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Microstructure sections:


Complex growth microstructure in Bushveld aureole metapelite

Complex growth microstructure in Bushveld aureole metapelite: growing porphyroblasts pseudomorph the microstructure of the matrix they replace. allowing the detailed sequence of growth to be determined.

Microstructures of Metamorphic Rocks

A study of the nucleation and growth of metamorphic reaction products using information contained in crystal size distributions.

Dave Waters and Dan Lovegrove

The following pages cover essential concepts in understanding metamorphic reactions, an introduction to the quantification of crystal size distributions, and an outline of how the theory is applied to the Bushveld hornfelses.

  1. Isograds and chemical reactions in regional metamorphism
  2. Chemical reactions in rocks
  3. Interplay of nucleation and growth, and the origin of porphyroblasts
  4. Crystal size distributions
  5. Analysing crystal size distributions
  6. Feedback mechanisms
  7. About the simulation
  8. The metamorphic aureole of the Bushveld Complex
  9. Reconciling theory and observation - the critical overstep for andalusite growth

Created 1 September 1998, minor revision 2003