ECOLGITES AND WATER PRESSURE

Available data on the stability of amphibolites and the basalt-eclogite transition allow an estimate of the stability field of eclogites in wet systems. It appears that if water and load pressures are comparable, eclogites cannot be stable in the crust; the formation of eclogites in the crust requires moderate total pressures and low water pressures. If the reactions forming eclogites occur in essentially dry rocks, their formation may reflect kinetic as well as equilibrium factors. © 1969 Springer-Verlag.