Petrology, geothermobarometry and geochemistry of granulite facies wall rocks and hosting gneiss of gemstone deposits from the Mogok area (Myanmar)

Abstract

The Mogok Metamorphic Belt (MMB) of Myanmar formed during the Paleogene collision between the West Burma block and the Shan-Thai block. The MMB is mainly composed of medium to high-grade metamorphic marble, calc-silicate rocks, gneiss, quartzite, peridotite and igneous rocks such as granite, syenite and gabbro. The Mogok area in the central part of the MMB is well-known for magnificent quality ruby, spinel, sapphire, and peridot. To unravel the metamorphic PT-conditions prevailing during the formation of spinel and ruby from primary marble deposits in the Mogok area, three different types of high-grade quartz-garnet gneiss from the neighbourhood of gemstone mines were investigated by electron microprobe. Geothermobarometry reveals granulite facies PT-conditions of 756–792 °C at 7.4–7.6 kbar, which is reproduced by Theriak-Domino modelling within the error of both methods at water activities of 0.34–0.4. Shoshonitic and high-K calc-alkaline mafic dykes occur within marble forming conspicuous garnet-nepheline and clinopyroxene-clinoamphibole gneiss. Petrologic and geochemical investigations of these metadykes verify their granulite facies metamorphism and classify them as subduction-related magmatic rocks, which intruded the marble sequences. These investigations as well as previous studies show that spinel and ruby in marble of the Mogok area may have formed not only by metasomatism around alkaline intrusions, but also by granulite facies regional metamorphism.