Petrogenesis of Paleozoic–Early Mesozoic Granites and Pegmatites in the Yuechengling Pluton of South China

Abstract

Abstract Although pegmatites are volumetrically minor in the upper continental crust, these rocks host abundant rare metal deposits (e.g., Li, Be, Rb, Ta, and Nb). Pegmatites can be formed either by extensive fractional crystallization of granitic magmas or by low-degree partial melting of metasedimentary rocks. The Mao’ershan–Yuechengling composite batholith in the Nanling Range in the South China Block (SCB) is of early Paleozoic–Triassic age (440–381 and 236–204 Ma, respectively). Recently, hundreds of pegmatites associated with Nb, Ta, Be, Rb, and Li mineralization have been identified in this batholith. These pegmatites are hosted by granitic wall rocks. However, the relationships between the pegmatites and granitic wall rocks are not well constrained. To address this, we investigated the Mao’antang (MAT) and Tongzuo (TZ) pegmatites and their biotite granite wall rocks in the middle part of the Yuechengling pluton. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry zircon U–Pb ages revealed that the MAT pegmatites formed during the Permian (269 Ma) and Triassic (231 Ma) and that the MAT biotite granite wall rock records two stages of magmatic activity (271 and 231 Ma) that are coeval with the pegmatites. The TZ pegmatites probably formed during the Triassic (235 Ma), and the TZ biotite granite wall rock formed during the Silurian (435 Ma). The MAT biotite granite and pegmatites (εNdt=−12.0 to −10.6; εHft=−8.0 to −1.0), TZ pegmatites (εNdt=−10.4 to −6.1), and TZ biotite granites (εNdt=−9.1 to −8.7; εHft=−7.7 to −4.1) have enriched whole-rock Nd and zircon Hf isotopic compositions that are similar to those of early Paleozoic and Triassic S-type granites in the SCB. In addition, the whole-rock Pb isotopic compositions of the MAT and TZ pegmatites and granites are distributed along the upper crust evolution line. We suggest that the MAT and TZ biotite granites were mainly derived from Paleoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks in the middle crust. The MAT pegmatites are fractional crystallization products of the MAT biotite granites, whereas the TZ pegmatites were formed by fractional crystallization of hidden parental S-type granites. We propose that the MAT and TZ pegmatites have potential for rare metal (Nb, Ta, Be, and Li) mineralization, as they record high degrees of fractional crystallization. The MAT and TZ areas in the middle of the Yuechengling pluton are promising targets for rare metal exploration.