An early Paleozoic monzonorite–granite suite in the South China block: implications for the intracontinental felsic magmatism

Abstract

Large granitoid complexes within the continental crust are believed to be closely linked to mantle-derived magmas based on field observations and isotopic studies. However, details on the contribution of mantle-derived magmas in the generation of felsic magmas deep in the lower to middle crust, especially the interaction between the mantle-derived mafic magmas and the generated felsic melts, are not well constrained by petrological and mineralogical studies. Here we present a detailed study of an early Paleozoic monzonorite–granite suite from the South China Block and comparison with the other coeval magmatic rocks (~22,000km2) in the region, to provide more details on the underplating/intraplating of mantle-derived magmas and the generation of felsic magmas in intracontinental settings. It is shown that the monzonorite has signatures of both mantle-derived magmas (substantial contents of MgO, Cr, and Ni; presence of olivine and orthopyroxene) and crust-derived magmas (substantial contents of SiO2, K2O, Rb, Ba, and light rare-earth elements; presence of K-feldspar, quartz and low-calcium plagioclase). Interestingly, the monzonorite, granite and the mafic microgranular enclaves (MME) are remarkably uniform in Sr–Nd–Hf isotopic compositions, with high initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.7081–0.7098), low eNd (t) values (−6.8 to −6.3) and low zircon eHf (t) values (−8.0 to −7.4). An integrated study of petrological, mineralogical, and geochemical data of the monzonorite–granite suite and coeval magmatic rocks from the same region makes it clear that the input of crustal components is essential to explain the unusual signatures of the monzonorite. Petrogenetic modelling and isotopic compositions suggest that the contribution of mantle-derived mafic magmas in the generation of crust-derived felsic magmas is represented by heat input and minor mass input, and in the meantime, we prefer to explain the unusual geochemical signatures of the monzonorite by selective contamination of crust-derived felsic melts.