First occurrence of the garnet-ilmenite transition in silicates.
Pyrope garnet (Mg(3)Al(2)Si(3)O(12)) has been found to transform to an ilmenite-type phase at a loading pressure between 240 and 250 kilobars and at about 1000 degrees to 1400 degrees C in a diamond-anvil press coupled with laser heating. The lattice parameters for the ilmenite-type phase of (Mg(.75) Al(.25))(Si(.75) Al(.25))O(3) are a(0) = 4.755 +/- 0.002 and c(0) = 13.360 +/- 0.005 angstroms. The zero-pressure volume change associated with the garnet-ilmenite transition is calculated to be -7.1 percent. This result verifies the prediction that pyrope garnet would transform to the ilmenite structure at high pressure first suggested in 1962 by Clark et al. and Ringwood.
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