Isotopic variations in S-type granites: An inheritance from a heterogeneous source?

Inherited zircons from S-type granites provide exceptionally good insight into the isotopic heterogeneity of their sources. Zircons from four samples (one granite, two granodiorites, one granodioritic enclave) of Pan-African S-type granite of the Cape Granite Suite (c. 540 Ma) have been the subject of a laser LA-ICP-MS zircon U/Pb study to determine emplacement ages and inheritance. Zircons from three of these samples (2 granodiorites and 1 granodioritic enclave) were also analysed for Hf isotopes by LA-MC-ICP-MS. Ages of inherited cores range from 1,200 to 570 Ma and show Hafnium isotope values (ε Hf,t) for the crystallisation age (t) of the different cores that range from -14.1 to +9.1. Magmatic zircons and magmatic overgrowth with concordant spot ages between ca. 525 and ca. 555 Ma show a similar range of ε Hf,t, between -8.6 and +1.5, whilst ε Hf values calculated at 540Ma (ε Hf,540) for inherited cores range from -15.2 to +1.7. Thus, our results show that the time evolved ε Hf arrays of the inherited cores overlap closely with the ε Hf range displayed by the magmatic rims at the time of crystallisation of the pluton. These similarities imply a genetic relationship between magmatic and inherited zircons. Within the inherited cores, four main peak ages can be identified. This, coupled with their large Hf isotopic range, emphasises that the source of the granite is highly heterogeneous. The combination of the U/Pb zircon ages ranges and Hf isotope data implies that: (1) The source of S-type granite consists of crustal material recording several regional events between 1,200 and 600 Ma. This material records the recycling of a much older crust derived from depleted mantle between 1. 14 and 2.02 Ga. (2) The homogenisation of Hf isotopic variation in the magma acquired through dissolution of the entrained zircon, via mechanical mixing and/or diffusion between within the granite was particularly inefficient. (3) This evidence argues for the assembly of the pluton through many relatively small magma batches that undergo rapid cooling from their intrusion temperature (ca. 850°C) to background magma chamber temperature that is low enough to ensure that much of the magmatic zircon crystallised rapidly (>80% by 700°C). (4) There is no evidence for the addition of mantle-derived material in the genesis of S-type Cape Granite Suite, where the most mafic granodiorites are strongly peraluminous, relatively low in CaO and K 2O rich. Interpreted more widely, these findings imply that S-type granites inherit their isotopic characteristic from the source. Source heterogeneity transfers to the granite magma via the genesis of discrete magma batches. The information documented from the S-type CGS zircons has been recorded because the individual batches of magma crystallised the bulk of their magmatic zircon prior to mechanical or diffusional magma homogenisation. This is favoured by zirconium saturation in the magma shortly after emplacement, by partial dissolution of the entrained zircon fraction, as well as by the intrusion of volumetrically subordinate magma batches into a relatively cool pluton. Consequently, evidence recorded within inherited cores will most likely be best preserved in S-type granite plutons intruded at shallow depths. Other studies that have documented similar ε Hf arrays in magmatic zircons have interpreted these to reflect mixing between crustal- and mantle-derived magmas. This study indicates that such arrays may be wholly source inherited, reflecting mixing of a range of crustal materials of different ages and original isotopic signatures. © 2011 Springer-Verlag

Isotopic variations in S-type granites: an inheritance from a heterogeneous source?

International audienceInherited zircons from S-type granites provide exceptionally good insight into the isotopic heterogeneity of their sources. Zircons from four samples (one granite, two granodiorites, one granodioritic enclave) of Pan-African S-type granite of the Cape Granite Suite (c. 540 Ma) have been the subject of a laser LA-ICP-MS zircon U/Pb study to determine emplacement ages and inheritance. Zircons from three of these samples (2 granodiorites and 1 granodioritic enclave) were also analysed for Hf isotopes by LA-MC-ICP-MS. Ages of inherited cores range from 1,200 to 570 Ma and show Hafnium isotope values (εHf,t) for the crystallisation age (t) of the different cores that range from −14.1 to +9.1. Magmatic zircons and magmatic overgrowth with concordant spot ages between ca. 525 and ca. 555 Ma show a similar range of εHf,t, between −8.6 and +1.5, whilst εHf values calculated at 540 Ma (εHf,540) for inherited cores range from −15.2 to +1.7. Thus, our results show that the time evolved εHf arrays of the inherited cores overlap closely with the εHf range displayed by the magmatic rims at the time of crystallisation of the pluton. These similarities imply a genetic relationship between magmatic and inherited zircons. Within the inherited cores, four main peak ages can be identified. This, coupled with their large Hf isotopic range, emphasises that the source of the granite is highly heterogeneous. The combination of the U/Pb zircon ages ranges and Hf isotope data implies that: (1) The source of S-type granite consists of crustal material recording several regional events between 1,200 and 600 Ma. This material records the recycling of a much older crust derived from depleted mantle between 1.14 and 2.02 Ga. (2) The homogenisation of Hf isotopic variation in the magma acquired through dissolution of the entrained zircon, via mechanical mixing and/or diffusion between within the granite was particularly inefficient. (3) This evidence argues for the assembly of the pluton through many relatively small magma batches that undergo rapid cooling from their intrusion temperature (ca. 850°C) to background magma chamber temperature that is low enough to ensure that much of the magmatic zircon crystallised rapidly (>80% by 700°C). (4) There is no evidence for the addition of mantle-derived material in the genesis of S-type Cape Granite Suite, where the most mafic granodiorites are strongly peraluminous, relatively low in CaO and K2O rich. Interpreted more widely, these findings imply that S-type granites inherit their isotopic characteristic from the source. Source heterogeneity transfers to the granite magma via the genesis of discrete magma batches. The information documented from the S-type CGS zircons has been recorded because the individual batches of magma crystallised the bulk of their magmatic zircon prior to mechanical or diffusional magma homogenisation. This is favoured by zirconium saturation in the magma shortly after emplacement, by partial dissolution of the entrained zircon fraction, as well as by the intrusion of volumetrically subordinate magma batches into a relatively cool pluton. Consequently, evidence recorded within inherited cores will most likely be best preserved in S-type granite plutons intruded at shallow depths. Other studies that have documented similar εHf arrays in magmatic zircons have interpreted these to reflect mixing between crustal- and mantle-derived magmas. This study indicates that such arrays may be wholly source inherited, reflecting mixing of a range of crustal materials of different ages and original isotopic signatures

Continental reactivation and reworking: an introduction.

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Table 1. The Donkerhuk batholith, Namibia: A giant S-type granite emplaced in the mid crust, in a fore-arc setting

Partial chemical analyses for rocks of the main Donkerhuk batholith

The Proterozoic magmatic and metamorphic history of the Banded Gneiss Complex, central Rajasthan, India: LA-ICP-MS U–Pb zircon constraints

The Banded Gneiss Complex (BGC) of Rajasthan (NW India) is generally thought to be an Archaean basement terrain that was partially reworked during the Palaeoproterozoic. In the central Aravalli mountains the BGC comprises the inferred Palaeoproterozoic granulite-facies Sandmata Complex (charno-enderbite plutons and supracrustal rocks) and the amphibolite-facies Mangalwar Complex (felsic orthogneisses, amphibolites and supracrustal rocks) of presumed Archaean age. Laser ablation ICP-MS U–Pb dating of zircon domains shows that: (a) granulite-facies metamorphism and charno-enderbite magmatism in the Sandmata Complex were synchronous at ∼1720 Ma; (b) igneous protoliths to migmatitic felsic orthogneisses in the Mangalwar Complex have similar emplacement ages as the Sandmata Complex charno-enderbite suite; (c) protoliths to a metasediment from the Sandmata Complex and the Mangalwar Complex were both deposited in the Proterozoic, not the Archaean as previously believed; (d) isotopic disturbance of igneous zircon, and limited growth of new zircon occurred at ∼950–940 Ma, which is tentatively suggested to date amphibolite-facies re-working and anatexis. These data raise questions about whether the BGC in the central Aravalli mountains can be correlated with an apparently similar terrain further to the south, whose magmatic and orogenic history is Archaean

High grade metamorphism of sedimentary rocks during palaeozoic rift basin formation in Central Australia

Exhumation of middle and lower crustal rocks during the 450–320 Ma intraplate Alice Springs Orogeny in central Australia provides an opportunity to examine the deep burial of sedimentary successions leading to regional high-grade metamorphism. SIMS zircon U–Pb geochronology shows that high-grade metasedimentary units recording lower crustal pressures share a depositional history with unmetamorphosed sedimentary successions in surrounding sedimentary basins. These surrounding basins constitute parts of a large and formerly contiguous intraplate basin that covered much of Neoproterozoic to early Palaeozoic Australia. Within the highly metamorphosed Harts Range Group, metamorphic zircon growth at 480–460 Ma records mid-to-lower crustal (~ 0.9–1.0 GPa) metamorphism. Similarities in detrital zircon age spectra between the Harts Range Group and Late Neoproterozoic–Cambrian sequences in the surrounding Amadeus and Georgina basins imply that the Harts Range Group is a highly metamorphosed equivalent of the same successions. Maximum depositional ages for parts of the Harts Range Group are as low as ~ 520–500 Ma indicating that burial to depths approaching 30 km occurred ~ 20–40 Ma after deposition. Palaeogeographic reconstructions based on well-preserved sedimentary records indicate that throughout the Cambro–Ordovician central Australia was covered by a shallow, gently subsiding epicratonic marine basin, and provide a context for the deep burial of the Harts Range Group. Sedimentation and burial coincided with voluminous mafic magmatism that is absent from the surrounding unmetamorphosed basinal successions, suggesting that the Harts Range Group accumulated in a localised sub-basin associated with sufficient lithospheric extension to generate mantle partial melting. The presently preserved axial extent of this sub-basin is > 200 km. Its width has been modified by subsequent shortening associated with the Alice Springs Orogeny, but must have been > 80 km. Seismic reflection data suggest that the Harts Range Group is preserved within an inverted crustal-scale half graben structure, lending further support to the notion that it accumulated in a discrete sub-basin. Based on palaeogeographic constraints we suggest that burial of the Harts Range Group to lower crustal depths occurred primarily via sediment loading in an exceptionally deep Late Cambrian to Early Ordovician intraplate rift basin. High-temperature Ordovician deformation within the Harts Range Group formed a regional low angle foliation associated with ongoing mafic magmatism that was coeval with deepening of the overlying marine basin, suggesting that metamorphism of the Harts Range Group was associated with ongoing extension. The resulting lower crustal metamorphic terrain is therefore interpreted to represent high-temperature deformation in the lower levels of a deep sedimentary basin during continued basin development. If this model is correct, it indicates that regional-scale moderate- to high-pressure metamorphism of supracrustal rocks need not necessarily reflect compressional thickening of the crust, an assumption commonly made in studies of many metamorphic terrains that lack a palaeogeographic context.D.W. Maidment, M. Hand, I.S. William

Testing long-term patterns of basin sedimentation by detrital zircon geochronology, Centralian Superbasin, Australia

The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.comDetrital zircon geochronology of Neoproterozoic to Devonian sedimentary rocks from the Georgina and Amadeus basins has been used to track changes in provenance that reflect the development and inversion of the former Australian Superbasin. Through much of the Neoproterozoic, sediments appear to have been predominantly derived from local sources in the Arunta and Musgrave inliers. Close similarities between the detrital age signatures of late Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks in the two basins suggests that they were contiguous at this time. A dominant population of 1.2–1.0 Ga zircon in Early Cambrian sediments of the Amadeus Basin reflects the uplift of the Musgrave Inlier during the Petermann Orogeny between 560 and 520 Ma, which shed a large volume of detritus northwards into the Amadeus Basin. Early Cambrian sedimentary rocks in the Georgina Basin have a much smaller proportion of 1.2–1.0 Ga detritus, possibly due to the formation of sub-basins along the northern margin of the Amadeus Basin which might have acted as a barrier to sediment transfer. An influx of 0.6–0.5 Ga zircon towards the end of the Cambrian coincides with the transgression of the Larapintine Sea across central Australia, possibly as a result of intracratonic rifting. Detrital zircon age spectra of sedimentary rocks deposited within this epicontinental sea are very similar to those of coeval sedimentary rocks from the Pacific Gondwana margin, implying that sediment was transported into central Australia from the eastern continental margin. The remarkably consistent ‘Pacific Gondwana’ signature of Cambro-Ordovician sediments in central and eastern Australia reflects a distal source, possibly from east Antarctica or the East African Orogen. The peak of the marine incursion into central Australia in the early to mid Ordovician coincides with granulite-facies metamorphism at mid-crustal depths between the Amadeus and Georgina basins (the Larapinta Event). The presence of the epicontinental sea, the relative lack of a local basement zircon component in Cambro-Ordovician sedimentary rocks and their maturity suggest that metamorphism was not accompanied by mountain building, consistent with an extensional or transtensional setting for this tectonism. Sediments deposited at 435–405 and 365 Ma during the Alice Springs Orogeny have detrital age signatures similar to those of Cambro-Ordovician sedimentary rocks, reflecting uplift and reworking of the older succession into narrow foreland basins adjacent to the orogen.D. W. Maidment, I. S. Williams, M. Han