Quartz in garnet (QuiG) Inclusion Barometry of the Exhumed Himalayan Mid-crust

Most of the thermobarometric methods available to measure the pressure and temperature of metamorphism rely on the assumption of thermodynamic equilibrium and knowledge of the partitioning of elements between minerals. The pressure estimates obtained from these methods could be affected by chemical diffusion and/or variation in stress distribution, common during metamorphism. Furthermore, they also may be affected by bias during selection of mineral and chemical compositions for analyses. In contrast, pressure estimates from inclusion barometry methods rely on measurements of physical characteristics of an inclusion-host pair to gain insight into metamorphic conditions independent of the chemical equilibrium between minerals. This project aims to implement and utilize Quartz in Garnet (QuiG) inclusion barometry at IPICYT and extract pressure measurements from rocks collected across the Himalayan metamorphic core. The resulting data will be used to better constrain the pressure portion of the pressure-temperature-time paths obtained for these rocks using other analytical methods. These combined datasets will be evaluated together with detailed structural and kinematic information to provide insight into the geologic evolution of the Himalayan mid-crust and orogenic systems in general.

Faculty Supervisor:

Kyle Larson

Student:

Partner:

Instituto Potosino de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

University:

University of British Columbia - Okanagan

Program:

Globalink Research Award