Feldspars constitute about 60 % of the earth's crust. Na-feldspar, Na[AlSi₃O₈], is central to this mineral group. Its structural response to changing conditions of temperature and pressure is complicated. In particular, this applies to the distribution of Al and Si on the atomic sites of its crystal structure. We clarify how this distribution varies in thermodynamic equilibrium with external conditions and provide procedures that allow easy determination of the atomic distribution.

Zoisite eclogites from the Sanddal area, North-East Greenland, contain numerous textures, such as cusps and neoblasts, which are interpreted as melt-related textures. Mineral chemistry and thermodynamic modeling demonstrate that they were partially melted through the breakdown of hydrous minerals, phengite, paragonite and zoisite. Pressure–temperature phase diagrams show that the eclogites reached a maximum depth of ∼70 km and were partially melted near that depth and during exhumation.