Experiments have been conducted in the
P-T range 2.5–15 GPa and 850–1,500°C using bulk compositions in the systems SiO
2–TiO
2–Al
2O
3–Fe
2O
3–FeO–MnO–MgO–CaO–Na
2O–K
2O–P
2O
5 and SiO
2–TiO
2–Al
2O
3–MgO–CaO–Na
2O to investigate the Ca-Eskola (CaEs Ca
0.5□
0.5AlSi
2O
6) content of clinopyroxene in eclogitic assemblages containing garnet + clinopyroxene + SiO
2 ± TiO
2 ± kyanite as a function of
P,
T, and bulk composition. The results show that CaEs
ss in clinopyroxene increases with increasing
T and is strongly bulk composition dependent whereby high CaEs-contents are favoured by bulk compositions with high normative
anorthite and low diopside contents. In this study, a maximum of 18 mol% CaEs
ss was found at 6 GPa and 1,350°C in a kyanite-eclogite assemblage garnet + clinopyroxene + kyanite + rutile + coesite. By comparison,
no significant increase in CaEs
ss with increasing
P could be observed. If the formation of oriented SiO
2-rods frequently observed in eclogititc clinopyroxenes is due to the retrogressive breakdown of a CaEs-component then these
textures are a cooling rather than a decompression phenomenon and are most likely to be found in kyanite-bearing eclogites
cooled from temperatures ≥750°C. The presence of clinopyroxene with approx. 4 mol% CaEs
ss in an experiment conducted at 2.5 GPa/850°C confirms earlier suggestions based on field data that vacancy-rich clinopyroxenes
are not necessarily restricted to ultrahigh pressure metamorphic conditions.
Keywords Ca-Eskola pyroxene - High-P-T experiments - Oriented quartz inclusions - Eclogite
Communicated by C. Ballhaus.