Petrology of the Vandfaldsdalen Macrodike, Skaergaard Region, East Greenland

The Vandfaldsdalen macrodike is a layered and differentiatedgabbroic dike approximately 3?5 km long and from 200 to 500m wide. It appears to cut the eastern margin of the Skaergaardintrusion and may have served as a feeder for the Basistoppensill. The macrodike can be divided into three series of rocks:a marginal series of differentiated gabbros adjacent to thewalls of the dike; a central series of differentiated and subhorizontallylayered gabbros and ferrodiorites in the interior of the dike;and an upper felsic series of granophyric rocks with abundantquartzo-feldspathic xenoliths. The mineral and bulk-rock compositionsthrough both the marginal series and central series show progressiveiron enrichment. The most Ca-rich plagioclase (An₆₉) and mostmagnesian pyroxene (Wo₄₂ En₄₆ Fs₁₂) occur in olivine-bearingrocks of the marginal series about 5 m from the contact withwall rocks. The most Na-rich plagioclase (An₃₉) and Fe-richpyroxene (Wo₃₈ En₂₄ Fs₃₈) are in olivine-free ferrodiorite ofthe central series, about 20 m below the contact with the felsicseries. Evidence from field observations, bulk-rock chemical compositions,and Sr and Nd isotopic data indicate the felsic series formedas a mixture of the initial macrodike magma and granitic countryrock. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of specimens from the felsic series rangebetween 0?7129 and 0?7294. ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios vary between 0?51208and 0?51118. Both ratios vary serially with the SiO₂ contentsof the specimens. We suggest that the felsic series evolvedas a separate body of low density liquid which floated on thedenser gabbroic magma of the central series. Heat from crystallizationof the gabbroic magma must have diffused into the felsic layer,enabling extensive assimilation of the granitic xenoliths, butour data indicate there was very little exchange of chemicalcomponents between the two liquids.     

Genesis of Peraluminous Granites I. Experimental Investigation of Melt Compositions at 3 and 5 kb and Various H2O Activities

Melting experiments have been performed on a peraluminous quartzo-feldspathicgneiss from Northern Portugal. This gneiss occurs as xenolithsin the Tourem anatectic complex and is the most probable sourcerock for the surrounding anatectic granites. On the basis offield, petrological, and geochemical data, it can be shown thatanatexis took place in the stability field of cordierite + biotiteand that the evolution of magmas is the result of processesinvolving segregation of partial melt and separation of restiteminerals. Experiments were performed at 700, 750, and 800 ?C, 3 and 5kb, and various H₂O activities (aH₂O) to clarify the influenceof aH₂O and melt fraction on the composition of the generatedmelts. Biotite and cordierite are the two main ferromagnesianphases observed in the run products. Cordierite is formed byincongment melting of biotite. For relatively low melt fractions (< 30–35 wt. %),the partial melts coexisting with quartz, alkali feldspar, andplagioclase have a minimum or near-minimum melt composition.The melts become richer in potassium with decreasing aH₂O. Thisresult using a natural rock as starting material is in goodagreement with results achieved in the synthetic Qz-Ab-Or system.In the stability field of biotite and cordierite, the influenceof aH₂O on melt composition is at least as important as theeffect of changing P and/or T. For higher melt fractions the composition of the melt is stronglycontrolled by the disappearance of alkali feldspar and the meltsbecome richer in An and poorer in Or with increasing degreeof melting. The wide range of compositions (especially for K₂O, which variesfrom 3.5 to 5.4%) observed in the experimental peraluminousmelts demonstrates that a wide variety of granitoid magmas maybe produced from the same source rocks. The application of theexperimental results to the Tourem anatectic complex shows thatmelting occurred at H2O-undersaturated conditions (4–5wt. % H₂O in the melts, corresponding to aH₂O of {small tilde}0.5at 5 kb). Experimental melts similar in composition to the mostleucocratic granite of the Tourem anatectic complex (consideredto approximate the composition of the generated melt) were obtainedaround 800 ?C, suggesting that this temperature was attainedduring the peak of anatexis.