Large crustal input to high δ18O anorthosite massifs of the southern Grenville Province: new evidence from the Morin Complex, Quebec

Abstract

Mid-Proterozoic anorthosite-suite magmatism is a major volumetric component of the southern Grenville Province, and provides an important probe of the compositions and types of lower crustal rocks. The ∼1.15 Ga Morin Complex (Quebec) consists of two anorthosite plutons with distinct compositions. Plagioclase from the western lobe of the anorthosite has δ18O values that average 9.6 ± 0.7‰, which is ∼3‰ higher than the values found in “normal” anorthosites and in mantle-derived mafic igneous rocks worldwide. Plagioclase from the eastern lobe of the massif (deformed by the Morin Shear Zone) has δ18O values that average 8.7 ± 0.6‰, also high compared to mantle-derived rocks. Numerous lines of evidence, including homogeneity of δ18O values within individual plutons, O–Sr–Nd mixing relations, and preservation of igneous δ18O in adjacent mangerite units argue against anorthosite interaction with high δ18O fluids as the cause of the high δ18O values seen in both anorthosite lobes. High δ18O values are best explained as primary magmatic compositions resulting from melting and assimilation of crustal materials by the anorthosite's parent magma. The Morin and Marcy massifs are located in the Allochthonous Monocyclic Belt of the Grenville Province, and have the highest known δ18O values for anorthosites in the Grenville. Although the Monocyclic Belt is juvenile in terms of radiogenic isotope systematics, the new oxygen isotope data indicate the presence high δ18O supracrustal materials at the base of the crust, probably buried during the ∼1.2 Ga Elzevirian orogeny in the Monocyclic Belt prior to anorthosite magmatism. This process is not recognized in other parts of the Grenville Province and points to differences in the pre-1.2-Ga continental margins.