Origins of co-existing diverse magmas in a felsic pluton: the Lysterfield Granodiorite, Australia

Abstract

Numerous batches of initially heterogeneous magma aggregated to form the I-type Lysterfield Granodiorite, with four geochemically distinct series of granodioritic rocks, emplaced in the shallow crust. The compositional heterogeneities originated through variations in the stoichiometries of melting reactions in the protolith terrane and variable degrees of peritectic assemblage entrainment. The high-K series contains igneous, microgranular enclaves that most probably formed through deep-level hybridisation of enriched mantle magmas with crustal melts. In the model presented here, this heterogeneous collection of magmas ascended to form a thin, sheet-like intrusion, quenched against cold wall rocks. Later, laccolithic inflation, through ingress of voluminous more felsic magmas, arched the pluton roof and fragmented the initial sheet, pieces of which fell back into the Granodiorite to become enclaves, some of which were further hybridised by plastic deformation and mechanical incorporation of host-derived crystals. This may be a common mechanism for the formation of such enclave suites.