Geochemistry of granitization and magmatic replacement of basic volcanic rocks in the contact aureole of the Yurchik gabbronorite intrusion, Ganal Range, Kamchatka

Geological and geochemical data indicate that the formation of the granulite-like rocks in the contact aureole of the Yurchik gabbronorite intrusion of the Ganal Range, Kamchatka, was caused by the contact metamorphism, metasomatism, and local melting of the initial volcanosedimentary rocks of the Vakhtalka Sequence of the Ganal Group. The temperature in the inner part of the aureole reached 700–800°C and caused the transformation of the basic volcanic rocks of the sequence into two pyroxene-plagioclase, clinopyroxene-amphibole-plagioclase, and amphibole-plagioclase hornfelses, while sedimentary rocks were converted into garnet-biotite ± cordierite hornfelses. The hornfelsed basic volcanic rocks were locally subjected to metasomatic alteration and magmatic replacement with formation of biotite-orthopyroxene-plagioclase metasomatic bodies containing biotite-orthopyroxene-plagioclase ± garnet veinlets and aggregates. During these processes, sedimentary interlayers were converted into garnet enderbites at 700–800°C and 3.2–4.8 kbar. The comparison of the chemical composition of basic volcanic rocks of the Vakhtalka Sequence and their transformation products indicates that the metasomatic alteration and magmatic replacement correspond to siliceous-alkaline metasomatism (granitization) and cause subsequent and uneven influx of SiO₂, Al₂O₃, Na₂O, K₂O, Rb, Ba, Zr, Nb, and Cl and removal of Fe, Mg, Mn, Ca, Cr, Co, Ti, Y, and S. REE data on basic metavolcanic rocks, hornfelses, and metasomatites suggest that the processes of hornfelsation, metasomatism, and magmatic replacement of the initial volcanic rocks were accompanied by significant increase in LREE and slight decrease in HREE. The Sr and Nd isotope study of the rocks in the aureole showed that the initial basic volcanic rocks of the Vakhtalka Sequence are isotopically close to both mature island arc tholeiites and mid-ocean ridge basalts. The metasomatic alteration and magmatic replacement of volcanic rocks in the aureole lead to the decrease of ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd and increase of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr approximately parallel to mantle array. Pb isotopic ratios in the studied rocks become more radiogenic from initial metavolcanic rocks to metasomatites. It is suggested that the processes of metamorphism, metasomatism, and magmatic replacement were caused by highly mineralized mantle fluids, which percolated along magmatic channels serving as pathways for gabbroid magma.