In her presentation on the formation of jadeite in metagranitic rocks, she demonstrated that its occurrence is by no means controlled solely by pressure and temperature conditions. Using piston-cylinder experiments at 2.2 GPa and 800 °C, she showed that jadeite forms preferentially at albite–biotite boundaries in a fresh granite, whereas it does not form in a complexly overprinted metagranite from the Monte Rosa area under identical experimental conditions.
A particularly important finding is that jadeite formation does not result from a simple albite breakdown reaction but is instead controlled by spatially restricted reactions. Key factors include the stability of biotite as a function of aluminium content, slower reaction kinetics under fluid-poor conditions, and the metamorphic history of the rock.
The study provides important new insights into reaction mechanisms under high-pressure conditions and demonstrates that conventional interpretations of jadeite formation need to be critically reassessed.
We warmly congratulate her on this well-deserved award!
