Northeastern Section–41st Annual Meeting (20–22 March 2006)

Paper No. 5
Presentation Time: 1:00 PM-4:00 PM

STABLE ISOTOPES OF STRAIN FRINGES IN APTIAN SLATES NEAR LOURDES, FRANCE


KINSMAN, Nicole, GOLDSTEIN, Art, PECK, William and SELLECK, Bruce, Department of Geology, Colgate University, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346, nkinsman@mail.colgate.edu

Metamorphic fluid flow and fluid temperatures are often poorly constrained in low-grade metamorphic systems. This study utilizes conventional microsampling techniques for stable isotope analysis of mm-scale, pyrite-centered, fibrous quartz and calcite strain fringes. These features document progressive growth of quartz and calcite during deformation. The samples used in this study are from a well-known strain fringe locality in the Pyrenees Mountains near Lourdes, France. Cretaceous (Aptian) limestones in the area are of marine origin with calcite oxygen isotope ratios (δ18Occ) that range from 25.9 to 27.6‰ SMOW and calcite carbon isotope ratios ( δ13Ccc) that range from 1.7 to 5.4‰ PDB (n=16). Values of δ18Occ throughout the slate unit from both strain fringes and matrix material are tightly constrained and fall between 21.5 and 22.5‰ (n=26). The lower δ18Occ in the slate suggests the recrystallization of calcite at elevated temperatures. δ13Ccc values in the slate range from 1.6 to 4.1‰ and vary with stratigraphic height. δ18Occ from four strain fringes are 22.8±0.5‰ (n=8) and Dqtz-cc values are 1.7±0.3‰. Calcite-quartz oxygen isotope thermometry yields apparent temperatures of 447±72°C. However, these calculations are not an accurate reflection of equilibrium temperatures based on metamorphic grade and calculated oxygen isotope ratios of water in equilibrium. These anomalously high apparent temperatures may reflect the scale at which these fringes were analyzed, and may be resolved through the use of ion microprobe analysis.