The country rocks adjacent to many igneous intrusions are recrystallized in a zone, known as a metamorphic aureole, in which the effects of contact (thermal) metamorphism can be detected; the terms contact aureole and thermal aureole are commonly used. In some aureoles, especially those in argillaceous rocks, concentric zones of progressive metamorphism can be mapped on the basis of mineralogical and textural changes in rocks of the same general composition. Typically, the first development (outer zone) is of ill-defined ovoid spots of graphite, or other minerals (spotted shales and slates), or the growth of porphyroblasts including chiastolite. This is followed by a zone in which extensive recrystallization progressively becomes more apparent and biotite and, in places, andalusite develops. In the inner zone adjacent to granite plutons-batholiths, cordierite is developed in a rock that has become a hornfels (Fig. 1): compact rocks hardened by the action of heat are referred to as...
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© 1989 Van Nostrand Reinhold
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Bowes, D.R. (1989). Aureole . In: Petrology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30845-8_22
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