Anatectic Melts Research Articles

U–Pb zircon provenance of Moldanubian metasediments in the Bohemian Massif

Detrital zircon U–Pb age data from the Moldanubian part of the Bohemian Massif obtained by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry show variations between the lithotectonic units and point to their formation in spatially close but separated basins that were supplied by detritus from somewhat different source areas, possibly over different periods of time. The youngest detrital zircon component in metasediments of the Monotonous and Varied Units is Early Ordovician and Mid- to Late Devonian in age, respectively, suggesting their deposition in Palaeozoic times. Reliable interpretation of the Mid- to Late Devonian zircons recovered from metasediments of the Gföhl Unit is precluded by their high metamorphic grade and presence of anatectic melt. The Early Carboniferous zircons from the Gföhl Unit are interpreted as being of metamorphic origin. Comparison of detrital zircon age spectra from the Moldanubian, Teplá–Barrandian and Moravo-Silesian metasediments suggests that these were deposited in separate basins but the overall similarity of the Neoproterozoic and Palaeoproterozoic age maxima and sparse Neo- and Mesoarchaean ages suggest that the three crustal segments must have been spatially related prior to the Variscan orogeny. Future tectonic models of the Variscan assembly of the Bohemian Massif must account for nearly synchronous evolution of the Moldanubian, Teplá–Barrandian and Moravo-Silesian Palaeozoic sedimentary basins that shared a common crust and most of their sedimentary sources, as well as for a rapid burial of the Moldanubian sediments to mid- and lower crustal levels that was followed by their rapid exhumation to the upper crust in Mid-Devonian to Early Carboniferous times. Supplementary material: Results of LA-ICP-MS U–Pb analyses of zircons extracted from the Moldanubian and Moravo-Silesian metasediments are available at www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18676 .

Timing of post-collisional volcanism in the eastern part of the Variscan Belt: constraints from SHRIMP zircon dating of Permian rhyolites in the North-Sudetic Basin (SW Poland)

AbstractThe final stages of the Variscan orogeny in Central Europe were associated with voluminous granitic plutonism and widespread volcanism. Four samples representative of the main rhyolitic volcanic units from the Stephanian–Permian continental succession of the North-Sudetic Basin, in the eastern part of the Variscan Belt, were dated using the SIMS (SHRIMP) zircon method. Three samples show overlapping206Pb–238U mean ages of 294 ± 3, 293 ± 2 and 292 ± 2 Ma, and constrain the age of the rhyolitic volcanism in the North-Sudetic Basin at 294–292 Ma. This age corresponds to the Early Permian – Sakmarian Stage and is consistent with the stratigraphic position of the lava units. The fourth sample dated at 288 ± 4 Ma reflects a minor, younger stage of (sub)volcanic activity in the Artinskian. The silicic activity was shortly followed by mafic volcanism. The rhyolite samples contained very few inherited zircons, possibly owing to limited contribution of crustal sources to the silicic magma, or owing to processes involved in anatectic melting and magma differentiation (e.g. resorption of old zircon by Zr-undersaturated melts). The SHRIMP results and the stratigraphic evidence suggest that the bimodal volcanism terminated the early, short-lived (10–15 Ma) and vigorous stage of basin evolution. The Permian volcanism in the North-Sudetic Basin may be correlated with relatively late phases of the regional climax of Late Palaeozoic volcanism in Central Europe, constrained by 41 published SHRIMP zircon age determinations at 299–291 Ma. The Permian volcanism and coeval plutonism in the NE part of the Bohemian Massif can be linked to late Variscan, post-collisional extension.

Petrogenesis of migmatites and leucogranites from Sierra de Molinos, Salta, Northwest Argentina: A petrologic and geochemical study

In Sierra de Molinos, Eastern Cordillera, NW Argentina the relationship between different components of an anatectic system developed in high temperature and low pressure conditions (<800°C and 4–6kbar) can be observed. This allows the direct insight on the origin of migmatites and granites by anatexis of psammo–pelitic metasedimentary rocks. Four principal rock types have been recognized in Sierra de Molinos 1) metasedimentary rocks, assigned to the Puncoviscana Formation, 2) metatexite migmatites, 3) diatexite migmatites and 4) anatectic granitoids including: leucogranites, trondhjemites and pegmatite/aplitic dykes. The metamorphic grade increases from phyllites and schists at sub-greenschist and greenschist facies in the west, to upper amphibolite facies migmatites in the east. The mineral assemblages indicate a progressive increase in temperature without a significant change in pressure. The ages obtained for granitoids and migmatites are identical within analytical errors and indicate that the metamorphic peak and anatectic granite generation occurred at ca. 470Ma.We use petrological and geochemical variations to investigate the formation of granite magma from migmatites that derived from metasedimentary protoliths. This provides evidence of the processes that occur during the evolution (melting, segregation and crystallization stages) of partially molten terranes, for which particular components: protolith, residuum and melt fractions are identified. Mass balance calculations are used to estimate the degree of partial melting and the degree of melt extraction in migmatites. Petrological and compositional data suggest that migmatites from this region are the result of open system processes and that fluid-absent melting played a major role in the formation of migmatites and leucogranites. The geochemical evidence suggests that the compositional variation within the anatectic rocks from Molinos can be understood as a result of 1) variable degrees of melt–residuum separation and 2) fractional crystallization of the anatectic melt. Compared to the protolith, most of the migmatites have melt-depleted compositions (up to 0.25 of melt extraction). In the same fashion most of the leucosomes represent cumulate products of fractional crystallization. This means that they have lost some liquid of evolved composition and represent evidence of the melt extraction pathways and linkage to the magma ascent conduits.

Dunite magma or ultramafic cumulates? A discussion of Griffin et al. “Intrusion and contamination of high-temperature dunite magma: the Nordre Bumandsfjord pluton, Seiland, Arctic Norway” Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. (2013) 165:903–930

It was with considerable surprise that I noticed the publication in CMP of the paper by Griffin et al. (2013), the essence of which seems to have been resurrected after being shelved for almost 30 years. The paper is based on, and reiterates, the ‘‘unequivocal evidence for the intrusion of very high temperature, very fluid ultramafic (dunitic) magmas’’ originally presented by Sturt et al. (1980). These authors make the extraordinary claim that 60–70 % of the rocks in the Nordre Bumandsfjord pluton are the result of contamination of primary dunite magma on a massive scale by assimilation of gabbroic and other host rocks as well as hybridisation with anatectic melts derived from them. The existence of dunite magma is inferred from the existence of narrow dykes in gabbros and peridotites ‘‘varying in composition from dunite to feldspathic lherzolite; the thinnest veins are commonly dunite’’. Sturt et al. and Griffin et al. hence take the erroneous position that any coarse-grained igneous rock that occurs in a narrow dyke must once have been a fluid magma of the same composition. The aim of this contribution is to bring to your reader’s attention alternative interpretations based on exhaustive fieldwork over several years by Mike Bennett (now sadly deceased), myself and our students in all of the larger ultramafic complexes within the Seiland Igneous Province in northern Norway. In a 40-page-long publication, Bennett et al. (1986) summarised the lithologies and structural relationships within the Melkvann and Reinfjord complexes that we had studied in most detail, as well as our observations in the Kvalfjord and Bumannsfjord plutons. According to Griffin et al., the Melkvann and Kvalfjord complexes have only been described briefly, but I would refer readers to the publications by Yeo (1984), Leaver et al. (1989), Leaver (1990) and Svensen (1990) (none of which are referred to by Griffin et al.) for more detailed petrological documentation of these particular complexes, as well as to Emblin’s (1985) comprehensive account of the Reinfjord ultramafic complex. Bennett et al. concur with Griffin et al. that there is overwhelming field evidence in the Seiland-Stjernoy ultramafic complexes for both in situ partial melting and assimilation of gabbroic rocks; contaminated igneous rocks enclosing abundant xenoliths and xenocrysts are obvious and widespread (the most extreme varieties are olivine melagabbros). Even so, Griffin et al. encountered some difficulty in explaining their analysed samples of peridotite simply as binary mixtures of their inferred dunite magma and sampled gabbroic rocks and were forced to appeal to the extraction of a component selectively enriched in Carich pyroxene from the host gabbros. The possibility of the presence of cumulus or intercumulus pyroxene in the peridotites compared to the dunites was not explored. As pointed out by Bennett et al., assimilation of gabbroic rocks by some presumed dunite melt or mixing with an anatectic melt can hardly account for olivine clinopyroxenite that is volumetrically the most important ultramafic rock type in all of these complexes. Bennett et al. regarded the majority of the ultramafic rocks of the Melkvann, Nordre Bumannsfjord and Kvalfjord complexes as igneous cumulates, even those forming narrow, dilational dykes. One of the principal reasons for Communicated by J. L. R. Touret.

Phase equilibria constraints on melting of stromatic migmatites from Ronda (S. Spain): insights on the formation of peritectic garnet

AbstractStromatic metatexites occurring structurally below the contact with the Ronda peridotite (Ojén nappe, Betic Cordillera, S Spain) are characterized by the mineral assemblage Qtz+Pl+Kfs+Bt+Sil+Grt+Ap+Gr+Ilm. Garnet occurs in low modal amount (2–5 vol.%). Very rare muscovite is present as armoured inclusions, indicating prograde exhaustion. Microstructural evidence of melting in the migmatites includes pseudomorphs after melt films and nanogranite and glassy inclusions hosted in garnet cores. The latter microstructure demonstrates that garnet crystallized in the presence of melt. Re‐melted nanogranites and preserved glassy inclusions show leucogranitic compositions. Phase equilibria modelling of the stromatic migmatite in the MnO–Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2–O2–C (MnNCaKFMASHOC) system with graphite‐saturated fluid shows P–T conditions of equilibration of 4.5–5 kbar, 660–700 °C. These results are consistent with the complete experimental re‐melting of nanogranites at 700 °C and indicate that nanogranites represent the anatectic melt generated immediately after entering supersolidus conditions. The P–T estimate for garnet and melt development does not, however, overlap with the low‐temperature tip of the pure melt field in the phase diagram calculated for the composition of preserved glassy inclusions in garnet in the Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O (NCKFMASH) system. A comparison of measured melt compositions formed immediately beyond the solidus with results of phase equilibria modelling points to the systematic underestimation of FeO, MgO and CaO in the calculated melt. These discrepancies are present also when calculated melts are compared with low‐T natural and experimental melts from the literature. Under such conditions, the available melt model does not perform well. Given the presence of melt inclusions in garnet cores and the P–T estimates for their formation, we argue that small amounts (&lt;5 vol.%) of peritectic garnet may grow at low temperatures (≤700 °C), as a result of continuous melting reactions consuming biotite.

Zircon‐bearing, crystallized melt inclusions in peritectic garnet from the western Adirondack Mountains, New York State, USA

AbstractCrystallized melt inclusions (MI) occur in garnet from metapelitic gneiss extracted from a hydroelectric plant on the Black River at Port Leyden, NY (western Adirondack Highlands). The garnet host grains are small (0.5–1.0 mm), euhedral neoblasts that formed peritectically during biotite melting accompanying the Ottawan phase of the Grenville Orogeny. The crystallized MI are typically 10–25 μm in diameter and occur randomly in garnet. Nearly all of the crystallized MI observed contain a relatively large (3–15 μm), often euhedral, zircon grain surrounded by finer‐grained (some &lt;1 μm) phases with energy dispersive X‐ray spectra consistent with biotite, K‐feldspar, quartz, and albite. The inclusions are similar in size and composition to those described in garnet from other migmatites and are similarly interpreted as crystallized anatectic melt. Low Zr solubility in silicate melt indicates that the large zircon grain in each inclusion must be a trapped solid. It is inferred that micrometer‐scale droplets of anatectic melt chemically adhered to occluded zircon grains in biotite while peritectic garnet grew around them.

The Julianna pegmatite vein system at the Piława Górna Mine, Góry Sowie Block, SW Poland – preliminary data on geology and descriptive mineralogy

The newly discovered Julianna pegmatitic system from the Piława Górna Quarry (the Góry Sowie Block, Sudetes Mts., NE margin of the Bohemian Massif) is described in terms of geological setting, petrography and descriptive mineralogy. The system represents the largest pegmatitic occurrence in the Polish Sudetes and consists of a complex network of cogenetic rare-element granitic pegmatites that intruded into tectonized amphibolite as discordant dikes. The pegmatites range from barren and weakly zoned to texturally well-differentiated ones that are composed of a fine-grained border zone, coarse-grained wall zone, graphic and blocky feldspar intermediate zones and a quartz core. Unidirectional and skeletal solidification textures are well-developed. The Julianna pegmatites consist of rock-forming plagioclase (ŁAn39), microcline, quartz and biotite accompanied mostly by accessory to minor muscovite, tourmaline, garnet and beryl. They crystallized from anatectic melt of hybrid NYF (niobium-yttrium-fluorine) + LCT (lithium-cesium-tantalum) geochemical characteristics. Pegmatites with a low to moderate degree of fractionation, that dominate in the Julianna system, bear NYF-signature accessory minerals, such as allanite-(Ce), columbite-, euxenite- and samarskite-group minerals, fergusonite-(Y) and gadolinite-(Y). However rare dikes that attained a very high degree of fractionation contain typical minerals of LCT-signature including tourmalines of the elbaite-olenite-rossmanite series, lepidolite, lithiophilite, spodumene, Cs-rich beryl and pollucite.

Nanogranite inclusions in migmatitic garnet: behavior during piston‐cylinder remelting experiments

AbstractNanogranites represent totally crystallized inclusions of anatectic melt trapped within peritectic minerals of migmatites and granulites. They have recently been discovered in several locations. This discovery opens new possibilities for investigating crustal melting processes, provided that an appropriate method for retrieving the information contained within nanogranite inclusions is available. Here, we describe a series of remelting experiments that have been performed at different temperatures and under dry, andH2O‐added, conditions on nanogranite inclusions hosted in migmatitic garnet, using a piston‐cylinder apparatus. The glasses obtained by quenching the sample from temperature that approaches the trapping temperature have compositions very similar to those of preserved glassy inclusions coexisting with nanogranites in the same cluster. No significant differences inH2O contents were observed for nanogranites rehomogenized under dry and wet conditions. Higher (50–100°C) experimental temperatures resulted in dissolution of the host into the melt and inclusion decrepitation with the loss of volatiles. Therefore, piston‐cylinder remelting experiments may eliminate inclusion decrepitation, maintaining the primary fluid contents in the originally trapped melt. These volatiles would otherwise be lost during remelting experiments at ambient pressure. By preventing volatile loss, the inclusion does not have to be overheated to achieve homogenization, and the compositions of quenched glasses so obtained can be assumed to be those of melts produced (and trapped as inclusions) during crustal anatexis. The experimental approach described here represents a promising technique for the successful rehomogenization of crystallized melt inclusions from high‐pressure environments, such as the mafic continental crust.

Petrochemical features of Miocene volcanism around the Çubukludağ graben and Karaburun peninsula, western Turkey: Implications for crustal melting related silicic volcanism

Widespread Neogene volcanism, mainly intermediate and rarely mafic and felsic in composition, was controlled by the extensional tectonic regime in western Turkey. The Karaburun and Cumaovası volcanics are the cases for understanding the magma source(s) and petrological processes, producing the extension-related mafic and felsic volcanism. The Karaburun volcanics (KV) are mainly oriented north to south in the Karaburun peninsula and span a wide spectrum from basalt (20Ma) to rhyolite (16Ma), and younger trachyte and trachydacites (13Ma). The products of the subaerial silicic volcanism (the Cumaovası volcanics, CV; 17Ma) which are represented by cluster of rhyolite domes, related pyroclastics occur within the NE–SW trending Çubukludağ graben, and intermediate and mafic volcanic rocks are lack in this area. The lavas of the Cumaovası volcanics are high silica rhyolites and rare dacites which are calc alkaline, peralumious and enriched significantly in LILE. Extremely low Sr, Ba values, extremely Eu depletions and very low LaN/YbN ratios are typical for the rhyolites of CV, similar to the topaz rhyolites. The Karaburun volcanics, with the exception of the minor alkaline basaltic and trachytic lavas, are mainly calc alkaline and metaluminous intermediate lavas. 87Sr/86Sr ratios of the KV and dacitic samples of CV are close to each other and range from 0.708 to 0.709; while Sr isotopic ratios of the rhyolites are significantly high and variable (0.724–0.786). 143Nd/144Nd ratios of the CV and KV, except for the alkaline samples, are similar for both sequences vary from 0.51230 to 0.51242.Geological, geochemical, isotopic and radiochronologic data reveal that the KV and CV were formed in extensional tectonic setting, but evolved by different petrological processes in different magma chambers. During the Neogene, underplated mafic magma was injected into the crust and hybridized by mantle and crustal derived materials. Geochemical features and trace element modeling for the mafic members of the KV indicate that they were derived from enriched lithospheric mantle and modified by fractional crystallization from basalt to rhyolite (Helvacı et al., 2009). Unexpectedly, the felsic lavas from Cumaovası region have a unique chemical composition, and similar to the extension related rhyolites formed from small magma bodies. Our data reveal that extension related mafic inputs caused crustal anatectic melting and formed felsic melts that rapidly ascended into the upper crust. The Cumaovası felsic rocks were differentiated into the highly evolved silica-rich melts within the magma chambers trapped near the surface.

Geothermobarometry on anatectic melts – a high-pressure Variscan migmatite from northeast Sardinia

We studied a high-pressure amphibole-bearing migmatite cropping out along the northeastern coast of Sardinia, a few kilometres northeast of Olbia, in order to improve our knowledge about its evolution using pressure–temperature (P–T) pseudosections. Thermodynamic calculations with PERPLE_X were undertaken in the system Na2O–K2O–CaO–FeO–MnO–MgO–Al2O3–TiO2–SiO2–H2O using a haplogranitic melt model. Calculations were conducted for average compositions of the protolith and the tonalitic leucosome with different contents of H2O to construct various pseudosections in the P–T range 2–20 kbar and 550–900°C. We demonstrate that the molar ratios Na/K and Si/Al of the anatectic melt are of high geothermobarometric value. Particularly the melt field in the P–T pseudosection for the protolith, contoured by Si/Al isolines, shows a significant decrease in this ratio with rising pressure. This ratio is only weakly dependent on variable H2O contents of the amphibole-bearing migmatite as demonstrated by contoured T–H2O pseudosections. The application of the Na/K and Si/Al ratios in melt yielded P–T conditions close to 13 kbar and 700°C, assigned as the conditions of partial melting. Evaluation of contoured P–T pseudosections for the leucosome composition resulted in conditions of about 10.5 kbar and 700°C for the crystallization of amphibole in the leucosome melt, and 9 kbar and 680°C for complete crystallization of this melt.

Timing and conditions of poly-phase metamorphism within the Twelve Mile Bay shear zone: implications for the evolution of mid-crustal decollement zones and western Grenville tectonics

The Twelve Mile Bay assemblage (TMBa) forms the high-strain interior of the Twelve Mile Bay shear zone (TMBsz), a major ductile decollement zone within the western Canadian Grenville orogen. Metasupracrustal gneiss within the TMBa preserves evidence for an early granulite facies (˜10–11 kbar and ˜840°C) metamorphism overprinted by amphibolite facies (˜5–7 kbar and ˜650°C) assemblages that define the high-strain shear zone fabric. U–Pb zircon ages for TMBa samples were determined by LA-ICP-MS. A low-strain amphibolite pod with partially preserved granulite facies assemblage and textures yielded an anchored discordia intercept of 1157 ± 11 Ma and 207Pb/206Pb weighted average of 1146 ± 10 Ma. Three higher strain samples with recrystallized amphibolite facies assemblages all yield younger ages, with 207Pb/206Pb weighted averages of 1125 ± 16, 1110 ± 8, and 1095 ± 17 Ma. Phase equilibrium modelling shows that up to 40 vol.% anatectic melt could have been produced in TMBa pelitic rocks during peak metamorphic conditions, and thus, much of the package likely would have been substantially weakened during the early stages of TMBsz development. Strain apparently continued to accumulate within the TMBa until ca. 1100 Ma, concurrent with pegmatite dike emplacement and hydration along the base of the overlying interior Parry Sound domain (iPSD), perpetuating TMBsz activity during cooling and exhumation to shallower crustal levels. Similarities between the TMBa and the upper parts of the basal PSD (bPSD), in terms of timing and conditions of metamorphism and shearing, as well as structural position relative to the overlying iPSD allochthon, indicate that these units are likely correlative. The composite bPSD–TMBa system appears to have contemporaneously localized strain within the middle orogenic crust during early to middle stages of Grenvillian collision, providing a petrologically constrained mechanism for the long distance transport of mid-crustal nappes predicted in thermal-mechanical models of continental collision for this area.

Large volumes of anatectic melt retained in granulite facies migmatites: An injection complex in northern Quebec

The Opinaca Subprovince in the Superior Province of northern Québec is a metasedimentary belt characterized by metagreywacke rocks that record a late Archean granulite facies metamorphism and contains abundant thin veins of leucogranite. Regional-scale study of this subprovince provides insight to the net budget of anatectic melt (loss versus accumulation) in the lower middle continental crust during anatexis.A petrological study indicates that the metagreywackes partially melted at ~820°C and ~7kbar and generated <10% melt with orthopyroxene±garnet as peritectic phases. The metagreywackes contain various amounts of leucogranite in thin veins, sills and dykes injected sub-parallel to the subvertical E–W striking main foliation. Study of more than 1070 outcrops indicates that the “typical outcrop” contains ~63% of leucogranite; far more than the maximum 10% of melt produced in-situ from the host rocks. Crystallization ages obtained by U–Pb SHRIMP analysis of zircons from both the migmatites and the leucogranite veins indicate that the granulite facies metamorphism and the injection of veins were contemporary and occurred during slow cooling (6°CMy−1) from the metamorphic peak at 2666Ma to the granite solidus at 2636Ma.The large discrepancy (about 50%) between the volume of anatectic melt produced locally (in situ) and the observed volume of leucogranite in the terrain indicates that anatectic melt accumulated in the Opinaca Subprovince; it is an injection complex. This finding that granulite facies terranes can be enriched in melt contrasts with the general view that granulite terranes are melt-depleted.The presence of an injection complex in the deep crust has several broad implications for the continental crust. 1) H2O released as the injected melt crystallized rehydrated the adjacent granulite facies rocks which is evident from orthopyroxene replaced by amphibole and biotite. Consequently, these deep rocks would be more fertile in a subsequent anatectic event than non-rehydrated residuum. 2) The retention of voluminous leucogranite in the injection complex has thermal consequences for the crust. First, the bulk composition of the crust containing the injection complex is necessarily more felsic, thus the budget of heat-producing elements (Th, U and K) is locally enhanced and radiogenic heat production is higher. Secondly, latent heat of crystallization is released at a deeper level where the leucogranite solidifies. The combined effect of both maintains the lower crust several tens of degrees warmer for longer period of time.

Recovering the composition of melt and the fluid regime at the onset of crustal anatexis and S-type granite formation

Using a metatexite from the Spanish Betic Cordillera as an example, we show that in situ and otherwise impossible to retrieve compositional information on natural anatectic melts can be reliably gained from experimentally rehomogenized melt inclusions in peritectic garnets. Experiments were conducted on single garnet crystals in a piston cylinder apparatus until the complete homogenization of crystal-bearing melt inclusions at the conditions inferred for the anatexis. The compositions of quenched glasses, representative of the early anatectic melts, are leucogranitic and peraluminous, and differ from those of leucosomes in the host rock. The H 2 O contents in the glasses suggest that melts formed at low temperature (∼700 °C) may not be as hydrous and mobile as thought. Providing for the first time the precise melt composition (including the volatile components) in the specific anatectic rock under study, our approach improves our understanding of crustal melting and generation of S-type granites.

Petrological and zircon evidence for anatexis of UHP quartzite during continental collision in the Sulu orogen

AbstractPetrological evidence is provided for anatexis of ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) metamorphic quartzite in the Sulu orogen. Some feldspar grains exhibit elongated, highly cuspate shapes or occur as interstitial, cuspate phases constituting interconnected networks along grain boundaries. Elongated veinlets composed of plagioclase + quartz ± K‐feldspar also occur in grain boundaries. These features provide compelling evidence for anatexis of the UHP quartzite. Zircon grains from impure quartzite are all metamorphic growth with highly irregular shape. They contain inclusions of coesite, jadeite, rutile and lower pressure minerals, including multiphase solid inclusions that are composed of two or more phases of muscovite, quartz, K‐feldspar and plagioclase. All zircon grains exhibit steep REE patterns, similar U–Pb ages and Hf isotope compositions with a weighted mean of 218 ± 2 Ma. Most grains have similar δ18O values of −0.6 to 0.1‰, but a few fall in the range −5.2 to −4.3‰. Thus, these grains would have grown from anatectic melts at various pressures. Zircon O isotope differences indicate that anatectic melts were derived from different sources with contrasting O isotopes, but similar Hf isotopes, that is, one from the quartzite itself and the other probably from the country‐rock granitic gneiss. Zircon grains from pure quartzite contain relict magmatic cores and significant metamorphic overgrowths. Domains that contain eclogite facies minerals exhibit flat HREE patterns, no Eu anomalies and concordant U–Pb ages of c. 220 Ma. Similar U–Pb ages are also obtained for domains that contain lower pressure minerals and exhibit steep REE patterns and marked negative Eu anomalies. These observations indicate that zircon records subsolidus overgrowth at eclogite facies conditions but suprasolidus growth at lower pressures. Zircon enclosed by garnet gave consistent U–Pb ages of c. 214 Ma. Such garnet is interpreted as a peritectic product of the anatectic reaction that involves felsic minerals and possibly amphibole and titanite. The REE patterns of epidote and titanite also record multistage growth and metasomatism by anatectic melts. Therefore, the anatexis of UHP metamorphic rocks is evident during continental collision in the Triassic.

Zirconological tracing of transition between aqueous fluid and hydrous melt in the crust: Constraints from pegmatite vein and host gneiss in the Sulu orogen

Zircon can grow from aqueous fluid and hydrous melt in crustal rocks when they undergo metamorphic dehydration and partial melting under high-pressure (HP) to ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) conditions. A distinction between fluid and melt has important bearing on the development of crustal anatexis in collisional orogens. A genetic transition between fluid and melt is recorded by zircons from pegmatite vein and host UHP gneiss in the Sulu orogen. This transition is elucidated by an integrated study of SIMS U–Pb and O isotope analyses with LA-ICPMS U–Pb isotope and trace element analyses in the zircons. Pegmatite veins yield zircon U–Pb ages of 147–153Ma for new growths, and 700–800Ma for relict cores. A one meter-width pegmatite vein exhibits two episodes of zircon growth at 153±3Ma for inner domain and at 147±2Ma for outer domain. The two types of domains have a series of differences in CL image, inclusion type, REE content and pattern, trace element contents and ratios, and Ti-in-zircon temperature. The inner domain grew from the hydrous melt at 730–840°C, whereas the outer domain grew from the aqueous fluid at 520–650°C. Nevertheless, they have similarly low δ18O values of 1.0–2.3‰, suggesting their growth from O isotope homogeneous media despite the transition from melt to fluid. The host gneiss of this pegmatite vein exhibits three generations of zircon growth, with 180–205Ma at 700–770°C during amphibolite-facies metamorphism, 157±3Ma at 610–670°C for fluid-assisted growth, and 147±2Ma at 780–860°C for melt-assisted growth. The last two types of growth record the development of crustal anatexis from hydration melting to dehydration melting. The other decimeter-width pegmatite vein exhibits only one episode of zircon growth from melt at 149±2Ma and 660–860°C. Its host gneiss exhibits a residual melt texture but no significant growth of zircon, indicating low degree of dehydration melting. Therefore, the zircon domains in the host gneisses record their growth during a transition from aqueous fluid to hydrous melt along a temperature-increasing path, whereas the zircon domains in the pegmatite veins record their growth during a transition from hydrous melt to aqueous fluid along a temperature-decreasing path. Despite the difference in the direction of fluid/melt evolution, the all zircon domains in these gneisses and pegmatite veins record the same event of crustal anatexis in the UHP gneisses. The present study also provides insights into a genetic definition of anatectic melt and thus anatectic zircon.

Petrogenesis of Early Cretaceous bimodal volcanic rocks in the Fanchang Basin, SE China: an energy-constrained assimilation–fractional crystallization model

Volcanic rocks in the Middle–Lower Yangtze River Valley (MLYRV) constitute a bimodal magmatic suite, with a significant compositional gap (between 50% and 63% SiO2) between the mafic and felsic members. The suite is characterized by a relatively wide spectrum of rock types, including basalts, trachytes, and rhyolites. The basaltic rocks have low-to-moderate SiO2 contents of 46.00–50.01%, whereas the trachytes and rhyolites possess SiO2 contents in the range of 63.08–77.61%. Rocks of the bimodal suite show moderate enrichment of LILEs, negative Nb, Ta, and Ti anomalies, and are significantly enriched in LREEs. The basalts were most likely generated by parental mafic magmas derived from enriched lithospheric mantle with minor assimilation of crustal materials involving coeval crystal fractionation during magma evolution. The results of energy-constrained assimilation and fractional crystallization simulations demonstrate that the felsic magma was produced by the mixing of 5–20% lower crustal anatectic melts with an evolved mafic magma (∼48% SiO2) and accompanied by extensive clinopyroxene, plagioclase, biotite, and Fe–Ti oxide fractionation. Our model for the genesis of felsic rocks in bimodal suites is different from the traditional models of crustal melting and fractional crystallization or assimilation–fractional crystallization of basaltic liquids.

Sveconorwegian Mid-crustal Ultrahigh-temperature Metamorphism in Rogaland, Norway: U-Pb LA-ICP-MS Geochronology and Pseudosections of Sapphirine Granulites and Associated Paragneisses

MgAl-rich sapphirine granulites (bulk X Mg 0·71–0·75) occur as boudinaged layers in migmatitic garnet–orthopyroxene–cordierite–spinel gneisses and migmatitic garnet–sillimanite metapelites in the vicinity of the c. 930–920 Ma Rogaland anorthosite–mangerite–charnockite complex, SW Norway. Investigation of the mineral reaction history of the sapphirine granulites and the surrounding paragneisses, combined with geothermobarometric calculations and constraints from pseudosections calculated in the Na 2 O–CaO–K 2 O–FeO–MgO–Al 2 O 3 –SiO 2 –H 2 O–TiO 2 (NCKFMASHT) system, indicates a clockwise P–T path that reached peak-metamorphic ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) conditions of c. 1000°C at c. 7·5 kbar by prograde heating. UHT peak metamorphism is followed by near-isothermal (ultra)high-temperature decompression to P 850–940°C as estimated from Ti-in-zircon thermometry, suggesting that UHT metamorphism and the deduced clockwise P–T evolution is linked to regional Sveconorwegian metamorphism at c. 1010 Ma. Most of the metamorphic zircon surrounds largely resorbed inherited oscillatory zoned zircon cores ( 207 Pb/ 206 Pb apparent ages 1220–1841 Ma), testifying to the sedimentary origin of the sapphirine granulites. Epitactic growth of xenotime on metamorphic zircon at 933 ± 5 Ma is suggested to be related to crystallization of anatectic melt during post-decompressional cooling. The clockwise P–T path culminating at mid-crustal UHT conditions at c. 1010 Ma followed by (U)HT decompression is interpreted to result from collisional tectonics during the early stages of the Sveconorwegian Orogeny, followed by gravitational collapse of the mountain plateau.

Synexhumation anatexis of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks: Petrological evidence from granitic gneiss in the Sulu orogen

Petrological evidence is provided for partial melting of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic granitic gneiss in the Sulu orogen. Petrographic observations show the occurrence of elongated, highly cuspate feldspars in grain boundaries, interstitial cuspate feldspars in triple junctions, felsic veinlets mainly consisting of K-feldspar+quartz, and feldspar crystal faces against quartz. These features indicate that the feldspar and quartz would have grown from anatectic melts in the granitic gneiss. Zircon domains grown from these melts were identified based on CL images, mineral inclusions and REE patterns. Some large zircon grains (>100μm) contain small relict domains of magmatic origin, suggesting nearly complete dissolution of the protolith zircon during the anatexis. All newly grown zircon domains are categorized into two groups based on the presence or absence of coesite inclusions. One group of domains contain no coesite inclusion and exhibit high U contents but low Th/U ratios (<0.1), steep REE patterns with strong negative Eu anomalies, and UPb ages of 217±2 to 224±2Ma. The other group of domains contain coesite inclusions and exhibit low U contents and very low Th/U ratios (<0.01), steep REE patterns with strong negative Eu anomalies, and UPb ages of 221±5 to 226±3Ma. The two groups of zircon domains are thus interpreted as growing from the anatectic melts at different pressures because they exhibit marked negative Eu anomalies that are absent for metamorphic zircons grown from aqueous fluids. The zircon UPb ages of 217±2 to 226±3Ma are close to, but slightly younger than, known ages for major UHP metamorphism in the Sulu orogen. Therefore, the UHP gneiss experienced incipient melting during the initial exhumation subsequent to the peak UHP metamorphism and extensive anatexis later at lower pressures. Muscovite relicts coexist with cuspate feldspars, suggesting that the anatectic melts originate from dehydration melting due to decompression breakdown of phengitic muscovite in the UHP granitic gneiss. As the degree of partial melting increases with temperature, significant fractions of the anatectic melts would be produced in the regional gneiss provided that the UHP rocks experienced “hot” exhumation. Such melts can be gathered together, being eventually emplaced as synexhumation granitic intrusions.

Anatectic melt volumes in the thermal aureole of the Etive Complex, Scotland: the roles of fluid‐present and fluid‐absent melting

AbstractPelitic hornfelses within the inner thermal aureole of the Etive igneous complex underwent limited partial melting, generating agmatic micro‐stromatic migmatites. In this study, observed volume proportions of vein leucosomes in the migmatites are compared with modelled melt volumes in an attempt to constrain the controls on melting processes. Petrogenetic modelling in the MnNCKFMASHT system was performed on the compositions of 15 analysed Etive pelite samples using THERMOCALC. Melt modes were calculated at 2.2 kbar (the estimated pressure in the southern Etive aureole) from solidus temperatures to 800 °C for both fluid‐absent and fluid‐present conditions. Volume changes accompanying fluid‐absent melting at 2.2 kbar were also calculated. P–T pseudosections reproduce the zonal sequence of the southern Etive aureole fairly well. The modelled solidus temperatures of silica‐rich pelitic compositions are close to 680 °C at 2.2 kbar and, in the absence of free fluid, melt modes in such compositions rise to between 12 and 29% at 800 °C, half of which is typically produced over the narrow reaction interval in which orthopyroxene first appears. Silica‐poor compositions have solidus temperatures of up to ∼770 °C and yield &lt;11.4% melt at 800 °C under fluid‐absent conditions. For conditions of excess H2O, modelled melt modes increase dramatically within ∼13 °C of the solidus, in some cases to &gt;60%; by 800 °C they range from 61 to 88% and from 29 to 74% in silica‐rich and silica‐poor compositions, respectively. Calculated volume changes for fluid‐absent melting are positive for all modelled compositions and reach 4.5% in some silica‐rich compositions by 800 °C. Orthopyroxene formation is accompanied by a volume increase of up to 1.48% over a temperature increase of as little as 2.7 °C, supporting the arguments for melt‐induced ‘hydrofracturing’ as a viable melt‐escape mechanism in low‐P metamorphism. Mineral assemblages in the innermost aureole support previous conclusions that partial melting took place predominantly under fluid‐absent conditions. However, vein leucosome proportions, estimated by image analysis, do not show the expected correlation with grade, and are locally greatly in excess of melt modes predicted by fluid‐absent models, particularly close to the melt‐in isograd. Melting of interlayered psammites, addition of H2O from interlayered melt‐free rocks, and metastable persistence of muscovite are ruled out as major causes of the excess melt anomaly. The most likely cause, we believe, is that local variations existed in the amount of fluid available at the onset of melting, promoted by focussing of fluid released by dehydration in the middle and outer aureole; however, some redistribution of melt by compaction‐driven flow through the vein channel network cannot be ruled out. The formation of melt‐filled fractures in the inner Etive aureole was assisted by stresses that caused extension at high angles to the igneous contact. The fractures were probably caused either by transient pressure reduction in the diorite magma chamber associated with a second phase of intrusion, or by sub‐solidus thermal contraction in the diorite pluton during the early stages of inner‐aureole cooling.

The origin of zircon and the significance of U–Pb ages in high-grade metamorphic rocks: a case study from the Variscan orogenic root (Vosges Mountains, NE France)

U–Pb zircon dating is combined with petrology, Zr-in-rutile thermometry and mineral equilibria modelling to discuss zircon petrogenesis and the age of metamorphism in three units of the Variscan Vosges Mountains (NE France). The monotonous gneiss unit shows results at 700–500 Ma, but no Variscan ages. The varied gneiss unit preserves ages between 600 and 460 Ma and a Variscan group at 340–335 Ma. Zircon analyses from the felsic granulite unit define a continuous array of ages between 500 and 340 Ma. In varied gneiss samples, zoned garnet includes kyanite and rutile and is surrounded by matrix sillimanite and cordierite. In a pseudosection, it points to peak conditions of ~16 kbar/850 °C followed by isothermal decompression to 8–10 kbar/820–860 °C. In felsic granulite samples, the assemblage K-feldspar–garnet–kyanite–Zr-rich rutile is replaced by sillimanite and Zr-poor rutile. Modelling these assemblages supports minimum conditions of ~13 kbar/925 °C, and a subsequent P–T decrease to 6.5–8.5 kbar/800–820 °C. The internal structure and chemistry of zircons, and modelling of zircon dissolution/growth along the inferred P–T paths are used to discuss the significance of the U–Pb ages. In the monotonous unit, inherited zircon ages of 700–500 Ma point to sedimentation during the Late Cambrian, while medium-grade metamorphism did not allow the formation of Variscan zircon domains. In both the varied gneiss and felsic granulite units, zircons with a blurred oscillatory-zoned pattern could reflect solid-state recrystallization of older grains during HT metamorphism, whereas zircons with a dark cathodoluminescence pattern are thought to derive from crystallization of an anatectic melt during cooling at middle pressure conditions. The present work proposes that U–Pb zircon ages of ca. 340 Ma probably reflect the end of a widespread HT metamorphic event at middle crustal level.