High-speed metamorphism: Do mineral growth rates match the experiments?
Metamorphism is a fundamental geological process in which rocks are transformed by heat and pressure, resulting in the formation of new minerals and textures. This transformation occurs over a range of spatial and temporal scales and plays a central role in the geodynamic cycle. It shapes mountain ranges, drives crustal recycling and contributes to the formation of economically important resources. Metamorphism also induces dehydration and densification, processes that actively influence plate tectonics and are associated with rapid geological phenomena such as seismicity. But what controls the rate at which metamorphic reactions, particularly mineral transformations, proceed? While field-based petrological observations suggest timescales of hundreds of thousands to millions of years, experimental data often yield much shorter timescales – on the order of days to weeks.
In this lecture I will present a case study using data-driven approaches to unravel the evolving conditions and timescales of a specific lower crustal metamorphic reaction. I will show how advances in analytical techniques and the development of user-friendly software for big data analysis are crucial to answering the long-standing question of the rates of metamorphic processes in natural systems.