Sources of granitoids in the Tuva-Mongolian microcontinent and surrounding structures: Evidence from Pb, Nd, and O isotopic systematics

Abstract

Newly obtained data on Pb isotopic ratios in feldspars from Early Proterozoic granitoids of the Sangilen block of the Tuva-Mongolian microcontinent and Caledonian structures surrounding it, considered together with earlier data on the O and Nd isotopic systems, indicate that ancient (approximately 2 Ga) crustal material mixed in the sources of granites of the Tuva-Mongolian microcontinent with younger juvenile material. Positive ɛNd values of granitoids from the Bashkimugor and Chgargalant massifs are accounted for by processes of crustal contamination during the interaction of the melt with crustal material. Similar Nd isotopic characteristics of granitoids in the Khoromnug pluton were caused by the melting of the Late Riphean crust. In granitoids of the massifs in the Kaakhem and Eastern Tannuola zones of the surrounding Caledonian structures, the involvement of juvenile material from oceanic crust increases away from the Sangilen block. Granites in the junction zone between the Tuva-Mongolian microcontinent and surrounding structures display evidence of the presence (up to 10–20%) of an ancient crustal component, and the melting history of granitoids in the Eastern Tannuola zone is dominated by an Early Paleozoic juvenile component in combination with material similar to the Vendian ophiolites of the Agardag-Erzin zone. An increase in the δ18O value, the 206Pb/204Pb ratio, and the TNd(DM) values within a single complex (from older to younger granitoid phases) is explained by the systematic involvement of crustal material in the melting processes.