Origin of granites in an Archean high-grade terrane,southern India

Archean deep-level granites in southern India are similar geochemically to young granites from continentalmargin arc systems. They exhibit light REE enriched patterns with variable, but chiefly positive Eu anomalies. This is in striking contrast to the negative Eu anomalies typical in high-level Archean granites. In addition, the deep-level granites are relatively enriched in Ba and Sr and depleted in total REE and high field strength elements (HFSE). One pluton, the Sankari granite, has unusually low contents of REE and HFSE. Most of the deep-level granites appear to represent cumulates with variable amounts of trapped liquid and of minor phases, resulting from fractional crystallization of a granitic parent. Such parental granitic magmas can be produced by batch melting of Archean tonalite at middle to lower crustal depths. The Sankari granite requires a tonalitic source depleted in REE and HFSE. Archean tonalites and tonalitic charnockites exhibit original igneous geochemical signatures and their average composition does not show a significant Eu anomaly. Hence, they cannot represent the positive Eu-anomaly complement to the negative Eu-anomaly, high-level granites. Our results suggest that Archean deep-level granites may represent this complement. Such granite may form in waterrich zones in the middle or lower crust and be produced in response to dehydration of the lower crust by a rising CO₂-rich fluid phase.