Petrogenesis of I-type granitoids from the Melrose Stock, east-central Nevada

Abstract

The Melrose Stock in the Dolly Varden Mountains of east-central Nevada is one of the many Mesozoic intrusion s in the Basin and Range Province. It consists of monzonites, quartz monzonites, granodiorites, and granites sharply intruding Mississippian to Triassic units. Phenocrysts of plagioclase (An38–An24) with oscillatory zoning and albitic rims, hornblende ± diopside, and biotite are common. Coexisting phases include orthoclase, quartz and accessory magnetite, apatite, titanite, ilmenite, and allanite. Mineral compositions suggest that the intrusion was emplaced at ∼720 ± 40°C and 1.8–2.3 kbar. All rocks are metaluminous to slightly peraluminous, defining a calcalkalic trend in which the monzonites and syenites are shoshonitic. Rare earth element patterns indicate that all studied rock types are comagmatic. Harker plots show curvilinear trends with some kinks consistent with fractionation, and mixing/assimilation. Major-element modelling and petrographic evidence suggest three stages of fractionation/mixing: Stage 1 marked by the fractionation of diopside and plagioclase; Stage 2 by fractionation of plagioclase, hornblende ± orthoclase ± biotite, accompanied by mixing through convection; and Stage 3 by fractionation of biotite, hornblende, plagioclase, and orthoclase. Mineralogic, petrographic, and major- and trace-element data demonstrate that all rocks are I-type granitoids, suggesting a significant mantle contribution. Spider diagrams show troughs for Ti, P, and Nb, indicating magma genesis in a subduction-zone setting. Discrimination diagrams classify all rocks as late orogenic. Magma was therefore generated from mantle metasomatized by subduction, differentiated to a monzonitic magma, and emplaced in the thinned continental crust during a period of extension late in the cycle of Elko orogeny.