Petrogenesis and significance of late Caledonian granitoid magmatism in western Norway

Abstract

Obduction of the late Ordovician Solund-Stavfjord Ophiolite Complex (443±3 Ma), west Norwegian Caledonides, involved generation and high-level emplacement of granitic and granodioritic dikes and plutons. Initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios in the granites are low (0.7042–0.7059), suggesting either a mantle component or a Rb-poor crustal source. Initial eNd (eNd(t)) ranges from-0.8 to-8.8, indicating that the granites represent recycling of old crustal rocks, which is supported by Precambrian inheritance in zircons from two of the studied granites. I argue that the Rb-Sr and the Sm-Nd isotope systems are decoupled in the sense that the Sr-and the Nd-isotopes derive their dominant signals from two different sources, a mantle source and a crustal source respectively. The granites are metaluminous to peraluminous and typically have high Sr, Ba and Na2O/K2O ratios. SiO2 contents range from 66 to 74 wt%. REE abundances are highly variable; the La contents range from ∼80 to ∼200 times chondrite, and are inversely correlated with the contents of SiO2. The concentration of Nd in the granites decreases asymptotically with decreasing eNd(t) suggesting fractional crystallization of accessory phases and assimilation of continental crust. This argument is supported by the presence of partly dismembered xenoliths in the granites with eNd(t)-values that are significantly lower than eNd(t)-values in the host granite. The following models are suggested for the granites. When the ophiolite complex obducted, an outboard subduction zone approached the continental margin, and subduction-related magmas accumulated beneath the continental margin, and probably intruded the overlying eugeosynclinal deposits. The mantle-derived magmas most likely evolved to granitoid composition by assimilation of these eugeosynclinal sediments and by fractional crystallization of amphibole, feldspar, sphene, and allanite. Alternatively, but less likely, the heat content of the mantle-derived magmas caused extensive melting of immature graywackes and calc-alkaline volcaniclastic rocks in the deepest portions of the eugeosyncline. Either way, during ascent, the compositions of the granitic melts were modified by fractional crystallization of LREE-rich phases and by assimilation of continental metasediments.