates the Arad needed for UHT metamorphism if heat is
removed by lateral flow, as might be expected in narrow
Alpine mountain belts, or if erosion starts immediately
after collision.
The effect of erosion is illustrated in FIGURE 3B, which
compares the thermal history of rocks buried initially to
40 km for various erosion rates starting immediately after
thickening and for an upper-crustal Arad value of 3 μW m–3.
Despite above-average heat production, only the lowest
erosion rate of 0.05 mm y–1 allows UHT conditions to be
attained. This result is consistent with metamorphism in
the middle of a wide mountain plateau in a Himalayan-
style mountain belt (Lal et al. 2004). Our model suggests
the plateau must be long-lived (120 My) to attain UHT
conditions, unless the upper-crustal Arad value is substan-
tially higher than 3 μW m–3. Other studies have reproduced
UHT conditions 90 My after plateau formation with an
upper-crustal Arad value of only 2 μW m–3, but these studies
ignored latent heat of melting and used either a much
thicker radioactive upper crust (60 km; McKenzie and
Priestley 2008) or a heat-producing lower crust (Arad =
0.75 μW m–3 ; Jamieson and Beaumont 2010).
E LEMENTS
1000
BB CC
Temperature (°C)
800
0.05 50
0.35 60
0.70 70
1.00 600
400
200
Varying initial lithosphere
Varying erosion rate (mm y ) -1
thickness (km)
0
20 40 60 80 100 120 20 40 60 80 100 120
Time (My) Time (My)
(A) T–t evolution of rocks at 40 km depth immediately
FIGURE 3 after thickening for different values of upper crustal
A rad. All other parameters are identical to those in FIGURE 2. (B) T–t
evolution of rocks at 40 km depth immediately after thickening for
different erosion rates starting immediately after thickening. The
upper crustal A rad value is 3 μW m –3 and other parameters are iden-
tical to those in FIGURE 2. (C) T–t evolution of rocks buried to 40 km
depth by thickening of a back-arc basin with varying initial litho-
spheric thickness. The crustal geometry is as in FIGURE 2, but the
upper crustal Arad value is 1.5 μW m –3 and the total lithospheric
thickness is 50, 60 or 70 km. Instantaneous homogenous deforma-
tion doubles the thickness of both crust and lithosphere, and is
followed immediately by erosion at 0.7 mm y –1.
Mantle Heat in Back-Arc Basins
Back-arc basins are regions of thinned continental litho-
sphere with high mantle heat flow and Moho temperatures
as high as 800 °C (Currie and Hyndman 2006). If thickened
in response to continental collision, temperatures in this
already hotter-than-normal crust are augmented by
increased radioactive heat production (Brown 2006). We
investigate this with a one-dimensional model that starts
with 20 km thick heat-producing upper crust and 15 km
thick non-radioactive lower crust, but the total lithospheric
thickness is only 50–70 km, typical of back-arc basins, and
the upper-crustal Arad value is relatively low (1.5 μW m–3).
The thickness of both crust and mantle lithosphere is
instantaneously doubled, and erosion commences imme-
diately at 0.7 mm y–1. FIGURE 3C compares the thermal
history of rocks buried initially to 40 km for initial litho-
spheric thicknesses of 50, 60 and 70 km. Peak temperatures
are attained 30–35 My after thickening, as for normal litho-
spheric thicknesses and the same erosion rate (FIG. 2B), but
as in other studies of back-arc thickening (Thompson et
al. 2001) none of our models reach UHT conditions.
Increasing Arad, decreasing erosion rates, or adding heat
from magmas would raise peak temperature, but we again
emphasise that our models overestimate temperature
because they assume no lateral heat flow.
Mechanical Heating in Shear Zones
There has been much discussion of whether mechanical
heating is a negligible or significant contributor to meta-
morphic temperatures (e.g. Nabelek et al. 2010). The
magnitude of Amech is given by the product of strain rate
(ε̇) and shear stress (τ), where the latter is a measure of rock
strength. While there is reasonable agreement on likely
strain rates during mountain building, maximum shear
stress is strongly dependent on rock type and decreases
markedly with increasing temperature. We investigate
Amech using a one-dimensional model with the same initial
conditions as in FIGURE 2, but we double crustal thickness
instantaneously by stacking one 35 km thick crustal block
on top of another. The shear zone between them is 3 km
wide and is active for 50 My with a displacement velocity
of 30 mm y–1. Erosion commences 20 My after thickening
238 A UGUS T 2011
 at 0.7 mm y–1, but we keep the shear zone at a fi xed depth.
FIGURE 4A compares the thermal history of rocks at 40 km
depth immediately after thrusting for four values of τ.
Although τ varies with temperature, strain rate and rock
type (FIG. 4B), we use temperature-insensitive values here
to highlight the effect of different rock strengths, but τ is
set to zero once the temperature reaches 750 °C to reflect
the substantial drop in strength as rocks begin to melt.
Peak temperatures of 700 °C are attained 50 My after
thrusting for zero Amech (τ = 0), compared to 600 °C in the
comparable homogenous deformation model (FIG. 2),
reflecting the deep burial of radioactive upper crust by
thrust stacking; also, higher temperatures are achieved as
τ increases. Each rock in FIGURE 4A moves up into the centre
of the shear zone 27 My after thrusting because of erosion,
and shear zone temperature at this time is 700 °C for τ =
10 MPa, 800 °C for τ = 30 MPa, and 950 °C for τ = 100 MPa.
Felsic rocks can have shear strengths of 100 MPa at
300–650 °C (FIG. 4B), but these values decrease to 30 MPa
at 700–750 °C. Strengths drop much more with as little as
10% partial melting or a switch of deformation mechanism
from dislocation creep to diffusion creep, which is
promoted by a decrease in grain size (Franěk et al. 2011).
This makes it unlikely that deformation of felsic rocks
produces significant heat as UHT conditions are approached.
Rocks such as clinopyroxenite retain sufficient strength at
700–900 °C to generate UHT conditions by mechanical
heating in less than 20 My, as shown by Nabelek et al.
(2010), but deformation is likely to be focussed in weaker
felsic rocks that dominate the upper and mid crust. Thus
although mechanical heating could rapidly increase mid-
crustal temperature in the early, cooler stages of collision,
its contribution diminishes greatly as temperatures rise.
THE ROLE OF CRUSTAL MELTING
UHT metamorphism occurs at temperatures above the
onset of partial melting in most crustal rocks, and melting
is an endothermic process that consumes heat and buffers
temperature (Stüwe 1995). FIGURE 4C illustrates the effect
of latent heat of melting (L) on rocks buried to 40 km after
thickening in the model of FIGURE 2, but with a higher Arad
value (3.5 μW m–3) to ensure that the rocks attain UHT
conditions. Peak temperatures for L = 100, 320 and 500 kJ
kg–1 are respectively 10, 35 and 50 °C lower than those for
1000
Shear Strength (MPa)
800 100
Temperature (°C)
30
10
0 Granite (Carter
600
400
Varying rock strength (MPa)
200
A
A BB
0 0
20 40 60 80 100 120
Time (My)
(A) T–t evolution of rocks buried to 40 km by instan-
FIGURE 4
taneous stacking of one 35 km thick crustal block on
top of another along a 3 km wide shear zone that generates heat
for four different rock strengths (τ). The initial geometry and A rad
values are from FIGURE 2 A . The shear zone is active for 50 My, with a
velocity of 3 cm yr–1(shear strain rate = 3 × 10 –13 s-1). Values of τ are
taken as constant at temperatures below 750 °C, but are set to zero
at higher T to simulate melt weakening. Erosion at 0.7 mm y-1 starts
20 My after thickening. (B) Plot of shear strength against T for
different rock types undergoing dislocation creep at a strain rate of
3 × 10 -13 s-1 (after Nabelek et al. 2010), showing that rock strength
decreases markedly on heating. (C) T–t evolution of rocks buried to
E LEMENTS
zero latent heat. We use 320 kJ kg–1 in FIGURES 2–4B, a widely
accepted value for felsic rocks. The heating curve for Arad =
3.5 μW m –3 in FIGURE 3A would have reached a peak of
980 °C for L = 0, rather than 950 °C, showing that UHT
conditions are attained more readily if melting is suppressed.
Melt loss is one way to limit partial melting during a later
metamorphism, and this will also strengthen the crust and
increase Amech, suggesting that UHT conditions are easier
to achieve in terranes that have experienced multiple
thermal events. This effect should be offset by depletion
of heat-producing elements, given that U, Th and K parti-
tion into melt, but the behaviour of heat-producing
elements during partial melting is not fully understood.
Metamorphic rocks that have lost melt can be enriched in
U and Th, while many granites derived by high-tempera-
ture crustal melting have lower-than-expected U and Th
contents (Villaseca et al. 2007).
SUMMARY AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
UHT metamorphism is characteristic of the middle to lower
crust in many collisional orogens, but the heat source
responsible for generating temperatures in excess of 900 °C
is controversial. It is likely that elevated concentrations of
heat-producing elements are a critical component, coupled
with crustal thickening to form a wide plateau that must
survive long enough for enhanced radioactive heating to
substantially raise crustal temperatures. In such cases, the
retrograde decompression typical of UHT terranes reflects
plateau collapse once convergent tectonic forces can no
longer sustain its gravitational potential. Mechanical
heating in shear zones and preferential thickening of back-
arc basins with already-elevated geothermal gradients can
contribute to higher temperatures, particularly early in the
metamorphic history, but will not usually lead to UHT
conditions without above-average radioactive heat produc-
tion. Irrespective of heat source, UHT conditions are
attained more easily in terranes that have already under-
gone at least one episode of partial melting, unless this
also results in reduced radioactive heat production.
Future studies must involve basic fieldwork to constrain
the regional geometry of UHT terranes and allow construc-
tion of two-dimensional thermo-mechanical models that
provide more robust constraints than the models used here.
This work should include the systematic collection of
105 Clinopyroxenite (Kirby
0
& Kronenberg 1984)
Quartz (Rutter
104
Δ Temperature (°C)
& Brodie 2004) -10
Quartz (Hirth
et al. 2001) 100
320
103 et al. 1981) -20 500
102 -30
Strain rate Varying latent heat
= 3x10-13 s-1 of melting (kJ kg-1)
101 -40
C
C
-50
200 400 600 800 1000 20 40 60
Temperature (°C) Time (My)
40 km by homogeneous thickening for three values of latent heat
of melting (L). ΔT is the difference between the actual T for a
selected value of L and T obtained if L = 0. The model set-up is
from FIGURE 2, apart from the upper-crustal A rad value (3.5 μW m –3).
We assume that the consumption of L increases linearly with melt
fraction over the melting interval, and melt fraction increases
linearly with T according to the best-fit line through the experi-
mental data for natural metapelite. Latent heat is also released on
cooling in our model, reducing retrograde cooling rates, but this is
less realistic given that melt crystallization is not a simple reversal
of melting and that some partial melt will escape to higher
crustal levels.
239 A UGUS T 2011
radioactive heat-production data, coupled with petrological history reflects multiple episodes of voluminous magma
and geochemical studies to establish the extent and impli- generation, or whether most melt production in UHT
cations of melt production and melt loss. Geochronological terranes occurred in unrelated earlier events that primed
work should constrain the onset of collision as well as peak rocks for later UHT metamorphism.
UHT metamorphism, and it should determine whether the
time taken to reach UHT conditions is consistent with ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
radioactive heating in a long-lived plateau or with more
We acknowledge fruitful discussions of high-temperature
rapid heating mechanisms. It is also important to establish
metamorphism with many colleagues, including D. Kelsey,
whether UHT conditions develop preferentially in terranes
M. Brown, M. Hand, R. White, N. Kelly, M. Santosh and A.
that have undergone prior metamorphism and melt loss.
Collins. We thank R. Jamieson, O. Lexa and E. Sawyer for
UHT metamorphism must be linked to the generation of
perceptive comments on an earlier version of this manu-
large volumes of magma and chemical differentiation of
script. Our work is supported by the Australian Research
continental crust. An important question is whether the
Council (Discovery Program Grant DP0664679).
repeated occurrence of UHT metamorphism through Earth

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E LEMENTS 240 A UGUS T 2011

 Is the Crucible Reproducible?
Reconciling Melting Experiments
with Thermodynamic Calculations
SEM BSE image
illustrating the result
of experimental
wet melting of a
Richard W. White1, Gary Stevens2 and Timothy E. Johnson1 metasedimentary
protolith. The scale bar
1811-5209/11/0007-0241$2.50 DOI: 10.2113/gselements.7.4.241 represents 10 µm.

E
xperimental studies and thermodynamic modelling have advanced our into two basic types, determined
understanding of partial melting in the crust and have provided a frame- by the nature of the starting mate-
rial and the information that can
work for the interpretation of migmatites, residual granulites and gran- be extracted from the results. The
ites. Each approach has advantages and pitfalls, and each is more appropriate fi rst type includes those experi-
than the other for investigating particular aspects of the melting process. ments undertaken on precisely
constrained, typically small,
A comparison of these two approaches may be useful because, together, chemical systems. These include
they potentially give more information. A comparison of a small number the unary melting relationships
of experiments with model calculations using equivalent bulk compositions for end-member phases, binary
and ternary systems, and larger
shows important consistencies between the results, especially regarding the systems such as K 2O–Al2O3 –SiO2 –
overall topologies of key melting equilibria. Despite this, several significant H2O (KASH) and K 2O–FeO–MgO–
differences between the two approaches remain, though the sources of these Al2O3 –SiO2 –H2O (KFMASH). These
experiments, particularly those
differences are difficult to determine. with a small number of compo-
KEYWORDS : melting, experiments, phase diagrams, thermodynamics nents, are particularly useful for
deriving the thermodynamic
properties of minerals and silicate
INTRODUCTION melt end-members (e.g. Burnham 1975; Berman and Brown
The study of migmatites provides information on partial 1987; Ghiorso and Sack 1995; Holland and Powell 1998,
melting of the crust. Granulite facies migmatites are 2001; White et al. 2001, 2007). However, the compositional
particularly important for understanding the origin of spaces of such systems commonly lie well away from those
high-temperature, H 2O-undersaturated granitic magmas of rocks, so the results of such experiments are difficult to
that are capable of ascending into the upper crust and, directly relate to partial melting in the crust. The second
potentially, erupting. However, studies of natural rocks are type of experiments includes those concerned with very
limited by the fact that they are the end product of a range large chemical systems, such as natural compositions. The
of metamorphic and deformation processes that operate main aim of these experiments is to investigate mineral
during long-lived residence in the deep continental crust. assemblage development and partial melting, as may occur
This allows deformation and recrystallization to modify within the particular rock types being investigated. As they
the rock and mineral textures produced by melting and for concern large chemical systems, it is more difficult to use
elements to be redistributed between melt and residuum- such experiments to derive the thermodynamic properties
rich portions of the rock. Experimental petrology and ther- of mineral and melt end-members, though these experi-
modynamic modelling allow us to generate a “snap shot” of ments have been utilised to derive melt models (e.g. Ghiorso
anatectic processes and provide us with a framework within and Sack 1995). Regardless, these experiments do provide
which we can interpret many of the features encountered useful constraints on the appropriateness of the models
in high-grade rocks, thus contributing considerably to our derived from experiments in simpler systems, and are of
understanding of partial melting and recycling of the crust. use in expanding such models to larger chemical systems.
Partial melting has been a significant focus of experimental Experimental studies on partial melting along with the
studies for many decades. Such studies provided the fi rst geometrical analysis of phase relationships (e.g. Grant
constraints on the melting process (e.g. Tuttle and Bowen 1985; Vielzeuf and Holloway 1988) have long provided a
1958; Wyllie 1977), estimates of melt fertility of different reasonable understanding of the underlying melting rela-
rocks (e.g. Patiño Douce and Beard 1995; Johannes and tionships in rocks. However, fully quantitative thermo-
Holtz 1996) and constraints on the reactions that control dynamic calculations on melting using large, internally
melt production (e.g. Vielzeuf and Holloway 1988). consistent datasets and complex activity models have
Experimental studies of partial melting range from single- evolved mostly over the last fi fteen years as more sophis-
component (unary) melting to experiments on a large range ticated activity models for both minerals and melt have
of natural compositions. These experiments can be divided been developed. The melt end-members for the haplogra-
nitic system were fi rst included in the internally consistent
dataset of Holland and Powell (1998), with the activity–
1 Earth System Science Research Centre, Institute for Geosciences, composition relationships for melt presented in Holland
University of Mainz, Becherweg 21, D-55099, Mainz, Germany
E-mail: rwhite@uni-mainz.de; tjohnson@uni-mainz.de
and Powell (2001) and extended in White et al. (2001).
These developments allowed quantitative thermodynamic
2 Centre for Crustal Petrology, Department of Earth Sciences, calculations of a range of melt-bearing equilibria to be
Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602
South Africa undertaken in systems that produce melts of compositions
E-mail: gs@sun.ac.za appropriate to the melt model (i.e. broadly haplogranitic).

E LEMENTS , V OL . 7, PP. 241–246 241 A UGUS T 2011

Application of these models to melting processes in general,
and to specific rocks via pseudosections (phase diagrams
drawn for a fi xed rock composition), has become relatively
common since.
Comparing the results of modelling with those of experi-
mental studies is challenging. However, much interest exists
within the petrological community for understanding
the accuracy of modelling of assemblage stability within
partially melted rocks and for extending these techniques
to the evolution of magmatic systems (e.g. Villaros et al.
2009). Comparison is difficult because significant limita-
tions exist in the application of both techniques; yet, as
detailed below, these limitations are different in the two
approaches and the techniques are thus far more comple-
mentary than many researchers may realize. This contribu-
tion discusses the virtues and pitfalls of both modelling
and experimental studies for understanding partial melting
of the crust. It compares experimental and modelling
results in the Na 2 O–CaO–K 2 O–FeO–MgO–Al 2 O3 –SiO2 –
H2O (NCKFMASH) system. This is a sufficiently complex
chemical system to permit realistic investigation of crustal
melting, but it lacks the minor components (Ti, F, Cl, Fe3+)
that influence mica and amphibole stability. These compo-
nents are difficult to include in the models, though much
progress has been made in considering some of these (e.g.
Ti and Fe3+; White et al. 2000).
ADVANTAGES AND PITFALLS OF EXPERI-
MENTS AND THERMODYNAMIC MODELS
Neither experiments nor thermodynamic models can accu-
rately represent the reality of partial melting of the crust.
Partial melting is a dynamic process, generally character-
ised by a material flux as melt and residuum separate, and
involves a complexly evolving thermal system. Modelling
can deal with this to some degree, but conventional partial
melting experiments generally do not consider composi-
tional change in the bulk system. Importantly, the sources
of uncertainty and the problems with each method are very
different. This constitutes a major hurdle for undertaking
a direct comparison of the two approaches. More impor-
tantly, regardless of how well or poorly the approaches
agree, is either an adequate representation of what occurs
in nature?
Experiments
Advantages An experimental approach to investi-
gating crustal anatexis has several inherent advantages.
Experiments have the potential to provide direct constraints
on P–T conditions, melt fertility and melt composition, as
experiments can deal with the full chemical complexity
of rocks. This has great value due to the large influence
that some minor elements have on the stability of different
phases, especially mica and amphibole, during partial
melting. Carefully planned experiments using synthetic
minerals could isolate and investigate the influence of
each of these variables, allowing their effects to be better
modelled. Experiments can be used to investigate the full
range of compositions, pressures and temperatures appro-
priate to crustal rock processes, including metamorphism
and melting in subduction zones, though experiments at
the lower-temperature end of this range become difficult.
For example, tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite genesis
and the origin of the Archean crust have largely come to
be understood through a combination of studies of the
geochemistry of the granitoids (e.g. Martin and Moyen
2002) and experimental studies on the partial melting
of mafic rocks (e.g. Beard and Lofgren 1991; Rapp and
Watson 1995). Kinetic factors that may influence partial
melting in nature are incorporated into experiments, as
their results are indications that diffusion, nucleation and
crystal growth in melt have occurred. These processes are
E LEMENTS 242
scalable, if mineral mixtures are used, as the diffusion
length scales necessary to achieve equilibrium are a func-
tion of the grain size of the starting-material powders.
Experiments also had tremendous value in investigating
the flux of components from subducting crust into the
mantle (e.g. Schmidt et al. 2004) and the behaviour of
trace elements in minerals, melts and fluids (e.g. Rubatto
and Hermann 2007).
Pitfalls Despite the versatility of an experimental approach
to partial melting, there are also distinct challenges.
Experiments are time consuming, with fluid-absent experi-
ments commonly requiring two to three weeks to equilibrate
at the lower range of melting temperatures. Consequently,
it is laborious to perform sufficient experiments to derive
the underlying topology of the phase relations within a
significant P–T window. A significant problem also exists
with attempts to bracket melting reactions by experimental
reversal, because melt in crystallization experiments
commonly persists to considerably lower temperatures than
the solidus temperature established during melting experi-
ments. In general, this behaviour is attributed to the slow
kinetics of reaction between the experimentally grown
phases during cooling. Redistribution of elements within
the charge may also be important, retarding retrograde
re-equilibration. For example, once H2O is concentrated
in the melt, the relevant solidus for that domain in the
charge is much closer to the wet granite solidus than, for
example, the biotite melting reaction that produced the
melt. Thus, the rates at which biotite can grow and melt
can crystallize are limited by the rate of the diffusion of
elements through the melt. In general, heating experiments
are considered to more accurately constrain the position
of incongruent melting reactions. However, in the case of
fluid-absent studies, overstepping of the melting reaction
may be particularly important to consider because in the
subsolidus assemblage there is no fluid to facilitate diffu-
sion between crystals and promote equilibration.
Fluid-absent conditions are most relevant to partial melting
of the lower continental crust. Yet under these condi-
tions the oxidation state cannot be directly controlled in
experiments. Consequently, hydrogen loss from capsules
may result in variations in the proportion of Fe3+ within
individual charges and between the results of different
experiments. This effect commonly manifests itself as a
rind of oxide minerals at the capsule wall, particularly
in experiments conducted in gas vessels. The effects of
oxidation of the charge must have consequences for the
experimental results through a reduction of the amount
of water, the conversion of ferrous to ferric iron and the
growth of oxide phases.
Commonly, melting experiments dealing with natural
rock systems cover a temperature range from fluid-absent
subsolidus conditions to 1000 °C or higher, i.e. a range of
some 200–300 °C. Over much of this range, the assem-
blages produced in typical metapelites and metagreywackes
contain melt volumes in excess of 15 to 20%, and at the
highest temperatures melt volumes of 50% or more are
common. Granulites do not follow such an evolution,
and efficient deformation-driven melt loss produces a
residual chemistry and also preserves the high-tempera-
ture assemblage. Consequently, while such experiments
have relevance for identifying the initial fluid-absent
melting reactions by which the granulites melted, they
do not mimic the melting behaviour of such granulites.
Maintaining all the melt in the system, as occurs in experi-
ments, results in greater melt production than would occur
naturally, where the removal of more hydrous melt, at lower
temperature, can be efficient.
A UGUS T 2011
 Thermodynamic Modelling Much of the assessment of the appropriateness of a given
model calculation can only be done in a rather simplistic
Advantages Compared to experiments, thermodynamic
and comparative way, such as through a comparison of
calculations on melting relationships can be undertaken
mineral modes (abundances) and compositions with avail-
relatively quickly and easily. This provides the opportu-
able natural and experimental examples. Other important
nity to investigate a range of compositions – within the
constraints in the application of mineral equilibria model-
scope of the calibration limits of the models – and more
ling to melting are the inherent limits in the chemical
easily constrain the melting reactions. In addition, such
systems that can be considered with the currently avail-
calculations can be undertaken to investigate a range of
able models and the limits in the P–T–x (where x denotes
physical and chemical processes, such as the fractionation
composition) range for which these existing models can be
of components into porphyroblastic phases and the loss
considered reasonably appropriate. While calculations can
of melt from the rocks. Importantly, calculated phase
be undertaken in increasingly large chemical systems, such
diagrams give a more comprehensive and coherent view
as NCKFMASHTO (Na 2 O–CaO–K 2 O–FeO–MgO–Al 2 O3 –
of the underlying phase relationships in rocks than can be
SiO2 –H2O–TiO2 –Fe2O3), such systems are still a significant
extracted from the limited number of experimental runs
simplification of nature and the effects of other compo-
in a typical experimental study. For example, the number
nents on the phase equilibria are unconstrained.
of fields in a calculated pseudosection will typically far
exceed the number of experiments that can be undertaken
within a reasonable time frame. The ability to undertake HOW DO THE APPROACHES COMPARE?
calculations in a range of chemical systems and to be able To date relatively few studies have attempted to model the
to produce complete phase diagrams has been important results of experiments on synthetic or natural composi-
to our current understanding of high-temperature phase tions (e.g. Johnson et al. 2008; Tajčmanová et al. 2009;
relationships and the core equilibria that control melt Grant 2009). A direct comparison of thermodynamic
production and the formation of the mineral assemblages modelling and experiments can be undertaken where the
diagnostic of the granulite facies. For the application to experimental composition used is in the same system as
natural residual rocks, it is also possible, via thermody- the composition used in the modelling (e.g. KFMASH or
namic modelling, to re-integrate melt back into the compo- NCKFMASH). A greater challenge arises where the compo-
sition to create an approximate protolith (e.g. White et al. sition used in the experiments is a natural rock powder
2004) and to investigate the interaction between melt and that contains many components not accounted for in the
residuum on a range of scales (e.g. White and Powell 2010) modelling. Here, constraining which of a large number of
potential sources is responsible for any difference is difficult.
Pitfalls Despite the many advantages of calculated phase
petrology, there are also many pitfalls and sources of uncer- Important questions are, what aspects of experimental
tainty. The most important of these is our limited under- studies and thermodynamic modelling can be compared
standing of the thermodynamic properties of minerals and and what types of phase diagrams are the most appropriate?
melts (end-member thermodynamics and activity–compo- While the results of many experiments are interpreted in
sition relationships, in particular). Any calculation can terms of the location of reactions and the resulting under-
only be as good as the input thermodynamic data. While lying phase diagram, such interpretations are generally
some reasonable estimate of uncertainty can be consid- not unique, and instead, the basic results (assemblages,
ered for some of these properties, such as the enthalpy of mineral proportions and mineral compositions) represent
formation of the end-members, the uncertainties associated more reliable criteria for comparison. As experiments are
with other properties, such as the activity–composition undertaken on material of a known composition over a
relationships, are essentially unknown. range of P–T conditions, they are most akin to P–T pseudo-

NCKFMASH (+qtz) Composition B NCKFMASH (+qtz) Composition AS

A
(a) grt opx
kfs pl liq
(b) grt sil bt mu
B
bt pl kfs pl liq
10 10
grt opx grt opx grt opx grt opx grt sil crd grt sil crd grt sil crd grt sil opx grt sil
bt kfs kfs pl liq pl liq pl liq
bt pl liq bt pl liq kfs pl liq kfs pl liq pl liq
q

pl liq
t kfs pl li
liq

9 9
q
grt bt kfs pl

l li
grt opx b

grt sil bt kfs pl liq grt sil kfs pl liq

xp
op

grt bt pl liq grt opx kfs pl liq

t
gr

grt sil bt pl liq

8 8 grt
grt sil pl liq sil
P (kbar)
P (kbar)

liq

7 grt opx crd kfs pl liq opx pl liq 7

grt crd grt sil grt sil crd pl liq
bt pl liq bt pl
q

grt sil crd bt

l li

grt crd opx crd kfs pl liq grt sil crd kfs pl liq grt sil crd spl
kfs p

bt pl kfs pl liq
6 6 q
grt sil kfs pl liq l pl li
grt opx crd d sp
rd bt

crd bt sil cr
bt pl opx crd pl liq grt sil crd grt sil crd
kfs pl l
opx c

opx kfs grt sil crd kfs pl liq

opx bt bt kfs pl liq sil crd sp )
opx pl liq pl liq opx spl kfs pl liq
spl pl liq rd qtz sil crd
5 crd bt pl crd pl 5 is l c iq (-
l spl liq
bt pl grt opx crd opx pl liq opx pl liq opx liq sil grt sil crd spl sil
crd pl p lcrd spl pl
kfs pl liq bt pl sil crd kfs pl liq liq (-qtz)
liq kfs pl liq liq (-qtz)
750 800 850 T (°C) 900 950 1000 750 800 850 T (°C) 900 950 1000

Calculated pseudosections for two bulk rock composi- conditions of the experiments are shown as filled circles and the
FIGURE 1 tions used in the experiments of Stevens et al. (1997). experimental products for each point are labelled in red. The
FIGURE 1A was calculated for the metagreywacke composition B; mineral abbreviations are after Kretz (1983), except that the first
FIGURE 1B was calculated for the metapelite composition AS. The P–T letters are not capitalized.

E LEMENTS 243 A UGUS T 2011

sections. Importantly, in any comparison between assem-
blages, mineral proportions and mineral compositions, the
fact that these are correlated must be taken into consider-
ation (i.e. any differences in mineral compositions between
the models and the experimental results will inevitably
lead to some differences in mineral modes and possibly
assemblages due to mass balance requirements for a fi xed
rock composition).
In experiments, there is also the problem of differences
between the nominal and actual chemical system used.
For example, the inclusion of small seeds of natural garnet
in experiments potentially adds some MnO to the compo-
sition. In addition, the activity of oxygen is commonly
not constrained, such that an experimental composition
nominally in NCKFMASH, for example, will contain an
indeterminate amount of ferric iron and actually be in
the NCKFMASHO system. Furthermore, the presence of
unreacted cores in an experiment also means that the
composition of the volume of equilibration is different
from that of the whole experimental charge.
In the following, we compare the results of partial melting
experiments and thermodynamic modelling for two
synthetic NCKFMASH compositions – a metagreywacke
and a metapelite – from Stevens et al. (1997). As the
experimental compositions were synthetic and located in
a nominal chemical system for which modelling can be
undertaken, a direct comparison is possible.
FIGURE 1 shows calculated P–T pseudosections for the experi-
mental greywacke composition B (FIG. 1A) and the pelite
composition AS (FIG. 1B) of Stevens et al. (1997). The P–T
conditions of the experimental runs and the resulting
experimental products are also shown. For the metagrey-
wacke composition, the results from the two approaches are
similar, especially at 10 kbar. At 5 kbar, the model predicts
the appearance of orthopyroxene (opx) and the disappear-
ance of biotite (bt) coexisting with melt at temperatures
approximately 50 °C lower than observed in the experi-
ments. Furthermore, the model predicts a wide stability
field for cordierite (crd), whereas the mineral is present in
only two of the experimental runs.
A comparison of the metapelite experiments with the
model also reveals similarities and differences. Again,
biotite persists to higher temperatures (20–50 °C) in the
experiments than predicted by the model calculations. In
addition, the presence of cordierite in the experiments at
10 kbar is not replicated in the model. However, as with the
metagreywacke composition, there are important similari-
ties between the results of the two approaches. At 5 kbar,
both methods show the appearance of spinel (spl) and the
loss of garnet (grt) at high temperatures.
Comparing the overall assemblages and the mineral modes
allows a better assessment of the significance of any differ-
ences in assemblages. For example, if a mineral is present
in the model and absent from the experiments, or vice
versa, but the mode of that mineral is rather small, then the
apparent difference is likely to be of limited significance;
it could be the result of small uncertainties in the model,
reflect nucleation issues, or be due to the presence of an
unidentified minor phase in the experiments.
FIGURE 2 shows a comparison of the modes of the phases in
the experiments and models discussed above. The T–mode
plots for the experimental runs (FIG. 2A– D) are modified
from Stevens et al. (1997) in which the modes of K-feldspar
(kfs), plagioclase (pl) and quartz (qtz) were not differenti-
ated. For the calculated modes (FIG. 2E – H), these minerals
are differentiated but are coloured the same to allow an
easier comparison with those of the experiments. In addi-
tion, the calculated T–mode diagrams extend to lower
temperatures than those of the experimental runs to
accommodate the fact that the calculations predict the
key equilibria at slightly lower temperatures.
The T–mode diagrams for the metagreywacke composi-
tion (FIG. 2A, B, E , F) show a number of important simi-
larities, particularly at higher T. The proportions of melt
(liq), garnet and orthopyroxene at higher T are similar in
both, and both approaches infer the rapid consumption of
biotite over a relatively small temperature range, although
the absolute temperature does differ. The differences in
modes for the metapelitic composition (FIG. 2 C, D, G, H) are
more profound. At 5 kbar, the modelling predicts more

Comp. B at 5 kbar Comp. B at 10 kbar Comp. AS at 5 kbar Comp. AS at 10 kbar

20 40 60 80 vol% 20 40 60 80 20 40 60 80 20 40 60 80
1000
(a)
A (b)
B (c)
C (d)
D
liq
950 opx
liq liq
opx liq grt
crd grt
grt

crd

900
T (°C)

sil/kfs/pl/qtz
sil/kfs/pl/qtz

850

bt kfs/pl/qtz bt
bt kfs/pl/qtz
800 bt
1000
E(e) (f )
F (g)
G (h)
H
liq liq
950 liq liq

opx spl
Temperature
FIGURE 2 versus mineral
900 opx
mode (T–mode) plots for the grt
T (°C)

results of the experiments crd

grt

kfs

(A–D) and thermodynamic

modelling (E–H). The modes 850 sil
crd
kfs

for the experiments are

expressed as vol% and those
kfs

qtz
sil

for the modelling as mol% 800

(NB. on a 1-oxide-total basis, pl
qtz bt
kfs

mol% approximates vol% and bt pl grt qtz qtz

bt
pl

A–D may be compared directly ms pl

with E–H). 750
20 40 60 80 mol% 20 40 60 80 20 40 60 80 20 40 60 80

E LEMENTS 244 A UGUS T 2011

than double the proportion of cordierite and considerably
less garnet than encountered in the experimental runs. At
10 kbar, the proportions are more similar with the excep-
tion of cordierite.
A comparison of mineral/phase compositions can also be
made, considering that there are uncertainties in both the
calculated compositions and the analyses, particularly those
of the experimental glasses. FIGURE 3 shows the measured
compositions of the experimental products (squares and
circles) and the calculated compositions (lines) for melt/
glass, garnet, orthopyroxene and cordierite. The match in
mineral compositions ranges from close [e.g. Mg# in ortho-
pyroxene and K/(K + Na) in melt] to rather different [e.g.
Mg# in cordierite and the trends defined by Al/(Ca + Na + K)
in melt for the AS composition at 5 kbar].
Source of the Differences
The main sources of uncertainty in the experimental
studies revolve around whether equilibrium was attained
on the scale of the charge and whether the assemblage
produced is the stable one as opposed to a metastable
one. In addition there are uncertainties in the analysis of
the phases, compounded by the small grain size and the
inherent difficulties in analysing hydrous and Na-bearing
aluminosilicate glasses. The model calculations are affected
by uncertainties in the end-member thermodynamics and
the activity–composition models used.
While the origin of a particular difference between the two
approaches is commonly difficult to determine, in some
cases it can be determined from other experimental studies
and/or from consideration of phase relations determined
from rocks. If we take, for example, the presence of cordi-
erite in the experiments on the pelite composition AS at
10 kbar and its absence in the model, potential reasons for
the difference range from problems with the thermody-
namic data to issues arising from the experiments. From
the modelling, the coexistence of garnet and cordierite
(with quartz, K-feldspar and melt) is metastable at 10 kbar
because this assemblage should only be stable on the low-
pressure side of the multivariant field equivalent to the
KFMASH reaction
garnet + cordierite = orthopyroxene + sillimanite ,
90
AA
Mg# cordierite
80
70
60
Mg# opx
70
60
50
Mg# garnet
40
30
20
Minerals
800 850 900 950 1000
T (°C)
Comparison of measured and calculated compositions
FIGURE 3 for the major phases. The experimental results are
given as squares and circles and the model compositions as lines.
(A) Comparison of the Mg number [Mg# = 100Mg/(Mg + Fe)] of
E LEMENTS
which limits coexisting garnet and cordierite to below
about 9 kbar over the temperature range considered (White
et al. 2007). Whereas it could be argued that the position
of this equilibrium as determined from the modelling is
grossly incorrect, it is also well constrained via experi-
mental studies (e.g. Carrington and Harley 1995) – albeit
in the smaller KFMASH system compared to NCKFMASH
modelled here – to be close to where it occurs in the models.
Hence, in this example it would appear that the source of
the problem lies in the metastability of the experimental
assemblage developed.
The modelling results give melt compositions with a higher
A/CNK for composition AS at 5 kbar than those reported
in the experiments of Stevens et al. (1997) (FIG. 3B) and
other experiments on similar compositions. This differ-
ence probably reflects problems with the model, especially
when the model is applied to assemblages that have lost
quartz and K-feldspar.
While the source of some of the differences, such as for
cordierite (above), can be constrained, on the whole it is
more difficult for most. It would be unwise, for example,
to attempt to adapt the models to fit perfectly with a single
experimental study as there are typically some inconsisten-
cies between different experimental studies. However, the
many experimental studies available do provide impor-
tant constraints on the existing strengths and weak-
nesses of thermodynamic models. Although a number
of outstanding differences between the two approaches
remain, there are, encouragingly, a greater number of simi-
larities. Importantly, the general topologies generated by
the calculations and inferred from the experiments are
similar.
CAN WE RECONCILE EXPERIMENTS
AND MODELLING WITH NATURE?
Regardless of how the two approaches compare, the most
important question is, how well does either approach
inform us about melting in nature? Both models and
experiments are merely simplified proxies for natural
systems. However, despite these caveats, the results of
both methods broadly replicate what is inferred from the
study of migmatites. Importantly, the general similarities
in topology between what can be calculated, interpreted
from experiments and inferred from rocks tell a consistent
story about the partial melting process. Central to this is
B
B
%K/(K+Na)
70
60
50
1.4
1.3
A/CNK
1.2
1.1
Melts/glass
800 850 900 950 1000
T (°C)
B, 10 kbar AS 10 kbar
B, 5 kbar AS, 5 kbar
cordierite, orthopyroxene and garnet. (B) Comparison of K/(K +
Na) and Al/(Ca + Na + K), indicated as A/CNK, for the experi-
mental glasses and modelled melt compositions.
245 A UGUS T 2011
the relationship between the breakdown of hydrous phases
and the production of melt. Such observations allow us,
for example, to confidently infer the production and loss
of melt from anhydrous granulites even if direct evidence
for this is absent. In addition, the experimental and ther-
modynamic approaches both allow estimates of the P–T
conditions of melting and the proportion and composition
of that melt, features necessary for understanding large-
scale crustal differentiation. However, assuming either
approach to be a perfect representation of nature would
be naïve at best.
FUTURE NEEDS
We need to develop better thermodynamic models for
minerals and melt in increasingly complex systems,
by both extending the compositional space and better
constraining the mixing properties of existing models (see
Powell and Holland 2010 for a more detailed discussion).
For partial melting modelling studies, the key progress
to be made is in extending and refi ning the mineral and
melt models to make them applicable to a greater range
of compositions, such as metabasic rocks and to a wider
range of P–T conditions, such as subduction settings. The
extension and refi nement of melt and mineral models
are dependent on good experimental and natural data.
In particular, experiments that investigate the role of
minor components in isolation (Ti, F, Mn, etc.) in compo-
sitionally well-constrained systems [synthetic mixes in
KFMASHT(O), for example] are likely to be more useful
to the development of thermodynamic models than experi-
ments on natural compositions, where it is more difficult to
isolate and differentiate the effects of each of the multitude
of minor components present.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Hap McSween, Bernardo Cesare, Alberto Patiño Douce
and an anonymous reviewer are thanked for constructive
comments.

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43: 41-71

E LEMENTS 246 A UGUS T 2011

 Melted Rocks under the
Microscope: Microstructures
and Their Interpretation
Marian B. Holness1, Bernardo Cesare2 and Edward W. Sawyer3

1811-5209/11/0007-0247$2.50 DOI: 10.2113/gselements.7.4.247

R
ecognising the former presence of melt in rocks which have undergone MICROSTRUCTURES
cooling and exhumation over millions of years following regional meta- DUE TO MELTING
morphism commonly relies on the correct interpretation of grain-scale In the first instance, the identifica-
tion and interpretation of micro-
structures visible only under the microscope. The evolution of these structures
structures associated with partial
during prograde melting and, later, retrograde cooling can be understood melting involves comparison of
using concepts derived from experimental simulation and materials science. natural examples with experi-
mental simulations. Experiments
KEYWORDS : migmatite, microstructure, crystallization, dihedral angle, textural provide the opportunit y to
equilibration, mineral reactions, retrograde metamorphism constrain rock composition and to
control the pressure and tempera-
ture conditions, but a major draw-
back is that they can never be run
INTRODUCTION for sufficiently long periods to truly emulate geological
It can be relatively straightforward to deduce whether rocks events. However, we can melt rocks under laboratory condi-
have been subjected to partial melting. Field geologists tions to get an idea about what melting may look like,
look for high-temperature mineral assemblages and the at least on short timescales. We fi nd that melting always
presence of lenses and irregular patches of quartzofeld- initiates at the junctions between reactant grains and
spathic material (leucosomes; see Glossary on page 234) commonly forms fi lms of melt separating these reacting
with a bulk composition consistent with derivation from minerals (Acosta-Vigil et al. 2006).
an anatectic melt. Melting is commonly associated with
regional deformation which results in coalescence of these The next step towards understanding longer-duration
patches. The signature of the former presence of melt on events is to examine natural contexts in which rocks have
a smaller, microscopic scale is not always so obvious, and been melted and then cooled so quickly that the melt is
this signature is subject to modification during both the preserved as glass. The most extreme examples of this
melting event itself and the subsequent history of the rock. are pseudotachylites, formed during movement on fault
surfaces by frictional heating, but we are most interested
Spry (1969) took a significant step forward in understanding in examples in which deformation was less intense and
the development of metamorphic rocks by applying a the heat source was either igneous or radioactive heating
materials science approach to interpreting their micro- in over-thickened crust. Examples of these are found in
structures. At that time an anatectic origin for migmatites two, rather rare, environments. The fi rst is where rocks
was not widely accepted, and over the next two decades have been subjected to pyrometamorphism, defi ned as a
research on migmatite microstructures was motivated by short (10–1000 years) and very hot metamorphic event. The
the need to disprove the hypothesis that leucosomes were speed at which the rocks are brought up to their melting
subsolidus segregations and to fi nd evidence that they had point is generally matched by the speed at which they are
instead crystallized from melt (e.g. Vernon and Collins cooled back down again. Such conditions occur in the walls
1988). Subsequently it was shown that microstructures in of shallow magma conduits feeding major surface flows.
the material surrounding the leucosomes also record the Melt in the wall rocks is generated at the contacts between
presence of melt during the metamorphic peak (Sawyer reactant grains (FIG. 1A) to form parallel-sided fi lms that
1999). Recent interest in migmatite microstructures has thicken with time (Holness et al. 2005). The fi lms lose
taken another turn, this time focussed on what happened their continuity and parallelism when the melt proportion
inside the small former melt pockets. Research has now becomes sufficiently large for the remaining solid grains
revealed them to be a fascinating micro-world controlled to move relative to each other. For melting reactions that
by kinetic factors. involve a volume increase, overpressure creates a network
of melt-fi lled fractures (FIG. 1B) (Holness and Watt 2002).
This network doesn’t seem to provide a good pathway for
melt migration on short timescales, but it is possible that
1 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge it might play an important role during longer-lived events.
Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK
E-mail: marian@esc.cam.ac.uk Other naturally quenched melted rocks are fragments,
2 Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Università di Padova or enclaves, of metasedimentary rock caught up in lava.
Via Gradenigo 6, I-35131 Padova, Italy Although metasedimentary xenoliths are comparatively
E-mail: bernardo.cesare@unipd.it common (Braun and Kriegsman 2001; Grapes and Li
3 Sciences de la Terre, Département des Sciences Appliquées 2010), the suite of metasedimentary enclaves erupted by
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Chicoutimi the volcano at El Hoyazo in southeastern Spain is very
Québec G7H 2B1, Canada unusual (FIG. 2A). They reached their metamorphic peak
E-mail: ewsawyer@uqac.ca

E LEMENTS , V OL . 7, PP. 247–252 247 A UGUS T 2011

A B
(A) Parallel-sided films of brown glass develop on
FIGURE 1 grain boundaries between the reactant phases quartz
(Qtz, clear) and feldspar (Fsp, dusty) during pyrometamorphism in
the walls of a magma conduit that was active for 5 months. Mull,
western Scotland. (B) A partially melted muscovite schist, with the
original foliation oriented horizontally. The reacted muscovite grains
at 15 to 20 km depth a few million years before they were
erupted (Cesare et al. 2009a). This is consistent with their
involvement in a melting event associated with the volca-
nism. Their composition is exactly what we might expect
the residue to be after anatexis and extraction of up to
60 wt% of melt (although the extraction was incomplete
as the enclaves still contain abundant melt inclusions and
some interstitial melt). There is therefore the exciting possi-
bility that the enclaves may be fragments of the crustal
source of their host lava. Cesare et al. (1997) suggested that
the microstructures in the enclaves were formed during a
rapid heating event caused by crustal thinning, followed
by a long (106 years) period at supersolidus temperatures.
After entrainment, the microstructures formed during this
melting event were quenched during eruption (Cesare et
al. 1997; Acosta-Vigil et al. 2010). If this interpretation is
correct, then the El Hoyazo enclaves provide us with a
missing link between pyrometamorphic aureoles evolving
on a 101–103 -year timescale and migmatites formed during
regional metamorphism on a 106 –107-year timescale.
The melt in the enclaves, now solidified to glass, has a
rather different distribution to that seen in the pyrometa-
morphic aureoles or the more common type of metasedi-
mentary xenoliths entrained in the shallow crust. It is
no longer confi ned to the sites of reaction but is present
throughout the rock. Films of glass are present on some
grain boundaries (FIG. 2 B ), notably surrounding garnet
grains, but glass also forms lenses parallel to the dominant
foliation in enclaves containing abundant biotite.
The El Hoyazo enclaves show us what melting might have
looked like during anatexis, but the preservation of these
microstructures is extremely unusual. The great majority
of regional metamorphic rocks that underwent melting
cooled more slowly, and the long timescales involved in
the entire heating–cooling cycle complicate interpretation
of melt-related microstructures. These long time periods
provide opportunities for modification of the microstruc-
ture during and after solidification, driven by a combina-
tion of textural equilibration, reaction and deformation.
STATIC MELT-BEARING ROCKS
In the absence of deformation and if the temperature is
permitted to change only slowly (reducing the rate of
melt production or solidification), melt-bearing rocks will
approach textural equilibrium as internal energies (i.e.
E LEMENTS
are the dark elongate patches formed of a fine-grained mineral
aggregate representing solidified former melt. They are connected
to each other by cracks (representative examples are arrowed),
filled with fine-grained material solidified from the former melt and
oriented diagonally across the image.
energies associated with interfaces of all kinds, such as
grain boundaries and fluid–solid interfaces) are reduced.
These conditions are generally met in the deep crust.
Textural equilibrium is easily recognized in melt-free rocks
by the uniform grain size and the smoothly curved grain
boundaries, which meet at angles reflecting the relative
magnitude of the different interfacial energies (FIG. 3A).
The angle formed at the corners of melt-fi lled pores is
controlled by the relative magnitude of the fluid–solid
and grain-boundary energies and is known as the dihe-
dral angle (see FIG. 3B for an example of the dihedral angle
formed at a three-grain junction). Because the interfacial
energy depends on the orientation of the crystal lattice,
the equilibrium melt–solid dihedral angle depends on the
relative orientations of the two grains forming the pore
corner. This results in a range of equilibrium angles, typi-
cally with a standard deviation of 10–15°(Holness 2006).
The dihedral angle controls melt connectivity in texturally
equilibrated materials: if the melt–solid dihedral angle is
less than 60° the melt forms a stable interconnected network
of channels along three-grain junctions (FIG. 3C), but if the
angle is greater than 60°, melt forms isolated pockets on
four-grain junctions. This is of immense significance for
the properties of the melt-bearing rock as the mobility of
the melt and the strength of the partially melted material
are therefore directly related to the dihedral angle. The
dihedral angle for virtually all silicate mineral–melt pairs is
<60° (Holness 2006); higher angles are seen for non-silicate
liquids, such as the Fe–Ni liquids relevant to core-forming
events (e.g. Terasaki et al. 2005), and for some orientations
of highly anisotropic minerals like biotite (Laporte and
Watson 1995). Therefore in statically melted rocks, a silicate
melt is generally completely interconnected by means of
a stable network of channels along three-grain junctions,
even when only a few percent of melt is present.
THE EFFECTS OF DEFORMATION
Field evidence suggests that deformation is the rule rather
than the exception in regional metamorphic terrains. Melt
has an enormous effect on rock strength, even when only
a few volume percent is present. On length scales greater
than the grain size, melt-bearing rocks tend to behave in
a ductile manner, so even at high strain rates it is unlikely
that they will break to form major fractures. Conversely
the effect deformation has on grain-scale melt distribu-
248 A UGUS T 2011
 A A

B
B

Enclaves of a partially melted crustal source entrained

FIGURE 2 by erupting lavas. (A) A 10 cm long metasedimentary
enclave enclosed in dacitic lava. (B) Photomicrograph of a partially
melted metasedimentary rock; a red tint plate has been used so
that the glass (representing the quenched melt) appears magenta.
The glass forms films and lenses between the solid grains. The
broad band of glass running subhorizontally across the image
contains cuspate, brown, devitrification structures.

tion can be profound. For interfacial energies to control

melt geometry the critical question is whether textural
equilibration can keep pace with deformation. Deformation
predominantly by diffusive processes is sufficiently slow to
permit textural equilibration, but when deformation rates
are higher melt topology begins to be controlled more by
the deformation itself (e.g. Marchildon and Brown 2002).
Observations of naturally deformed metamorphic rocks
show that grain-scale melt distribution falls into two
types. In some rocks melt forms pockets aligned parallel
to foliation (e.g. Sawyer 2001; Marchildon and Brown 2002;
Guernina and Sawyer 2003). This is also the case in the El
Hoyazo enclaves (FIG. 2B). But in others it forms elongate
pockets on grain boundaries aligned at a high angle to
the foliation (FIG. 4) (Rosenberg and Riller 2000; Závada
et al. 2007). In the latter case, melt may also occupy intra-
granular fractures. These differences in orientation seem to
depend on the magnitude of the stress and the amount of
melt present. Foliation-parallel melt pockets form at rela-
tively low stresses and with small volumes of melt (<2%),
and this melt is sucked into weak grain boundaries that
open during shear. As the stress is increased, or as the melt
fraction increases, grain boundaries at a high angle to the
foliation begin to dilate (Schulmann et al. 2008).
If the temperature remains high after deformation has
stopped, the melt fi lms on grain boundaries will begin
to break up. This is because replacement of a dry grain
boundary by a stable liquid fi lm is only possible if the
Textural equilibrium. (A) An epidote-bearing quartzite
FIGURE 3 in textural equilibrium. The rare epidote grains are
labeled Ep. (B) The junction between two plagioclase grains (clear)
and an augite grain (brown). The interfacial energies act in the
plane of each interface, tangential to each boundary at their inter-
section, and pull away from the three-grain junction. They are
denoted γpp (the energy of the plagioclase–plagioclase grain
boundary) and γap (the energy of the augite–plagioclase grain
boundary). In textural equilibrium, the three forces balance,
creating a characteristic angle, Θ: this is the plagioclase–plagio-
clase–augite dihedral angle. (C) A mould of the fluid-filled pore
network on three-grain junctions, visible after the dissolution of
the solid. PHOTOGRAPH BY R. H. G ERMAN
dihedral angle is zero (i.e. the interfacial energy of the grain
boundary is greater than that of two fluid–solid interfaces),
which is not the case for silicate systems. Deformation-
controlled, completely wetted grain boundaries are there-
fore a transient feature.
SOLIDIFICATION
The pyrometamorphic examples described above are those
in which the temperature dropped so fast after the meta-
morphic peak that the liquid phase did not have time to
crystallize. This does not happen in most geological envi-
ronments, where cooling rates are very much slower. In the
majority of slowly cooled rocks, any melt present crystal-

E LEMENTS 249 A UGUS T 2011

 Backscattered electron image of a mylonite composed
FIGURE 4 predominantly of K-feldspar (pale grey), with grains of
quartz and albite(dark grey) on grain boundaries perpendicular to the
lamination (shown by the double-ended arrow). FROM Z ÁVADA ET AL.
(2007), REPRODUCED/MODIFIED BY PERMISSION OF AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION
lizes. The rate at which this occurs, the amount of H2O
present and, critically, the size of the melt pockets control
what the melt looks like after it has solidified. In some cases
the melt never actually gets to crystallize during cooling;
instead it is consumed by reactions with the surrounding
solid assemblage. These retrograde reactions are particu-
larly common in hydrous melts, and the growth of biotite
at the expense of garnet and hydrous melt is a typical
example (FIG. 5). Retrograde reactions modify and may
erase microstructural and chemical information about the
melt-bearing stage and the peak metamorphic conditions.
The simplest understanding of solidification can be gained
from studying relatively large pockets of former melt, such
as are now represented by layers and patches of leucosome
in migmatites. These crystallize a progressive sequence of
minerals that can be inferred from the relevant phase
diagram. The early-formed minerals tend to crystallize as
euhedral grains bounded by growth faces. Normal or oscil-
latory zoning may be present in plagioclase (Vernon 2011).
The later, lower-temperature minerals fi ll in the gaps, like
cement in a sedimentary rock (FIG. 6). This picture is very
much what we would expect from igneous rocks, which in
essence is what these layers and patches of leucosome in
migmatites are. However, solidification in the smaller pores
may look very different indeed, and the reason for this is
the effect surface curvature has in determining the degree
of supersaturation required for crystal growth.
Evidence of retrograde reaction in a granulite from
FIGURE 5 Antarctica. The central garnet grain that grew during
the prograde melting reaction (Grt) was partially replaced by a
fine-grained intergrowth of biotite (Bt) and feldspar (Fsp) during
solidification.
E LEMENTS
Neosome in a migmatite from Australia, showing
FIGURE 6 crystal faces of microcline (Kfs) and (pseudomorphed)
cordierite (Crd). These facetted grains crystallized from a melt. The
base of the photo corresponds to 10 mm. R EPRODUCED FROM VERNON
(2004, FIG. 4.80), WITH PERMISSION FROM C AMBRIDGE U NIVERSITY PRESS
THE IMPORTANCE OF PORE SIZE
It has been known for a long time – particularly in the engi-
neering community where, for example, it is very impor-
tant to stop ice and halite crystallizing within cement
structures – that the temperature at which crystallization
occurs in confined spaces depends on the size of that space.
This is because the thermodynamics of solidification is
dependent on the energy of the interface between the
growing crystal and its host liquid. This energy increases
as the curvature of the interface becomes higher (i.e. as
the crystal becomes smaller). This process is analogous
to Ostwald ripening, whereby larger particles grow at the
expense of smaller ones. What it means in practice is that
the degree of supersaturation required for crystal growth
into a small pore is greater than that required for growth
into a larger pore. This is easily seen in melt inclusions in
phenocrysts from extrusive igneous rocks. While the larger
inclusions are crystalline, the smaller ones may be glassy
despite having cooled at exactly the same rate. Crystals
could not nucleate and grow in the smallest inclusions due
to the inhibiting effect of the small pore size. This effect
may be important even on much longer timescales. Cesare
et al. (2009b) recently discovered tiny droplets of glass of
broadly granitic composition preserved within refractory
minerals in a granulite from the Kerala Khondalite Belt in
India. These rocks have undergone a metamorphic cycle
lasting about 107 years. Inclusions larger than about 15 μm
have crystallized to “nanogranite”, a fine-grained aggregate
of quartz, feldspar and biotite (FIG. 7) but, astonishingly,
the smallest inclusions remain glassy. Further discoveries
of glassy inclusions in migmatites from other terranes
(e.g. Ronda, Spain) suggest they may be quite common
and could provide an exciting opportunity to determine
the original composition of the anatectic melt.
A major microstructural consequence of the effect of pore
size on inhibiting solidification is a change in crystallization
order. This is most easily seen in relatively simple systems,
such as quartzofeldspathic migmatites, in which the liquid
is saturated in two or three phases (quartz and one or two
feldspars). In a narrow pore bounded by quartz grains, the
quartz component of the liquid can crystallize by over-
growth on the walls; no new quartz grains need to be nucle-
ated, so there is no kinetic barrier. The remaining liquid
becomes increasingly saturated in the feldspar component
until feldspar begins to nucleate and grow. Instead of the
simultaneous crystallization of minerals along a cotectic
predicted by equilibrium thermodynamics, the result is
sequential crystallization, producing a microstructure
in which the fi nal melt pockets are pseudomorphed by
250 A UGUS T 2011

“Nanogranite” inclusion inside a garnet in granulite
FIGURE 7 from the Kerala Khondalite Belt (India). Kfs = potassic
feldspar, Pl = plagioclase, Bt = biotite, Qtz = quartz. R EPRODUCED FROM
CESARE ET AL. (2009B), WITH PERMISSION FROM THE G EOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
A MERICA
the mineral with the greatest difficulty nucleating. This
process shows up very clearly in migmatites in which the
pore structure is fi lled by single plagioclase grains (FIG. 8),
commonly with a shape highly reminiscent of melt pockets
in experimental charges (Sawyer 1999). The dihedral angles
at the corners of these cuspate grains are generally much
lower than those expected for solid grains, pointing to
inheritance of the shape of the melt-fi lled pore by the pseu-
domorphing mineral.
THE IMPORTANCE OF DIFFUSION
Microstructures resulting from reactions that yield several
product minerals are highly dependent on diffusion rates.
If H 2O is available, reactions tend to go to completion.
In contrast, reactions in drier rocks are generally incom-
plete, and such rocks contain microstructures that result
from diffusion-limited control; coronae, intergrowths and
symplectites are a common consequence of this (FIG. 5).
The most common type of intergrowth in solidifying
crustal rocks is that between quartz and alkali feldspar,
known as granophyre (FIG. 9), which is common in the
relatively rapidly cooled shallow crust.
If the cooling rate is sufficiently slow, the balance between
the imperative to crystallize and the constraints imposed
by diffusion means that it becomes possible to nucleate
and grow individual grains from the melt. If the melt was
A partially melted quartz–plagioclase rock (also
FIGURE 8 containing some opaque Fe oxides) from the aureole
of the Duluth Igneous Complex, Minnesota, USA. The minor plagio-
clase (now all brown and turbid) pseudomorphs an original textur-
ally equilibrated melt-filled porosity. Pl = plagioclase, Qtz = quartz
E LEMENTS
primarily concentrated in thick fi lms on grain boundaries,
a “string of beads” texture may result (FIG. 10). At fi rst sight
this might be confused with the textures formed in the
early stages of static recrystallization of highly deformed
rocks, but the presence of other indicators of melting (such
as larger-scale segregations or peritectic minerals) should
be diagnostic.
THE PATH TO THE SURFACE
While pyrometamorphic aureoles give clues about the
onset of melting and enclaves provide a window into the
metamorphic peak, we also need to know what occurs after
the rock has solidified and is cooling down; we need to
know how the melting story ends. This is because most of
the anatectic rocks we collect have been exhumed slowly,
in some cases after further heating and/or deformation
events, and this later history will also have left its imprint
on the microstructures.
Understanding these microstructures is only possible once
we know how to recognise the remains of melt left behind
after the bulk of it was extracted to form intrusions higher
in the crust. What we see seems to depend again on the
amount of H 2O present because of its role in enhancing
diffusion. If there is sufficient H 2O and the rocks stay
hot enough for extensive diffusion, the microstructures
change, driven by the reduction in interfacial energy. The
rock attempts to minimize the energy associated with grain
boundaries by decreasing surface area – this leads to a
general increase in grain size and a straightening of highly
curved and irregular grain boundaries. Highly cuspate
pseudomorphs of melt at three-grain junctions (e.g. FIG. 8)
become more rounded as the inherited dihedral angle
increases towards the angle for solid-state equilibrium,
which is generally in the range 110–140˚ (FIG. 11). Because
textural equilibration and recrystallization can wipe out
any microstructural record of a previous melting event,
one would anticipate that the microstructures resulting
from solidification are more likely to be retained in dry
rocks, and in particular dry rocks which have not been
significantly deformed on the retrograde path. If the micro-
structures have been obliterated, recognising the former
presence of melt becomes extremely difficult, and melt
inclusions in peritectic relicts may be the only evidence
preserved.
Partially melted quartzofeldspathic gneiss from the
FIGURE 9 aureole of the Rum Igneous Complex, western
Scotland. The early-formed feldspar has grown as large euhedral
grains, while the later feldspar forms a complex intergrowth with
quartz (granophyre).
251 A UGUS T 2011
 “String of beads” texture formed by crystallization at
FIGURE 10 sufficiently slow rates to permit nucleation of indi-
vidual grains from the original melt film on boundaries between
quartz (Qtz) and feldspar (Fsp) grains. The continuous, solidified
former melt films are shown by the arrows.
A highly cuspate plagioclase grain (centre) in a granu-
FIGURE 11 lite from the Nemiscau subprovince, Canada. This
grain is inferred to have originally had low dihedral angles against
the surrounding orthopyroxene (Opx), most likely inherited from an
original melt-filled pore. However, the plagioclase developed
bulbous ends as the dihedral angle increased during approach to
solid-state textural equilibrium.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are grateful to those who have collaborated with us on
studies of partially melted rocks; they have contributed
greatly to our understanding of the underlying controls
and processes. We acknowledge helpful and constructive
reviews by Michael Brown, Hap McSween, Ondrej Lexa
and Ron Vernon.

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Acosta-Vigil A, London D, Morgan GB
(2006) Experiments on the kinetics
of partial melting of a leucogranite at
200 MPa H 2O and 690–800°C: compo-
sitional variability of melts during the
onset of H 2O-saturated crustal anatexis.
Contributions to Mineralogy and
Petrology 151: 539-557
Acosta-Vigil A, Buick I, Hermann J, Cesare
B, Rubatto D, London D, Morgan GB VI
(2010) Mechanisms of crustal anatexis:
a geochemical study of partially melted
metapelitic enclaves and host dacite, SE
Spain. Journal of Petrology 51: 785-821
Braun I, Kriegsman LM (2001) Partial
melting in crustal xenoliths and
anatectic migmatites: a comparison.
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Cesare B, Salvioli-Mariani E, Venturelli
G (1997) Crustal anatexis and melt
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Mineralogical Magazine 61: 15-27
Cesare B, Rubatto D, Gómez-Pugnaire
MT (2009a) Do extrusion ages reflect
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Cesare B, Ferrero S, Salvioli-Mariani
E, Pedron D, Cavallo A (2009b)
“Nanogranite” and glassy inclusions:
The anatectic melt in migmatites and
granulites. Geology 37: 627-630
Grapes R, Li X-P (2010) Disequilibrium
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A natural example. European Journal
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Holness MB (2006) Melt-solid dihedral
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Lexa O, Štípská P, Becker JK (2008)
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E LEMENTS 252 A UGUS T 2011

 Crustal Melting
and the Flow of Mountains
Rebecca A. Jamieson1, Martyn J. Unsworth2, Nigel B. W. Harris3,
Claudio L. Rosenberg4, and Karel Schulmann5
1811-5209/11/0007-0253$2.50 DOI: 10.2113/gselements.7.4.253
A
s the continental crust thickens during mountain building, it can
become hot enough to start melting, leading to a profound reduction
in its strength. Melt-weakened crust can flow outward or upward in
response to the pressure gradients associated with mountain building, and
may be transported hundreds of kilometres laterally as mid-crustal chan-
nels. In the Himalayan–Tibetan system, melting began about 30 million years
ago, and widespread granite intrusion began at 20–23 Ma. Geophysical data
indicate that melt is present beneath the Tibetan plateau today, and deeply
eroded mountain belts preserve evidence for melt-enhanced ductile flow in
the past. Flow of partially molten crust may limit the thickness and eleva-
tion of mountain belts and has influenced the deep structure of continents.
KEYWORDS : crustal melting, mountain belts, ductile flow, melt-weakening,
channel flow
INTRODUCTION
To most people, mountains appear strong and immu-
table, and the suggestion that mountain belts can flow
may seem far-fetched. Nevertheless, there is overwhelming
geological evidence for regional-scale ductile flow at depths
of 30–50 km within the thickened regions of the Earth’s
crust, termed “orogens,” that are characteristic of moun-
tain belts. Geological evidence comes from metamorphic
gneiss terranes in deeply eroded continental crust and
recently exposed regions of young mountain belts. These
rocks contain mineral assemblages and structures charac-
teristic of flow on scales of tens to hundreds of kilometres
at high temperature (≥700 °C) and pressure (≥800 MPa). In
many cases, the rocks affected by ductile flow are migma-
titic and have textures that indicate the presence of melt
during deformation. In addition, laboratory experiments
have demonstrated the profound effect of melting on rock
strength, and geophysical measurements indicate that
melt is present beneath a number of modern mountain
belts, notably the Himalayan–Tibetan system. As a result,
hypotheses have been proposed to link the presence of
melt-weakened crust to ductile flow in both modern and
ancient mountain belts.
1 Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University
Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada
E-mail: beckyj@dal.ca
2 Department of Physics, University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2J1, Canada
3 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK
4 Department of Geological Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin
Malteserstrasse 74-100, 12249 Berlin, Germany
5 EOST, Université Louis-Pasteur
UMR 7517, 1 Rue Blessig, 67084 Strasbourg, France
E LEMENTS , V OL . 7, PP. 253–260
In this article we review the exper-
imental, geological, geophysical
and geochemical evidence that
melting and flow within mountain
belts are widespread phenomena
that have profoundly affected
the evolution of the continents,
and we discuss their effect on
crustal thickening and mountain-
building processes.
MAKING ROCKS
FLOW – LABORATORY
EXPERIMENTS
Since the late 1970s, laboratory
experiments have demonstrated
that rock strength, expressed as
viscosity (Pa·s) or differential
stress, Δσ (MPa), decreases dramatically with increasing
melt fraction. Early experiments on granitic samples with
varying melt concentrations (e.g. Arzi 1978) pointed to a
non-linear decrease in viscosity at melt volumes of 20–60%
(FIG. 1A); the corresponding amount of melt was termed
the rheologically critical melt percentage (RCMP). However,
subsequent debate on the details of this phenomenon
obscured the fact that the most significant viscosity reduc-
tion takes place at a much lower melt fraction (Rosenberg
and Handy 2005), which becomes evident when strength
is plotted on a linear scale. At melt volumes of 1–8%, the
strength of rocks as measured in the laboratory decreases
by ca 800–1000 MPa, or 90% of its initial value (FIG. 1B);
in contrast, the absolute strength reduction associated with
the RCMP is less than 10 MPa.
Application of these laboratory experiments to conditions
found in the Earth must be undertaken with care, because
deformation rates in the laboratory (ca 10 -5/s) are orders of
magnitude faster than in nature (ca 10 -13/s). At different
deformation rates, rocks deform by different mechanical
processes, so that extrapolating laboratory results to nature
may be invalid. For example, cataclastic (brittle) defor-
mation is observed in almost all laboratory experiments
performed at low melt fractions but is rarely observed in
partially melted rocks in the field. This problem can be
partly overcome by comparing theoretical predictions for
deformation of melt-bearing rocks (e.g. Paterson 2001) with
experiments on rocks that are less susceptible to cataclasis
at low melt volumes (e.g. Rosenberg et al. 2007). This
comparison confi rms that the largest viscosity decrease
takes place at melt volumes of 1–5%, with a second, less
significant drop at 25–30%.
253 A UGUS T 2011
 A B
Mg3Al2Si3O12
LiSi2O5
(A) Relative viscosity (aggregate viscosity/pure melt
FIGURE 1 viscosity; note logarithmic scale) versus melt volume
percent compiled from experimentally and empirically derived
viscosities for a range of partially molten crust compositions (after
Costa et al. 2009). The rheologically critical melt percentage
(RCMP) occurs at 20–60% melt.
Causes of the Two Strength Reductions
As a rock is heated, melt volume gradually increases, leading
to two pronounced transitions in rheological behaviour.
The exponential decrease in strength at less than 10% melt
correlates with an increase in the connectivity of inter-
granular melt fi lms (Rosenberg and Handy 2005; FIG. 1B).
This is interpreted to cause the pattern of deformation to
change from intracrystalline, that is, mainly within the
interiors of strong grains, to intergranular, that is, local-
ized in weak melt fi lms along interconnected grain bound-
aries. This fi rst rheological transition is therefore termed
the melt connectivity threshold (MCT) (FIG. 1B ; Rosenberg and
Handy 2005). Between 10 and 20% melt, the rock consists
of a continuous solid framework containing a network of
interconnected melt channels with a structure resembling
a sponge. The second significant strength reduction, at
the RCMP, corresponds to the break-up of the solid-rock
framework, which occurs at 20–60% melt, depending on
strain rate and particle shapes (Costa et al. 2009). At higher
melt volumes, the aggregate is no longer supported by a
solid framework and behaves as a liquid with suspended
unmelted grains.
Evidence for Melt-Weakening Processes
in Rocks
Further insight into melt-weakening processes comes from
microstructures in metamorphic rocks affected by melting
during deformation (melt volume ca 10% at 750–800 °C,
700–1000 MPa). Studies of strongly deformed migmatitic
and mylonitic rocks from the Bohemian Massif of central
Europe (e.g. Schulmann et al. 2008b and references therein)
suggest that both mechanical and chemical processes
contribute to melt-weakening (FIG. 2). At high strain rates
and low melt volumes, sliding along grain boundaries can
produce cavities, leading to redistribution of melt and local
volume increases (dilation).
In one example, melting reactions in quartzofeldspathic
mylonites led to deformation by melt-enhanced sliding
along grain boundaries and redistribution of melt into cavi-
ties (FIG. 2A), with granular flow at higher melt volumes.
This caused unusual weakening of feldspar relative to
quartz, as evident from extremely elongated feldspar
aggregates (FIG. 2B). In a second example, melting reac-
tions accompanying deformation of orthogneiss caused
E LEMENTS
MCT
(B) Strength (differential stress, Δσ; note linear scale) versus melt
volume percent (after Rosenberg and Handy 2005). The melt
connectivity threshold (MCT) occurs at ≤8% melt; the strength
change at RCMP (<10 MPa) is too small to see in this plot.
resorption of original crystals and precipitation of new
ones, leading to disintegration of the original fabric and
mixing of different minerals (FIG. 2C). Systematic variations
in mineral composition and texture were interpreted to
reflect continuous equilibration of deforming rock with
infi ltrating melt, possibly driven by dynamically created
porosity linked to grain-boundary sliding, formation of
cavities, and melt–rock reactions (Schulmann et al. 2008b).
These observations are consistent with the suggestion that
transient pulses of compaction and dilation contribute to
melt migration and associated ductile flow in mid-crustal,
partially molten rocks (e.g. Brown 2007).
Implications for Crustal Deformation
The decrease in viscosity with increasing melt fraction,
characterized by the two rheological transitions described
above, is predicted to have significant effects on small- and
large-scale tectonic processes. Because even a small amount
of melt produces a dramatic decrease in strength, incipient
melting of the continental crust will inevitably lead to
significant weakening and localization of deformation into
melt-weakened migmatite zones. Large-scale detachments
within migmatite layers probably develop during the fi rst
rheological transition (MCT) at low melt volumes. In active
orogens, the large melt volumes (>20%) required to reach
the RCMP threshold are unlikely to be achieved on a bulk
scale in the melt-producing region because of efficient melt
extraction and transfer during deformation (e.g. Brown
2007); however, this threshold may be exceeded where
melts accumulate in the upper crust.
MAKING MOUNTAINS FLOW – NUMERICAL
EXPERIMENTS
It is difficult to design realistic physical experiments that
simulate crustal melting and deformation on the scale of
mountain belts. Instead, sophisticated computer models
are used to investigate many of the fi rst-order processes
involved, including crustal thickening, heating, melt-
weakening, and the deformation associated with orogenic
growth and ductile flow (e.g. Beaumont et al. 2001, 2006;
Gerya et al. 2008; Rey et al. 2009). While different research
groups use different computer algorithms and details of
model design are widely debated, there is general agree-
ment on the controlling processes and their effects on
254 A UGUS T 2011

A FIGURE 2
B grains and fills wedge-
c)
C A
large, hot orogenic systems. Here we describe a typical
numerical experiment (reference model) and some simple
variations, based on the work of Beaumont et al. (2001,
2006).
In the reference model, the crust is initially undeformed
and consists of laterally uniform upper, middle, and lower
crustal layers. The lower crust is stronger and has less radio-
active heat production than the overlying crustal layers
(FIG. 3). The underlying mantle lithosphere is strong and
its motion may be predefi ned or calculated by the model.
In the models described below, melt-weakening is treated
as a linear reduction in viscosity from the nominal flow
law value (typically 1020 –1021 Pa·s) to 1019 Pa·s over the
temperature range 700–750 ºC. This corresponds to the
onset of muscovite dehydration melting and is also inferred
to be equivalent to the melt connectivity threshold (MCT)
described above. “Melt-prone” material in the models is any
material to which this viscosity reduction is applied (upper
and middle crust; lower crust is considered refractory)
and that reaches the melt-weakening temperature range
(≥700 °C). Crustal thickening is driven by convergence of
one side towards the other, with the underlying mantle
subducted beneath the orogen. The boundary between the
two model continents, referred to as the “suture” (FIG. 3),
would be marked in nature by remnants of the ocean basin
that once separated the continents (e.g. ophiolites). As the
crust thickens, it initially forms a pair of “back-to-back”
thrust wedges facing in opposite directions on either side
of the suture. The thickened crust is heated by radioactive
decay, reaching T ≥ 700 ºC in the middle and lower crust
after about 20 million years (My) (FIG. 3A). With continued
convergence, thickening, and heating, the crust eventually
becomes too weak to sustain the topographic load and
flows outward. This creates a flat orogenic plateau above the
region of melt-weakened crust (FIG. 3B), flanked by wedges
linking the plateau with stronger undeformed crust in the
foreland.
E LEMENTS 255
Schematic
diagrams
showing the different micro-
physical processes associated
with melt-enhanced diffu-
sion creep along grain
boundaries and dislocation
creep within grains (e.g.
Schulmann et al. 2008b).
σ1, σ3 = maximum and
minimum principal stresses,
respectively. (A) Melt
produced by metamorphic
reactions coats plagioclase
shaped pockets between
K-feldspar grains. (B) Melt
products are precipitated
along grain boundaries and
intragranular fractures in
K-feldspar grains at a high
angle to stretching linea-
tions. (C) Progressive fabric
disintegration and grain
mixing result from melt infil-
tration and reactive
porous flow.
The contrast in elevation between the plateau and the
foreland (≥4 km) creates a pressure difference (gravita-
tional potential energy gradient) capable of driving the
flow of low-viscosity crust (≤1019 Pa·s) toward the foreland.
The process is analogous to pressing on an egg sandwich:
the soft fi lling is squeezed out and emerges at the edge
of the sandwich and through any holes in the bread. In
mountain belts, this “channel flow” takes the form of a
tongue of melt-weakened crust (migmatite), bounded by
lower thrust-sense and upper normal-sense ductile shear
zones, and decoupled from and flowing between stronger
lower and upper crust (FIG. 3B). The overlying crust may
be transported with the flow, carrying its embedded struc-
tures, including the suture zone, with it; in this case,
displacement on the upper normal-sense shear zone will
be less than that on the lower thrust-sense shear zone.
Where erosion rates are high at the orogenic flanks, the
channel may be extruded at the surface (FIG. 3C). In this
case, a traverse across the model from the foreland to the
plateau would cross a fold and thrust belt, a zone of low- to
medium-grade metamorphic rocks in which metamorphic
grade increases upwards (“inverted” sequence), a ductile
thrust-sense shear zone overlain by high-grade metamor-
phic rocks including deformed migmatites (extrusion zone;
FIG. 3C ), a zone of decreasing metamorphic grade asso-
ciated with normal-sense ductile shear zones and faults,
and finally low-grade to non-metamorphic rocks occupying
the upper crust of the plateau (FIGS. 3C, D). This pattern is
reminiscent of the geology of the Himalayan Mountains
(FIGS. 4, 5; Jamieson et al. 2004).
The models are highly sensitive to variations in crustal
strength. For example, upper crust that contains embedded
weak layers (e.g. shale, salt) may develop instabilities that
allow some channel material to flow vertically toward the
plateau surface, creating structural domes cored by weak
middle crust (FIG. 3D ; Jamieson et al. 2006). Models with
strength variations in the lower crust may not develop
A UGUS T 2011
 continuous channel flow zones, but instead produce ductile
nappes that are expelled towards the foreland when under-
thrust by stronger lower crust (FIG. 3E ; Jamieson et al. 2007).
In all models investigated to date, some form of melt-weak-
ening is required to form broad plateaus associated with
outward flow of weak crust from the core of the orogen
towards its flanks. Models that lack melt-weakening form
back-to-back thrust wedges (e.g. Willett et al. 1993) and do
not develop plateaus or coeval thrust-sense and normal-
sense shear zones.
The models described above are incomplete in that they
do not incorporate the segregation, transport or emplace-
ment of magma, nor do they include buoyancy effects.
Melt-weakened regions in the model must therefore be
considered zones of incipient partial melting (melt volume
≤ 10%) that flow in response to differential pressures within
the deforming system. Where larger volumes of melt are
present and can segregate efficiently (e.g. Brown 2007),
the low density of the melt relative to its host rocks should
promote buoyant vertical transport of magma, leading to
emplacement of plutons and/or creation of melt-cored
domes in the upper crust (e.g. Rey et al. 2009). Where melt-
prone material becomes incorporated into the deep levels
of an orogen, widespread melting could lead to buoyant
vertical transport of lower crust (e.g. Lexa et al. 2011),
in contrast to the dominantly lateral transport described
above.
CRUSTAL MELTING IN THE EARTH’S
LARGEST MOUNTAIN BELTS
As the one of the largest mountain belts that have ever
existed on Earth, the modern Himalayan–Tibetan orogen
(FIG. 4) is a natural laboratory for investigating the distribu-
tion of melt in an active orogen and for studying the melt
products formed during its growth. Crustal thickening,
driven by collision between India and Asia, began 50–55
million years ago. The Indian plate has been thrust under
the Asian plate and its leading edge now lies under the
Tibetan plateau, about 300 km north of the Indus–Tsangpo
suture zone (ITS) that marks the surface position of the
collision boundary (FIGS. 4, 5; Nábělek et al. 2009). The
present-day crustal thickness exceeds 80 km, and inferred
temperatures in the middle to lower crust are well above
700 ºC (Nelson et al. 1996; Klemperer 2006). Geological
and geophysical evidence indicates that melting began at
about 30 Ma and continues to this day.

a)
A
after 20 My
VP = 5 cm/y suture
wedge wedge 5
00°C
700°C

0 km 200 900°C
V:H = 1:1

b)
B after 35 My
foreland plateau
wedge
channel flow

c)
C extrusion zone after 50 My

Numerical model predictions

FIGURE 3 for crustal flow in reference
model (A to C) and simple variations (D,
E) for melt-weakened orogenic belts (after
Beaumont et al. 2001, 2006; Jamieson et
al. 2006, 2007); the time elapsed after
d)
D variation 1: variably weak upper crust initial collision is indicated in models A to
C in millions of years (My). White arrows
dome
show the directions and relative magni-
tudes of flow. A melt-prone region (gold)
lies between the 700 ºC isotherm and the
base of the middle crust. Black dots show
the position of the suture. V P = conver-
gence velocity, A = radioactive heat
production. (A) Crustal thickening forms
back-to-back wedges and leads to heating
e)
E variation 2: variably strong lower crust in the orogenic core. (B) Melt-weakening
leads to outward-directed channel fl ow,
driven by the pressure gradient between
nappe the plateau and foreland (elevation differ-
ence ca 4 km). The upper crust and
suture may be transported with the fl ow.
(C) The channel is extruded between
f)F thrust- and normal-sense shear zones by
focused erosion at the orogenic front. (D)
Reference Model Crust Variation 1 Variation 2 Models with an embedded weak layer
0 0 (orange) in the upper crust form wider
very 4.5 -
depth (km)

depth (km)

upper (weak) weak 7 km orogens with broad extrusion zones and

10 melt weakened high A 10
melt-prone domes. (E) Models with variably strong
middle (stronger) at T ≥ 700°C lower crust (green) form ductile nappes,
region 20
25 with limited channel flow beneath the
lower (strongest)
not low A stronger → weaker
plateau. (F) Properties of model materials
35 melt weakened 35

E LEMENTS 256 A UGUS T 2011

 Geophysical Evidence for Melting
beneath Tibet
Although surface mapping by geologists is the fi rst step
in understanding the structure of a mountain belt such
as the Himalaya, determining the distribution of rocks
and melt below the surface requires the use of geophys-
ical imaging. The most widely used technique is seismic
reflection, which uses sound (seismic) waves generated by
explosions or earthquakes to determine the composition
and depth of underground rock layers, much like medical
ultrasound imaging is used to look inside the human
body. The velocity of seismic waves varies according
to rock composition, and the presence of fluids such as
partial melt and brines lowers the velocity of both crustal
and mantle rocks significantly. Since the 1980s, seismic
surveys such as the INDEPTH profi le (FIGS. 4, 5A; Nelson
et al. 1996) have revealed the deep crustal structure of
the Himalayan–Tibetan orogen. The data clearly show the
Indian plate dipping north beneath the Himalaya along
the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT; FIG. 5A). North of the
ITS, a strong reflection at 15–20 km depth (B2 in FIG. 5A)
provides evidence for a zone of crustal fluids that could be
either partial melts or brines.
Magnetotelluric imaging uses natural radio waves to
measure the electrical resistivity of the crust and mantle,
which is very sensitive to the presence of fluids. FIGURE 5A
shows results from a magnetotelluric survey made along
the INDEPTH seismic profi le in southern Tibet (Unsworth
et al. 2005). Comparing the seismic and magnetotelluric
data (FIG. 5A) shows that the underthrust Indian plate has
the high electrical resistivity expected for old, cold litho-
sphere. In contrast, the crust beneath the Tibetan plateau
has anomalously low resistivity, which is most reasonably
explained by the presence of fluids. Moreover, the top of
the low-resistivity layer coincides with seismic reflection
a)
A Himalaya ITS Tibetan plateau
0 100 200
b)
B cate data-recording locations. Blues
E LEMENTS 257
B2, giving two lines of evidence for a zone of fluids at
depth. Unsworth et al. (2005) concluded that 5–12% partial
melt is probably required to explain the observed electrical
resistivity of this layer. As discussed above, this volume of
melt should cause a profound decrease in strength, suffi-
cient to permit outward crustal flow under gravitational
pressure (e.g. Clark and Royden 2000; Beaumont et al.
2001).
Digital elevation map of the Himalayan–Tibetan colli-
FIGURE 4 sion zone (after Royden et al. 2008; Nábělek et al.
2009; Bai et al. 2010), showing plate tectonic convergence (black
arrows) and inferred outward flow of melt-weakened crust from
beneath the Tibetan plateau toward the Himalaya (blue arrows) and
southeast Asia (yellow arrows). ITS (black dashed lines) = Indus–
Tsangpo suture zone. The red and white lines show the locations of
seismic and magnetotelluric profiles described in the text, including
the INDEPTH profile (FIG. 5A). The dashed green line shows the
approximate limit of underthrust Indian crust (Nábělek et al. 2009).
ohm-m
(A) Geophysical image of
FIGURE 5 the crust below the
Himalaya and southern Tibetan
plateau. Black lines show seismic
reflection data from the INDEPTH
profile (FIG. 4; Nelson et al. 1996).
MHT = Main Himalayan Thrust, inter-
preted as the upper surface of the
underthrust Indian plate. Colour
contours show electrical resistivity (in
300 km ohm-m) determined by magnetotel-
luric exploration on the same transect
(Unsworth et al. 2005); triangles indi-
and greens represent resistivity values
typical of dry crust and upper mantle;
red regions have anomalously low
resistivity, indicating the presence of a
fluid phase (e.g. partial melt); reflector
B2 is interpreted to represent the top
of a fluid-bearing region. Arrows show
possible flow direction leading to
exposure of mid-crustal melt zones in
the High Himalaya. (B) Geology of the
central Himalayan orogen showing
distribution of plutons formed by
crustal melting within the High
Himalayan (red) and North Himalayan
(pink) granite belts. Greater Himalayan
metasediments (orange) have been
interpreted to represent an extruded
channel flow zone. ITS = Indus–
Tsangpo suture (defines the plate
boundary at the surface); NHA =
North Himalayan antiform
A UGUS T 2011
Magnetotelluric and seismic surveys on the Tibetan plateau
show that crustal layers with low resistivity and low seismic
velocity are widespread below a depth of 15–20 km.
Notably, the highest fluid contents, implying the highest
degree of melting and thus locations where crustal flow
may be possible, are found in two distinct regions. The first
is in southern Tibet, extending along most of the east-west
length of the Himalaya, where the flow is inferred to be
in a southward direction and coupled to erosion in the
Himalaya (FIG. 4; Beaumont et al. 2001). The second is in
eastern Tibet, where horizontal movement of the crust is
the dominant style of deformation now accommodating
the India–Asia collision (e.g. Royden et al. 2008). Surface
motion in this area is thought to be a response to outward
flow of weak lower crust toward the southeast (FIG. 4; Clark
and Royden 2000; Royden et al. 2008). This interpretation
is supported by geophysical surveys that show elongated
regions of low seismic velocity (Royden et al. 2008) and
high fluid content (Bai et al. 2010) in the crust, which may
be flow channels, shear zones, or both. Similar observa-
tions from other active mountain belts (Unsworth 2010)
support the hypothesis that crustal melting during moun-
tain building contributes to plateau formation and lateral
flow of the crust.
Geological Record of Crustal Melting
in the Himalaya
Granites and migmatites distributed over more than
1500 km along the length of the Himalayan orogen (FIG.
5B) reveal when and where the crust has melted since the
India–Asia collision began. Most of this evidence comes
from muscovite-bearing leucogranites that intruded
Greater Himalayan gneisses and migmatites south of the
High Himalaya (FIG. 5B ; Harris 2007). The metamorphic
rocks were transported from north to south as a ductile
sheet bounded to the south (below) by the Main Central
Thrust zone and to the north (above) by the normal-sense
South Tibetan Detachment system (e.g. Beaumont et al.
2001; Harris 2007). Geochemical and petrological studies
demonstrate that the High Himalayan leucogranites were
derived from melting of their metasedimentary host rocks,
driven by fluid-absent muscovite breakdown within the
mid-crust (ca 20–30 km, 670–700 °C; Harris and Massey
1994). Based on the thermal properties of Himalayan rocks,
numerical models and the distribution of leucogranites, it
is thought that the high temperatures resulted from radio-
active heat production within the thickened continental
crust (Zhang et al. 2004). The ages of the leucogranites,
determined from U–Pb dating of accessory minerals such
as zircon and monazite, are key to understanding the rela-
tionship between crustal-scale deformation and crustal
melting. Across much of the central Himalaya, leuco-
granites exposed today formed between 20 and 23 Ma, at
about the same time as their host rocks were undergoing
partial melting and about 30 My after the collision began.
Evidence from mineral cooling ages indicates that they
formed during a period of rapid exhumation, consistent
with experimental evidence indicating that about 10%
melting can be induced by decompression (Harris and
Massey 1994). In the eastern Himalaya, granites as young
as 11 Ma, interpreted to represent deeper levels of the crust,
have been exposed by a combination of intense erosion
and normal faulting at higher structural levels (e.g. Harris
2007).
In southern Tibet, a second belt of Tertiary granites was
emplaced into the core of the North Himalayan antiform
(FIG. 5B), where metamorphic gneiss domes are exposed
within low-grade Tethyan sedimentary rocks. Doming of
the mid-crust between the mountain front and the ITS
is predicted by some models of mid-crustal channel flow
E LEMENTS 258
beneath thin, weak upper crust (FIG. 3D ; Beaumont et al.
2001; Jamieson et al. 2006). Recent studies have identified
two distinct types of North Himalayan granites, distin-
guished by their petrology, field relations and emplacement
ages. The younger group comprises porphyritic two-mica
granite plutons emplaced between 15 Ma and 9 Ma, with
isotopic and trace element compositions virtually indistin-
guishable from the High Himalayan leucogranites (Zhang
et al. 2004). They are likely to have formed by a similar
process, although their kyanite-bearing mineralogy and
major element geochemistry suggest that melting occurred
at somewhat deeper crustal levels (ca 30 km). The relatively
young ages suggest rapid exhumation, perhaps related to
the mid-Miocene development of the North Himalayan
gneiss domes.
The older group of North Himalayan intrusions comprises
equigranular, two-mica, garnet-bearing granites that form
complex networks of sheets and dykes intruding the host
rocks. Their emplacement between 28 and 23 Ma predated
significant decompression of their host rocks, and their
geochemistry suggests that a fluid phase was present during
melting (King et al. 2011). Because fluid-saturated magma
crystallizes when the pressure drops (e.g. Harris and Massey
1994), these melts would not have risen significantly
from their source before they crystallized and would have
formed sheet-like conformable bodies rather than cross-
cutting diapiric plutons. Recognition of this older suite of
intrusions, which are coeval with top-to-the-south shear
fabrics but predate shear-sense reversal, places important
constraints on the timing of southward flow of mid-
crustal rocks beneath southern Tibet (King et al. 2011).
Their ages approximately coincide with numerical model
predictions that crustal melting and channel flow within
the Himalayan orogen began at ca 30 Ma (Beaumont et
al. 2001, Jamieson et al. 2004; FIG. 3A), a prediction made
several years before crust-derived granites of this age were
fi rst documented.
Lifting the Lid – Evidence of Flow in Ancient
Mountain Belts
In deeply eroded continental regions, the middle to
lower crust of ancient orogenic belts is now exposed at
the surface, allowing geologists to study features that are
hidden from view beneath modern plateaus. In many cases
there is overwhelming evidence that melt was present in
the deforming crust, and its presence must therefore have
affected both crustal strength and tectonic style. Good
examples come from two ancient orogenic belts that once
rivalled the Himalaya in scale: the Paleozoic Variscan
orogen in Europe and the Proterozoic Grenvillian orogen
in North America.
The European Variscan orogen formed at 430–300 Ma
during progressive accretion of peri-Gondwanan blocks to
the Laurussian continent (Schulmann et al. 2009). In what
is now the Bohemian Massif, subduction of continental
crust led to formation of felsic granulites and eclogites
within a hot (850–1000 °C), deep (60–70 km) orogenic
root zone. Subsequent shortening led to vertical material
transfer of lower crustal diapirs to the mid-crust (Lexa et al.
2011), accompanied by decompression melting that trans-
formed the exhuming lower crust into a partially molten
mush containing refractory bodies of high-pressure rocks.
Ascending migmatitic lower crust initially pooled at depths
of 10–25 km beneath a rigid lid and then flowed laterally,
leading to detachment and partial fragmentation of the lid.
Subsequent indentation of the orogenic root by stronger
lower crust activated a thick, hot, ductile sheet that was
transported 200 km as a heterogeneous channel flow
(FIG. 6; Schulmann et al. 2008a; Lexa et al. 2011). The hot,
A UGUS T 2011
 Inferred heterogeneous channel fl ow within the
FIGURE 6 Moldanubian region, Bohemian Massif, in the Variscan
orogen of central Europe (after Schulmann et al. 2008a, Lexa et al.
2011). Melt-weakened lower crust (beige), carrying blocks of high-
pressure and high-temperature rocks (yellow) and orogenic middle
migmatitic flow zone transported blocks of deep orogenic
lower crust (granulites and eclogites) and heated adjacent
mid-crustal metasediments. The short-lived (5–10 My)
channel flow episode was accompanied by deep erosion
of the orogenic lid.
The Grenvillian orogen of eastern North America formed
between 1200 and 1000 Ma during convergence between
the Laurentian and Amazonian continents (e.g. Jamieson
et al. 2007 and references therein). Gneisses and migma-
tites that formed at 25–35 km depth and 700–900 °C are
widely distributed within this deeply eroded mountain
belt. In central Ontario, migmatite containing up to 30%
leucosome formed during convergence and persisted in the
mid-crust for 20–40 My (Slagstad et al. 2005). Field rela-
tions indicate that this melt-weakened crust formed thin
lobate sheets that flowed laterally for tens of kilometres.
However, the overall style of melt-enhanced ductile flow
more closely resembles stacking of ductile nappes (FIG. 3E)
than a Himalayan-style channel (Jamieson et al. 2007).
IMPLICATIONS FOR MOUNTAIN-BUILDING
PROCESSES
The experimental results, computer models, and geophys-
ical and geological data described above demonstrate that
melting has a profound effect on rock strength, that melt-
weakening strongly influences the tectonic style of moun-
tain belts, that weak partial-melt zones and magma are
present within large modern orogens, and that protracted
interaction among melting, deformation, and crustal flow
can be documented in both modern and ancient orogenic
belts. While mountain building clearly leads to melting,
how does melting, once initiated, affect mountain building?
Plate convergence at rates of 1–5 cm/y initially forms
“small cold orogens” (FIG. 7), with back-to-back wedges
(e.g. Willett et al. 1993) consisting largely of low-grade
sedimentary and volcanic rocks. As these orogens grow
along the “orogenic main sequence” (FIG. 7), thickened
crust heats up by radioactive decay on timescales of ca
20 My. When the melt connectivity threshold is reached
in a substantial volume of middle and lower crust, steep
topographic gradients cannot be sustained and a plateau
forms. The orogen must then grow outward rather than
upward; that is, melting limits the maximum crustal thick-
ness and elevation of mountain belts.
Where high convergence velocities lead to rapid crustal
thickening, an orogen may get very large (≥70 km thick)
before it gets hot enough to melt (path 1, FIG. 7). Once
melting begins, however, it will affect a substantial volume
of crust. The resulting “large hot orogen” will undergo
some form of lateral flow, driven by the topographic
gradient between the plateau and the undeformed fore-
land (FIG. 3B). Alternatively, melting may begin when the
E LEMENTS 259
crust (green and orange), fl owed over strong continental crust
(Brunia, pink) during late Paleozoic collision. CMP = Central
Moldanubian Pluton; OMC = orogenic middle crust; OLC =
orogenic lower crust
orogen is still relatively small (≤50 km thick) if the rate of
crustal thickening is slow and/or the heating rate is high
(e.g. from high concentrations of radioactive elements or
injection of mantle-derived magma; cf Clark et al. 2011
this issue). In this case, melting is likely to limit further
crustal thickening (path 3), forming a “small hot orogen”
characterised by abundant granite plutons intruding upper
crustal rocks and anomalously high-grade lower crust. Most
orogenic belts probably fall somewhere in between (path
2) and reach moderate thickness (50–70 km) before the
onset of widespread melting.
The style of crustal flow will be strongly controlled by
factors like heat production and the accumulated volume of
melt-prone crust. Once melting begins, absorption of latent
heat should tend to buffer crustal temperature (e.g. Clark
et al. 2011), and efficient extraction of melt should accom-
pany deformation (e.g. Brown 2007). However, because
only a small amount of melt is needed to keep the crust
weak (Rosenberg and Handy 2005; FIG. 1B), these factors
are unlikely to reverse the melt-weakening process as long
as convergence continues and temperature remains within
the partial melting range. After convergence stops, thick
orogenic crust should remain hot enough to retain some
melt for at least 20 My. Large and intermediate orogens
may therefore decay by outward flow at their flanks and
thinning of their cores (path 4), until flow is inhibited by
cooling and reduction of topographic gradients.
Orogenic temperature–magnitude diagram (after
FIGURE 7 Beaumont et al. 2006) showing how crustal melting
(with increasing temperature) may affect the size of orogenic belts
as measured by crustal thickness (“magnitude”). V P = convergence
velocity (controls rate of thickening); A = radioactive heat produc-
tion (controls rate of heating). Red field shows conceptually the
region in which dehydration melting is possible, using crustal thick-
ness as a proxy for pressure. Inset shows typical progression along
the “orogenic main sequence” (path 1) from back-to-back wedges
to large orogens with plateaus.
A UGUS T 2011
If crustal melting strongly influences the growth of, and ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
flow within, mountain belts, then the extent of melting
The authors thank the many colleagues and students
can be inferred by examining the Earth’s mountain belts,
who have contributed ideas, data and stimulating discus-
past and present. For example, if orogenic plateaus form in
sions over the years (especially C. Beaumont, J. King, M.
response to melting in the underlying crust, melt should
Handy, P. Štípská), and the funding agencies that have
be present beneath the modern Andean and Anatolian
supported our research (including NSERC, NERC and DFG).
plateaus (e.g. Unsworth 2010). In contrast, the rugged
Constructive comments by principal editor H. McSween,
topography and relatively small size of the Alps suggest
R. Weinberg and an anonymous referee substantially
that the degree of crustal melting was insufficient to create
improved the manuscript.
a plateau or to drive lateral flow of the middle crust. Finally,
to the extent that continental interiors largely consist of
the roots of ancient mountain belts, crustal melting has
influenced the deep structure of most of the Earth’s conti-
nental crust.

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E LEMENTS 260 A UGUS T 2011

 Organizing Melt Flow
through the Crust
Michael Brown1, Fawna J. Korhonen2, and Christine S. Siddoway3

1811-5209/11/0007-0261$2.50 DOI: 10.2113/gselements.7.4.261

M
elt that crystallizes as granite at shallow crustal levels in orogenic In compar ison w ith likely
belts originates from migmatite and residual granulite in the deep source-rock compositions, many
granulites and migmatites are
crust; this is the most important mass-transfer process affecting chemically depleted with respect
the continents. Initially melt collects in grain boundaries before migrating to a granitic component (Solar and
along structural fabrics and through discordant fractures initiated during syn- Brown 2001; Guernina and Sawyer
2003; Brown and Korhonen 2009;
anatectic deformation. As this permeable porosity develops, melt flows down Korhonen et al. 2010a). The pres-
gradients in pressure generated by the imposed tectonic stress, moving from ervation of peritectic minerals (see
grain boundaries through outcrop-scale vein networks to ascent conduits. glossary on page 234 for defi ni-
tion of terms in italics) in leuco-
Gravity then drives melt ascent through the crust, either in dikes that fill somes (FIG. 1), the lack of extensive
ductile-to-brittle–elastic fractures or by pervasive flow in planar and linear retrogression of peak metamorphic
channels in belts of steep structural fabrics. Melt may be arrested in its ascent mineral assemblages in residual
granulites (White and Powell
at the ductile-to-brittle transition zone or it may be trapped en route by a 2002), and the collapse of formerly
developing tectonic structure. melt-fi lled structures (Brown et al.
1999) confi rm that this chemical
KEYWORDS : dike, ductile fracturing, granite, granulite, melt flow, migmatite signature reflects loss of melt
from these rocks. Thus, most of
INTRODUCTION the melt generated in the source
was extracted. This melt rose through the crust until the
The transport of melt from sites of generation in the deep ductile-to-brittle transition zone or other factors arrested
orogenic crust to sites of accumulation at a shallower level ascent (Brown and Solar 1999; Brown 2007).
is the most important mass-transfer process affecting the
continents. As a result the continents became internally Evidence from thin section studies of residual granulites
differentiated and stabilized. The volume and composition and migmatites shows that initially melt collects at grain
of melt generated is a function of source-rock composi- boundaries and then migrates either along structural
tion, pressure (P) and temperature (T) of melting, and fabrics that are related to a shape-preferred orientation of
the presence or absence of an aqueous fluid. The range matrix grains or through tensile microcracks (Marchildon
of fertility for melt production among common crustal and Brown 2002), to accumulate in lower-pressure sites, for
rocks (greywackes, pelites, amphibolites, and granites example, strain shadows associated with peritectic minerals
sensu lato) at granulite facies P–T conditions requires that
the volume of crust involved in granite production was
much greater—perhaps by an order of magnitude—than
the volume of orogenic granite. The spacing of plutons
in orogens suggests sources of broadly similar volume in
any one setting (Brown 2007, 2010). When combined
with evidence from inversion of gravity anomalies related
to a root of granite extending to depth beneath plutons
(Vigneresse 1995a), which represents the infi lled ascent
conduit, these observations require that lateral flow of melt
must be a common occurrence in the source (Brown 2007,
2010).

1 Laboratory for Crustal Petrology, Department of Geology

University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
E-mail: mbrown@umd.edu
2 Department of Applied Geology, Curtin University Pristine peritectic garnet (pink) and minor cordierite
FIGURE 1 (pale green, labelled Crd) in leucosome in stromatic
Perth, WA6845, Australia
E-mail: fkorhonen@curtin.edu.au metatexite migmatite from the Fosdick migmatite–granite complex,
West Antarctica. See Figure 1 in Sawyer et al. (2011 this issue); for
3 Department of Geology, Colorado College more details see Korhonen et al. (2010).
Colorado Springs, CO 80703, USA
E-mail: csiddoway@ColoradoCollege.edu

E LEMENTS , V OL . 7, PP. 261–266 261 A UGUS T 2011

(Brown et al. 1999) and deformation bands (Brown 2004).
As observed on the outcrop, pathways by which melt has
migrated are recorded by leucosome, peritectic minerals
± leucosome, and melanosome. Leucosome is commonly
found in layer-parallel veins and in structurally discor-
dant sites such as dilation and shear bands; these leuco-
somes may link to defi ne a former melt-flow network in
three dimensions (Brown et al. 1999; Brown 2004). When
active, these melt-flow networks allowed redistribution and
accumulation of melt and provided pathways that allowed
melt to flow to conduits in which it was transferred to the
shallow crust.
The inferred depth to the anatectic front in an orogenic belt
varies—it may be as little as 15 km in high-temperature–
low-pressure belts or deeper than 100 km in Phanerozoic
ultrahigh-pressure belts—but is commonly between 20 and
70 km. Thus the length scale of melt ascent varies. Ascent
may be independent of tectonic structures and occur via
dikes (FIG. 2; Brown 2004; Weinberg and Regenauer-Lieb
2010) or it may be controlled by regional deformation and
tectonic structure (Vigneresse 1995a, b; Collins and Sawyer
1996; Brown and Solar 1999). Structurally controlled melt
flow generally occurs at a high angle to the principal
compressive stress, either along the lineation in the case of
constrictional strains (FIG. 3A) or in the plane of the foliation
for flattening strains (FIG. 3B), or associated with crustal-scale
shear zones (Roman Berdiel et al. 1997).
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESIDUAL
GRANULITES, MIGMATITE – GRANITE
COMPLEXES, AND OROGENIC GRANITES
Melts that crystallize as granite plutons in the shallow
orogenic crust originate from migmatites and residual gran-
ulites in the deep orogenic crust. By contrast, regional-scale
migmatite–granite complexes represent a level in the crust
where some of the migrating melt becomes trapped during
ascent and crystallizes as granite within the formerly supra-
solidus crust now represented by host migmatites. These
complexes correspond to an intermediate level—previously
at depths of 15 – 40 km—deeper than the anatectic front
but shallower than the strongly residual deep crust. The
rocks in these complexes record the superimposed effects
of melting, melt migration, melt loss, and melt passage;
A B
(A) Sketch showing ductile-fracture dikes feeding
FIGURE 2 brittle-elastic dikes. FROM WEINBERG AND REGENAUER- LIEB
(2010), WITH PERMISSION FROM THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA . (B)
Centimeter-scale dikes of granite propagate in an irregular (zigzag)
fashion from shear bands in the lower part of the image; they are
interpreted as opening-mode ductile fractures (for more details see
Brown 2004). Lens cap in upper center of image for scale
E LEMENTS
ascending melt may have interacted with the former melt-
bearing crust at the level now exposed. Thus, regional-scale
migmatite–granite complexes are intrinsically compli-
cated but exceptionally informative about the processes
of melting, melt extraction, and melt ascent. We illustrate
these points with two examples.
Western Maine, USA
In western Maine, Silurian–Devonian turbidites were
deformed within a Devonian crustal-scale shear zone
system (Solar et al. 1998; Brown and Solar 1999) and meta-
morphosed to high-T–low-P upper amphibolite facies condi-
tions (T > 700 ºC and P > 4.5 kbar (Johnson et al. 2003)
along a counterclockwise P–T path leading to water-fluxed
muscovite-breakdown melting (Solar and Brown 2001).
The shear zone system comprises kilometer-scale zones of
apparent flattening strain that anastomose around zones
of apparent constrictional strain (Solar et al. 1998; Brown
and Solar 1999). The onset of melting is recorded by the
first appearance of leucosomes in the up-temperature direc-
tion, which represents the maximum rise in the crust of
the solidus at the peak of metamorphism (FIG. 4). Stromatic
metatexite migmatites occur in the zones of apparent flat-
tening strain whereas diatexite migmatites occur in the zones
of apparent constrictional strain, and contemporaneous
decameter-scale granites occur as either concordant planar
or linear bodies according to the structural zone in which
they occur, forming a regional-scale migmatite–granite
complex. Although the leucosomes and granites exploit
the mechanical anisotropy, pinch-and-swell structures and
the absence of solid-state fabrics in the leucosomes and
granites show that deformation and emplacement were
synchronous (FIG 3B), suggesting that these features record
syntectonic pervasive melt flow through the deforming
crust (Solar et al. 1998; Brown and Solar 1999).
Granite in coeval syntectonic plutons, which have ages in
the range 408 – 404 Ma (Solar et al. 1998), was sourced from
crustal rocks with chemical characteristics similar to those
of the host Silurian–Devonian succession (Pressley and
Brown 1999; Tomascak et al. 2005). The migmatites have
residual compositions relative to the associated subsolidus
metapelites, consistent with loss of a granite component,
and the leucosomes represent the cumulate products of
fractional crystallization of the melt, with variable melt
loss (Solar and Brown 2001). Decameter-scale granites
have a range of chemistries that reflect variable entrain-
ment of residual plagioclase and biotite, the accumulation
A B
(A) Lineation-parallel irregularly shaped granite layer
FIGURE 3 that is inferred to record magma migration through
Paleoproterozoic lower crust via structurally controlled pathways
parallel to the moderately to steeply plunging regional elongation
direction (for more details see Collins and Sawyer 1996). Pen
parallel to lineation for scale (B) Subhorizontal and subvertical
outcrop surfaces exposing concordant planar granite layers in
residual stromatic metatexite migmatite; the granite represents
melt trapped during ascent within a regional-scale zone of apparent
flattening strain, western Maine, USA (for more details see Brown
and Solar 1999). Lens cap in upper center of image for scale
262 A UGUS T 2011
of products of fractional crystallization, and the loss of
most of the evolved liquid (Solar and Brown 2001). Granite
from hectometer-scale bodies that occur in the migmatite
domains have compositions consistent with crystallization
of evolved liquids produced by fractional crystallization of
primary muscovite-breakdown melts derived from a source
similar to the exposed migmatites (Solar and Brown 2001).
At the peak of the thermal evolution, as the isotherms
moved up through the core of the actively deforming
orogenic belt, the anatectic front migrated to shallow
levels in the crust, perhaps as shallow as 15 km (Brown
and Solar 1999). Thus, melt transferring through the crust
in lineation- and foliation-parallel conduits was able to
reach shallow crustal levels without freezing. The melt
would have been superheated with respect to the solidus
(Leitch and Weinberg 2002), so it could have migrated
across the migmatite front into the unmelted crust to
ascend some distance before solidification. The level of
exposure of the larger (kilometer-scale), apparently discor-
dant plutons corresponds to the former ductile-to-brittle
transition zone, whereas the smaller (decameter- to hecto-
meter-scale), apparently concordant plutons correspond
to a deeper level in the crust (Brown and Solar 1999). For
a geotherm consistent with these inferences, the plutons
would likely extend downward into increasingly more
residual migmatite at deeper crustal levels. As deforma-
tion waned and the isotherms moved down through the
core of the orogenic belt, the height to which any batch of
melt could ascend in the crust from the source decreased
and the intervals between arrivals of melt batches into the
root zone of plutons became longer. In this circumstance,
individual batches of melt may have crystallized before the
arrival of subsequent batches, constructing a downward-
growing composite root zone in which the top of the active
system moved progressively downwards.
Fosdick Mountains, West Antarctica
The Fosdick migmatite–granite complex is exposed as a
gneiss dome in the Fosdick Mountains of West Antarctica.
It comprises interlayered migmatitic gneisses intruded
by multiple phases of anatectic granite (FIG. 5). A Lower
Paleozoic metasedimentary succession and a suite of
Devonian granodiorites exposed outside the dome are
the primary source rocks of the migmatitic gneisses
and anatectic granites inside the dome (Korhonen et al.
2010a, b; Siddoway and Fanning 2009). Two episodes of
crustal anatexis are recorded in the gneisses; both involve
biotite-breakdown melting at granulite facies conditions
(T = 820–870 °C, P = 7.5–11.5 kbar, and T = 830–870 °C, P =
6–7.5 kbar, respectively; Korhonen et al. 2010a). The fi rst
episode was related to Andean-style convergence during
the Upper Paleozoic, whereas the second was related to
a change from wrench deformation to oblique diver-
gence and gneiss dome formation during the Cretaceous
(McFadden et al. 2010).
The deepest structural level exposed in the central Fosdick
Mountains preserves evidence of an Upper Paleozoic melting
event. This domain comprises a ~5 km thick interlayered
sequence of migmatitic gneisses, with granite distributed
in decimeter- to decameter-scale sills (see McFadden et
al. 2010 for a detailed description of units and architec-
ture). The gneissic layers exhibit centimeter-scale leuco-
somes deformed into recumbent folds with subhorizontal
axes. Within this domain the granites are dominantly ca
369–336 Ma in age (Siddoway and Fanning 2009; Korhonen
et al. 2010b). Sr–Nd isotope compositions show that the
granites were mainly derived from anatexis of the grano-
diorites (Korhonen et al. 2010b), but mineral equilibria
modeling indicates that these rocks would have produced
only ~2–3 vol% melt at the level exposed (Korhonen et al.
E LEMENTS 263
Schematic section through the crustal-scale, dextral-
FIGURE 4 transpressive shear zone system in western Maine,
USA. Dashed lines are boundaries between structural domains. ACZ
= zone of apparent constrictional strain (no pattern), which occurs
within anastomosing zones of apparent flattening strain (dashed
pattern); BHB rocks = Bronson Hill Belt rocks; CMB rocks = Central
Maine Belt rocks; TAD and WAD = Tumbledown and Weld anatectic
domains, respectively; P = Phillips pluton; Bt = biotite; Ms = musco-
vite. This figure is modifi ed from a similar version published in Solar
and Brown (2001) and is used in accordance with the publications
rights policies of Oxford University Press.
2010a), suggesting that the granites were related to more
extensive melting at deeper crustal levels. By contrast,
modeling of several metasedimentary rock compositions
shows that ~4–25 vol% melt could have been produced
from this source. Preservation of the peak mineral assem-
blages and the absence of retrograde reactions in residual
migmatitic gneisses require a minimum of 70% of this
melt to have been lost to a shallower crustal level that is
no longer preserved (Korhonen et al. 2010a); this scenario
is consistent with the scarcity of Carboniferous granites
derived from a metasedimentary source this deep in the
complex.
At the higher structural levels exposed in the southern and
eastern Fosdick Mountains, residual migmatitic gneisses
host granites from the Cretaceous melting event (FIG. 6A).
Granites associated with subvertical fabrics (ca 115–110 Ma;
FIG. 6 B ) were derived from a dominantly granodioritic
source, whereas granites associated with subhorizontal
fabrics (ca 109–102 Ma; FIG. 6B) were derived from a domi-
nantly metasedimentary source (Korhonen et al. 2010b).
The proportion of leucosome and meter- to decameter-scale
granite sills interlayered with residual gneisses increases
upward, forming a ~2 km thick section of voluminous
granite that is localized in and beneath the South Fosdick
detachment zone (FIG. 5). Beneath the detachment zone the
granite sills are up to 100 meters thick and are separated by
meter-thick layers of residual migmatitic gneiss, resulting
in a sheeted granite complex with dominantly shallowly
dipping fabrics (McFadden et al. 2010). The change in
source and geometry with decreasing age corresponds to
a well-documented transition from wrench deformation to
oblique divergence in the region at ca 100 Ma, the forma-
tion of the detachment associated with the emplacement
of the sheeted granite complex, and rapid exhumation of
the Fosdick migmatite–granite complex as a gneiss dome
(McFadden et al. 2010).
EXTRACTION OF MELT
Melt segregation is a consequence of relative motion
between melt and residue. Viscous grain-boundary sliding,
deformation-assisted formation of pore space, and ductile
fracturing create a dynamically evolving permeability
during the production of the fi rst few volume percent
A UGUS T 2011
 A
W–E (A) and SW–NE (B, C) sections across the
FIGURE 5 Fosdick migmatite–granite complex, West Antarctica,
showing the relationship between residual gneiss and the sheeted
granite complex immediately below the South Fosdick detachment
zone. Rock types in the cross section are as follows: blue = migma-
of melt. As a result melt connectivity is achieved in all
common crustal rocks, although not necessarily at a
common temperature for different source compositions
since melt volume is a function of bulk composition at a
given P and T. The development of a permeable porosity
allows melt to flow from grain boundaries to channels,
providing there is a driving force and the matrix of solid
grains compacts to expel the melt.
The applied forces and physical properties of melting source
rocks control the mechanics of melt extraction. The forces
may be gravitationally induced (due to the density differ-
ence between matrix and melt), tectonic (due to gradients
in differential stress), reaction induced (due to gradients
in melt pressure generated by volume change in a closed
system), and due to interfacial tension between melt and
matrix grains.
Although the density difference between melt and residue
provides a gravitational potential for separation of melt by
porous flow, the viscosity of the silicate melt may be too
high to allow gravity-driven porous flow to segregate melt
from crustal rocks in geologically reasonable timescales at
low melt volumes (<~10 vol%; Rutter and Mecklenburgh
2006). By contrast, variation in pressure due to deformation
is an intrinsic property of all heterogeneous materials and
is important at the outcrop scale. As a result, gradients in
pressure develop. Thus, gradients occur across lithologic
or structural interfaces, due to differences in composition
from layer to layer or the development of fractures and
shear zones. Gradients also develop due to change in rock
properties during partial melting as melt volume changes,
and due to strain and strain-rate weakening or strain and
dilatancy hardening. The influence of volume change on
gradients in melt pressure depends on the relative rates of
melt generation versus compaction and the reduction in
strength associated with increasing melt volume. At the
grain scale, processes such as the development of under-
pressured melt pores by dilation during melt-enhanced
grain-boundary sliding drive melt migration from over-
pressured sites; interfacial tension is likely to be significant
only at low porosity. Overall, the pressure distribution in
deforming suprasolidus crust will be dynamic and will
change in space and time, potentially driving melt from
grain boundaries to channels.
E LEMENTS
titic gneiss derived from a granodioritic source plus minor granite;
grey = migmatitic gneiss derived from a metasedimentary source
rock plus minor granite; pink = sheeted granite complex.
MODIFIED FROM MCFADDEN ET AL. (2010), USED IN ACCORDANCE WITH AGU
PERMISSIONS POLICY
Gravity-induced melt-pressure gradients are on the order of
~0.003–0.004 MPa m-1 (Rutter and Mecklenburgh 2006).
By contrast, local gradients in differential stress poten-
tially can generate gradients in melt pressure that may be
hundreds to thousands of times greater than those due to
the gravitational potential. Although such stress differ-
ences tend to relax, reducing their effectiveness, and the
flow strength of melting rock decreases significantly with
increasing melt volume, tectonically induced melt-pres-
sure gradients are expected to remain larger than gravity-
induced melt-pressure gradients at the outcrop scale. It
is these gradients in pressure that drive local melt flow,
resulting in the formation of a network of channels. The
spacing of the compositional layering, the strength of the
fabric and the compaction length control the scale of these
networks (Rutter and Mecklenburgh 2006; Brown 2010).
Ultimately, it is gravity that drives melt ascent through
the crust, but the link between melt segregation into a
network of channels and melt ascent is problematic. In
some orogenic belts, exhumed residual granulites and
migmatites exhibit a range of grain- to outcrop-scale struc-
tures that imply that pervasive melt migration occurred
at various scales (e.g. Collins and Sawyer 1996; Brown et
al. 1999; Weinberg 1999). Weinberg (1999) argued that
pervasive migration gives rise to melt sheets preferentially
emplaced parallel to high-permeability zones, such as foli-
ation or lithologic contacts. On the other hand, Brown
and Solar (1999) made a case for pervasive migration in
strain-controlled planar and linear structures in zones of
apparent flattening and apparent constrictional strain in
western Maine. For western Maine, Brown and Solar (1999)
showed that the granites were emplaced at the ductile-
to-brittle transition zone and were rooted in the under-
lying residual migmatites. In both cases, pervasive melt
migration was proposed based on the three-dimensional
form of the leucosomes and decameter- to hectometer-scale
granites and their conformable relationship to the tectonic
structures. The hypothesis proposes that advection of heat
with migrating melt drives expansion of the suprasolidus
domain, allowing melt to ascend to shallower depths
(Brown and Solar 1999; Weinberg 1999). The feedback
relation between pervasive migration of melt and heating
of the country rock allows subsequent batches of melt to
reach increasingly shallower levels. This process has been
264 A UGUS T 2011
modeled numerically by Leitch and Weinberg (2002), who
A
demonstrated that pervasive migration of superheated melt
into subsolidus crust is an efficient way of moving the
anatectic front to shallower levels in the crust. As melt
reaches the front, a layer composed of about half granite
and half crust forms below it, so that the total rise of the
front corresponds to about half the thickness of granite that
crystallizes below the moving front. The result is a regional-
scale migmatite–granite complex, as represented by the
two examples from western Maine and West Antarctica
described above.
Partially molten crust represents an overpressured system
with melt-pressure gradients and spatial and temporal
variations in permeability. Permeability has a power law
dependence on melt volume, which may lead to instabili-
ties in the form of waves of melt-fi lled porosity. Connolly
and Podladchikov (2007; see also Connolly 2010) use
numerical simulations to investigate fluid expulsion from
a large volume of elevated porosity obstructed above by B
a layer of low porosity; their results show that such a
configuration can induce strongly channelled fluid flow.
In partially molten crust, the channels are propagated by
waves of melt-fi lled porosity that leave behind trails of
incompletely compacted porosity, and these trails act as
preferential pathways for subsequent waves; this scenario
is consistent with the batch model of pluton construc-
tion. The waves propagate because compaction expels
melt upward from deeper in the crust to create a region of
melt overpressure at the anatectic front. This overpressure
dilates the solid matrix and propagates the porosity beyond
the anatectic front. At this point the porous domain may
propagate independently as a solitary wave of anomalous
porosity fi lled with superheated melt. Passage of the waves
reduces the background porosity in the suprasolidus crust
and the waves gain melt as they propagate. Connolly and
Podladchikov (2007) infer that the channels will develop
with radial symmetry in three dimensions, but in nature
the effect of far-field stress would tend to flatten the chan-
nels. These instabilities may manifest themselves in nature (A) Shallowly dipping sheeted Cretaceous granites
either as domains of concordant decameter- to hectometer- FIGURE 6 (pink-grey color) and intervening layers of migmatitic
scale granites that mimic the strain state in the host rocks gneiss derived from a granodioritic source (medium grey color) and
from a metasedimentary source (dark grey-brown color) make up
(e.g. western Maine, USA) or as domains of dikes and sills
the lower part of the sheeted granite complex below the South
representing former melt-fi lled fractures that propagated Fosdick detachment, Fosdick Mountains, West Antarctica (for more
from the suprasolidus to the subsolidus crust, enabling details see Korhonen et al. 2010b). Geologists at the foot of the cliff
melt to ascend (e.g. Fosdick Mountains, West Antarctica). provide scale. (B) An older generation of Cretaceous granites (115–
110 Ma) forms steeply oriented sheets (center right), whereas a
How do these fractures form? Although field observa- younger generation of Cretaceous granites (109–102 Ma) forms
tions show that leucosome networks may connect with shallowly oriented sheets (upper center), reflecting the change in
tectonics from wrench deformation to oblique divergence (see FIG.
petrographic continuity to granite in centimeter-scale 5B, inset, for a schematic representation). NE side of the Fosdick
dikes (Marchildon and Brown 2003; Brown 2004), the migmatite–granite complex, Fosdick Mountains, West Antarctica
dikes are commonly discordant to foliation and lineation
in the host, indicating that their formation was related
to stress-controlled fracturing. Blunt fracture tips and from the suprasolidus crust through the subsolidus crust
irregular (zigzag) propagation paths (FIG. 2B) demonstrate to the site of accumulation as a body of granite (Connolly
that the thin dikes represent ductile opening-mode frac- and Podladchikov 2007; Hobbs and Ord 2010). Sites of
tures (Brown 2004). Ductile fractures result from creep melt accumulation are controlled by the physical proper-
deformation and growth of microscopic melt-fi lled pores ties of the crust and the stress field, as well as by tectonic
that become interconnected, leading to failure (Eichhubl structures. Melt ascent may be arrested at the ductile-to-
2004). Weinberg and Regenaur-Lieb (2010) postulate that brittle transition zone (Vigneresse 1995b; Brown 2010),
melt-fi lled ductile fractures may reach a critical length, corresponding to depths of 12–18 km, as proposed for
where melt pressure at the tips overcomes fracture tough- western Maine, or it may be stopped en route by a devel-
ness and leads to brittle–elastic diking. Thus, melt ascent oping tectonic structure, such as a major detachment zone,
through the suprasolidus crust is postulated to occur via as occurred in the Fosdick Mountains of West Antarctica.
the formation of ductile fractures, and this process is
expected to switch to brittle–elastic fracturing to allow What is the timescale involved? On the one hand, a pluton
migration of melt through the subsolidus crust (FIG. 2; represents a large volume of magma (103 –10 4 km3 or more)
Brown 2004, 2010). aggregated from many batches of melt (each perhaps
10 -1–102 km3) that crystallized during tens of thousands
Theory, field relationships, and petrological results suggest to several millions of years (Pressley and Brown 1999;
that melt extraction is strongly self-organized from the Brown 2010). On the other hand, the timescale for melt
bottom up (Brown 2010). Where ascent occurs in dikes, extraction and ascent from the source is expected to be
the number of dikes decreases as their width increases short (103 –104 years), based on geochemical considerations

E LEMENTS 265 A UGUS T 2011

and calculated rates of ascent in dikes (Brown 2010). Given
the batch construction of plutons, these two views are not
incompatible. Furthermore, Hobbs and Ord (2010) have
argued that the maximum melt flux at the anatectic front
is on the order of 10 −10 m s−1 for a maximum thickness
for the anatectic zone of 21 km, which is sufficient to
produce a pluton about 3 km thick over a period of 106
years. Smaller values of the melt flux at the anatectic front
result in longer timescales, up to a limit imposed by the
rate at which thermal conduction can provide heat to drive
crustal melting.
CONCLUSIONS
Granites generated during orogenesis originate from
migmatites and residual granulites in the deep crust.
Outcrop-scale networks of remnant granite within these
rocks record the temporal and spatial relations between
melt flow and syn-anatectic deformation. When active,
these networks allow redistribution and accumulation of
melt, and provide links for melt flow to ascent conduits.
Ascent occurs in dikes, which form in ductile fractures in
suprasolidus crust that switch to brittle–elastic fractures in
subsolidus crust, or by pervasive flow, evidenced by congru-
ence between the form of steeply oriented planar and linear
granites and host-rock state of strain. The process of melt
extraction is self-organized from the bottom up.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We acknowledge Roberto Weinberg and an anonymous
reviewer for helpful reviews, and Bernardo Cesare, Hap
McSween, Ed Sawyer and Richard White for comments.
This material is based upon work supported by the
U.S. National Science Foundation under grant numbers
9705858, 0734505, and 0944615 (to Brown), 0338279 and
0944600 (to Siddoway), and a postdoctoral research fellow-
ship to Korhonen (0631324).

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Geology 26: 711-714
Tomascak PB, Brown M, Solar GS, Becker
HJ, Centorbi TL, Tian J (2005) Source
contributions to Devonian granite
magmatism near the Laurentian border,
New Hampshire and Western Maine,
USA. Lithos 80: 75-99
Vigneresse JL (1995a) Control of granite
emplacement by regional deformation.
Tectonophysics 249: 173-186
Vigneresse JL (1995b) Crustal regime
of deformation and ascent of granitic
magma. Tectonophysics 249: 187-202
Weinberg RF (1999) Mesoscale pervasive
felsic magma migration: alternatives to
dyking. Lithos 46: 393-410
Weinberg RF, Regenauer-Lieb K (2010)
Ductile fractures and magma migration
from source. Geology 38: 363-366
White RW, Powell R (2002) Melt loss
and the preservation of granulite
facies mineral assemblages. Journal of
Metamorphic Geology 20: 621-632

E LEMENTS 266 A UGUS T 2011

 Swiss Society of Mineralogy and Petrology
http://ssmp.scnatweb.ch
A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IN SWITZERLAND –
THE GOTTHARD BASE TUNNEL
On 15 October 2010, the last meter of rock separating the northern
and southern parts of the eastern tube of the new Gotthard base tunnel
disaggregated into dust. With a length of 57 km, it is currently the
longest railroad tunnel in the world. It was built with a total deviation
of only 1 cm vertically and 8 cm horizontally from the planned axis,
and it traverses the Alps at an altitude of only 550 m above sea level.
The tunnel was excavated using tunnel-boring machines and classical
blasting in more schistose zones. Construction started in 1996, and to
reduce the total construction time, excavation was carried out simul-
taneously in several sections. The tunnel will be fully operational in 2017.

Most rock types present at the surface are also found at tunnel level,
almost 2.5 km below the surface, because the rock strata and foliations
have a steep dip in this section of the Alps. The Gotthard region is
famous for well-formed minerals occurring in Alpine-type fissures, and
thus it was anticipated that mineralized cavities would be located in
the new tunnel. For this reason, “mineral guards” were employed,
whose duties were to collect, document and preserve mineralized clefts
encountered during tunnel excavation. The best sample material is
currently exhibited in museums in Seedorf (Mineralienmuseum Schloss
A Pro), Sedrun (Dorfmuseum), and Lugano (Museo Cantonale di Storia
Naturale).
Quartz crystals 28 to 35 cm in length. PHOTO: PETER VOLLENWEIDER
On May 13, 2011, the Natural History Museum in Bern opened a new
permanent exhibit featuring one of the largest quartz crystal fi nds in
the Swiss Alps. The fi nd consists of 50 crystals with a total weight of
2 tons and was discovered in late 2005 by two Swiss crystal collectors.
The slightly smoky quartz was discovered in a large fissure located in
the Variscan, 300-million-year-old central Aar granite at Planggenstock,
Canton of Uri, central Swiss Alps. The quartz crystals are distinguished
by a combination of exceptional transparency, high surface luster and
large size. Single quartz crystals reach 107 cm in length. The largest
and most aesthetic group weighs 300 kg, but the complete fi nd on
display encompasses close to 50 quartz specimens and a number of
pink fluorite octahedra. After an initial display in Flüelen, central
Switzerland, the Natural History Museum in Bern decided to acquire
the complete fi nd for 4.5 million Swiss francs. The crystals are now on
display in a darkened room, where all ambient light is directed to shine
through the crystals, creating an awesome, contemplative atmosphere.
The quartz crystal exhibition is accompanied by an impressive movie
that describes the difficulties associated with recovering this fi nd.

Peter Amacher (front), one of the “mineral guards” preparing mineral specimens A smaller exhibit, located next to the main display of quartz mega-
for transport. Beside him, a second person is extracting material from a cleft. crystals, shows the various roles that minerals play as constituents of
PHOTO: THOMAS SCHÜPBACH the Earth and in everyday life. The origin of the Alpine quartz crystals
is explained in a short movie. A suite of other minerals found in the
Analysis of fluid samples preserved in some clefts showed that the
same fissure, including chlorite, galena and secondary wulfenite, is also
present-day fluid in the crystalline basement rocks has a high pH and
on display. These new exhibits are integrated into the preexisting dis-
is oversaturated with respect to zeolite minerals, indicating that zeolite
plays of Swiss minerals. They follow the museum’s tradition of docu-
growth in alpine clefts is happening today. One of the most interesting
menting the most important mineral fi nds from Alpine fi ssures in
observations made is that the zeolite mineral stilbite crystallizes as
Switzerland, with the earliest specimens being on display since 1721.
stilbite-Ca and changes its mineral composition as it is being exhumed,
becoming enriched in K and Na. This is the reverse of the cation Beda A. Hofmann, Head of the Earth Science Department,
exchange that occurs in your washing machine to soften water. Natural History Museum, Bern
Edwin Gnos, Head of Earth Science Department,
Natural History Museum, Geneva

NEW EXHIBIT OF AN EXCEPTIONAL ALPINE QUARTZ

FIND IN THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BERN SWISS GEOSCIENCE MEETING
Quartz crystals that precipitated from hydrothermal fluids circulating
in fissures during late Alpine deformation have been sought after in
2011
the Swiss Alps since the Neolithic. Until the 18th century, all fi nds were
exported to Milan and other stone-cutting locations, where they served “Life and Planet Earth”
as raw material for the production of objets d’art, including pendants ETH Zürich, November 11–13, 2011
for the luxurious chandeliers in the courts of Europe.

E LEMENTS 267 A UGUS T 2011

 Association of Applied Geochemists
www.appliedgeochemists.org
FROM THE PRESIDENT
At the time of writing, the latest edition of AAG’s
journal, Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment,
Analysis (GEEA, February 2011, vol. 11, no. 1), has
just reached the Association’s members. Typical
of this journal’s content, it contains papers that
canvass many areas of geochemistry. This issue
features papers on alteration zones related to min-
eral exploration, regional geochemistry, environ-
mental assessment, and mineral chemistry. The
diversity of topics covered by GEEA reflects the
Paul Morris interests and professional affi liations of the AAG
membership and is an outcome of a debate about
eight years ago within the Association about who
uses applied geochemistry. At that time members of the Association of
Exploration Geochemists, as it was then known, discussed a name
change to better reflect those who were routinely using geochemistry
as a tool in their profession.
The development of rapid and more sophisticated methods of analysis
(particularly inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry), coincident
with a notable decrease in analytical costs and the ability to analyse a
wider variety of media (vegetable and mineral), meant that geochemical
data generated for one purpose (e.g. mineral exploration) were being
picked up and used in other areas, such as environmental remediation
and land use planning. A name change for the association – to embrace
the increasingly diverse use of these data – seemed obvious, and so the
name Association of Applied Geochemists was subsequently adopted.
This broadening of the Association’s charter has drawn in the expertise
of a wider range of scientists, thus increasing the scope of papers pre-
sented at our biennial symposia and ensuring the growth of GEEA. On
a more pragmatic note, the widened scope has also meant AAG is now
an attractive organisation for a wider spectrum of scientists, an impor-
tant consideration given the ever-increasing competition for the society
membership dollar. The key to the inception and growth of GEEA has
been the commitment of the editor, Gwendy Hall, and the steady stream
of high-quality contributions from authors. A future issue of GEEA will
include papers from the Association’s 25th International Applied
Geochemistry Symposium (IAGS) (www.iags2011.fi), which will be
taking place from August 22 to 26.
Paul Morris (paul.morris@dmp.wa.gov.au)
Geological Survey of Western Australia
AAG President
NEWS FROM AAG REGIONAL COUNCILLORS
Geochemical Surveys in Brazil
The Geological Survey of Brazil (CPRM) has been conducting geochem-
ical mapping surveys since the 1970s in order to characterise the rego-
lith. Stream sediments, overbank sediments, pan concentrates, and soil
and water samples are the main media collected from the Amazon to
Pampa regions. Twenty geochemical maps have been published in the
last two years at 1:100,000 or 1:250,000 scales. Thirty-five maps are in
press. Twenty-five map sheets are being sampled. Sampling in seventeen
more map sheet areas will start in the next few months. A special
project will be conducted in the Carajás mineral province, and similar
projects are planned elsewhere. Brazil is experiencing exciting times
at the moment, and the Brazilian government has raised its level of
investment in the geosciences. CPRM has hired new geochemists and
E LEMENTS
is conducting geochemical studies at various scales, with objectives
ranging from regional exploration to environmental remediation. For
additional information, please see CPRM’s website (www.cprm.gov.br).
João H. Larizzatti (joao.larizzatti@cprm.gov.br)
Geological Survey of Brazil
RECENT ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN EXPLORE
NICHOLAS TURNER (2011) – Rising to the Challenge –
Applications of Cell-Based ICP-MS to the Analysis of
Geological Samples. EXPLORE 151 (June 2011): 1-6
Until recently, geological exploration programs have typically been
aimed at discovering precious and base metal commodities. However,
technological innovation in areas such as batteries and magnets has
increased assay requirements to 50–60 elements, which can vary widely
in concentration and may include isotopic data. This has resulted in
the need for new analytical approaches that must remain practical,
both in terms of cost and the number of different determinations.
ICP-MS instruments are ideally suited for this type of application due
to their multi-element capability and low detection limits, but they do
suffer from interferences on some key elements, plus their sensitivity
often prohibits measurement of high- and low-concentration elements
simultaneously. The use of cell-based ICP-MS instruments can overcome
many of these limitations using either reactive or collision gases. The
dynamic reaction cell (DRC) instrument utilizes a quadrupole housed
inside a pressurized cell in order to remove interferences by reactions.
Furthermore, the predictable bandpass of the quadrupole prevents fur-
ther interferences from forming and can be used to fi lter high ion
signals, increasing the dynamic range. Examples are given of the appli-
cation of the DRC to the analysis of a variety of matrices, including
high concentrations of rare earth elements in geological samples; low-
level vanadium, chromium, selenium and sulphur in MMI-M® partial
weak extractions using reaction gases to either remove interferences or
move the analyte to an interference-free mass; and the use of a non-
reactive gas to improve copper isotope ratio precision by homogenizing
the ion beam in the reaction cell. In this way, geological analysis has
been simplified as we strive to provide a single-point determination for
a specific resource-target exploration.
Nicholas Turner (Nicholas.Turner@sgs.com)
SGS Minerals Services
268 A UGUS T 2011
 Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland
www.minersoc.org
LONDON NEWS
Mineralogical Society Awards for 2012
Following a close round of voting, the following persons have been
selected as the winners of the Society’s medals for 2012:
 Schlumberger Award: S. A. T. Redfern (Cambridge University)
 Max Hey Medal: M. Humphreys (Oxford University)
 Collins Medal: J. B. Dawson (University of Edinburgh)
This year saw a large response to the call for nominations, and many
of these will roll over to next year’s slate. However, you are encouraged
to continue to make nominations. To ease the process of making nomi-
nations, a new form has been made available. Go to www.minersoc.
org/pages/awards/awards.html to download a copy of the form.
Nominations in the traditional way are still acceptable of course.
EMU Notes in Mineralogy, Volume 9, Published
The ninth book in the EMU Notes in Mineralogy series, Advances in
the Characterization of Industrial Minerals (G. E. Christidis, editor), co-
produced by the Mineralogical Society, has been published.
The advancement of human civilization has been intimately associated
with the exploitation of raw materials. In fact, the distinction of the
main historical eras is based on the type of raw materials used. Hence,
passage from the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages to the Bronze Age is
characterized by the introduction of basic metals, mainly copper, zinc
and tin, in human activities; the Iron Age is marked by the use of iron
as the predominant metal.
The use of metals increased with time and culminated in the mid-
eighteenth century with the Industrial Revolution, which marked the
onset of the industrial age in the western world. Since then, metals
have gradually been surpassed in importance by industrial minerals in
the industrialized countries. Industrial minerals are raw materials used
by industry for their physical and/or chemical properties.
Characterization of industrial minerals is important for their assessment
and can be demanding and often complicated.
This new volume is based on papers presented at an EMU–Erasmus IP
School, which was held at the Technical University of Crete, Chania,
Greece. The aim of the school was to describe advances in some of the
analytical methods used to characterize industrial minerals and to
propose additional methods which are currently not used for this pur-
pose. The book is now available from the Mineralogical Society book-
shop. Follow the link to the online bookshop from www.minersoc.org.
New Role on the Mineralogical Society Executive
The Society Council agreed at its annual general
meeting in March 2011 to create a new job on
Council, that of Public Relations Officer. The fi rst
person to hold the office is Dr Andrew Kerr of
Cardiff University.
Andrew’s job will be to deal specifically with pro-
motion of the Society to potential new members,
to interact with related societies, to coordinate
responses to calls for submissions from govern-
ment and other bodies, and to keep a watching
brief on how the Society is presented to the outside world by means of
its website, its publications and its promotional material. Expect to see
the effect of Andrew’s work as these things change and improve over
the coming months.
Welcome Andrew, and thanks.
E LEMENTS 269
New Production Editor for Mineralogical Magazine
A year after the sad loss of Pete Hill, the Society
has appointed a new Production Editor for
Mineralogical Magazine. David Green, formerly
of the Mineralogical Museum at the University of
Manchester, started working with the Society on
1 June 2011 and will work part-time from his
home. He will take care of the journal and work
with the newly appointed Principal Editors, Pete
Williams and Roger Mitchell.
David comes to the Society with a wealth of mineralogical experience
and also considerable editorial experience, as he has edited the UK
Journal of Mines and Minerals for several years. David’s e-mail address is
green@minersoc.org.
Bursary Report
Kate Dobson attended the 2011 European Geological Union meeting,
thanks to the help of a Mineralogical Society Senior Travel Bursary.
Attendance enabled her to present her latest results to a large and diverse
group of international researchers, and also to develop new and exciting
research collaborations. She presented her paper, “Constraining the
Cenozoic Evolution of South Africa Using (U-Th)/He Thermochronology:
The Influence of Dynamic Topography at a Passive Margin,” in a very
interesting and wide-ranging session that made her aware of several
other strands of research complementary to her own but which would
not usually be presented at the same meeting. Attendance and presenta-
tion at conferences such as EGU are of huge importance to early-career
researchers like Kate, allowing her to develop the research networks
that will generate research income in future years.
Sir Tom Blundell Elected President of the Science Council
Sir Tom Blundell has been elected as the new President of the Science
Council. He will lead the organisation as it moves forward, promoting
the role of science in society, supporting professional scientists at all
levels, and influencing science and innovation policy in the UK. He
brings to the Science Council a wealth of experience in research and
academia, government and industry. Sir Tom has said he is looking
forward to taking forward the Science Council’s vision for the different
disciplines and professions within science to work more closely together.
“Promoting high standards of professionalism at all levels in the practice of
science is crucial if the UK is to maintain a strong science and innovation
sector that will help grow the economy, serve society and be trusted by the
public. Investment in science and innovation remains a high priority and by
bringing together such a wide range of science organizations the Science
Council can play a pivotal role in shaping priorities.”
Sir Tom Blundell has had a distinguished career in the biosciences,
and after 13 years as the Sir William Dunn Professor of Biochemistry
at the University of Cambridge he was appointed Director of Research
and Professor Emeritus. He continues to teach and conduct research in
structural and computational biology and in drug discovery. In July
2009 he took up the post of Chair of the Biotechnology and Biological
Sciences Research Council, a non-executive part-time appointment.
The Science Council is an umbrella organization for learned societies
and professional bodies across science and its applications, and works
to advance science for public benefit. The Science Council promotes
the profession of scientist; through the Chartered Scientist designation
and the development of codes of practice it promotes awareness of the
contribution of professional scientists to science and society and
advances science education and increased understanding of the benefits
of science.
For more information, visit www.sciencecouncil.org/.
Kevin Murphy (kevin@minersoc.org), Executive Director
A UGUS T 2011
 International Association of GeoChemistry
www.iagc-society.org
IAGC AWARDS FOR 2011
The IAGC is proud to announce the recipients of its society awards for
2011. The presentation of the awards will occur during the 9 th
International Symposium on Applied Isotope Geochemistry (AIG-9) in
Tarragona, Spain, on 19–23 September 2011. Awardees will also be
recognized in the “Hall of Fame” display at the 2011 Geological Society
of America (GSA) Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA,
on 9–12 October 2011. Congratulations to all the winners!
Distinguished Service Award – Mel Gascoyne
Mel Gascoyne obtained a BA in chemistry in 1969
and an MS in environmental sciences in 1973
from Lancaster University, UK. He then moved to
McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada, where he earned a PhD in geology with
Derek Ford and Henry Schwarcz. A love of caving
took him to many limestone areas around the
world, collecting stalagmites for paleoclimatic
studies. In 1988, he became an associate editor of
Applied Geochemistry. He was IAGC’s secretary and
then business office manager between 1992 and 2011, for which he is
receiving the IAGC Distinguished Service Award. In 1998 Mel set up
his own geoscience consulting company, and since that time he has
been involved in numerous contracts involving the geochemical, iso-
topic, and gas analysis of groundwater. Mel has published over 70
journal and conference papers and over 50 technical reports.
IAGC Fellows – Shaun Frape and Avner Vengosh
Shaun Frape is a professor of geochemistry in
the Department of Earth and Environmental
Sciences, University of Waterloo, Canada. Shaun
received his BS, MS, and PhD in geology and geo-
chemistry from Queen’s University, Canada, and
has taught hydrogeochemistry and isotope
geology at the University of Waterloo since 1980.
He specializes in groundwater flow systems, and
uses isotopic and geochemical tracers to delineate
transport in such systems and in regional ground-
water resource studies. Shaun specializes in developing new isotopic
tools for use in tracing natural and anthropogenic processes in hydro-
geological and ecological environments. He is an elected Fellow of the
GSA and was the recipient of the GSA’s O. E. Meinzer Award in 2007.
Shaun is the author of more than 350 publications, including over 90
refereed international journal articles and 50 other refereed articles.
He is an active peer reviewer of radioactive waste programs in several
countries and has collaborated with industry and government for over
25 years. Shaun served as associate editor of Applied Geochemistry from
2000 to 2005 and as an IAGC Council member from 2004 to 2010.
E LEMENTS 270
Avner Vengosh is a professor of geochemistry
and water quality and chair of the water and air
resources program at the Nicholas School of the
Environment at Duke University, USA. Avner also
holds a secondary appointment in the Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering and is
an associate editor of Applied Geochemistry. His
research aims to integrate environmental geo-
chemistry, advanced isotope geochemistry, and
environmental health in order to delineate the
sources and pathways of contaminants in the
environment and their possible impacts on human health. Currently
this research is focused on three major themes: (1) the salination of
water resources and its impacts on development and health; (2) the
energy–water quality–health nexus, which includes studies on the
impact of coal-combustion products on the environment, the origin
of contaminants associated with mountaintop mining in valley-fi ll
headwaters, and the impact of deep shale gas drilling and hydraulic
fracturing on the quality of shallow groundwater and surface water;
and (3) the relationships between groundwater geochemistry, water
quality, and human health in different aquifer systems.
IAGC Certificate of Recognition –
Norbert Clauer and David Mogk
Norbert Clauer (Université Louis Pasteur,
France) received his PhD from the Université Louis
Pasteur in Strasbourg, France, in 1976 and cur-
rently is Emeritus Research Director of the French
National Research Council (CNRS). His research
interests are in low-temperature elemental and
isotopic tracing and dating as applied to clay min-
erals and other surface minerals in continental
weathering to low-grade metamorphic environ-
ments. Norbert is a recognized international
authority on the chemistry and isotope chemistry of detrital and authi-
genic components and brines in sediments under depositional, diage-
netic, low-grade metamorphic, and weathering conditions, and on the
mechanisms of clay crystallization and recrystallization. Norbert was
awarded the bronze (1978) and silver (1991) medals by the CNRS, the
Georges-Millot Prize by the French Academy of Sciences (1992), and
the Bailey Distinguished Member Award of the Clay Minerals Society
(2008), and was recognized as a Chevalier of the French National Order
of Merit (2008). He served on the IAGC Council from 2004 to 2010,
during which time he chaired the IAGC Publications Committee.
David Mogk received his BS from the University
of Michigan and his MS and PhD from the
University of Washington, USA. He is a professor
of geology at Montana State University. His
research interests include the evolution of Archean
continental crust in Montana, petrologic pro-
cesses at mid-crustal levels, the spectroscopy of
mineral surfaces, and the search for life in extreme
environments. He has worked to promote excel-
lence in geoscience education, particularly in
mineralogy, petrology, and geochemistry, for the past 20 years. He has
served as program officer in the NSF Division of Undergraduate
Education, was the recipient of the AGU Award for Excellence in
Geophysics Education in 2000, and continues this work as co–principal
investigator in the “On the Cutting Edge” program for faculty profes-
sional development in the geosciences.
A UGUS T 2011

ELSEVIER/IAGC PHD STUDENT RESEARCH GRANTS
The Elsevier/IAGC Student Research Grant program is designed to help
PhD students in geochemistry acquire geochemical analyses in support
of their research; funding is based on a meritorious proposal. This year’s
recipients are:
Rixiang Huang ($2000), Baylor University
Effects of Surface Heterogeneity on Nanoscale
Interfacial Processes
Anita Thapalia ($1500), University of Texas,
El Paso
Application of Zn Isotopic Signatures as
Tracers of Anthropogenic Contamination in
Lake Sediment Cores
Oluyinka Oyemumi ($1000), Virginia Tech
Evaluating Mobilization and Transport of
Organoarsenicals Released from Poultry Litter
within an Agricultural Watershed on the
Delmarva Peninsula, Delaware
Karla Leslie ($1000), University of Kansas
Microbial Controls on Metal Ion Mobility
GSA ANNUAL MEETING
As an affi liated society, IAGC continues to have a strong presence and
involvement in the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting
(Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, 9–12 October 2011). IAGC is sponsoring
three technical sessions at this international conference:
T122. Sources, Transport, and Fate of Trace and Toxic Elements in the
Environment (co-chairs: LeeAnn Munk, David T. Long, W. Berry Lyons)
T127. Tropical Small Mountainous River Biogeochemistry: Terrestrial
Losses, Internal Processing, Coastal Inputs, and Marine Burial (co-
chairs: Steven Goldsmith, Ryan Moyer)
T129. Spectroscopy for the Geosciences in the 21st Century (co-chairs:
Russell S. Harmon, Nancy McMillan)
GSA Pardee Keynote Symposium (cosponsored by the IAGC)
GSA Structural Geology and Tectonics Division, Sunday, 9 October,
1:30–5:30 pm. This session will honor British geologist Arthur Holmes
(1890–1965) who, 100 years ago, while still an undergraduate student,
established the technique to date rocks by the radioactive decay of U
to Pb. Holmes also made significant contributions to the study of the
origin of granite and to plate tectonics.
E LEMENTS 271
European
Association of
Geochemistry
www.eag.eu.com
EAG LAUNCHES ITS DISTINGUISHED LECTURE PROGRAM
The European Association of Geochemistry is excited to launch its
annual Distinguished Lecture Program, starting with a tour across cen-
tral Europe in November 2011. This program aims to introduce scientists
and students located in under-represented regions of the world to
emerging research areas in geochemistry. The distinguished lecturer
will be selected each year based on a combination of outstanding
research contributions in geochemistry and the ability to clearly com-
municate these contributions to a broad audience.
Our 2011 Distinguished Lecturer is Dr. Karim
Benzerara, who is with the CNRS and the Université
Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France. Karim is special-
ized in geomicrobiology and mineralogy, and he
focusses his work primarily on the interactions
between life and minerals and fossilization. In addi-
tion, Karim was the recipient of the EAG’s 2010
Houtermans Award.
The 2011 tour will take Karim Benzerara to the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, where he will present the following
lectures:
 Iron biomineralization by neutrophilic anaerobic Fe-oxidizing
bacteria: A nanoscale perspective
 Combination of transmission electron microscopy and synchrotron-
based X-ray microscopy for the study of geomicrobiological samples
 Biomineralogical study of stromatolites at the nanoscale
The complete schedule and lecture abstracts are available at www.eag.
eu.com/education/dlp/.
The EAG would like to take this opportunity to thank Karim for serving
the geochemical community as the fi rst EAG Distinguished Lecturer,
and we are looking forward to hearing his tales from the tour.
2012 EAG AWARDS: CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
The EAG invites nominations for the Science Innovation Award, the
Urey Award, the Houtermans Award and the GS/EAG Geochemical
Fellows Award. Your nomination is crucial to ensure the recognition
of deserving scientists. So please consider nominating someone for
these awards. Below are short descriptions of what these awards are
for; additional information can be found at www.eag.eu.com/awards/.
The Science Innovation Award subject area differs every year
according to a five-year cycle, and in 2012 the award will be named in
honour of Heinz Lowenstam for his work on biomineralogy. This award
is conferred for important and innovative breakthroughs in geochem-
istry, and the recipient must be between 35 and 55 years old.
The Urey Award recognizes outstanding contributions in the advance-
ment of geochemistry over a career.
The Houtermans Award is given to a scientist no more than 35 years
of age or within 6 years of his or her PhD for a single exceptional
contribution to geochemistry, published as a single paper or as a series
of papers on a single topic.
The GS/EAG Geochemical Fellows Award is bestowed upon out-
standing scientists who have made major contributions in the field of
geochemistry.
Please submit your nominations before 15 October 2011. For details
on the submission process, please visit www.eag.eu.com/awards/
nomination/.
A UGUS T 2011
 The Clay Minerals Society
www.clays.org THE CMS GLOSSARY FOR CLAY SCIENCE PROJECT
The CMS Nomenclature Committee was asked by Council in 2003 to
THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER
produce a glossary of clay science. By 2006, the committee had devel-
fwiw omg lol b/c txt is NP 4 ppl. If you are clueless oped an initial Glossary for Clay Science containing about 100 definitions,
so far, then don’t worry: so am I. With the help and by 2008 the Glossary had about 250 entries. Since then, the Glossary
of my students, I now know that the preceding has grown to about 400 defi nitions, with updates being provided every
set of chat or text message abbreviations roughly April. The Glossary download can be obtained at www.clays.org/
translates to “I am about to give you information GLOSSARY/GlossIntro.html as either a .doc or .pdf fi le.
which I am not sure is useful or important. Wow,
I fi nd myself really chuckling because sending Early on, it was decided to produce a glossary of clay terms based on
messages via text on your phone is quite simple clay science, and not necessarily on how other disciplines may use the
for common individuals.” To those of you who do terms. However, the defi nitions do not stray from the basic-science
not need the translation, I say, “Great!” You are definitions in chemistry and physics. Unlike the AGI Glossary of Geology,
the ones whom we need involved in clay science where current usage is given even if that usage deviates from the orig-
and leading us into the future. Concise communication is essential in inal defi nition, the CMS Glossary for Clay Science provides the original
all of science, and clay science is no exception. Of course problems defi nition and explains how the word may be currently, and perhaps
arise as we become so entrained in our own vernacular, with only a incorrectly, used. In addition, the CMS Glossary for Clay Science is more
handful of people actually knowing what is being talked about. This extensive than the AGI Glossary of Geology for clay terms and provides
is one reason I will go to my grave irked by the scientist who decided greater depth.
to divide the disciplines of organic and inorganic chemistry during my
Provisional or tentative defi nitions have been avoided, and the
formative years of training. As clay mineralogists, we study mineral-
Committee has only listed terms that could be well defi ned. A basic
ogical and biological processes in near-surface Earth environments,
premise is that established defi nitions by international committees
and we all know that these processes are inseparable. To split biological
(IMA, AIPEA, etc.) are provided, sometimes with further explanation
processes from mineral-forming processes is next to impossible in
to show the utility of a term in clay science, but the defi nitions remain
almost all environments in which we live or extract our natural
unchanged from those of the original committee. The initial effort was
resources. With the expansion of knowledge about life’s extremes, per-
not to include mineral and related names (i.e. discredited terms, syn-
haps we should reconsider the need to shoehorn the term biogenic into
onyms, etc.), although group names were included. There are other
or out of our defi nition of a mineral. Let’s face it: most people think a
websites that have compiled lists of mineral names.
mineral is the “essential” stuff they eat in their breakfast cereal. But
that’s another story and the beauty of science. It is quite acceptable to Over the next couple of years, the Committee will expand on clay
change your paradigm if the body of evidence supports a new one. terms relating to industry. Volunteers are needed to help compile new
terms and defi nitions, and if you are interested in being considered for
Along with the necessary evil of obscurity that nomenclature brings,
Committee membership, please contact the chair (xtal@uic.edu).
the upside is the ability to communicate without fear of misunder-
standing. Thankfully the CMS is on the leading edge of nomenclature S. Guggenheim, Chair, CMS Nomenclature Committee
and produces the Glossary for Clay Science. The hard-working CMS
Report modified from the Introduction, Glossary for Clay Science
Nomenclature Committee includes Steve Guggenheim, Richard Brown,
Eric Daniels, Takashi Watanabe, Helge Stanjek, Don Peacor, Haydn
Murray, Joe Stucki, and other past members who are listed on the CMS
Clay Glossary website. A summary of the recent Clay Glossary updates
is presented in this page. The glossary is thorough and even tackles the
age-old question, “What is clay?” Even today, the question still might
evoke a different response from every clay scientist out there with mud
under his or her fi ngernails. We are in the process of making the glos-
sary contents even more accessible via network search engines, which
is a real milestone for the mission of CMS.

Speaking of networking, there’s been lots of discussion about the ben-

efits of connecting CMS to social networks like Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, etc. The sticking points of formalizing the connection of
CMS to these sites are related to content ownership, oversight, and the
fact that many employers will not allow employees access to social
networks. In the interim, groups like Clays and Clay Minerals on
Facebook have started, and if they promote the same tenets as those
of the CMS, then I say, “Why not?”

By the way, congratulations to this year’s CMS award winners, including

Sridhar Komarneni for the Bailey Award and Dougal McCarty for the
Jackson Award. They are among the giants whose shoulders we’ll be CMS Workshop “Trace Elements and Clays: Occurrence,
standing upon as clay science advances into the future. Analysis and Applications”: 25 September
hoas sos k ttyl lol Technical sessions: 26–29 September
Paul Schroeder (schroe@uga.edu) Field trips: 30 September
President, The Clay Minerals Society
See the CMS website for more information: www.clays.org.

E LEMENTS 272 A UGUS T 2011

 Meteoritical Society
Country Member Student Retired Life Total
http://meteoriticalsociety.org United States 340 51 81 7 479
Japan 85 13 7 105
REPORT FROM THE TREASURER Germany 79 10 12 2 103
I am happy to report that the Society’s fi nances United Kingdom 41 15 4 60
are on a sound footing, and that both our oper- France 34 6 6 1 47
ating fund and endowments are very healthy. A Canada 28 10 4 42
large portion of the operating budget relates to Switzerland 18 5 4 27
publication of Meteoritics and Planetary Science
Australia 12 1 2 15
(MAPS), our monthly international journal of
Italy 12 3 15
planetary science, which covers topics including
the origin and history of the Solar System, the Argentina 1 5 5 1 12
planets and natural satellites, interplanetary dust Brazil 4 3 1 8
and the interstellar medium, lunar samples, Denmark 3 2 1 1 7
Rhian Jones meteors, meteorites, asteroids, comets, craters, and Austria 6 6
tektites. Last year saw a fi nancial transition because Russian Federation 5 1 6
we transferred publication of MAPS to Wiley. The income from Wiley Sweden 4 2 6
in 2010 closely matched the expenses of the editorial office at the
Belgium 3 1 1 5
University of Arizona, which is managed by Editor Tim Jull. Thus the
Netherlands 3 1 1 5
Society achieved its major goal of gaining a greater level of fi nancial
security for MAPS. Society memberships include a subscription to MAPS, Czech Republic 3 1 4
either electronic only or electronic plus printed version. The electronic- Finland 2 2 4
only option, which currently saves members $30, was selected by about Poland 4 4
one-third of our members in 2011. Collection of membership dues for India 2 1 3
2012 will begin in October. I would like to encourage members to pay Korea, Republic Of 2 1 3
their dues in a timely manner, as this helps greatly with fi nancial China 2 2
planning.
Ireland 1 1 2
Our investment fund, which includes three separate endowed funds, Spain 2 2
continues to grow steadily. The Nier Fund supports the annual Nier Grand Total 708 128 138 13 987
Prize, which recognizes outstanding research by young scientists in
The following countries have one member at the time of this printing: Botswana,
meteoritics and closely allied fields. This year’s recipient is Dr. Fred Chile, Estonia, Greece, Holy See (Vatican City State), Malaysia, Mexico, New
Ciesla of the University of Chicago. The Gordon A. McKay Fund sup- Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Slovakia, South Africa, Thailand, Taiwan, Uruguay.
ports an award that is given to the student who gives the best oral
presentation at the annual meeting of the Society. Last year’s award
For those who wish to avoid the hassle of paying dues every year,
was given to Rachel Smith of the University of California, Los Angeles.
consider becoming a life member! For more information and details
The General Endowment Fund supports a variety of outreach projects.
on how to become a member of the Meteoritical Society, please see our
For example, earlier this year money from the General Endowment
web page at www.meteoriticalsociety.org.
Fund was used to cosponsor a special session entitled “African Meteorites
and Impact Craters,” held as part of the 23rd Colloquium of African
Geology at the University of Johannesburg. The fund will also provide 2011 PELLAS–RYDER AWARD WINNER
travel support to help scientists from low-income countries attend the
Meteoritical Society meeting in London in August, which will help to The Pellas–Ryder Award for the best student paper in planetary sciences
strengthen and promote our international community. Many members is jointly sponsored by the Meteoritical Society and the Planetary
contribute generously to support all of these funds, and your donations Geology Division of the Geological Society of America. It is awarded
are always greatly appreciated. to an undergraduate or graduate student who is the fi rst author of the
best planetary science paper published in a peer-reviewed scientific
We always welcome suggestions and ideas for ways in which the General journal during the year prior to the award. The award has been given
Endowment Fund can be utilized to further the goals of promoting since 2001 and honors the memories of meteoriticist Paul Pellas and
and enriching the Society’s activities. lunar scientist Graham Ryder.
Dr. Rhian H. Jones This year’s winner of the Pellas–Ryder Award is
Meteoritical Society Treasurer Andrew Beck of the University of Tennessee for
his paper entitled “Diogenites as Polymict Breccias
MEMBERSHIP REPORT Composed of Orthopyroxenite and Harzburgite”1.
Andrew studied several diogenite meteorites for
As of May 2011, the Meteoritical Society is made up of 708 regular their mineralogical and elemental compositions,
members, 128 student members, 138 retired members, and 13 life mem- and based on this study proposed a revised tax-
bers, for a total of 987. Many thanks to our secretary, Greg Herzog, for onomy for the HED (howardites, eucrites, and
coming up with the interesting statistics about members of our Society. diogenites) suite of meteorites. These and addi-
We can be proud that we have members in 53 countries, but as Greg tional results have important implications for the
notes, the statistics also show that we have a lot of work to do to gain Andrew Beck bulk composition and petrogenesis of 4 Vesta, an
members in India, China, and many other countries. The Society does asteroid that will be visited by NASA’s Dawn mission
have a scheme to subsidize the annual dues for members in low-income in late 2011.
countries. Prior approval is required from the Membership Committee
for this rate; please see our website if you need more information. 1 Beck AW, McSween HY Jr (2010) Meteoritics and Planetary Science 45: 850-872

E LEMENTS 273 A UGUS T 2011

 Mineralogical Society of America
www.minsocam.org
CONTRIBUTORS AND BENEFACTORS
Many members contribute to MSA by including a contribution with
their annual dues and/or by responding to special appeals. Depending
on the wishes of the member, the money is deposited with the principal
of the MSA Endowment, MSA Outreach, MSA Mineralogy/Petrology,
Edward H. Kraus Crystallographic Research, Bloss, or General Operating
Funds. The income from these funds is used to support MSA’s research
grants in crystallography, mineralogy, and petrology; publishing of the
American Mineralogist; the American Mineralogist Undergraduate
Awards; the Mineralogical Society of America Award; the Distinguished
Public Service Award; the Dana Medal; the Roebling Medal; the website;
and the lectureship program. If you have not done so previously, you
may wish to consider contributing at the next opportunity. Here we
want to extend our gratitude to the individuals and organizations that
have made contributions to MSA between 1 July 2010 and 30 June 2011.
These contributors are listed on the MSA website and can be found by
selecting “Contributions to MSA” on the MSA home page (www.min-
socam.org/), under “The Society.”
Takaharu Araki Bequest
The Society would like to recognize the generosity of the late Takaharu
Araki, a Fellow of the Society. Dr. Araki joined the Mineralogical Society
of America in 1963. He had a distinguished career in mineralogy, with
appointments at the University of Chicago and McGill University. Dr.
Araki was honored with the mineral name arakiite for his numerous
crystal-structure contributions to the science of mineralogy. Dr. Araki
passed away in 2004, and the Mineralogical Society of America was
the recipient of a bequest from his estate, which was placed in the MSA
Endowment Fund to perpetuate the activities of the Society.
Sustaining Membership
In 2006, the membership of the Mineralogical Society of America
approved new membership categories: Sustaining Member and Sustaining
Fellow. Sustaining membership provides a vehicle for members to sup-
port the Society in a philanthropic manner. A Sustaining Member or
Fellow pays the regular membership dues in addition to a sustaining
contribution, currently $150/year, for total dues of $220 in 2012. At
present, 20 members have chosen to support the Society as Sustaining
Members; some of them continue to support other Society funds
through additional contributions. Gifts received through sustaining
donations are placed in the Society’s Endowment Fund to sustain and
enhance Society activities. Members who are interested in supporting
Society activities may wish to consider this vehicle of philanthropy.
John M. Hughes
Chair, Benefactors Committee
E LEMENTS 274
NOTES FROM CHANTILLY
 At its meeting in May, MSA Council voted to increase regular
member dues for 2012 by $5 to $70 to cover the anticipated increase in
MSA’s operating costs. This is offset by a $5 discount for members who
renew online before 31 October 2011, reflecting the cost savings for
members who renew promptly online. Student dues remain at $10.
Sustaining membership will remain at $150 + regular dues.
Member subscription rates to the 2012 American Mineralogist will dif-
ferentiate between domestic and foreign destinations to reflect mailing
costs. The rates are based on the fact that members share with institu-
tional subscribers the costs of producing paper copies. The U.S. member
subscription price (paper and electronic) will be $95 (currently $90),
and the foreign member subscription price will be set at $105 (currently
$100). Member electronic-only subscription will remain at $30. The
U.S. institutional subscription price (paper and electronic) will increase
to $950 (from $900), and foreign institutional subscriptions will be
raised to $975 (from $925). These increases represent a 5–6% increase.
Included with the institutional subscription are all the current-year
issues of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, Elements, and access
to the electronic version of American Mineralogist and Elements on the
MSA website.
 MSA 2011 membership renewals will start by October; membership
renewal notices will be sent electronically followed by electronic
reminders, before a paper copy is sent to those who do not renew online
by the end of October.
 Members and Fellows who are in the senior, honorary, and life
categories are also sent renewal notices. They need not pay dues, but
are sent notices as the best way to prompt an update of membership
information, particularly mail and e-mail addresses.
 If you subscribe to other journals through MSA – Gems & Gemology,
Journal of Petrology, Mineral News, Physics and Chemistry of Minerals, or
Rocks & Minerals, please renew early. MSA needs to forward your renewal
to those publishers before your subscription runs out.
 Funding agencies have asked grant applicants about their plans to
make available the primary data in any publication. Authors are
reminded that MSA can handle the storage and distribution of primary
data in the papers it publishes
through its established
system of “Deposit Items.”
MSA does not require exclu-
sivity. Authors can accommo-
date whatever pressure they
may experience from funding
agencies or their home insti-
tutions to include their data
on other sites. The advantage
of also having the data hosted
by MSA is that these data will
be closely associated with the
publication. MSA can accept
a variety of fi le formats, but,
over time, fi le formats will
probably be chosen and
become standard on a com-
munity-by-community basis.
J. Alex Speer
Executive Director
jaspeer@minsocam.org
A UGUS T 2011
 NEW TITLE
REVIEWS IN MINERALOGY & GEOCHEMISTRY

Mineralogical Society of America

and Geochemical Society
Volume 73
Sulfur in Magmas and Melts: Its Importance
for Natural and Technical Processes
Harald Behrens and James D. Webster, Editors.
i-xiv + 578 pages. ISBN 978-0-939950-87-4,
$40 ($30 members MSA, GS, CMS).
Following an overview in chapter 1, this
volume is divided into 4 parts: (1)
Analytical and Spectroscopic Methods
– chapters 2 and 3; (2) Physical and
Chemical Properties of S-Bearing Silicate
Melts – chapters 4-7; (3) Constraints from
Natural and Experimental Systems –
chapters 8-11; and (4) Natural and
Technical Applications – chapters 12-16.

For more description and table of con-

tents of this book, and online ordering
visit www.minsocam.org or contact
Mineralogical Society of America, 3635
Concorde Pkwy Ste 500, Chantilly, VA
20151-1110 USA; phone: +1 (703) 9950,
fax: +1 (703) 652-9951, e-mail: business@
minsocam.org

OTHER PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE FROM MSA

Diamonds of Siberia: European Mineralogical Union Notes
Photographic Evidence for Their Origin Volume 1 – Modular Aspects of Minerals;
By Z. V. Spetsius and L. A. Taylor, and published Volume 2 – Environmental Mineralogy;
by Tranquility Base Press. Volume 3 – Solid Solutions of Oxide and
Silicate Systems (of Geological Importance);
378 pp, hardbound, ISBN 978-0-9795835-0-6. Volume 4 – Energy Modelling in Minerals;
US$45 (members); US$60 (nonmembers) Volume 5 – Ultrahigh Pressure
Metamorphism; Volume 6 – Spectroscopic
Handbook of Mineralogy
Methods in Mineralogy; Volume 7 – Mineral
Five-volume set authored by John W. Behaviour at Extreme Conditions; Volume 8
Anthony, Richard A. Bideaux, – Nanoscopic Approaches in Earth and
Kenneth W. Bladh, and Monte C. Planetary Sciences; Volume 10 – Ion
Nichols, and published by Mineral Partitioning in Ambient-Temperature Aqueous
Data Publishing. Volumes I–V Systems. US$34 (V1–4) & $38 (V5–10) for
complete US$441 (members); $588 members; US$45 (V1–4) & $50 (V5–10) for
(nonmembers) nonmembers
STILL AVAILABLE AS INDIVIDUAL
VOLUMES: Vol. I Elements, GemResearch Swisslab
Sulfides, Sulfosalts $100; Vol. III Halides, Reports on gem materials by the
Hydroxides, Oxides $108; Vol. IV Arsenates, GemResearchSwisslab: “Paraiba”-Type
Phosphates, Vanadates $130; Vol. V Borates, Tourmalines; Winza Rubies; Gem Quality
Carbonates, Sulfates $130 Johachidolite; Be Treatment of Natural
Sapphires; Pezzottaite; Namya Rubies and
Perovskites: Modern and Ancient Spinel; Painite; Be Treatment. US$30 (members); US$40
& (nonmembers)
Kimberlites, Orangeites, Lamproites,
Additional cost for shipping. For description and table of contents of
Melilitites, and Minettes:
these books, and online ordering visit www.minsocam.org or contact
A Petrographic Atlas
Mineralogical Society of America, 3635 Concorde Pkwy Ste 500,
By Roger H. Mitchell, 1997, 243 pp, softcover, Chantilly, VA 20151-1110, USA, phone: +1 (703) 9950; fax: +1 (703)
ISBN 0-88663-026-6 (Atlas, US$75 for members; US$100 for nonmem- 652-9951; e-mail: business@minsocam.org
bers), and 2002, 318 pp, softcover, ISBN 0-9689411-0-9 (Perovskites,
US$52.50 for members; US$70 for nonmembers)

E LEMENTS 275 A UGUS T 2011

 International Association of Geoanalysts
http://geoanalyst.org
COUNCIL MEETING REPORT
The IAG Council held its most recent semi-annual meeting at the
Natural History Museum in London on Thursday, 19 May 2011. It was
a very busy day with a particularly long agenda, such that only a brief
lunch break was possible thereby providing maximum time for dis-
cussing key Society initiatives. Nearly all members of the IAG Council
were able to attend, including four representatives from continental
Europe and two from the Americas. Here I would like to briefly com-
municate some of the significant events which were reported to Council
and some of the decisions which were made during this 5-hour
marathon.

Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research The handover of the

typesetting from the GGR office in Nancy, France, to the journal pub-
lishers has been completed, and the new system is now up and fully
functional. The backlog of papers which had developed during the
transition has been eliminated, and the total time between manuscript
submission and publication of accepted contributions is well within
the target range for a quarterly journal. The average time from submis-
sion through review to fi nal acceptance is currently below 2.5 months
and is expected to drop further with fi ne-tuning of the system.
Members of the IAG Council at their May 2011 meeting in London. Clockwise from
head of table: Michael Wiedenbeck (IAG President), Jacinta Enzweiler (Vice President),
Klaus Peter Jochum (GeoReM Database group leader), Doug Miles (Head of IAGeo
Limited), Phil Potts (Chair of GGR Editors-in-Chief board), Chris Jackson (Treasurer),
Michel Grégoire (member of GGR Editors-in-Chief board), Mathieu Benoit (Council
member), Matt Horstwood (IAG Geochronology Interest Group leader), Steve Wilson
(invited liaison from the U.S. Geological Survey) and Jennifer Cook (Secretary). Not
in the photo: Peter Webb (Manager of the GeoPT programme) and Ed Williams (GGR
Business and Publication Manager). PHOTO: THOMAS MEISEL (CHAIR OF IAG CERTIFICATION
COMMITTEE)

IAG-Sponsored Workshops Council approved a mechanism through

which Society members can propose workshops and short courses for
sponsorship by the IAG and, if approved, could receive a modest level
of support from the Society. Two such initiatives, now approved, are a
detrital zircon workshop to be held in advance of the Goldschmidt
2011 meeting in Prague and a microanalytical reference material work-
shop to be held in Colorado, USA, in May 2012. For further information
about the spectrum of IAG-supported courses, please visit www.
geoanalyst.org. The application form for requesting Council recognition
for a course will appear on this website soon.
Proficiency Testing Programmes The GeoPT whole rock pro-
gramme continues to operate smoothly, and the number of partici-
pating laboratories remains stable, such that it remains globally the
largest such programme in inorganic geochemistry. One area where
improvement continues is the refi nement of the online data-reporting
structure. The G-Probe in situ proficiency testing programme has wit-
nessed significant growth over the past year, with particular interest
coming from the laser ablation community. Recent rounds have
included a synthetic MORB glass and a bone material which is expected
to be of particular interest to the environmental and ecology research
communities.
Certification Committee Work on two ultramafic materials, MUH-1
and OKUM, is nearing completion for the major and trace element
components. It has been decided that the definition of the PGE contents
of these two new Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) will need to be
based on the IAG’s material certification protocol’s defi nition of expert
laboratories as the number of qualified labs, as based on demonstrated
capability in the GeoPT programme, did not achieve the required
threshold. Work is also now underway for the next certification round,
which will be held in collaboration with the Central Geological
Laboratory (CGL) of Mongolia; this round will result in rhyolite and
trachyandesite CRMs, which will be collaboratively marketed by the
CGL and IAGeo Limited.
Geoanalysis 2012 Jacinta Enzweiler, head of the 2012 Organizing
Committee for the meeting in Búzios, Brazil, reported that all prepara-
tions are on schedule. A new update to the conference website (www.
ige.unicamp.br/geoanalysis2012) has been released in June. The list of
invited speakers is nearly finalized, and block bookings for hotel accom-
modation for delegates will be completed in the next few months.
Council members also discussed pre- and post-conference activities,
the scheduling of IAG activities associated with the triennial conference
and field trip offerings which will take advantage of the unique geo-
logical and cultural heritages of Brazil.
ISO/REMCO The IAG Council agreed to send a representative to both
the 2011 annual meeting in Delft, the Netherlands, and the 2012
meeting in Vienna, Austria. IAG participation at this event has now
become a mainstay activity of our Society. IAG presence at ISO/REMCO
provides the main voice representing the interests of the geochemist
within the global metrological community.
Goldschmidt Award For the fi fth year running, in conjunction with
the 2011 Goldschmidt conference in Prague, the IAG will sponsor its
Early Career Researcher Award. This year saw amazing growth in the
number of submissions to the pool of abstracts for consideration by
the IAG’s selection jury. The objective of the award is to recognize an
outstanding young scientist’s contributions towards the goals of our
Society. For 2011, 1150 submissions were evaluated, resulting in a short
list of 7 abstracts which Council ranked at the May 2011 meeting. In
view of the near doubling of the number of submissions as compared
to previous years, this was a particularly challenging task. The winner
of this award will be announced at the Goldschmidt conference and
will be reported in the next issue of Elements.
MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS: REMINDER
Your annual IAG membership subscription entitles you to online
access to both Geostandards & Geoanalytical Research and Elements
magazine, including all archived issues. Information about
accessing these contents is available at www.geoanalyst.org. If you
encounter any problems with this, please contact the IAG’s
secretary.

E LEMENTS 276 A UGUS T 2011

 Société Française de Minéralogie
et de Cristallographie
www.sfmc-fr.org
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SOCIÉTÉ FRANÇAISE
DE MINÉRALOGIE ET DE CRISTALLOGRAPHIE
AND THE 2011 HAÜY-LACROIX AWARD
The Society’s annual
general assembly was
held on May 30,
2011, in the histor-
ical mineralogical
museum of the École
Nationale Supérieure
des Mines, now
called Mines-
ParisTech, in Paris.
The 2010 highlights
were presented by
Anne Marie Karpoff,
SFMC president. She
Aurélie Violette and Johan Villeneuve, recipients of the
reported the creation
2011 Haüy-Lacroix Award, and Anne Marie Karpoff
(centre), SFMC president of the Society’s new
website (www.sfmc-
fr.org), considered an
essential support for communication, and she thanked Bertrand
Devouard and Étienne Balan for their valuable input. A major action
was the formation of two thematic groups, the Synchrotron Users Group
and the Endogenous Petrology Group. These groups were immediately
successful, leading exchanges between thematically diverse and dis-
persed communities and fi lling the need for national-scale lobbying
groups. Anne Marie Karpoff also outlined the Society’s contributions
to the European Journal of Mineralogy and Elements, as well as its role as
sponsor or organizer of six meetings and conferences sessions. Most
rewarding was the success of the three-day school Journées analytiques
in November, 2010. The lectures on analytical and characterization
methods were aimed at PhD and master’s students and gathered 70
participants. The president reported on upcoming events and projects,
and Stéphanie Rossano, treasurer, presented the budget. One of the
main points raised during the discussion was the misunderstanding of
the role of learned societies by the young generation and the importance
of reminding people that without learned societies, conferences,
schools, awards, grants, and inexpensive highly ranked publications
– essential components of scientific activities – would no longer exist.
Following the assembly, the Haüy-Lacroix award ceremony rewarding
outstanding PhD work was livened up by lectures given by the two
laureates. Aurélie Violette completed her thesis at the Laboratoire
Géosciences Environnement Toulouse with a study entitled “Processes
and Mass-Balances of Tropical Weathering: Sensitivity to the
Mineralogical Composition and Climate.” Johan Villeneuve presented
his PhD, carried out at the CRPG, University of Nancy, entitled
“Chondrule Formation: Precursors and Chronology.” Both recipients
were warmly congratulated, and their work will be reported in a future
issue of Elements. Moving to science politics, Bruno Goffé (CNRS-INSU)
presented an overview of the French government’s strategy on mining
resource research (as well as waste and recycling products) and of the
consequent academic needs. Jean-Claude Boulliard presented his book
on mineral twins, Le cristal et ses doubles (CNRS Éditions, ISBN 978-2-
271-07049-4). Lydie Touret, our host and curator of the museum, drew
the assembly’s attention to the uncertain future of the collections and
noted that a move to a site outside Paris is being envisaged. The after-
noon ended in a friendly manner around drinks and biscuits and with
a tour, guided by Lydie and Jacques Touret, of the fabulous museum
with its rich history and collections. However, in contrast with the
current increasing concern for mineral resources, the museum is very
fragile and in danger at this time.
E LEMENTS 277
MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT
GeoRaman–10th Meeting
Following the ninth GeoRaman meeting, the tenth meeting dedicated
to the applications of Raman spectroscopy to the Earth sciences will
be held in Nancy on 11–13 June 2012 at the Faculty of Sciences. An
international school will be associated with this meeting (14–16 June).
The meeting and school will be sponsored by the European Mineralogical
Union and the Société Française de Minéralogie et de Cristallographie.
The provisional scientific sessions of the 10 th GeoRaman meeting are
as follows:
Raman spectroscopy for the exploration of oceans, atmosphere,
and planets, as well as in the field and in environmental
monitoring
Raman and bio-geochemical processes + astrobiology
Mineralogy + petrology + gemology
Raman in extreme pressure conditions
Raman and glasses, liquid silicates, ionic liquids,
aqueous solutions
Cultural heritage
Raman and chemometry + Raman mapping
Theoretical modeling of Raman spectra
The decision to organize an international school associated with the
10 th GeoRaman meeting was based on the following considerations:
(1) Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool allowing significant progress
in many fields of the Earth and related sciences. (2) Inadequate training
in university Earth science courses (theoretical, instrumental, and
experimental aspects) is a limiting factor for the application of Raman
spectroscopy to the Earth sciences. (3) “Plug and play” instruments
may hide different levels of difficulties. In consequence, the following
program for this school has been devised: (1) The principles of Raman
spectroscopy. (2) Instrumentation and calibration of Raman spectrom-
eters. (3) Raman and fluorescence. (4) Raman data analysis. (5)
Theoretical modeling of Raman spectra. (6) Raman spectroscopy at
high pressure and temperature: Phase transitions and thermodynamics
for geophysical applications. (7) Optical cells for the study of geologic
fluids at the Moho and in sedimentary basins. (8) Raman spectroscopy
of geological fluids. (9) Raman spectroscopy of glasses. (10) Application
of Raman microspectroscopy to the study of carbon materials in the
geosciences. (11) Raman spectroscopy in biogeology and astrobiology.
(12) Raman spectroscopy as a tool for studying radiation damage
in minerals. (13) Raman spectroscopy applied to gemology. (14)
Applications of Raman spectroscopy in cultural heritage research.
Registration will start in October 2011.
Website: http://georaman10.uhp-nancy.fr/
A UGUS T 2011
 Geochemical Society
www.geochemsoc.org
2012 GS AWARDS – CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
GCA SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR GS MEMBERS
For those members who paid 2011 Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
subscription dues in advance – thank you for your lengthy patience.
It has been a long negotiation period, but an agreeable contract for the
The V. M. Goldschmidt Medal is
GCA journal was reached between Elsevier, the Geochemical Society,
awarded for major achievements in
and the Meteoritical Society in May 2011. The Geochemical Society
geochemistry or cosmochemistry.
and Meteoritical Society boards both agreed to the contract in mid-
June, and subscription services were resumed shortly thereafter. All
back issues for the year are also being sent. Subscribers who have not
received their issues or their access should report this to Seth Davis
(seth.davis@geochemsoc.org). Starting in 2012, only GCA online sub-
scriptions will be available to members. The F. W. Clarke Medal is awarded
Members interested in purchasing a GCA subscription and/or online to an early-career scientist for a single
access may do so directly through Elsevier. Their contact information outstanding contribution to geochemistry
is as follows: or cosmochemistry.

AMERICAS
United States: 877-839-7126
All others: +314-447-8878

EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA The C. C. Patterson Medal is awarded

All Regions: + 44 1865 843434 for a recent innovative breakthrough in
environmental geochemistry.
ASIA, PACIFIC
Japan: +81 3 5561 5037
All others: +65 6349 0222

GEOCHEMICAL CAREER CENTER

The Alfred Treibs Medal is awarded
If you are looking for a job or have a job you want to post, come to the
for major achievements in organic
Geochemical Career Center at www.geochemsoc.org.
geochemistry.
Geochemical Society Business Office
Seth Davis, Business Manager
Kathryn Hall, Administrative Assistant
Washington University in St. Louis
Earth and Planetary Sciences, CB 1169
The GS/EAG Geochemical Fellows
One Brookings Drive
Award is bestowed upon outstanding
Saint Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA
scientists who have made a major
E-mail: gsoffice@geochemsoc.org
contribution to geochemistry.
Phone: 314-935-4131
Fax: 314-935-4121
Website: www.geochemsoc.org
Make a nomination at
www.geochemsoc.org/awards/makeanomination.htm.
“Like” us on Facebook!
Nomination Deadline: October 15, 2011.
www.facebook.com/geochemsoc

Why Nominate?
Awards reward and recognize major achievements in geochemistry.
Awards document outstanding performance within a research group.
Awards help to inspire others to do their best. Awards set the bar for
others to match and/or exceed.

Your participation in the awards program by being a nominator or by

writing a supporting letter of recommendation not only benefits the
nominee, it also benefits the geochemical community.

Please take the time to consider the accomplishments of your valued

colleagues by nominating them. With your help, we can ensure that
the award committees have a diverse and deserving pool of candidates
to consider.

E LEMENTS 278 A UGUS T 2011

OBITUARY: GEORGE TILTON (1923–2010)

George Tilton at DTM's
Centennial Symposium, October
2004. PHOTO: STEVEN SHIREY
political fairness, and about policies that he felt reflected badly on the
George Tilton passed away on October 20, United States. On such issues, his quiet determination, commonly over-
2010, in Eugene, Oregon, USA. His death looked, came through.
marks the passing of one of the early pio- George will be remembered by a host of graduate students, postdoctoral
neers of common Pb and U/Pb dating. fellows, and international collaborators. He is survived by Elizabeth,
his wife of sixty-two years, and other family members.
George was the youngest of four children
brought up in a railroad family in Keith Bell (kib@magma.ca)
Professor Emeritus, Department of Earth Science
Danville, Illinois. He started his formal
Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
education at Blackburn College, but this
was dramatically cut short when he was
called up for active duty during World
War 2. George served as a runner handling
dispatches during the Ardennes Offensive,
but he was wounded by enemy fi re, an
injury that earned him a Purple Heart.

In the early days of research into radioactivity, George’s doctoral dis-

sertation at the University of Chicago focused on the uranium contents
of meteorites, with Harrison Brown as his supervisor. He worked at the
Carnegie Institute in Washington and later took a position at the
University of California, Santa Barbara. Perhaps his best-known and
oft-cited paper was the one on volume diffusion as a model for Pb loss
in zircon, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research in 1960.
George maintained his interest in meteorites throughout most of his
career, especially those aspects that related to the age of the Earth and
terrestrial differentiation.

Those of us working outside the United States were always puzzled as

to how George survived the cut and thrust of American science.
However, he had brilliance on his side, and his kindly disposition and
care for other people gained him many friends. Throughout my twenty-
year association with him, I never heard George criticize other people
or their work. His most critical comment would be that there might be
another way of looking at things. Some have said that he was a humble
person, but this smacks of condescension. Perhaps self-effacing is more
appropriate.

Throughout his career George gained many honors. He was an AGU

fellow, a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, president of the
Geochemical Society, and the recipient of an honorary doctorate from
ETH in Zürich. Although his interests were wide ranging, his last four-
teen or so papers dealt with the Pb isotope composition of carbonatites,
starting with a mention about them in his presidential address pub-
lished in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta in 1983. George’s fascination
with carbonatites led to his modeling of the evolution of the subcon-
tinental, depleted mantle over 3.0 billion years and the relationship
between carbonatites and plume magmatism. Many of the samples he
analyzed from the Canadian Shield were collected in the wilds of
northern Quebec and Ontario, and, in spite of his training as a chemist,
George was a physical force to be reckoned with in the field.

For those lucky enough to coauthor a paper with him, every word was
weighed, every sentence was carefully parsed, and every idea was given
just the right amount of gestation. In his deep-thinking mode, George
would stick out his chin, chew on his pencil, and then, after a minute
or so of complete silence, would invariably come up with a new approach
or, better still, a novel solution to the problem at hand.

George’s interests outside of science included singing, listening to clas-

sical music, and backpacking. He was always concerned with politics,
with an outlook that was colored by his growing up during the depres-
sion years. He could be quite outspoken about social injustices, about

E LEMENTS 279 A UGUS T 2011

 Mineralogical Association of Canada
www.mineralogicalassociation.ca
FROM THE PRESIDENT
Another annual GAC-MAC meeting has come
and gone, along with the attendant MAC
Council meeting, awards luncheon, and
annual business meeting. The Ottawa annual
meeting, which was also sponsored by SEG and
SGA, was, by all accounts, a great success, both
scientifically and fi nancially. The Association
thanks co-chairs André Lalonde and Simon
Hanmer for the success of the meeting, as well
Iain Samson, President as the many other volunteers who were
responsible for various aspects of the confer-
ence. A high proportion of students made up the delegates. Student
attendance was in part supported by the MAC travel awards program.
This year we awarded fi fteen travel and research grants to BSc, MSc,
and PhD students from across Canada.
MAC Council met for 1.5 days prior to the meeting and discussed many
issues of importance to the Association. Council welcomed Yulia
Uvarova (Queen’s University), Chris Weisener (University of Windsor),
and David London (University of Oklahoma) as new councillors, and
thanked outgoing councillors Danielle Fortin (University of Ottawa),
David Pattison (University of Calgary), and Ian Coulson (University of
Regina) for their contributions and involvement over the past few years.
The most significant issues discussed concerned The Canadian
Mineralogist. With our involvement in GeoScienceWorld, the online
journal-aggregation service for Earth science journals, individual library
subscriptions to the journal continue to decrease. This, although
expected, has had an important impact on revenues, and the decrease
is not being compensated by income from GeoScienceWorld. Despite
this, the Association’s fi nances were healthy in the past year, but we
will be modifying the fi nancial model upon which the journal cur-
rently operates in order to ensure that The Canadian Mineralogist remains
a sustainable endeavor into the future. Also related to the journal was
a discussion about the position of editor. Bob Martin has now been
editor of the journal for 33 years! Bob has provided extraordinary,
highest-quality service to the journal and the Association, but time
marches on, and the transition to a new editor or editors is in the not-
so-distant future. Council struck a committee to examine how to best
achieve this transition and how to identify a new editorial team. In
addition, there was a consensus that the journal should move to an
online submission and electronic tracking and handling system; how-
ever, it was decided that such a move should only happen in consulta-
tion with the new editor(s).
Plans are now well in hand for next year’s annual meeting in St. John’s,
Newfoundland. This meeting will include a short course on the quan-
titative mineralogy and microanalysis of sediments and sedimentary
rocks. Although focused on applications to sedimentary rocks, the
techniques discussed can be applied to many different types of Earth
materials, and the course should therefore appeal to a wide range of
Earth scientists. The 2013 meeting will be in Winnipeg, and an exciting
program is developing, so I hope to see many of you in both St. John’s
and Winnipeg.
Special Publication No. 7, the Atlas of Non-Silicate Minerals in Thin
Section, by Joan Carles Melgarejo and Robert F. Martin, was launched
at the Ottawa meeting (see the advertisement next page). This very
E LEMENTS 280
useful, comprehensive, high-quality book, consisting of over 500 pages
and a CD, is available at a very reasonable price from MAC thanks to
generous supporting donations from Robert Wares and Osisko Mining
Corporation. I encourage you and your library to purchase copies of
this work.
It is encouraging to see that MAC membership has increased slightly
over 2009. Ordinary members are the life-blood of the Association, and
it is gratifying to see growth in this area. To build on this, we will be
asking members if the Association is serving them in the best way
possible. Members can expect to receive a questionnaire in the future.
Your collaboration will help MAC understand its membership better
and thus offer better service. Please take time to respond as such infor-
mation will help us move the Association forward.
Iain Samson (ims@uwindsor.ca)
MAC president
BERRY MEDAL TO BOB AND FRAN PINARD
The 2011 Berry Medal
for distinguished ser-
vice to the Association
was awarded to Bob
and Fran Pinard during
the annual luncheon.
The award was made in
recognition of their
pivotal role from 1990
to 2006 in moving the
Mineralogical Asso-
ciation of Canada for-
ward along its path
Bob Pinard receiving the Berry Medal from from an essentially
Vice President Lee Groat volunteer-based orga-
nization at its incep-
tion, to our current status as a professional member-focused Canadian
publishing house and contributing member of the international
Elements consortium of societies. Bob Pinard spent his career at the
Mines Branch in Ottawa and became involved in the Association in
1957, when it was a fledgling organization housed at the Mines Branch.
After several years at the Royal Ontario Museum, the MAC office was
moved to Ottawa in 1990, and Fran Pinard became manager of an office
with an inventory of only 22 titles, no computer, no printer, no data-
base, and no operational instructions, while Bob kept his role as sub-
scription manager. Over the years, MAC affairs took over the Pinard’s
basement, and the family room was converted into a spacious office.
This award expresses more than MAC’s appreciation for the Pinard’s
fulltime operation of the Association’s business. It is also deserved
praise for their dedicated service to the ordinary and institutional mem-
bers of MAC. Bob and Fran brought members’ voices to Council debate
through their annual reports on subscriptions and the business affairs
of the Association. Thus, they challenged the decisions and whims of
Council—thankfully often visionary and strategic but at times insensi-
tive to practical, operational matters—by focusing on service to mem-
bers and growing the membership at affordable rates. They provided
us with our flagship journal on time and met our demands for reprints,
back orders, lost volumes, special and thematic publications, books,
posters, cards, and anything else we needed from MAC. Fran and Bob,
the membership thanks you heartily for your involvement.
A UGUS T 2011
 OTTAWA 2011 HIGHLIGHTS

It takes commitment from a large number of volunteers to run a GAC-MAC meeting.

Our heartfelt thanks go to the Ottawa 2011 local organizing committee (LOC) and
their dedicated team of student volunteers. PHOTO OLGA IJEWLIW

A well-attended luncheon. PHOTO OLGA IJEWLIW

A book-signing event was held on May 26 to launch our new special

The 2011 medalists. From left to right, front row: David Fowle (Young Scientist
Awardee), Lee Groat (MAC Vice President), Bob Pinard (Berry Medalist); back row:
Joel Grice (Hawley Medalist), Dan Kontak (Peacock Medalist), Iain Samson (MAC
President). See Elements 7: 195 for excerpts of citations. PHOTO OLGA IJEWLIW
publication Atlas of Non-Silicate Minerals in Thin Section. From left to right,
Robert Martin (coauthor), Anthony Williams-Jones (GAC Logan Medalist),
André Lalonde (MAC representative on the Ottawa 2011 LOC), and Robert
Wares, whose generous contribution helped keep the book affordable,
proudly display their copy of the book. PHOTO VICKI LOSCHIAVO

Intter
resste
ed in
n Mettam
morp
phism
m? Hot off the press
We Have Publications for You!

Hot off the press

Order your copy at www.mineralogicalassociation.ca

$125 – Student price $100
Order online at www.mineralogicalassociation.ca 20% discount for MAC members

E LEMENTS 281 A UGUS T 2011

 BOOK REVIEW

TIMESCALES OF MAGMATIC PROCESSES

FROM CORE TO ATMOSPHERE1

To say that this book is very timely would appear to be a cheap pun.
But actually, timescales have been one of the most important focuses of
research in the last 10 to 20 years for those working on magmatic rocks,
as a brief survey of the AGU Volcanology, Geochemistry, Petrology
(VGP) section sessions will confi rm.

Four and a half billion years of geological time is the unique canvas
that underlies our discipline and distinguishes it from other sciences. In
the last 10 to 20 years though, technological advances – better spatial
resolution for low-abundance elements, better measurements of diffu-
sivities, and better determinations of low-abundance isotopes such as
uranium, thorium, and radon – have allowed us to access the shorter
timescales. Timescales of Magmatic Processes serves as a benchmark in
the field. Nevertheless, it is not a defi nitive summary but more a prog-
ress report, because I suspect that such an active topic has a great deal
more fruit to bear.

The ambition of this book, to cover timescales from the Earth’s core
to its atmosphere, is encapsulated in the title. The chapters have been
written by an international spectrum of recognized experts in their
field, and as such the book is admirably authoritative. At the same time,
collating chapters from such diverse contributors has led to variability
in approach and level. The reader should probably see this book as a
compendium of summary chapters to be read or referenced as needed,
rather than as a cover-to-cover read that will provide complete enlight-
enment on the issues of magmatic timescales.
The book is logically organised, from inside the Earth (core and mantle)
outward to the atmosphere. The focus on the main theme of timescales
varies in intensity. There are, for instance, useful chapters on simulating
magma ascent and the geochemistry of melting – arguably essential for
understanding the context of magmatic processes and, implicitly, their
characteristic timescales. But such chapters are not effectively woven
into the timescales theme. A disadvantage of the “collection of con-
tributions” approach is that connectivity is not deliberately imposed
and there are no integrating chapters. The chapter topics and their con-
tents are therefore probably not those which would be chosen by an
individual or team of authors. The compromise is that the individual
chapters are written by recognised experts in their respective fields.
There is an implicit assumption that the reader has an adequate back-
ground in geology, chemistry and physics, because the introductions
to radioactive decay, element distribution, the principles of diffusion
and plate tectonics, for instance, are limited.
Although both physical and chemical tools are considered throughout
the book, there is a leaning towards the latter. The introductory chapter
by the editorial team of Dosseto, Turner, and Van Orman, as well as
Costa, lays out the groundwork and makes clear the systematics of
the U-series isotopes and the subsidiary theme of diffusion; these are
the main tools of the magmatic geochronologist and are referred to
throughout much of the book. Early planetary magmatic processes are
covered in the next chapter, by Caro and Kleine. This contribution
seems slightly out of place among the other chapters but serves well
as a stand-alone introduction to a challenging topic. There are two
complementary chapters on mantle melting. Bourdon and Elliott sum-
marise interpretations based on U-series isotope data, while Van Orman
and Saal show how diffusion may influence trace element and isotope
systematics. In the same vein there are three complementary chap-
ters on magma ascent. O’Neill and Spiegelman summarise the physics
controlling ascent mechanisms and thereby ascent rates, Turner and
Bourdon show how interpretations of U-series data can constrain ascent,
and O’Reilly and Griffi n present a brief analysis of ascent rates derived
from xenolith-settling criteria. The chapter by Costa and Morgan is a
particularly elegant summary of the many recent advances in in situ
techniques for teasing out timescales of processes in magmas from
their crystal cargoes. Replete with a detailed tabulation of diffusivi-
ties in the major minerals, this chapter is likely to be highly cited and
appreciated. It too is complemented by subsequent chapters. Dosseto
and Turner outline the application of U-series data to magmatic dif-
ferentiation. Rushmer and Knesel summarise the experimental contri-
butions to understanding the consequences and timescales of crustal
melting. And Bachman focusses on the timescales required to develop
large silicic bodies – an area to which much interest and attention has
been devoted over the past decade. Berlo and others close the book
with an analysis of magmatic degassing timescales and the geochemical
consequences. The complementarity of chapters on similar themes –
melting, ascent and differentiation – is apparently accidental but pro-
vides useful variations in perspective.
Are there any gaps in the coverage? Very few really. Perhaps some men-
tion of observed natural and experimentally determined crystal growth
rates and their relation to textures (through crystal size distributions)
could have been included. Despite the slightly quirky mix of chapters,
there is probably no other volume which brings together the various
perspectives on the topic of magmatic timescales as thoroughly and
credibly as this one.
A defi nite “plus” is that the book is laid out simply and cleanly – the
diagrams, in particular, are commendably simple and easy to read.
Equations are there where needed but not used unnecessarily. Many
of the chapters, laced as they are with key references, are ideal for
graduate students or senior undergraduates to use as an introduction
to the current state of the art in our understanding of magmatic time-
scales. Timescales of Magmatic Processes is more than a textbook though.
It will certainly be a useful reference work for academics, even those of
us working with, and familiar with, the timescales of magmatic pro-
cesses. Furthermore it’s a handy mid-sized paperback, easy to toss into
a carry-on and dip into en route to the next conference or workshop.
A minor quibble concerns the collection of colour figures bound into
the centre of the book (and not even between two chapters). These are
all simply colour versions of figures already in the text. It is not clear
on what basis they were chosen, and the addition of colour does little
to enhance most of them, other than the photomicrographs. One
hopes that the colour plates have not substantially inflated Wiley’s
list price of £80 ($130).
Jon Davidson
Durham University, Durham, UK
1 Dosseto A, Turner SP, Van Orman JA (eds) (2010) Timescales of Magmatic Processes
from Core to Atmosphere. Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken, New Jersey,
ISBN: 978-1-4443-3260-5, 272 pages

E LEMENTS 282 A UGUS T 2011

E LEMENTS 283 A UGUS T 2011
 MEETING REPORT
MAKING SCIENCE MATTER
COUNCIL OF SCIENCE EDITORS MEETING
Baltimore, April 29–May 3, 2011
What do 400 editors, managing editors, publication managers, copy
editors, and publishers talk about when they meet? For the second
year in a row, I attended the annual meeting of the Council of Science
Editors (CSE), held this year in Baltimore, USA. The Council of Science
Editors, founded in 1957, was formerly the Council of Biological Sciences
Editors, and its membership of 1200 is still made up predominantly
of life sciences and biological sciences editors. But there is a will to
expand to include all the physical sciences. Tangible evidence of this
desire is the recent election of Ken Heideman, Director of Publications
at the American Meteorological Society (www.ametsoc.org), as presi-
dent-elect of CSE.
Immediately preceding each meeting is a series of short courses, and
last year I attended the two-day short course for journal editors. At
fi rst, I felt like an alien who had landed on another planet, but I rap-
idly adjusted to the new atmosphere and the different alphabet soup of
acronyms. I was fascinated to learn that leading journals in the medical
sciences have impact factors as high as 50 and acceptance rates as low
as 6%. Many medical journals have their acceptance-to-publication
period down to 2 months, and 6 to 8 months is the norm. Bill Lanier,
editor-in-chief of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, shared how he actively seeks
high-quality submissions for his journal at conferences and by sur-
veying the literature. Arthur Hilliker, editor of Genome, reminded us
that “there is someone’s blood and sweat in every paper,” hence the
need to treat authors courteously.
Ethical issues loom large in the biomedical field (and increasingly in
all fields) (e.g. plagiarism, confl ict of interest, authorship). Should edi-
tors publish in their own journal? If they do, there should be a fail-
safe system to prevent their handling their own work. In most medical
journals, each author must list his or her contribution to the paper,
and all authors must state their sources of funding. The review process
typically includes a review by a statistician to ensure the validity of the
statistical analysis typical of many medical papers, and many of the
heavyweight journals, like Circulation and JAMA, have a statistician on
staff who reviews the statistical data in every paper. Not every paper is
necessarily sent through the review process. If the editor-in-chief feels
that the paper is not novel enough for his journal, he will simply tell the
authors right away and encourage them to submit to a “niche” journal.
Even though most attendees at the CSE meeting are in the medical or
biological field, I can warmly recommend the short course for journal
editors to anyone taking on the editorship of a journal. This is a quick
way to be brought up to speed on many issues an editor might face,
and it provides an instantaneous network.
The meeting format is as follows: one plenary talk and 3 breakout ses-
sions 60 or 90 minutes long on a given topic. In line with the theme
of the 2011 meeting, “Making Science Matter,” the plenary talks dealt
with various outreach efforts. Dr. John Whyte, Chief Medical Officer of
the Discovery Channel, encouraged us to present science in an enter-
taining manner. Darlene Cavalier (www.sciencecheerleader.com) gave a
wonderful talk illustrating how one person can make a difference. The
third talk was by Keith Baggerly of the Anderson Cancer Center on the
subject of forensic bioformatics; he related the five-year saga that led
to the retraction of the article “Genomic Signature to Guide the Use
of Therapeutics” in Nature Medicine (12: 1294-1300). When this paper
was published in 2006, researchers at the Anderson Cancer Center got
really excited and wanted to start using genomic signatures as a tool
to fi ne-tune treatment of their patients. However when they started
reviewing the data, Dr. Baggerly and his colleagues could not replicate
the results. Dr. Baggerly argues that authors should make freely and
readily accessible the data, algorithms and other information that are
central or integral to the publication.
E LEMENTS 284
For every time slot (1 or 1.5 hours), there are three concurrent ses-
sions to choose from, and each session has from 1 to 4 presenters.
Some of the sessions are very practical: “Word Tips for Editors” is
always a popular one, I am told. Among other sessions I attended:
“How to Build a Better Style Guide,” “What Editors Can Do to Detect
Scientific Misconduct,” “Seeking and Using Reader Feedback to Improve
Your Journal,” “Conducting an Editor-in-Chief Search,” and “Media
Outreach: Tips for Getting Attention in a Wired World.” The many ses-
sions on social media were extremely well attended. Even though the
explosion of social media can seem overwhelming (blogs, Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, podcasts, wikis, chatrooms, etc.), Brian Reid encour-
aged everyone to start small: in just 8 minutes a day, you can have some
presence, he argued. Following this bit of advice, I have since started
a Facebook page for Elements (www.facebook.com/elementsmagazine).
Societies who have committed to using social media have been able
to attract more traffic to their journal. Once you have a presence on
Facebook and Twitter, you have to post and tweet regularly, though.
T he C om m it tee on
Publication Ethics (COPE),
established in 1997, has over
6000 members worldwide
from all academic fields. It
has a wealth of informa-
tion on its website (www.
publicationethics.org) and
can also provide advice
to editors and publishers
on publication ethics. The
Committee on Ethics of the
CSE has published a white
paper on promoting integ-
rity in scientific journal
publication (w w w.coun-
cilscienceeditors.org/files/
public/entire_whitepaper.
pdf). Both groups teamed
up to present the fascinating
session “What Can Editors
Do to Deter and Detect Scientific Misconduct?” Everyone involved in
the publication process has a role to play in detecting misconduct.
Other resources for authors I learned about are the EQUATOR Network
(www.equator-network.org), an international initiative that seeks to
improve the reliability and value of medical research literature by pro-
moting transparent and accurate reporting of research studies, and the
International Society of Medical Publication Professionals compilation
of best practises. It is available in an author’s toolkit for article submis-
sion “A Practical Guide to Getting your Research Published” (http://
informahealthcare.com/doi/pdf/10.1185/03007995.2010.499344). This
paper would be of great interest to any new researcher venturing into
publication.
Breaks provided an opportunity to network and visit the exhibits: this
year many exhibitors offered English editing services for English-as-
a-second-language authors. This is a good place to shop for online
submission systems, printers, editorial services, etc.
If you are involved in a society and grappling with the future of pub-
lishing, you will fi nd a wealth of information at a Council of Science
Editors meeting. Next year’s meeting will be in Seattle, Washington,
USA (18–21 May 2012). Many of the 2010 presentations are available
online at www.councilscienceeditors.org/.
Pierrette Tremblay
Managing Editor, Elements
A UGUS T 2011

2011
August 14–19 2011 Goldschmidt
Conference, Prague, Czech Republic.
E-mail: helpdesk@goldschmidt2011.org;
web page: www.goldschmidt2011.org
August 14–19 International
Materials Research Congress (IMRC)
2011, Cancun, Mexico. Web page: www.
mrs.org/s_mrs/sec.asp?CID=25401&DID
August 21–23 MSA and GS Short
Course: Sulfur in Magmas and Melts
and Its Importance for Natural and
Technical Processes, Goslar, Germany.
Details: Harald Behrens and Jim Webster,
e-mail: h.behrens@mineralogie.uni-
hannover.de or jdw@amnh.org; web
page: http://msasulfurinmelts.org
nd
August 21–24 2 International
Workshop on Antimony in the Environ-
ment, Jena, Germany. Web page: www1.
uni-jena.de/Antimony2011
August 22–26 EAG Short Course:
Process-Oriented Biogeochemical
Modeling in Aquifers–Recent Practice
and Limitations, Dresden, Germany.
Web page: www.eag.eu.com/education/
shortcourse/eag-shortcourse2011b
th
August 22–26 25 International
Applied Geochemistry Symposium
(IAGS 2011), Rovaniemi, Finland. Web
page: www.iags2011.fi
August 22–29 XXII Congress of the
International Union of Crystallography,
Madrid, Spain. Web page: www.
ecanews.org/iucrs.php. and www.
iucr2011madrid.es
August 28–September 1 242nd
American Chemical Society (ACS)
National Meeting & Exposition, Denver,
CO, USA. Web page: www.acs.org
August 29–September 2 14th Latin
American Geological Congress and the
13th Colombian Geological Congress,
Medellín, Colombia. Web page:
www.14clg.com
August 30–September 2 3P Arctic
Conference: Polar Petroleum Potential,
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Web page:
www.3parctic.com
September 4–7 7th European
Conference on Mineralogy and
Spectroscopy (ECMS 2011), Potsdam,
Germany. Details: Prof. Dr. Monika
Koch-Mueller, e-mail: mkoch@
gfz-potsdam.de; web page: www.
physchemgeo.com/ECMS/index.html
September 4–7 FRAGILE EARTH:
Geological Processes from Global to
Local Scales and Associated Hazards,
Munich, Germany. Web page: www.
geosociety.org/meetings/2011munich
September 4–10 Comparative Evolu-
tion of Past and Present Accretionary
Orogens: Central Asia and the Circum-
Pacific, Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autono-
mous Region, China. Web page: www.
geosociety.org/penrose/11china.htm
September 7–9 Ore Deposits in an
Evolving Earth, London, UK. Website:
www.fermor2011.org.uk
September 7–10 SEM 2011,
XXXI Scientific Meeting of the SEM
(Sociedad Española de Mineralogía),
Barcelona, Spain. Web page:
http://congress.cimne.upc.es/sem2011/
frontal/default.asp
E LEMENTS
CALENDAR
September 12–16 Fifth Interna-
tional Conference on Mars Polar
Science and Exploration, Fairbanks, AK,
USA. Web page: www.lpi.usra.edu/meet-
ings/polar2011
September 14–17 10th Congress of
Italian Zeolite Association, Naples, Italy.
Web page: www.aiz2011.unina.it; e-mail:
aiz2011@unina.it
September 15–16 Frontiers in
Diagenesis: Clay and Carbonate Facies
and Their Diagenetic Pathways in
Reservoir Rocks, Cambridge University,
UK. Details: Nick Tosca, Christopher
Jeans; web page: www.minersoc.org/
pages/groups/cmg/cmg.html
September 19–23 VIII Forum Ital-
iano di Scienze della Terra, Torino, Italy.
Web page: www.geoitalia.org/index.
php?action=folder_list&folder_id=189
September 19–23 9th International
Symposium on Applied Isotope
Geochemistry (AIG-9), Tarragona,
Spain. Web page: http://congress.cimne.
com/AIG-9/frontal/invitation.asp
September 20–24 GEOMED2011 –
4th Hemispheric Conference on
Medical Geology, Bari, Italy. Details:
Saverio Fiore, e-mail: fiore@imaa.cnr.it;
web page: www.geomed2011.it
September 20–24 Joint Meeting
of the German Crystallographic
Society (DGK), the German Miner-
alogical Society (DMG) and the
Austrian Mineralogical Society (ÖMG),
University of Salzburg, Austria. E-mail:
salzburg2011@conventus.de; web page:
www.salzburg2011.org
September 25–30 The Clay Minerals
Society 2011 Annual Meeting,
Lake Tahoe, NV, USA. www.clays.org/
annual%20meeting/announcement.html
September 26–29 11th Biennial
Society for Geology Applied to Mineral
Deposits (SGA) Meeting, Antofagasta,
Chile. E-mail: sga2011@ucn.cl; web
page: www.sga2011.ucn.cl
September 27–30 International
GNM-GABeC School on Minerals and
Biosphere, Campiglia Marittima (LI),
Italy. E-mail: lattanzp@unica.it; web
page: www.socminpet.it/minbio2011/
index.html
September 30–October 2 103rd
meeting of the New England Inter-
collegiate Geological Conference
(NEIGC), Middlebury College, VT, USA.
Web page: http://neigc.org
October 4–8 9th Silicate Melts Work-
shop, La Petite Pierre, Alsace, France.
Details: Don Dingwell, Pascal Richet,
and Alan Whittington; e-mail: dingwell@
lmu.de, richet@ipgp.fr, whittingtona@
missouri.edu; web page: http://web.
missouri.edu/~whittingtona/9thSMW
October 9–12 Geological Society of
America Annual Meeting, Minneapolis,
MN, USA. E-mail: meetings@geosociety.
org; web page: www.geosociety.org/
meetings/2011
October 16–20 Materials Science &
Technology 2011 Conference and
Exhibition – MS&T ’11 combined with
the ACerS 113th Annual Meeting,
Columbus, OH, USA. Web page: www.
tms.org/Meetings/meetings.asp
285
October 18–21 12th International
Congress on Rock Mechanics (ISRM
2011), Beijing, China. E-mail: secre-
tariat@isrm2011.com; website: www.
isrm2011.com
October 21–23 Migmatites:
Contemporary Views and Examples –
Annual Meeting of the Petrology Group
and General Meeting of the Mineralog-
ical Society of Poland, Bukowina, Poland.
Web page: www.ptmin.pl/ptmin2011-07-11
October 24–28 Cathodolumines-
cence 2011: A MAS Topical Confer-
ence, Gaithersburg, MD, USA. E-mail:
CL2011@microbeamanalysis.org;
website: www.microbeamanalysis.org
November 2–6 MaThCryst Work-
shop on Mathematical Crystallog-
raphy, Manila, Phillipines. Web page:
www.crystallography.fr/mathcryst/
manila2011.php
November 7–9 Workshop on Forma-
tion of the First Solids in the Solar
System (Solids 2011), Kauai, HI, USA.
Web page: www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/
solids2011
November 11–13 9th Swiss Geosci-
ence Meeting, ETH Zürich, Switzerland.
Web page: http://geoscience-meeting.
scnatweb.ch
November 21–24 Conference on
Arsenic in Groundwater in South Asia,
Hanoi, Vietnam. E-mail: vietcetasd53@
yahoo.com; web page: http://vietas.
er.dtu.dk
November 28–December 2 MRS
(Materials Research Society) Fall
Meeting, Boston, MA, USA. Web page:
www.mrs.org/s_mrs/index.asp
November 29–December 3 Eleventh
International Conference on Gas
Geochemistry, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Web page: http://icgg11.ucsd.edu
December 5–9 AGU Fall Meeting,
San Francisco, CA, USA. Web page:
www.agu.org/meetings
2012
January 22–27 36th International
Conference and Expo on Advanced
Ceramics and Composites, Daytona
Beach, FL, USA. Web page: http://
ceramics.org/dates-deadlines
February 6–12 10th International
Kimberlite Conference, Bangalore,
India. Website: www.10ikcbangalore.
com.
February 20–24 2012 Ocean
Sciences Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT,
USA. Web page: www.agu.org/meetings
March 4–7 XIV EMPG (Experimental
Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochem-
istry) Meeting, Kiel, Germany. E-mail:
empg2012@min.uni-kiel.de; web page:
www.EMPG2012.uni-kiel.de
March 11–15 The Minerals Metals
& Materials Society (TMS) TMS 2012:
Linking Science and Technology for
Global Solutions, Orlando, FL, USA.
E-mail: mtgserv@tms.org; web page:
www.tms.org/meetings/annual-12/
AM12home.aspx
March 19–23 43rd Lunar and Plan-
etary Science Conference (LPSC 2012),
The Woodlands, TX, USA. Web page:
www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2012
A UGUS T 2011
March 25–29 243rd American
Chemical Society (ACS) National
Meeting & Exposition, San Diego, CA,
USA. Web page: www.acs.org
April 9–13 MRS Spring Meeting, San
Francisco, CA, USA. Web page: www.
mrs.org/s_mrs/index.asp
April 22–25 AAPG Annual Conven-
tion & Exhibition, Long Beach, CA, USA.
Web page: www.aapg.org/meetings
May 27–29 Geological Association of
Canada and Mineralogical Association
of Canada Annual Meeting, St. John’s,
NL. Web page: www.stjohns2012.ca
May 31–June 10 Erice School:
Present and Future Methods for
Biomolecular Crystallography, Erice,
Sicily, Italy. Web page: www.crystalerice.
org/Erice2012/2012.htm
June 24–29 Goldschmidt 2012,
Montreal, Canada. E-mail: helpdesk@
goldschmidt2012.org; website: www.
goldschmidt2012.org
July 9–13 Inter/Micro: 63rd Annual
Applied Microscopy Conference,
Chicago, IL, USA. Web page: www.mcri.
org
July 15–19 International Congress
on Ceramics (ICC4), Chicago, IL, USA.
Web page: http://ceramics.org/4th-
international-congress-on-ceramics-icc4
July 28–August 2 American
Crystallographic Association (ACA)
Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, USA. Web
page: www.AmerCrystalAssn.org
July 29–August 2 Microscopy and
Microanalysis 2012. Phoenix, AZ, USA.
Web page: www.microprobe.org/events/
microscopy-microanalysis-2012
August ECM-27 – XXVII European
Crystallographic Meeting, Bergen,
Norway. Web page: www.lcm3b.uhp-
nancy.fr/ecasig5/Activity.php
August 2–10 34th International
Geological Congress, Brisbane,
Australia. E-mail: info@34igc.org; web
page: www.34igc.org
August 12–17 Annual meeting
of the Meteoritical Society, Cairns,
Queensland, Australia. Details: Trevor
Ireland, e-mail: trevor.ireland@anu.edu.
au; web page: www.meteoriticalsociety.
org
August 19–23 244th ACS National
Meeting & Exposition, Philadelphia, PA,
USA. Web page: www.acs.org
September 2–6 EMC2012: Planet
Earth – From Core to Surface (joint
meeting), Johann Wolfgang Goethe-
University, Frankfurt, Germany. Details:
Kevin Murphy; web page: http://
emc2012.uni-frankfurt.de
September 17–20 Geoanalysis 2012,
Búzios, Brazil. Web page: www.ige.
unicamp.br/geoanalysis2012
October 7–11 MS&T’12: Materials
Science & Technology Conference and
Exhibition, combined with ACerS 114th
Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Web page: www.matscitech.org
November 4–7 Geological Society of
America (GSA) Annual Meeting,
Charlotte, NC, USA. Web page: www.
geosociety.org/meetings
November 26–30 MRS Fall Meeting,
Boston, MA, USA. Web page: www.mrs.
org/s_mrs/index.asp
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October 27–30 Geological Society Australian Scientific Instruments (ASI) Inside front cover
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May 19–22 AAPG 2013 Annual CO, USA. E-mail: meetings@geosociety. Bruker 234
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E LEMENTS 286 A UGUS T 2011

 PARTING SHOTS

STANDING STONES

years ago, was the installation of the great Sarsen stones, the largest
weighing 50 tonnes. They were assembled into a continuous ring with
lintels, now incomplete, and the five great trilithons, which dominate
the present structure, were erected in a U-shape. It is estimated that
500 men would have been needed to move the largest blocks of sand-
stone, most probably using sledges, ropes and rollers, from a quarry
some 30 km to the north.

Callanish is more modest, but the wildness of its setting and the hard-
ship of life we can imagine for the people who built it, give it a magical
feel. It is built of blocks of the local stone, Lewisian Gneiss, at least 3
billion years old – a fragment of Laurentia left behind when Pangaea
broke up. To my eye it seems the builders selected naturally broken,
rather platy blocks, unlike the quarried Sarsen stones at Stonehenge.
Construction began between 4900 and 4600 years ago, and pottery
suggests that the main stones were erected 4200 years ago. For some
reason the people of Callanish were extremely keen on stone circles –
within a few kilometres there are no less than 19.

The Outer Isles: The Standing Stones of Callanish

The mysterious Standing Stones of Callanish are on the west coast of

the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, on the very edge of Europe,
looking out over the North Atlantic. Travel due west and the fi rst land
you will encounter is northern Labrador, east of Ungava Bay. Thanks
to the Gulf Stream it is rarely cold and rarely warm, but it is almost
always windy. The landscape is covered by a sodden blanket of peat,
and may reasonably be described as bleak. It is particularly bleak on
Sundays. Sunday is a serious business on Lewis. Shops and restaurants
are shut, and you can’t buy petrol. As a dispensation you may be able
to get a meal in a hotel, but only if you’ve had the foresight to buy
petrol because there is no bus service. And, before you ask, you can’t Stonehenge
buy booze, either.
So, the big question: why put so much effort into all this circle-building?
So much for modern man in the Outer Isles. What of the people who
Get into the more spiritual side of stone circles on the Web and you
chose to erect the marvellous stone circle? When and why did they
will read some extremely strange stuff. It does, however, seem certain
build it? Strangely, stone circles are a speciality of Britain and Ireland.
that the alignments of the stones at Stonehenge had an astronom-
There are about 1000 stone circles and 80 henges – circular earth-works
ical function. Gerald S. Hawkins, Professor of Astronomy at Boston
– in these islands, but only a handful elsewhere in Europe, mainly in
(Massachusetts) University, showed that its stones and archways point
Brittany and the Basque country. Why the ancient Brits were so keen
to the Sun and Moon as they rise and set during the year1. As summer
on stone circles remains a mystery, but it does suggest that they were in
progresses the Sun rises further to the north each day, and the heel-
this respect socially cohesive from a very early time. The most famous
stone predicts its position at the summer solstice with the remarkable
stone circle by far is Stonehenge, in the South of England, a World
precision of 0.2°. The complex arrangement of stones can be used to
Heritage site and one of the most visited tourist destinations in the
predict eclipses of both the Sun and the Moon, and takes account of
UK. It stands in open, gently rolling chalk grassland, in a relatively
the slow wobble in the Moon’s orbit.
lightly populated region (for southern England) called Salisbury Plain,
about 120 km west of London. It is visible from a long way off, and Hawkins later looked for astronomical alignments at Callanish 2 , at
although it stands in a fork between two busy main roads, the conser- the time one of the few megalithic monuments in Great Britain for
vation authorities have ensured that no modern buildings intrude on which plans had been published, commenting that it was ‘rather deso-
its isolation. I went there by push-bike when still at school and was late’. Again he found evidence for astronomical alignments, with even
deeply impressed, the great angular trilithons, a unique triumph of better accuracy than Stonehenge. He also noted that the high latitude
prehistoric engineering, contrasting starkly with the gentle downland of Callanish corresponds closely with the Arctic Circle for the Moon,
in which they stand. the latitude where the Moon at its extreme declination remains hidden
just below the southern horizon. At the time, Hawkins would not have
Construction at Stonehenge began about 5100 years ago, with the
been aware of the high concentration of circles near Callanish, and
building of a circular henge. One thousand years later 82 ‘bluestones’,
one wonders whether the Neolithic astronomers were fi ne-tuning the
the largest weighing 4 tonnes, were installed in two incomplete cir-
position of their circles. There is no doubt that these Stone Age Britons
cles. In the late 1980s some of these were investigated petrographi-
were bright cookies – I wonder what their Sundays were like?
cally and chemically. Eleven were dolerites and four were rhyolites and
tuffs. The nearest match for the majority was in the Preseli Hills in Ian Parsons
southwestern Wales, nearly 200 km away. Suggestions that they were University of Edinburgh, UK
derived locally from glacially transported material found little favour
because the effects of glaciation are trivial in southern England. It is
thought that they were probably transported by sea, on rafts up the
Bristol Channel, but in archaeology, science and speculation tend to 1 Hawkins GS (1963) Nature 200: 306
merge seamlessly together. The fi nal stage of construction, about 4000 2 Hawkins GS (1965) Science 147: 127-13

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