Abstract
Upper amphibolite facies dolomite and calcite marbles from the Dalradian Connemara Marble Formation of western Ireland display a wide range of textures when viewed in cathodoluminescence that are invisible in transmitted light. Examples observed include growth zones in calcite that appear to represent the infilling of a metamorphic secondary porosity, produced by the large reduction in solid volume accompanying growth of tremolite from dolomite and quartz. Retrograde phenomena are widespread, and include both carbonate pseudomorphs after tremolite and coarse veining, which is in optical continuity with peak metamorphic calcite but otherwise indistinguishable from it. Admixture of such widely differing calcite types may account for scatter in some stable isotope studies of marbles.

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