Supersilicic clinopyroxene and silica exsolution in UHPM eclogite and pelitic gneiss from the Kokchetav massif, Kazakhstan

Abundant exsolved quartz rods occur in matrix clinopyroxene of eclogite from the Kokchetav massif, Kazakhstan. These rocks are diamond-grade, ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic rocks that recrystallized at P > 6 GPa and T > 1000 °C. Zircon is an excellent container, which effectively protects peak UHP metamorphic phases from retrogression. Therefore, to ascertain the pre-exsolution composition of the clinopyroxene, we analyzed clinopyroxene inclusions in zircon of the eclogite and a diamond-bearing biotite gneiss. Clinopyroxene in zircon has an excess of Fe3+ + VIAl over IVAl + Na + K, and calculated cation totals significantly less than 4.0 per six O atoms. The stoichiometry of these pyroxenes can be reconciled if the Ca-Eskola end-member (Ca0.5⃞0.5AlSi2O6) is considered. The zircon-hosted clinopyroxene in the eclogite contains up to 9.6 mol% of the Ca-Eskola component, and in the biotite gneiss up to 18.2 mol%, whereas the matrix clinopyroxene contains much less (1.3 mol%, on average). Recalculation of the composition of the matrix clinopyroxene prior to exsolution of quartz rods yields 6.8 mol% Ca-Eskola component, which is consistent with the composition of the clinopyroxene inclusions in zircon. We conclude that the Ca-Eskola component in the peak metamorphic clinopyroxenes broke down by a retrograde reaction: