MICRO AND NANO-TEXTURAL EVIDENCE OF TI(-CA-FE) MOBILITY DURING FLUID-ROCK INTERACTIONS IN FOSSILIFEROUS METAMORPHIC ROCKS FROM NEW ZEALAND

Understanding the mobility of chemical elements during fluid-rock interactions is critical to assess the geochemical evolution of a rock undergoing burial and metamorphism and, in particular, to constrain the geochemical budget of fossilization processes. In particular, determining the behavior and mobility of Ti in aqueous fluids constitutes a great challenge that is still under scrutiny. Here, we study plant fossils preserved in blueschist metasedimentary rocks from the Marybank formation (New Zealand). Using scanning and transmission electron microscopies (SEM and TEM), we show that the carbonaceous material (CM) composing the fossils contain abundant nano-inclusions of Ti- and Fe-oxides. These nanocrystals are mainly anatase, rutile and Fe-Ti oxides. The mineral composition observed within the fossils is significantly different from that detected in the surrounding rock matrix. We propose that Ti and Fe might have been mobilized by the alteration of a detrital Ti-Fe rich protolith during an early diagenetic event under acidic and reducing conditions. Aqueous fluids rich in organic ligands released by the degradation of organic matter may have been involved. Moreover, using mass balance and petrological observations, we show that the contrasted mineralogy between the rock matrix and the fossil CM might be the consequence of the isolation of fossil CM during the prograde path of the rock. Such an isolation results from the early formation of quartz and Fe-rich phyllosilicate layers enclosing the fossil as characterized by SEM and TEM investigations. Overall, this study shows that investigating minerals associated to CM down to the nanometer scale in metamorphic rocks can provide a precious record of early prograde geochemical conditions.