Publications

@article{gonzalez_elastic_2025,

title = {Elastic thermobarometry of natural and experimental quartz inclusions in garnet (QuiG) under tension},

author = {Joseph P. Gonzalez and Mattia L. Mazzucchelli and Jay B. Thomas and Ross J. Angel and Robert S. Darling and Khi X. Atchinson and Mattia Gilio and Matteo Alvaro},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-025-02252-2},

doi = {10.1007/s00410-025-02252-2},

issn = {1432-0967},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-09-01},

urldate = {2025-09-01},

journal = {Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology},

volume = {180},

number = {10},

pages = {70},

abstract = {Elastic thermobarometry has been rarely applied to quartz inclusions entrapped in garnet (QuiG) in granulite and igneous terranes, in part, because there is uncertainty about the reliability of the thermobarometric results arising from the quartz inclusions being subject to tensile strain and stress when examined at room conditions. Here, we present QuiG results from high-temperature metapelites from the Adirondacks, NY, USA and piston-cylinder experiments that give insight into the deformation behavior of quartz inclusions under tension. Measured remnant pressures (Pinc) of experimental and natural samples calculated using the quartz phonon mode Grüneisen tensor are too tensile with respect to the expected Pinc values based on experimental and petrologic constraints. We show that these discrepancies are not related to non-elastic deformation nor inaccuracies in the quartz equation of state. Evaluation of previous density functional theory (DFT) results shows that the structural response of quartz is non-linear with increasing tensile strain. Therefore, because the available quartz phonon mode Grüneisen tensor was determined with a linear fit optimized for compressive strains, obtained tensile strains using this tensor are too large in magnitude. Pinc values obtained using the hydrostatic calibrations of the 128 and 464 cm−1 peaks have better agreement with the expected values and return entrapment conditions that are consistent with petrologically constrained or known experimental pressures. Pinc values obtained through hydrostatic calibrations must nonetheless be treated with caution because the behavior of Raman phonon modes under tension has not been calibrated experimentally.},

keywords = {Elastic thermobarometry, Elasticity, Garnet, Quartz, QuiG, Raman thermobarometry},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{gonzalez_first_2024,

title = {First evaluation of stiff-in-soft host–inclusion systems: experimental synthesis of zircon inclusions in quartz crystals},

author = {Joseph P. Gonzalez and Jay B. Thomas and Mattia L. Mazzucchelli and Ross J. Angel and Matteo Alvaro},

url = {https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00410-023-02081-1},

doi = {10.1007/s00410-023-02081-1},

issn = {0010-7999, 1432-0967},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-02-01},

urldate = {2024-02-01},

journal = {Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology},

volume = {179},

number = {2},

pages = {13},

abstract = {Quartz crystals with zircon inclusions were synthesized using a piston-cylinder apparatus to experimentally evaluate the use of inclusions in “soft” host minerals for elastic thermobarometry. Synthesized zircon inclusion strains and, therefore, pressures (Pinc) were measured using Raman spectroscopy and then compared with the expected inclusion strains and pressures calculated from elastic models. Measured inclusion strains and inclusion pressures are systematically more tensile than the expected values and, thus, re-calculated entrapment pressures are overestimated. These discrepancies are not caused by analytical biases or assumptions in the elastic models and strain calculations. Analysis shows that inclusion strain discrepancies progressively decrease with decreasing experimental temperature in the α-quartz field. This behavior is consistent with inelastic deformation of the host–inclusion pairs induced by the development of large differential stresses during experimental cooling. Therefore, inclusion strains are more reliable for inclusions trapped at lower temperature conditions in the α-quartz field where there is less inelastic deformation of the host–inclusion systems. On the other hand, entrapment isomekes of zircon inclusions entrapped in the β-quartz stability field plot along the α–β quartz phase boundary, suggesting that the inclusion strains were mechanically reset at the phase boundary during experimental cooling and decompression. Therefore, inclusions contained in soft host minerals can be used for elastic thermobarometry and inclusions contained in β-quartz may provide constraints on the P–T at which the host–inclusion system crossed the phase boundary during exhumation.},

keywords = {Elastic thermobarometry, Elasticity, Experiments, high-pressure, high-temperature, Quartz, Raman thermobarometry, Zircon},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{gonzalez_elastic_2021,

title = {Elastic Geobarometry for Anisotropic Inclusions in Anisotropic Host Minerals: Quartz-in-Zircon},

author = {Joseph P. Gonzalez and Mattia L. Mazzucchelli and Ross J. Angel and Matteo Alvaro},

url = {https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2021JB022080},

doi = {10.1029/2021JB022080},

issn = {2169-9356},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-01-01},

urldate = {2021-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth},

volume = {126},

number = {6},

pages = {e2021JB022080},

abstract = {Current models for elastic geobarometry have been developed with the assumption that the host and/or inclusion minerals are elastically isotropic. This assumption has limited applications of elastic thermobarometry to mineral inclusions contained in cubic quasi-isotropic host minerals (e.g., garnet). Here, we report a new elastic model that takes into account the anisotropic elastic properties and relative crystallographic orientation (RCO) of a host-inclusion system where both minerals are noncubic. This anisotropic elastic model can be used for host-inclusion elastic thermobarometric calculations provided that the RCO and elastic properties of both the host and inclusion are known. We then used this anisotropic elastic model to numerically evaluate the effects of elastic anisotropy and RCO on the strains and stresses developed in a quartz inclusion entrapped in a zircon host after exhumation from known entrapment P-T conditions to room P-T conditions. We conclude that the anisotropic quartz-in-zircon elastic model is suitable for elastic thermobarometry and may be widely applicable to crustal rocks. Our results demonstrate that isotropic elastic models cannot be used to determine the entire strain state of an elastically anisotropic inclusion contained in an elastically anisotropic host mineral, and therefore may lead to errors on estimated remnant inclusion pressures.},

keywords = {Elastic anisotropy, Elastic thermobarometry, FEM, Finite element method, Quartz, Zircon},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}