Monzonitic series from the Variscan Tormes Dome (Central Iberian Zone): petrogenetic evolution from monzogabbro to granite magmas

Abstract

In the Iberian Massif, rocks of the K-rich plutonic series are not abundant, but towards internal parts of the belt represented by the Central Iberian Zone there are some sectors where shoshonitic plutonism occurs over broad areas. One of these areas is the anatectic Tormes Dome, encompassing two similar studied plutons (Pereruela and Vitigudino). A monzonitic association has been defined, ranging from monzogabbros to quartz monzonites or scarce monzogranites. Enrichment in LREE, P, Sr and Ba, a high water content (up to 5.5%) and a high degree of oxidation (Ni–NiO buffer) are the main features of magmas parental to these monzonitic rocks. These petrographic and geochemical features allow these granitoids to be ascribed to the shoshonitic type (“SH-type”), rather than to the I-type. The minimum emplacement pressure range is 410–230 MPa, whereas the estimated solidus temperature range is 940–765 °C; i.e., above water-saturated solidus. O, Sr, and Nd isotopes point to open-system processes. Apatite cathodoluminescence suggests that magma mixing was unlikely to have occurred for the most enriched rocks. Assimilation/fractional crystallisation (AFC) modelling was performed for both plutons, permitting assimilation/crystallization rates to be estimated between 0.16 and 0.25. Different contaminants have been inferred: a metapelite at upper crustal level for the Vitigudino Pluton and a granulitic orthogneiss for the Pereruela Pluton. A liquid line of descent, linking monzogabbroic members to quartz monzonites/monzogranites, can be reconstructed. Some loss of water and oxygen can be inferred, although water remained in the system below the solidus, giving rise to auto-metamorphism at ca. 500 °C. On the other hand, AFC processes are unlikely to have been the main factor in controlling the characteristic enrichment of the monzonitic series, since the least contaminated samples are the most LILE- and LREE-enriched for both plutons. Thus, a source-controlled chemical signature can be inferred. The experimental data indicate that a hybrid protholith (a mixture of peridotite, amphibolite and metapelite) can account for the enrichment and hydrated nature of the least evolved monzogabbroic magmas. Late-orogenic slab break-off and subsequent post-collisional extensional events appear to be a suitable scenario to provide the heat that triggered partial melting close to the crust/mantle boundary.