Synmetamorphic veining: origin of andalusite‐bearing veins in the Vedrette di Ries contact aureole, Eastern Alps, Italy

Discordant andalusite-biotite-quartz-bearing veins occur in the contact aureole of the Vedrette di Ries pluton (Italian Eastern Alps), never outside the area of contact metamorphic andalusite development. Andalusite veins are found only within andalusite-bearing hornfelses, and vein biotite occurs wherever host-rock garnet is partially replaced by biotite. Veins formed during contact metamorphism, synchronously with the crystallization of andalusite and biotite within host rocks. Their pegmatitic structure and their orientation suggest that vein parageneses crystallized within fluid-filled cavities that opened by hydraulic fracturing. A mechanism of synmetamorphic veining is proposed to explain rock failure and subsequent mineral deposition within veins. During hydrofracturing induced by dehydration reactions in response to heating in the aureole, fissures were immediately filled with locally derived fluids. The lack of large-scale flux, together with high fluid pressures required by hydrofracturing, suggest fluid in the cavities was a virtually stagnant, passive medium, and that mass-transport toward fractures was driven by intergranular diffusion. Because temperature and Pf values within veins are similar to those in the host rock, vein assemblages are interpreted as the stable, high-T side of reactions taking place within pelitic schists, at the time when fractures opened. Once nucleation of product phases occurred, chemical components released by dissolution of reactant minerals were driven to precipitation sites by chemical potential gradients. Since nucleation was favoured at the strained grains of vein walls, andalusite and biotite simultaneously grew in vein and host rock. The proposed genetic model contrasts with generally adopted metasomatic mechanisms for the genesis of Al2SiO5-bearing veins, in not requiring large fluid/rock ratios or a highly ‘aggressive’ fluid composition. The mechanism of synmetamorphic veining may be particularly useful in the interpretation of vein occurrences in medium- and deep-crustal rocks which have undergone extensive devolatilization.