Geochemistry of Mafic Enclaves and Host Granitoids from the Chilliwack Batholith, Washington: Chemical Exchange Processes between Coexisting Mafic and Felsic Magmas and Implications for the Interpretation of Enclave Chemical Traits

Abstract

Abstract Mafic enclaves from three plutons in the Chilliwack batholith have been compared with contemporaneous mafic stocks in order to determine (1) the processes by which mafic and felsic magmas hybridize in the plutonic environment and (2) whether analysis of early‐formed enclave minerals, particularly apatite, can provide a means of seeing through hybridization effects and deciphering the original trace element characteristics of enclave magmas. Whole rock and mineral chemistry data reveal a two‐stage history of enclave hybridization. Stage 1, a diffusive exchange of trace elements between coexisting liquids, produced enclaves with distinctive concave‐upward rare earth element patterns that parallel those of the host granitoids but had minimal impact on the major elements, whose transfer is rate limited by the slow diffusion of Si. This stage probably occurred at a mafic‐felsic interface in a stratified magmatic system. Stage 2, a partial reequilibration of enclave minerals with a differentiated and h...