Contributions to Garnet Chemistry, Evolution and Age

Dear Colleagues,

Garnet is a common mineral from several geological environments. Widespread in metamorphic rocks of almost all types of protoliths and composition, it also occurs in intrusive rocks such as peraluminous granitoids and as a relict mineral concentrated in sediments by weathering processes.

As a fundamental mineral phase of the upper mantle and continental crust, its size can range from a few micrometers up to metric giant garnets, and the P-T conditions of formation are very wide, being stable from the greenschist to the UHP eclogite and UHT granulite facies. 

The geological significance of garnet, and the consequent interest by the scientific community, started to grow from the 1970s with the development of the garnet-biotite geothermometer. From that time, geothermobarometric approaches and techniques have evolved dramatically, increasing the predominant role of this mineral for the estimation of P-T conditions in rock samples. At present, garnet is considered the key mineral to be investigated for an appropriate and rigorous reconstruction of the P-T history.

Among the very large number of relevant topics regarding this useful mineral, the study of unexpected birefringence in garnet; the relationships between this mineral and its solid, fluid and melt inclusions; and the reconstruction and modelling of its compositional zoning represent only a few among the most innovative frontiers in the study of this phase.

This Special Issue aims to gather case studies dealing with the microstructure, chemistry, inclusions, evolution, and age of garnet from all kinds of rocks, together with their application to magmatic and metamorphic processes. We welcome original and review papers mainly focused on the study of garnets and/or garnet-bearing rocks, with special reference to garnet chemistry, geothermobarometry, and geochronology investigation for the resolution of geological problems in metamorphic and igneous environments. Studies on detrital garnet from sedimentary rocks are also welcome.

New methodological approaches, together with their application to specific case studies, providing new perspectives and exploring new frontiers are also solicited, in particular when they offer significant tools, software, and contributions which help in obtaining a better understanding of the role and significance of garnet in geological environments and in the Earth’s history.

Dr. Gabriele Cruciani
Guest Editor

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• garnet
• compositional profile
• inclusions
• geochronology
• thermodynamic modelling
• petrogenesis