Early precambrian A-granitoids in the Aldan Shield and adjacent mobile belts: Sources and geodynamic environments

Abstract

Systematized geological, geochronologic, geochemical, and Sm-Nd isotopic geochemical data obtained over the past decade on A-granitoids in the Aldan Shield and in adjacent mobile belts surrounding it in the south make it possible to identify the sources from which the rocks were derived and the geodynamic environments in which they were generated. The territory in question provides evidence of five episodes of Early Precambrian within-plate magmatism, including the derivation of A-granites: at 2.62, 2.40–2.52, 2.07, 1.87–1.88, and 1.70–1.74 Ga. Although all of the granitoids were derived within plates, the environments of their derivation were different: (i) postcollisional lithospheric extension at 2.64 and 1.87–1.88 Ga in an anorogenic environment and (ii) in relation to the activity of mantle plumes at 2.40–2.52, 2.07, 1.74–1.70 Ga. The postcollisional magmatism generated only potassic granitoids of the subalkaline type, whereas the anorogenic magmatic rocks comprise both subalkaline granitoids (of K series) and alkaline granites (of Na series), which are intensely fractionated and strongly enriched in incompatible elements. A-granitoids in the Aldan Shield and its surrounding folded structures were derived from mixed mantle-crustal sources. The sources of the subalkaline granitoids were dominated by the material of the continental lower crust, while the alkaline granitoids were derived from mantle sources. Thereby the mantle source material of the anorogenic granitoids consisted of an OIB-type component, and the postcollisional granitoids were derived from MORB and OIB sources.