Petrological significance of zoned plagioclase in Eldjurti granite and mafic microgranular enclaves, North Caucasus, Russia

Abstract

Plagioclase phenocrysts from mafic enclaves and plagioclase from its host granite possess a pattern of complex zonation. A plagioclase phenocryst can generally be divided into three parts: an oscillatory, locally patchy zoned core (An47-19), a ring with dusty, more calcic plagioclase (An64-20) and a normally zoned rim composed of sodic plagioclase (An22-3.3). Major discontinuities in zoning coincide with resorption surfaces that are overgrown by the more calcic plagioclase. The cores of large plagioclase phenocrysts from mafic enclaves and host granite show similar zoning patterns and similar compositions, indicating their crystallization under the same conditions. Steep normal zoning of the rims of plagioclases both from host granite and mafic enclaves illustrates a drastic decrease in An content which is considered to have resulted from the continuous differentiation of hybrid magma and efficient heat loss because of the upward emplacement of the residual magma. Wide rims of plagioclases from the host granite against the discrete rims of plagioclases from mafic enclaves indicate that differentiation and cooling lasted much longer in the host granite than in the mafic enclaves.