New clues for magma-mixing processes using petrological and geochronological evidence from the Castelo Intrusive Complex, Araçuaí Orogen (SE Brazil)

Abstract

Bimodal magmatism was recorded during the post-collisional stage that occurred during the Brasiliano/Pan-African cycle in the Araçuaí Orogen (southeastern Brazil) at ∼500 Ma. The Castelo Intrusive Complex (CIC) is a zoned post-collisional pluton in the orogen and is composed of monzogranites, granodiorites, quartz monzodiorites and diorites. CIC (∼100 km2) was emplaced along a regional lineament during the post-collisional stage of the orogeny and cut pre-collisional granitoids and metasedimentary sequences. In this work, a detailed petrographic study associated with data on U–Pb ages and Hf isotopic compositions of zircons from monzogranites, quartz monzodiorites and leucocratic dikes is presented to detail the geochronology, composition and context of CIC emplacement. Macroscale and microscale records show that several CIC lithotypes demonstrate the direct interaction of contemporaneous felsic and mafic magmas. U–Pb age dating of zircons (by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS)) reveal crystallization ages of 486 ± 6 Ma for quartz monzodiorites and 524 ± 5 Ma to 499 ± 4 Ma for monzogranites. The analyzed leucocratic dike at 426 ± 15 Ma represents a late magmatic pulse. Hafnium isotopic data show variable ƐHf(t) values (from −24.05 to +12.7) and depleted mantle model ages (TDM) of 2.71–0.64 Ga, indicating the involvement of distinctly different mantle and crustal sources. At least two crustal sources with different Hf isotope signatures were distinguished (TDM of 2.6–2.4 Ga and ƐHf(t) of −26 to −22; and TDM of 2.2–1.7 Ga and ƐHf(t) of −17 to −8). These results suggest that the rocks in this study were partially derived from Archean and Paleoproterozoic crust. The isotopic data also show TDM model ages ranging from 1.28 to 0.64 Ga, with highly positive ƐHf(t) values (from +1.6 to +12.7). These data suggest the existence of a mantle reservoir source for magma generation and for heat that induced crustal melting during the post-collisional stage of the Araçuaí Orogen.