Extract

Report of a meeting of the Metamorphic Studies Group held at Burlington House, 4 November 1981. The meeting was organized by Dr M. Brown.

A Metamorphic Studies Group meeting on ‘Metamorphic studies: research in progress’ was held on 4 November 1981. The meeting comprised 14 papers covering a wide range of interests in metamorphic geology and was attended by over 90 participants.

The morning session, chaired by John Winchester, began with a stimulating contribution from Rutter, Peach, White & Johnson who presented results of experimental work in progress on the syntectonic hydration of basalt under simulated amphibolite facies conditions. Their innovative approach to an assessment of the role of diffusive mass transfer during metamorphism as a deformation mechanism is already yielding interesting and important results. The Group looks forward to a further report. Primmer, in the first of a welcome number of papers presented by research students, gave an interesting account of his work so far on the polyphase low-grade metamorphism in the Tintagel Volcanic Formation of SW England. He presented a preliminary interpretation of detailed data on the metamorphic mineral assemblages and mineral chemistry of epidote, chlorite, biotite, actinolite phengite and spessartine garnet (the only mineral to show appreciable zoning). It was clear from the discussion of this paper that the Group awaits with interest the further development of this work. Isaac gave an excellent account of his work as part of the Exeter University team working with the IGS to remap sheet 337