Insights from quartz cathodoluminescence zoning into crystallization of the Vinalhaven granite, coastal Maine

Abstract

The Vinalhaven intrusive complex provides field and petrographic evidence for multiple replenishments of mafic and silicic magmas, mingling and limited mixing, and rejuvenation of granite. Quartz in granitic rocks preserves a record of those processes, in the form of cathodoluminescence (CL) zoning, which is related to concentration of titanium, and to temperature of crystallization using the new TitaniQ (Ti in quartz) geothermometer. Injection of mafic melts into partly crystalline Vinalhaven granite resulted in partial quartz resorption followed by higher-temperature growth from H2O-undersaturated melt. This is shown by steep, rimward increases in CL intensity and Ti content across discordant boundaries that truncate older growth zones. Quartz zoning in granite affected by mafic magmas displays large rimward jumps in Ti content, whereas quartz in granitic feeders and in granite far from mafic rocks typically displays broad rims with decreasing Ti contents, consistent with slow cooling without thermal disruptions due to mafic recharge.