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Science 26 May 2000:
Vol. 288. no. 5470, pp. 1411 - 1414
DOI: 10.1126/science.288.5470.1411
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Reports

Field Measurement of Slow Metamorphic Reaction Rates at Temperatures of 500° to 600°C

Ethan F. Baxter, * Donald J. DePaolo

High-temperature metamorphic reaction rates were measured using strontium isotopic ratios of garnet and whole rock from a field site near Simplon Pass, Switzerland. For metamorphic conditions of cooling from 612° ± 17°C to 505° ± 15°C at pressures up to 9.1 kilobars, the inferred bulk fluid-rock exchange rate is 1.3-0.4+1.1 × 10-7 grams of solid reacted per gram of solid per year, several orders of magnitude lower than laboratory-based estimates. The inferred reaction rate suggests that mineral chemistry may lag the evolving conditions in Earth's crust during mountain building.

Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of California, 301 McCone Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ebaxter{at}uclink4.berkeley.edu

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