Water,restite and granite mineralisation

Dehydration (vapour absent) partial melting reactions in the Earth's crust produce a hydrous granitic melt phase, new anhydrous minerals that are mostly pyroxenes, and new plagioclase more calcic than the initial plagioclase. These solid phases of the melt reaction are restite. If the restite is carried to high levels in the crust as a component of the magma, cooling and crystallisation to granite will result in back reactions in which the H₂O in the melt phase is consumed and is not then available to form a hydrothermal solution. Even in magmas in which some restite has been removed there will be some back reaction and again less H₂O. Only fractional crystallisation will enrich the H₂O in the magma in sufficient amounts to form a substantial quantity of hydrothermal solution and possible mineralisation.     

Sapphirine-bearing granulites and related high-temperature metamorphic rocks from the Higo metamorphic terrane, west-central Kyushu, Japan

The Higo metamorphic unit in west-central Kyushu island, southwest Japan is an imbricated crustal section in which a sequence of units with increasing metamorphic grade from high (northern part) to low (southern part) structural levels is exposed. The basal part of the metamorphic sequence representing an original depth of 23–24  km consists mainly of garnet–cordierite–biotite gneiss, garnet–orthopyroxene gneiss, orthopyroxene-bearing amphibolite and orthopyroxene-bearing S-type tonalite. These metamorphic rocks underwent high amphibolite-facies up to granulite facies metamorphism with peak P – T  conditions of 720  MPa, 870  °C. In addition sapphirine-bearing granulites and related high-temperature metamorphic rocks also occur as tectonic blocks in a metamorphosed peridotite intrusion. The sapphirine-bearing granulites and their related high-temperature metamorphic rocks can be subdivided into five types of mineral assemblages reflecting their bulk chemical compositions as follows: (1) sapphirine–corundum–spinel–cordierite (2) corundum–spinel–cordierite (3) garnet–corundum–spinel–cordierite (4) garnet–spinel–gedrite–corundum, and (5) orthopyroxene–spinel–gedrite. These metamorphic rocks are characterized by unusually high Al₂O₃ and low SiO₂ contents, which could represent a restitic nature remaining after partial melting of pelitic granulite under the ultra high-temperature contact metamorphism at the peak metamorphic event of the Higo metamorphic unit. The metamorphic conditions are estimated to be about 800  MPa and above 950  °C which took place at about 250  Ma as a result of the thermal effect of the regional gabbroic rock intrusions.     

Dehydration melting of micas in the Chilka Lake Khondalites: The link between the metapelites and granitoids

Garnet-sillimanite gneisses, locally known as khondalites, occur abundantly in the Chilka Lake granulite terrane belonging to the Eastern Ghats Proterozoic belt of India. Though their chemistry has been modified by partial melting, it is evident that the majority of these rocks are metapelitic, with some tending to be metapsammitic. Five petrographically distinct groups are present within the khondalites of which the most abundant group is characteristically low in Mg:Fe ratios — the main chemical discriminant separating the five groups. The variations in Mg:Fe ratios of the garnets, biotites, cordierites, orthopyroxenes and spinels from the metapelites are compatible with those in the bulk rocks. A suite of granitoids containing garnet, K-feldspar, plagioclase and quartz, commonly referred to as leptynites in Indian granulite terranes, are interlayered with khondalites on the scale of exposures; in a few spots, the intercalated layers are thin. The peraluminous character of the leptynites and presence of sillimanite trails within garnets in some of them suggest derivation of leptynites by partial melting of khondalites. Here we examine this connection in the light of results derived from dehydration melting experiments of micas in pelitic and psammitic rocks. The plots of leptynites of different chemical compositions in a (MgO + FeO)-Na₂O-K₂O projection match the composition of liquids derived by biotite and muscovite dehydration melting, when corrected for co-products of melting reactions constrained by mass balance and modal considerations. The melt components of the leptynites describe four clusters in the M-N-K diagram. One of them matches melts produced dominantly by muscovite dehydration melting, while three clusters correspond to melting of biotite. The relative disposition of the clusters suggests two trends, which can be correlated with different paths that pelitic and psammitic protoliths are expected to generate during dehydration melting. Thus the leptynites evidently represent granitoids which were produced by dehydration melting in metapelites of different compositions. The contents of Ti, Y, Nb, Zr and Th in several leptynites indicate departures from equilibrium melt compositions, and entrainment of restites is considered to be the main causative factor. Disequilibrium in terms of major elements is illustrated by leucosomes within migmatites developed in a group of metapelites. But the discrete leptynites that have been compared with experimental melts approach equilibrium melt compositions closely.     

High- and Low-Temperature I-type Granites

Abstract: I– and S-type granites differ in several distinctive ways, as a consequence of their derivation from contrasting source rocks. The more mafic granites, whose compositions are closest to those of the source rocks, are most readily classified as I– or S–type. As granites become more felsic, compositions of the two types converge towards those of lowest temperature silicate melts. While discrimination of the two is therefore more difficult for such felsic rocks, that in no way invalidates the twofold subdivision. If felsic granite melts undergo fractional crystallisation, the major element compositions are not affected to any significant extent, but the concentrations of trace elements can vary widely. For some trace elements, fractional crystallisation causes the trace element abundances to diverge, so the I– and S– type granites are again easily separated. Such fractionated S-type granites can be distinguished, for example, by high P and low Th and Ce, relative to their I-type analogues. Our observations in the Lachlan Fold Belt show that there is no genetic basis for subdividing peraluminous granites into more mafic and felsic varieties, as has been attempted elsewhere. The subdivision of felsic peraluminous granites into I– and S-types is more appropriate, and mafic peraluminous granites are always S–type. In a given area, associated mafic and felsic S-type granites are likely to be closely related in origin, with the former comprising both restite-rich magmas and cumulate rocks, and the felsic granites corresponding to melts that may have undergone fractional crystallisation after prior restite separation. We propose a subdivision of I-type granites into two groups, formed at high and low temperatures. The high-temperature I–type granites formed from a magma that was completely or largely molten, and in which crystals of zircon were not initially present because the melt was undersaturated in zircon. In comparison with low-temperature I–type granites, the compositions extend to lower SiO₂ contents and the abundances of Ba, Zr and the rare earth elements initially increase with increasing SiO₂ in the more mafic rocks. While the high-temperature I–type granite magmas were produced by the partial melting of mafic source rocks, their low-temperature analogues resulted from the partial melting of quartzofeldspathic rocks such as older tonalites. In that second case, the melt produced was felsic and the more mafic low-temperature I–type granites have that character because of the presence of entrained and magmatically equilibrated restite. High temperature granites are more prospective for mineralisation, both because of that higher temperature and because they have a greater capacity to undergo extended fractional crystallisation, with consequent concentration of incompatible components, including H₂O.     

The Bivalves Megadesmus Sowerby and Astartila Dana from the Permian of Eastern Australia

Megadesmus Sowerby 1838 and Astartila Dana 1847 are bivalves from the Australian Permian, which belong to a group that Newell has termed “primitive desmodonts”. Both genera have a single blunt tooth in the right valve and a corresponding socket in the left. The tooth and socket are derived from folds in the valve margin and are not related to the teeth of heterodonts. Differences in shape, size, and pedal musculature separate Astartila from Megadesmus. Cleobis Dana 1847 differs only in having slightly different dentition and a small siphonal gape and is retained as a subgenus of Megadesmus. Astartila (Pleurikodonta) n. subgen. has been proposed for a small Astartila‐like species with well‐developed radial ornament.     

Geochemistry and petrology of garnet‐bearing S‐type Shir‐Kuh Granite,southwest Yazd,Central Iran

The Jurassic Shir‐Kuh granitoid batholith in Central Iran intrudes Lower Jurassic sandstones and shales. The batholith consists of three main facies: (i) a granodioritic facies to the north; (ii) a monzogranitic facies spread throughout the batholith; and (iii) a leucogranitic facies along the northwestern margin. The granodiorites are composed mainly of plagioclase, quartz, K‐feldspar, biotite, and some muscovite, garnet, cordierite, ilmenite, zircon, apatite, and monazite. This facies contains variable amounts of restite minerals which are mainly defined by calcic plagioclase cores and small aggregates of biotite. The monzogranites, with mineral assemblages similar to those in the granodiorites, range from relatively mafic (cordierite‐bearing) to felsic (muscovite‐rich) rocks. The leucogranites, exposed as small stock and dykes, consist mainly of quartz, K‐feldspar, and sodic plagioclase. The batholith is peraluminous, calc‐alkaline, and typical of S‐type, as indicated by Na₂O content (2.74%), molecular Al₂O₃/(CaO + Na₂O + K₂O) (A/CNK) ratio (1.17), K₂O/Na₂O ratio (1.39), and isotopic data ([⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr]_i = 0.715). The rocks are characterized by enrichment in large ion lithophile elements such as Rb, Th and K and depletion in high field strength elements such as Nb and Ti. Chondrite‐normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns are characterized by light rare earth element (LREE) enrichment, with values of (La/Yb)_N between 4.5 and 19.53, unfractionated heavy rare earth element (HREE) with values of (Gd/Yb)_N between 0.98 and 2.88, and a distinct negative Eu. The parental magma of the Shir‐Kuh Granite was derived from a plagioclase‐rich metasedimentary source (local anatexis of metagreywacke) in the crust, with heat input from mantle melt components. The separation of restite crystals from the primary melt followed by the fractional crystallization appears to have been an effective differentiation process in the batholith.     

皖南前寒武纪花岗岩类中的岩石包体

皖南3个著名的强过铝花岗闪长岩岩体,是晚元古代时期以洋壳(包括上覆沉积岩)为主要源岩,经部分熔融形成的侵入体。笔者认为广泛产于其中的岩石包体的成分多种多样,类型复杂,是不同时期岩浆作用的产物,是认识与之相关的寄主花岗岩成因的重要线索。     

华北陆块东南缘蚌埠地区侏罗纪花岗岩中多种类型白云母的识别及其地质意义

三叠纪华南俯冲陆壳已经延伸到华北克拉通东南缘的蚌埠地区, 而该地区的俯冲陆壳是否经历超高压变质仍存在诸多争议。对华北克拉通东南缘蚌埠地区的侏罗纪花岗岩——荆山岩体中的暗色残留体、主体花岗岩以及细晶岩脉中的白云母进行岩相学观察、电子探针和拉曼光谱分析,结果表明荆山残留体和主体花岗岩中白云母颗粒较大且相对于一般花岗岩中原生的、次生的白云母具有较高的Si、Fe+Mg原子数和较低的Al原子数。拉曼光谱分析结果显示残留体和主体花岗岩中大颗粒白云母也具有相似的铝原子桥氧键(Al,O(br))的拉曼位移(421 cm^-1),低于经历超高压的黄镇榴辉岩中多硅白云母的原子数和铝原子桥氧键的拉曼位移,而高于本研究中未经历超高压变质作用的奥地利Spail片岩中的白云母。残留体和花岗岩中大颗粒白云母的主量元素和拉曼位移特征指示其为变质成因的多硅白云母。因此,可以利用多硅白云母地质压力计来指示花岗岩形成的压力,并且确定荆山花岗岩发生部分熔融的压力为1.0~1.3 GPa。荆山花岗岩的源岩为华南深俯冲的陆壳碎片,华南板块俯冲到华北克拉通东南缘的深度为33~45 km,相当于华北克拉通中下地壳深度。     

Tertiary deep crustal ultrametamorphism in the Hidaka metamorphic belt, northern Japan

The Main Zone of the Hidaka metamorphic belt is an imbricate stack of crustal material derived from an island arc in which a sequence of units with increasing metamorphic grade from low to high structural levels is exposed. The basal part of the metamorphic sequence underwent granulite facies metamorphism with peak P–T conditions of 7kbar, 870°C. In this zone pelitic granulite includes leucosomes which consist mainly of orthopyroxene-plagioclase-quartz.
To test whether the leucosome was derived by partial melting of the surrounding pelite, melting experiments of the pelitic granulite were carried out for water-saturated and dry systems at 7 kbar and 850°C. The chemical composition of the leucosome produced during these runs shows a peraluminous S-type tonalitic affinity and is located very close to the tie-line between the average melts produced in water-saturated systems and the average composition of the residual orthopyroxene + plagioclase. This therefore suggests that the lecosome in pelitic granulite was formed by incipient anatexis at close to the highest P–T condition of the Main Zone.
The age of the crustal anatexis is determined by the Rb-Sr whole rock isochron method for garnet-cordierite-biotite gneiss (host rock), garnet-orthopyroxene-cordierite gneiss (restite) and S-type tonalite (melt). This gives an age of 56.0 Ma with an initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.705711. The S-type tonalite magmas that form large intrusive masses in the Main Zone were probably generated by crustal anatexis in deeper parts of the crust at the same time (late Palaeocene).     

Polycrystalline amphibole aggregates (clots) in granites as potential I‐type restite: An ion microprobe study of rare‐earth distributions

Aggregates of polycrystalline grains of amphibole (clots) occur widely in the granodiorites of the Strontian pluton, Scotland. These clots are complex structures with numerous small grains in the interior exhibiting zonation from actinolite cores to hornblende rims. Amphiboles in the outer parts of these clots are indistinguishable from hornblendes that have crystallised from the melt. A rare‐earth element (REE) study of individual amphibole and pyroxene grains using an ion microprobe has also shown a marked difference in REE abundances, with clots generally being depleted in their interiors. Modelling of the compositions shows that the clots are consistent with being derived from pyroxene + plagioclase ± amphibole precursors. These granular precursors are recognised as being consistent with the residual crystalline material encountered in dehydration melting experiments of amphibolitic starting materials. It is suggested that these features could represent restite in I‐type granodiorites and tonalites. Extensive, but incomplete equilibration of the clot material provides an explanation for the infrequent identification of restite (other than grain cores) in I‐type granites, in marked contrast with S‐types.