Peraluminous Plutons Research Articles

Fluid-induced dissolution–reprecipitation of tungsten minerals in the Hongling deposit, South China

Tungsten is a critical metal that is predominantly found in magmatic-hydrothermal W-Sn deposits. However, the behavior and controlling factors of tungsten in highly evolved granitic systems are not yet well-known. In this study, we examined the integrated mineral textures and geochemistry of wolframite and scheelite from the Hongling tungsten deposit in the word-class Nanling W-Sn metallogenic belt, South China. Our results reveal that wolframite and scheelite from the muscovite granite of the highly evolved Reshui granite pluton can be classified into three generations formed through a process of coupled dissolution-reprecipitation. Wolframite with altered relict textures was formed during the early magmatic stage, while the two generations of scheelite (Sch-I and Sch-II) were formed during the magmatic-hydrothermal transitional stage. The formation of Sch-I, which exhibits a notable positive Eu anomaly, required the participation of external Ca-rich reduced fluids within the magmatic exsolved fluids from the highly evolved peraluminous pluton. The porous Sch-II occurs as marginal overgrowth or fracture-filling textures and exhibits a similar negative Eu anomaly as the dissolved wolframite. These three generations of tungsten minerals exhibit distinguishable REE contents and distribution patterns, with increasing LREE and decreasing HREE trends. The fluctuation of oxygen fugacity and the compositional evolution of tungsten minerals from wolframite through Sch-I to Sch-II indicate the involvement of external Ca-rich reduced fluids within the magmatic exsolved fluids from the highly evolved peraluminous pluton. The coupled dissolution of wolframite and the reprecipitation of scheelite were likely induced by intensive fluid-rock interactions, which are critical for the remobilization and enrichment of tungsten in magmatic-hydrothermal deposits. We inferred that such fluid-induced dissolution-reprecipitation of tungsten minerals provides new insights into the formation of the world-class Nanling W-Sn metallogenic belt in South China.

Evolution of arc magmatic cycles from the Carboniferous to the Early Cretaceous in the western paleomargin of Gondwana, north of the Andes

This work presents a considerable volume of new and compiled data indicating that arc magmatism in the western paleomargin of Gondwana began in the Carboniferous and continued during the Permian and Early Triassic. Subsequently, the magmatism reactivated during the Early and Middle Jurassic due to the subduction of the Farallon Plate under the continental paleomargin. The arc pluton belts are distributed from the edge of the paleomargin toward the interior of the continent in the same orientation as the slab (west–east direction). During the Carboniferous, between ca. 333 Ma and ca. 300 Ma, magmatism formed small calcic metaluminous gabbro and leucotonalite plutons of tholeiitic to calc-alkaline affinity on the western margin of Gondwana. Later, the second belt of arc plutons formed during the Permian/Triassic (between ca. 300 Ma and ca. 234 Ma) and are represented by metaluminous to peraluminous calc-alkaline to high-K calc-alkaline batholiths and stocks of heterogeneous composition (granites, granodiorites, diorites, quartz monzonites, and monzonites), which were intruded by dikes and minor granite bodies during the Middle Triassic. Between ca. 214 Ma and ca. 186 Ma, peraluminous plutons of batholithic dimensions of monzogranitic to syenogranitic composition developed in the back-arc. Between ca. 197 Ma and ca. 186 Ma, back-arc magmatism occurred, while a new magmatic cycle began along the arc axis. At the end of the Jurassic, the magmatic arc cycle ended in the northwestern paleomargin of Gondwana (ca. 164 Ma). The intrusion ca. 159 Ma of porphyritic bodies of alkaline andesitic basalts toward the edge of the continental margin suggests the strangulation and collapse of the subduction zone in the mantle. To the west, off the continental margin, a new arc magmatic cycle began over a different continental terrane ca. 171 Ma and extended to ca. 138 Ma, giving rise to a belt of calcic to calcic-alkaline plutons emplaced in the Ordovician metamorphic (Anacona Terrane), Triassic (Tahamí Terrane), and Upper Jurassic (Tierradentro Orogen) rocks. The assemblage amalgamated to the western margin of Gondwana in this period.

Oxygen isotope ratios in zircon and garnet: A record of assimilation and fractional crystallization in the Dinkey Dome peraluminous granite, Sierra Nevada, California

Abstract The 119 Ma Dinkey Dome pluton in the central Sierra Nevada Batholith is a peraluminous granite and contains magmatic garnet and zircon that are complexly zoned with respect to oxygen isotope ratios. Intracrystalline SIMS analysis tests the relative importance of magmatic differentiation processes vs. partial melting of metasedimentary rocks. Whereas δ18O values of bulk zircon concentrates are uniform across the entire pluton (7.7‰ VSMOW), zircon crystals are zoned in δ18O by up to 1.8‰, and when compared to late garnet, show evidence of changing magma chemistry during multiple interactions of the magma with wall rock during crustal transit. The evolution from an early high-δ18O magma [δ18O(WR) = 9.8‰] toward lower values is shown by high-δ18O zircon cores (7.8‰) and lower δ 18O rims (6.8‰). Garnets from the northwest side of the pluton show a final increase in δ18O with rims reaching 8.1‰. In situ REE measurements show zircon is magmatic and grew before garnets. Additionally, δ18O in garnets from the western side of the pluton are consistently higher (avg = 7.3‰) relative to the west (avg = 5.9‰). These δ18O variations in zircon and garnet record different stages of assimilation and fractional crystallization whereby an initially high-δ18O magma partially melted low-δ18O wallrock and was subsequently contaminated near the current level of emplacement by higher δ18O melts. Collectively, the comparison of δ18O zoning in garnet and zircon shows how a peraluminous pluton can be constructed from multiple batches of variably contaminated melts, especially in early stages of arc magmatism where magmas encounter significant heterogeneity of wall-rock assemblages. Collectively, peraluminous magmas in the Sierran arc are limited to small <100 km2 plutons that are intimately associated with metasedimentary wall rocks and often surrounded by later and larger metaluminous tonalite and granodiorite plutons. The general associations suggest that early-stage arc magmas sample crustal heterogeneities in small melt batches, but that with progressive invigoration of the arc, such compositions are more effectively blended with mantle melts in source regions. Thus, peraluminous magmas provide important details of the nascent Sierran arc and pre-batholithic crustal structure.

Chemical signature of quartz from S- and A-type rare-metal granites – A summary

About 800 new and 1200 already published laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analyses of quartz from rare-metal granites and related greisens, quartz-tourmaline rocks and quartz veins were evaluated in order to define typical trace-element signatures of quartz of different origin. The studied dataset comprises typical examples of sub-aluminous to slightly peraluminous plutons (A-type granites of the Kimi stock, Finland; Eastern Erzgebirge, Czech Republic; Orlovka, Russia and Ongon Chairchan, Mongolia), and strongly peraluminous plutons (S-type granites of Beauvoir, France; Cornwall, England; Panasqueira and Argemela, Portugal; Western Erzgebirge, Czech Republic). Additional 700, mostly already published, analyses of quartz from barren granites of all geochemical types (I, S, A-type), rhyolites and barren and rare-element pegmatites were evaluated for comparison. Compiled data reveal high diversity in the contents of trace elements in quartz even among rocks of similar geochemical composition. The most common trace elements in magmatic quartz are Al, Li and Ti with medians of 447, 39.6 and 17.4 ppm in S-type rare-metal granites, and 160, 15 and 6.6 ppm in A-type rare-metal granites. The contents of all these elements in greisens and quartz veins are significantly lower than in their parental granites. Al contents above 450 ppm should serve as a reliable indicator of S-affinity of the analyzed granite, while contents <250 ppm Al are typical for A-type rocks. The contents of Al, Ge and Rb generally increase in the course of magmatic fractionation, while the contents of Ti decrease. The Ge/Ti value can be taken as a valuable indicator of fractionation of granitic melt from which quartz crystallized: this value was found to generally range from 0.002 to 0.2 in quartz from common granites. It may, however, reach 1 in most rare-metal granites (Erzgebirge, Panasqueira, Cornwall), 10 at Beauvoir, 35 at Orlovka, and 50 at Argemela. The uptake of Li into quartz is limited by Al contents in quartz and affected by the contents of volatiles in the melt; it does not correlate with Li contents in parental melt and cannot be used as an indicator of Li-rich magmatic systems.

The Ticunzal Formation in central Brazil: Record of Rhyacian sedimentation and metamorphism in the western border of the São Francisco Craton

The Ticunzal Formation is exposed in the northern portion basement of the external zone of the Brasília Fold Belt and corresponds to a sequence of biotite-garnet paragneisses and mica-graphite schists with mineral assemblages indicating retrograde metamorphism under greenschist facies conditions. The formation displays local mylonitic structures and is intruded syn-to post-tectonically by 2.11–2.16 Ga peraluminous plutons of the Aurumina Suite. Detrital zircon U-Pb ages, Nd model ages between 2.23 and 2.88 Ga and geochemical data reflect a provenance probably represented by the 2.20 and 2.46 Ga tonalitic/granodioritic rocks of the Almas-Dianópolis terrane, exposed northwards of the study area. Zircon U-Pb geochronology and field observations suggest an age interval for the deposition of the precursor sediments of the Ticunzal Formation between 2.16 and 2.19 Ga. Raman spectroscopy analyses on graphite indicate high-crystallinity internal structures consistent with peak metamorphic temperatures between 620 and 630 °C. Trace element geochemical data of Ticunzal Formation samples suggest that precursor sediments were deposited in a continental arc-related basin, defining a setting consistent with an active mobile belt at the western margin of the São Francisco Craton during Rhyacian times, as inferred also from the characteristics of rocks from the Almas-Dianópolis terrane and the Aurumina Suite.

The composition of zircon in Variscan granites from Northern Portugal

A group of slightly peraluminous Variscan plutons in Northern Portugal were selected from the study of zircon composition. The selected plutons are: the Vila Pouca de Aguiar and the Lavadores-Madalena plutons with I-type affinities and the Vieira do Minho pluton, an l-S transitional type. Zircon occurs as euhedral to subhedral crystals and exhibit finely concentric oscillatory magmatic zoning mainly related to variations of Hf, Y, U and Th concentrations. Most zircon crystals show the dominant “xenotime” substitution. The zircon crystals have Zr/Hf ratio in the range of 21 to 52, with no significant differences between the different granites. These values are in the same range of other peraluminous granites and are in accordance with a crustal signature of zircon. Moreover, the range of Zr/Hf values in zircon crystals overlaps with that of crustal sources and consequently to the potential protoliths proposed in the genesis of the Vieira do Minho and the Vila Pouca de Aguiar plutons, namely meta-igneous crustal sources at different levels. Although zircon from the Lavadores-Madalena pluton has a compositional range similar to the other plutons, an origin by hibridisation has been proposed. However, similar zircon chemistry between this pluton and Vila Pouca de Aguiar and Vieira do Minho plutons could also suggest a similar crustal source.

Revisiting the importance of residual source material (restite) in granite petrogenesis: The Cardigan Pluton, New Hampshire

The Cardigan Pluton of New Hampshire exhibits a positive correlation between peraluminosity with maficity, with as much as 8% normative corundum in rocks with 53 wt.% SiO2. No mafic magmas of these compositions exist; the whole-rock compositions reflect high concentrations of garnet. The mafic rocks have higher CaO concentrations than garnet and require high concentrations of plagioclase as well. The presence of melt depleted, restitic garnetites in the pluton that are in isotopic equilibrium with the host rocks provides evidence for the textures and compositions of restitic plagioclase and peritectic garnet that can be compared to plagioclase and garnet in the host rocks. Some restitic grains of plagioclase in the garnetites contain needles of rutile and ilmenite. Plagioclase crystals with these same inclusions are also present in the host rocks. Inclusion-bearing plagioclase in both settings has identical Sr, Ba, Eu, Pb, and Ga concentrations, indicating that these crystals in the host rock are also restite. Most host rock plagioclase crystals that lack inclusions have higher Ba concentrations resulting from the fractionation of Ba which was an incompatible element until K-feldspar crystallized; these are phenocrysts. Peritectic garnet is inclusion-rich and has flat chondrite-normalized HREE patterns. The HREE elements incorporated into peritectic garnet were continuously supplied by zircon during the melting process. Once the melt separated from the source, fractionation of zircon and garnet depleted the melt in the HREE and phenocrystic garnet shows a progressive depletion in HREE from cores to rims. Peritectic garnet entrained in the host rocks show the same textural and chemical characteristics as garnet in the garnetites, but is mantled by inclusion-poor, HREE depleted, phenocrystic garnet. The Cardigan Pluton thus contains both peritectic garnet and restitic plagioclase, the retention of which in variable amounts can account for the range of whole-rock compositions of the pluton. If retention of relatively high density peritectic garnet occurs in other granitic plutons, then retention of lower density restitic phases such as plagioclase should occur as well, lending legitimacy to the peritectic/restitic phase entrainment/unmixing model in peraluminous plutons.

Gahnite, chrysoberyl and beryl co-occurrence as accessory minerals in a highly evolved peraluminous pluton: The Belvís de Monroy leucogranite (Cáceres, Spain)

Gahnite (ZnAl2O4), chrysoberyl (BeAl2O4) and beryl (Be3Al2Si6O18) have been found as accessory minerals in the external, highly fractionated, leucogranitic unit within the Hercynian reversely zoned Belvís de Monroy pluton (westernmost part of the Montes de Toledo batholith, Cáceres, Spain). The highly felsic (SiO2>72wt.%) and peraluminous (ACNK>1.2) character of this leucogranite, together with the high content of some incompatible elements (F, Li, B, and P), seems to be a primary consequence of fractional crystallization in a magmatic closed-system. The high Be contents and Zn/FeTotal ratio (>0.01) are relevant factors which have favoured the precipitation of these minerals. Moreover, the Si, Al, P, B, and F activities might be high, favouring the magmatic crystallization of such exotic mineral phases together with Be-rich cordierite, F-rich micas, sillimanite and Al-rich phosphates. In fact, the interplay between the silica and alumina activities likely controls the stabilization and the preferential crystallization of gahnite+chrysoberyl or beryl+chrysoberyl assemblages in mm-sized microdomains. The P–T crystallization conditions are constrained by the muscovite and sillimanite stability fields and the minimum granite Al2O3-saturated solidus, and have been estimated at temperatures between 670 and 700°C, and pressures between 1 and 2kbar.

Geochemical and structural constraints on the magmatic history of the Chandman Massif of the eastern Mongolian Altay Range, SW Mongolia

2� CzechGeologicalSurvey,�Leitnerova�22,�658�69�Brno,�CzechRepublic� 3� SchoolofGeologyandPetroleumEngineering,�MongolianUniversityofScienceandTechnology,�Box�520,�P.O.�46,�Ulaanbaatar,�� � Mongolia�210646 4� InstitutfurGeowissenschaften,�GoetheUniversitat,�Altenhoferallee�1;�60438�FrankfurtamMain;�Germany * �Correspondingauthor In the Mongolian Altay range, immediately south of the Bogd fault zone, the Chandman Massif intruded the Chandman Khayrkhan Crystalline Complex to the NE. This complex consists of migmatized biotite gneisses, orthogneisses and amphibolites. To the south, the Massif cuts the chlorite schists and quartzites of the Tugrug Formation. The Massif mainly consists of diorites to granites with rare gabbro bodies interspersed with metamorphic host rock screens, generally of amphibolite with calc-silicate lenses. Granitoids are further categorized based on petrography and whole-rock geochemical data into peraluminous and metaluminous groups. Granites comprise the peraluminous group, and possess high (71-77 wt. %) silica contents with abundant modal K-feldspar. Metaluminous granitoids span a wide range in silica contents, from diorite to granite. Also their feldspars are compositionally variable. Both these granitoid units are of volcanic-arc character and display a calc-alkaline geochemical trend. Granodiorites of the metaluminous group contain widespread planar rhythmic schlieren layering. Metaluminous units slightly predate the intrusion of peraluminous granites, but the two suites are occasionally co-magmatic. The Al-in-hornblende barometric analysis combined with plagioclase thermo- metry reveals a depth of emplacement of 11.5-13.7 km and magma temperatures of 725-775 oC. Chandman Khayrkhan metamorphic foliations strike NNW. Magmatic fabrics in the Chandman Massif roughly E-W and subparallel E-W solid-state foliations overprint magmatic foliations. All foliations are moderately to steeply dipping. Fabric analysis shows a discordance of structures to the north and south of a fault that cross-cuts the field area. This fault is interpreted to be related to motion on the Bogd Fault. Thus, this area experienced 1) amphibolite-facies metamorphism of the Chandman Khayrkhan Crystalline Complex, 2) exhumation to higher crustal levels, 3) juxtaposition against the greenschist-facies Tugrug Formation, 4) intrusion of the Chandman Massif under tectonic strains that continued through the solidification of plutons, and 5) late block-style rotation related to motion on recent faults. These age and geological constraints iden- tify the Chandman Massif as an intrusion of substantially younger age than the Caledonian association into which it was previously placed. It is thus far the only arc-type intrusion in the earliest Hercynian age range identified in the Gobi-Altay Terrane. Its metamorphic and magmatic history of migmatization followed by intrusion of metaluminous and peraluminous plutons are similar to those of rocks to the west, in the Tseel Terrane, and may represent its easternmost counterpart. The exact juxtaposition mechanism for metamorphic units of different grade and the formation of schlieren layering in the Chandman Massif granodiorites remain enigmatic.

Geochemistry, geochronology, and petro-genesis of the early Paleozoic granitic plutons in the central-southern Jiangxi Province, China

This paper reports the systematic study on petrology, geochemistry, LA ICPMS zircons U-Pb dating, and in situ Hf isotope geology of the four plutons in the central-southern Jiangxi Province, an important part of the South China Block. In the outcrops, rocks are gradually changed from wall rock (slate or schist) to pluton (gneissic granite); some residual blocks of sandy rock occur in the margin of pluton, and the foliations of residual blocks are parallel to those of both wall rock and gneissic granite. The thin-section observations show that the four plutons contain peraluminous minerals such as muscovite and sillimanite. The flattened and elongated feldspar and quartz grains are often visible in the gneissic granite, parallel to direction of lineation, suggesting that the granitic rock were subjected to a strong ductile shearing. Geochemically, the A/CNK values from 13 granitic samples are between 1.03 and 1.37 with an average of 1.16, indicating that the granites are of strongly peraluminous plutons. The REE compositions of the 13 samples are similar, showing higher ΣREE contents, with enrichment in LREEs, depletion in Eu and REE patterns with relative LREE-enrichment and negligible Eu anomalies. They show enrichment in Rb, Th, U and depletion in Ba, Sr, Nb, Ti, belonging to a low Ba-Sr type of granite. Thus, the four bodies should be derived from the same magmatic source. Zircons used as U-Pb dating mostly exhibit euhedral shape and high Th/U values from 0.52 to 1.54 with an average of 1.08, suggesting that most zircons are of magmatic genesis. The zircons from four plutons yielded rather similar 206Pb/238U vs. 207Pb/235U concordia ages: 436.1±5.7 Ma for the Tangwan granite, 440.6±4 Ma for the Jiekou gneissic granite, 435.9±6.2 Ma for the Dongbao gneissic granite, and 441.9±3.1 Ma for the Jinxi K-granite, respectively, corresponding to Silurian Llandovery. Several xenocrysts yielded U-Pb ages around 700 Ma, implying that a breakup event took place during Neoproterozoic in the South China Block. In situ Lu-Hf isotopic analysis shows that all ɛHf(t) values of zircons are negative and have two-stage Hf model ages (TDM2) from 1.4 to 3.6 Ga, indicating that the Silurian granitic magma came from the recycle of Meso-Paleoproterozoic basement and even partly Archean rocks, and had not been effected by mantle magma. Researches on regional geology suggest that an intracontinental tectono-magmatic event took place during the early Paleozoic in the study areas, which is characterized by folding and thrusting, leading to crustal shortening and thickening, up to 20 km thickness. The high geothermal temperature from thickening crust and accumulation of producing high-heat radioactive elements gradually softened crustal rocks and caused a partial melting, forming peraluminous granitic magma. Under the post-orogenic extensional and de-pressure condition, these granitic magma rose and was emplaced in the upper crust, leading to development of S-type plutons

Garnetites of the Cardigan Pluton, New Hampshire: Evidence for Peritectic Garnet Entrainment and Implications for Source Rock Compositions

The Cardigan Pluton, located in southwestern New Hampshire, USA, is a strongly peraluminous granodiorite that contains distinctive, meter-sized pods consisting of 50–70 modal % garnet (+sillimanite + biotite + plagioclase + quartz). The presence of fibrolitic mats and flat, unzoned major and trace-element garnet profiles provide evidence for prograde metamorphism and single-stage garnet growth from biotite dehydration melting. Melt-depleted, bulk-rock compositions indicate that the garnetites are either fragments of restite or melt-depleted xenoliths. Comparison of the Nd and Sr isotopic compositions of the garnetites and the Cardigan granitic rocks indicates an equilibrium relationship as required in the restite model. Additionally, plagioclase and garnet compositions are the same in the garnetites and the most mafic host rocks, also permissive of a restite origin for the garnetites. Temperature and pressure calculated using garnet–biotite thermometry and garnet–aluminum silicate–quartz–plagioclase (GASP) barometry yield estimates of 800°C and 6–7 kbar. These temperatures are probably lower than the peak melting temperature because major element modeling subtracting a granodiorite composition from an average calc-pelite metasediment requires greater than 45% melting to generate garnetite sample CP-23G. Such high melting percentages require temperatures of ∼900°C, near the biotite-out curve. We infer that the heat required for such high amounts of melting was obtained from asthenospheric upwelling and basaltic underplating. Inherited zircons with 600 Ma U–Pb ages suggest that the Cardigan Pluton does not have a Laurentian source, consistent with thermobarometric calculations that place the depth of melting below the decollement between the basement and the Central Maine Trough metasediments. A peri-Gondwanan basement source is inferred. Calculated ascent rates of >1000 km/yr allowed preservation of restite in the Cardigan Pluton whereas slower rates in other peraluminous plutons could account for the paucity of restite in most peraluminous plutons.

Deciphering the source and contamination history of peraluminous magmas using δ18O of accessory minerals: examples from garnet-bearing plutons of the Sierra Nevada batholith

Peraluminous granitoids provide critical insight as to the amount and kinds of supracrustal material recycled in the central Sierra Nevada batholith, California. Major element concentrations indicate Sierran peraluminous granitoids are high-SiO2 (68.9–76.9) and slightly peraluminous (average molar Al2O3/(CaO + Na2O + K2O)=1.06). Both major and trace element trends mimic those of other high-silica Sierran plutons. Garnet (Grt) in the peraluminous plutons is almandine–spessartine-rich and of magmatic origin. Low grossular contents are consistent with shallow (<4 kbar) depths of garnet crystallization. Metasediments of the Kings Sequence commonly occur as wallrocks associated with the plutons, including biotite schists that are highly peraluminous (A/CNK=2.25) and have high whole rock (WR) δ18O values (9.6–21.8‰, average=14.5±2.9‰, n=26). Ultramafic wallrocks of the Kings–Kaweah ophiolite have lower average δ18O (7.1±1.3‰, n=9). The δ18O(WR) of the Kings Sequence is variable from west to east. Higher δ18O values occur in the west, where quartz in schists is derived from marine chert; values decrease eastward as the proportion of quartz from igneous and metamorphic sources increases. Peraluminous plutons have high δ18O(WR) values (9.5–13‰) consistent with supracrustal enrichment of their sources. However, relatively low initial 87Sr/86Sr values (0.705–0.708) indicate that the supracrustal component in the source of peraluminous magmas was dominantly altered ocean crust and/or greywacke. Also, plutons lack or have very low abundances (<1% of grains) of inherited zircon (Zrc) cores. Average δ18O(Zrc) is 7.9‰ in peraluminous plutons, a higher value than in coeval metaluminous plutons (6–7‰). Diorites associated with peraluminous plutons also have high δ18O(Zrc), 7.4–8.3‰, which is consistent with the diorites being derived from a similar source. Magmatic garnet has variable δ18O (6.6–10.5‰, avg.=7.9‰) due to complex contamination and crystallization histories, evidenced by multiple garnet populations in some rocks. Comparison of δ18O(Zrc) and δ18O(Grt) commonly reveals disequilibrium, which documents evolving magma composition. Minor (5–7%) contamination by high δ18O wallrocks occurred in the middle and upper crust in some cases, although low δ18O wallrock may have been a contaminant in one case. Overall, oxygen isotope analysis of minerals having slow oxygen diffusion and different times of crystallization (e.g., zircon and garnet), together with detailed textural analysis, can be used to monitor assimilation in peraluminous magmas. Moreover, oxygen isotope studies are a valuable way to identify magmatic versus xenocrystic minerals in igneous rocks.

A zircon U-Pb study of metaluminous (I-type) granites of the Lachlan Fold Belt, southeastern Australia: implications for the high/low temperature classification and magma differentiation processes

Following seminal studies in the Lachlan Fold Belt (southeastern Australia), it has become almost axiomatic that metaluminous granites derive from infracrustal precursors, whereas strongly peraluminous plutons have metasedimentary or supracrustal sources, as reflected in the I- and S-type designation. Recently, zircon saturation thermometry has been used to further subdivide I-type granites into high- and low-temperature categories. That low-temperature I-type granites evolved by restite separation from magmas generated in the zircon stability field is implicit in this classification. To explore this hypothesis, we report an ion microprobe U-Pb (zircon) study into three hallmark ‘low-temperature’ Lachlan Fold Belt I-type suites. The combined patterns of zircon age inheritance and bulk rock Zr trends suggest that each suite formed from magmas that were initially zircon-undersaturated, and that fractional crystallisation, not restite unmixing, was the dominant differentiation process. The low temperature status presently applied to these rocks cannot therefore be justified. The inherited zircons in these I-type granites reflect melting and assimilation of metasedimentary rock, and testify to a supracrustal source component.

The Northern Cordilleran Mid‐Cretaceous Plutonic Province: Ilmenite/Magnetite‐series Granitoids and Intrusion‐related Mineralisation

Abstract.Twenty‐five Early and mid‐Cretaceous (145–90 Ma) plutonic suites and belts are defined across Alaska and Yukon, in the northern North American Cordillera, on the basis of lithological, geochemical, isotopic, and geochronometric similarities. These features are combined with aeromagnetic characteristics, magnetic susceptibility measurements, and whole‐rock ferric: ferrous ratios to ascertain the distribution of magnetite‐ and ilmenite‐series plutonic belts. Magnetite‐series plutonic belts are dominantly associated with the older parts of the plutonic episode and comprise subduction‐generated metaluminous plutons that are distributed preferentially in the more seaward localities dominated by primitive tectonic elements. Ilmenite‐series plutonic belts comprise slightly younger, slightly peraluminous plutons in more landward localities in pericratonic to continental margin settings. They were likely initiated in response to crustal thickening following terrane collision. The youngest plutonic belt forms a small, but significant, magnetite‐series belts in the farthest inboard position, associated with alkalic plutons that were emplaced during weak extension.Intrusion‐related metallogenic provinces with distinctive metal associations are distributed, largely in accord with classical redox‐sensitive granite‐series. Copper, Au, and Fe mineralisation are associated with magnetite‐series plutons and tungsten mineralisation associated with ilmenite‐series plutons. However, there are some notable deviations from expected associations, as intrusion‐related Ag‐Pb‐Zn deposits are few, and significant tin mineralisation is rare. Most significantly, many gold deposits and occurrences are associated with ilmenite‐series plutons: these form the basis for the newly recognized reduced intrusion‐related gold deposit model.

Sekaninaite from the Satzung granite (Erzgebirge, Germany): magmatic or xenolithic?

In the earliest emplaced granite subintrusion of the multiphase peraluminous Satzung pluton, Erzgebirge, Germany, a mineral aggregate was observed consisting of sekaninaite (XFe = 0.74-0.94), Zn-rich hercynite (XZn = 0.03-0.11), tri- and dioctahedral layer silicates of different composition and color, and minor quartz. Geological, textural, and compositional criteria argue that the sekaninaite, hercynite, quartz, and the brown biotite are not primary or secondary granite minerals, but are of metamorphic origin representing a xenolith uptaken from the granite melt near its level of emplacement. The metamorphic origin is supported by the occurrence of this mineral assemblage in metamorphic rocks exposed locally in the Erzgebirge basement. Reaction of the polymineralic metamorphic aggregate with the surrounding melt and subsequent interaction with alkali-, F- and LILE-rich residual fluids account for the widespread decomposition of the sekaninaite and formation of several layer silicates including green biotite, muscovite, berthierine/Fe chlorite, and sericite. The observed enrichment of the relic sekaninaite and its replacement products in elements such as Na, Li, Be, Rb, Cs, and F is result of interaction of the metamorphic fragment with the surrounding melt/fluid, in accordance with the evolved nature of the Satzung magmatic-hydrothermal system.

Geology of the plutonic basement rocks of Stewart Island, New Zealand

Exposures of basement rocks on Stewart Island provide a c. 70 km long by 50 km wide map of part of the Median Batholith that spans the margin of the Western Province. Because of their distance from the present plate boundary, these rocks are relatively unaffected by Cenozoic tectonism, allowing examination of unmodified Carboniferous‐Cretaceous relationships within the Median Batholith. Thirty individual plutons (>c. 20 km2) have been mapped along with numerous relatively small intrusions (<c. 5 km2). The large plutons form 85–90% of the Median Batholith on Stewart Island while the many smaller intrusions comprise 10–15%, mostly in the north. Lithologies include: biotite ± minor hornblende granodiorite, granite and leucogranite with accessory titanite ‐ magmatic epidote and allanite (c. 50%); biotite ± muscovite ± garnet granite with S‐type affinities (c. 10%); alkaline quartz monzonite, granite, and alkali feldspar granite with rare aegirine and blue‐green amphibole (c. 3%); quartz monzodiorite and diorite with hornblende > biotite (c. 23%); gabbro and anorthosite (c. 12%) and ultramafic rocks (c. 2%). U‐Pb zircon and monazite dating indicates that c. 12% of these plutonic rocks were emplaced during the Carboniferous between 345 and 290 Ma, c. 20% in the Early‐Middle Jurassic at c. 170–165 Ma, c. 30% in the latest Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous between 152 and 128 Ma, and c. 38% in the Early Cretaceous between 128 and 100 Ma. The distribution of Pegasus Group schists and peraluminous granitoid rocks indicates that the northern limit of extensive early Paleozoic Western Province basement is located either within the Gutter Shear Zone or at the Escarpment Fault, 10–15 km south of the Freshwater Fault System previously thought to mark this boundary. Carboniferous and Middle Jurassic magmatism extended plutonic basement northwards as far as the Freshwater Fault System, while further magmatism during the latest Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous produced the basement north of the Freshwater Fault System. The focus of Early Cretaceous plutonism then returned southwards into the Western Province, although the older basement in this area was only involved in the genesis of subordinate peraluminous plutonism at this time and not the more extensive metaluminous rocks. The Escarpment Fault disrupted this c. 40 km wide section across the margin of the Western Province at c. 110–100 Ma.

Pampean Orogen: An Intraplate Component of Early Paleozoic Deformation?

After accretion of the Pampean continental fragment to the western Rio de la Plata craton margin (530 Ma), subsequent deformation, crustal anatexis and plutonism may have been intraplate responses to Brasiliano-PanAfrican collisional tectonism on the eastern margin during the amalgamation of Gondwana. Investigations of intraplate orogens such as the Tien Shan and the Ancestral Rocky Mountains, as well as of analogue and numerical models, permit discrimination of two early Paleozoic tectonomagmatic phases in the Sierras Pampeanas. The first involved marginal trough subduction and calc-alkaline magmatism, culminating in accretion of the Pampean terrane to the western craton edge; the second was characterized by crustal anatexis and peraluminous plutonism, penetrative deformation and high-angle reverse faulting resulting from continental collision on the eastern craton margin. Field observations from modern (Tien Shan) and ancient (Ancestral Rocky Mountains) intraplate chains, deep seismic and borehole data, radiometric and fission-track data constitute control for analogue and numerical models of intraplate deformation resulting from continental collision. Near-simultaneous continent-wide deformation, regularly spaced ranges/buckles, reverse-fault initiation at fold hinges of buckles, and doubling of crustal thickness are replicated in structural arrays formed in four-layer analogue models of lithospheric buckling. These data have significant implications for the ductile deformation, crustral thickening and post-subduction plutonism that spanned central South America in Late Cambrian time.

Geology, geochronology, and geochemistry of Archean rocks in the Eqe Bay area, north-central Baffin Island, Canada: constraints on the depositional and tectonic history of the Mary River Group of northeastern Rae Province

Results of stratigraphic, U–Pb geochronological, and geochemical study are reported for rocks in a 2800 km2 area along the southeastern margin of the Archean Rae Province on north-central Baffin Island. Archean rocks include a gneiss complex, two greenstone belts of the Mary River Group, and various younger plutonic rocks. The 3000–2800 Ma gneiss complex contains intrusions of orthogneiss, dated at 2780–2770 Ma. Intermediate-felsic volcanism in overlying greenstone belts occurred at 2740–2725 Ma and was accompanied and outlasted by calc-alkaline plutonism (2730–2715 Ma). Peraluminous plutonism at ca. 2700 Ma, possibly associated with low- to medium-pressure metamorphism, represents the culmination of the Archean tectonic cycle. Dating of metamorphic zircon and titanite in Archean gneissic rocks indicates that overprinting, high-grade metamorphism in the northwest part of the area (footwall of the Isortoq fault zone) is Paleoproterozoic (ca. 1820 Ma). A weaker, somewhat older thermal disturbance (ca. 1850–1840 Ma with large errors) is recorded in the hanging wall of this zone. Additional tectonothermal events at ca. 1500–1400 Ma and ca. 700 Ma may, respectively, correlate with Mesoproterozoic faulting and emplacement of the Franklin dyke swarm. Unlike their age-correlative counterparts in the Mary River area and on the mainland to the southwest, the greenstone belts at Eqe Bay lack abundant orthoquartzite and komatiitic volcanic rocks: calc-alkaline volcanic rocks predominate, suggesting a fundamentally different tectonic environment. Striking similarities, both in lithology and age, to greenstone belts of the Minto block of the Superior Province raises the question of Rae–Superior correlation.

Distinguishing between Archean and Paleoproterozoic tectonism, and evolution of the Isortoq fault zone, Eqe Bay area, north-central Baffin Island, Canada

Structural, metamorphic, and U–Pb geochronological data bear on the distinction between Archean and Paleoproterozoic tectonism along the southeastern margin of the Rae Province on Baffin Island. Archean rocks include ca. 3.0–2.8 Ga gneiss, two greenstone belts of the Mary River Group, and various younger granitoid intrusions. In the greenstone belts, intermediate–felsic volcanism (2.74–2.725 Ga) was accompanied and outlasted by calc-alkaline plutonism (2.73–2.715 Ga). Deformation, low- to medium-pressure metamorphism, and peraluminous plutonism followed at ca. 2.7 Ga. Archean rocks and the locally overlying Piling Group (ca. 2.2–1.9 Ga) were deformed and metamorphosed together during development of the Paleoproterozoic Foxe fold belt. Tectonism is linked to the Isortoq fault zone, a major southeast-dipping structure marking an abrupt northwestward transition to granulite facies. Within a 5-km-wide zone, tight folds of the Archean Mary River Group give way down-section to moderately southeast-dipping, highly transposed, high-grade gneissic rocks. Several northeast- and north-striking ductile–brittle faults, some recording normal-sinistral oblique displacement, truncate early gneissosity and folds. This progression, along with U–Pb metamorphic ages, suggests early northwest-directed thrusting, starting at ca. 1.85 Ga, with peak metamorphism in the footwall at ca. 1.83–1.82 Ga. Later extensional displacement caused juxtaposition of lower grade on higher grade rocks. Archean ages of metamorphism (and deformation) are well preserved only in the hanging wall and the youngest metamorphic ages are restricted to the footwall. The data indicate that mountain building involved thrust-related thickening followed by gravitational collapse, a sequence characteristic of Phanerozoic orogens.

Retrograde P–T evolution and high temperature–low pressure fluid circulation in relation to late Hercynian intrusions: a mineralogical and fluid inclusion study of the Charroux‐Civray plutonic complex (north‐western Massif Central, France)

AbstractThe calc‐alkaline plutonic complex from Charroux‐Civray (north‐western part of the French Massif Central) displays multiphase hydrothermal alteration. Plutonic rocks, as well as early retrograde Ca–Al silicate assemblages, which have crystallized during cooling and uplifting of the plutonic series, are affected by multiphase chlorite–phengite–illite–carbonate alteration linked to intense pervasive fluid circulation through microfractures. The petrographic study of alteration sequences and their associated fluid inclusions in microfissures of the plutonic rocks, as well as in mineral fillings of the veins, yields a reconstruction of the P–T–X evolution of the Hercynian basement after the crystallization of the main calc‐alkaline plutonic bodies. This reconstruction covers the uplift of the basement to its exposure and the subsequent burial by Mesozoic sediments.Cooling of the calc‐alkaline plutonic series started at solidus temperatures (∼650°C), at a pressure of about 4 kbar (1 bar = 105 N m−2), as indicated by magmatic epidote stability, hornblende barometry and fluid inclusion data. Cooling continued under slightly decreasing pressure during uplift down to 2–3 kbar at 200–280°C (prehnite–pumpellyite paragenesis). Then, a hot geothermal circulation of CO2‐bearing fluids was induced within the calc‐alkaline rocks leading to the formation of greisen‐like mineralizations. During this stage, temperatures around 400–450°C were still high for the inferred depths (∼2 kbar). They imply abnormal heat flows and thermal gradients of 60–80°C km−1. The hypothesis of the existence of one large or a succession of smaller peraluminous plutons at depth, supported by geophysical data, suggests that localized heat flows were linked to concealed leucogranite intrusions. As uplift continued, greisen mineralization was subsequently affected by the chlorite–phengite–dolomite assemblage, correlated with aqueous and nitrogen‐bearing fluid circulations in the temperature range of 400–450°C. In a later stage, a continuous temperature decrease at constant pressure (∼0.5 kbar) led to the alteration of the dolomite–illite–chlorite type in the 130–250°C temperature range.