The Santa Catarina Granulite Complex of Southern Brazil: A Review

The Santa Catarina granulite complex (SCGC) is mainly composed of intermediate to felsic orthogneisses of trondhjemitic, tonalitic and granodioritic compositions (TTG) intruded by subsidiary basic-ultrabasic rocks, and a small metasedimentary component. The ortho-derived rocks belong to different igneous suites. Nd model ages TDM of 2.7-2.8 Ga date the first major mantle-crust differentiation in the area, while 2.6 Ga Rb-Sr whole rock isochron ages in both depleted and undepleted granulites and Nd model ages of 2.4-2.3 Ga record subsequent magmatic events. Regional granulite-facies which reached 800°C at ca. 5-8 kb finished at 2.3 Ga according to U-Pb zircon and Sm-Nd mineral isochron ages, and was also followed by a regional amphibolite facies metamorphism at 2.0 Ga, recorded by Pb-Pb, Rb-Sr whole rock isochrons in rocks with little orthopyroxene and predominant amphibole. Tectonic stabilization was complete at the end of the Transamazonian Cycle at 1.9 Ga as indicated by K-Ar mineral ages, and apart from local reactivation along faults at the margins of the complex and granite intrusion, the SCGC was not affected by the Neoproterozoic Brasiliano Cycle, during which it acted as a microplate and was incorporated onto the eastern border of the Paraná Craton. Isotopic and geochemical characteristics of Brasiliano crustal granites which intrude the complex suggest that it is not an adequate source for the melts, and thus the SCGC may be underlain by different Paleoproterozoic (2.0 Ga) crustal material.