An ion microprobe U-Th-Pb study of zircon xenocrysts from the Lahtojoki kimberlite pipe, eastern Finland

Abstract

PELTONEN, PETRI and MANTTARI, IRMELI 2001. An ion microprobe UTh-Pb study of zircon xenocrysts from the Lahtojoki kimberlite pipe, eastern Finland. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Finland 73, Parts 1–2, 47–58. Eleven relatively large (diameter 1–2 mm) zircon grains extracted from the Lahtojoki kimberlite pipe (Eastern Finland Kimberlite Province) have been analysed by the ion microprobe NORDSIM for their Uand Pbisotopic composition. The 207Pb/206Pb ages fall into two concordant age groups: 2.7 Ga and 1.8 Ga. Discordant ages between these two groups are believed to result from partial resetting of Archaean grains in the 1.8 Ga thermal event. Since other dating methods imply that kimberlites emplaced c. 0.6 Ga ago it is clear that the analysed zircons are xenocrysts inherited from older sources and do not provide the age of the kimberlite magmatism. Their unusual size and morphology, together with very low Uand Pb-concentrations, suggest, however, that these zircon grains are not derived from typical Archaean gneisses. More likely, they originate from lower crustal mafic pegmatites and from hydrous coarse-grained veins within the uppermost lithospheric mantle. The predominance of 1.8 Ga old xenocrystic grains, together with the recovery of mafic granulite xenoliths of similar age in the kimberlites (Holtta et al. 2000), emphasises the importance of post-collisional lower crustal growth and reworking in central Fennoscandia.