Oxygen and Hydrogen Isotope Geochemistry of the Mourne Mountains Tertiary Granites, Northern Ireland

An oxygen and hydrogen isotopic study of minerals and wholerocks from the granites of the Mourne Mountains Tertiary complex,and related rocks, shows that whereas a significant circulationof meteoric water was associated with the complex, it had onlyminor and localized effects on the granites themselves. TheSilurian slate and greywacke country rocks, which would havehad ¹⁸O_(SMOW) values of +10 to +20 before the Tertiary igneousevents, have been depicted ¹⁸O to values of –40 to –05Tertiary acid minor intrusions outside the main granite massesare also ¹⁸O depleted. ^l8O whole-rock data on the granites showa range of +6.0 to +9.5, and include values significantly higherthan most of those obtained for the granites of the Tertiarycentral complexes of Skye, Mull, and Ardnamurchan. Many of thelowest whole-rock ¹⁸O values are found in samples where theminerals are not in isotopic equilibrium. The mineral oxygenisotopic data can be explained in terms of localized interactionwith meteoric water, resulting in preferential ¹⁸O depletionin feldspar(s) and biotite, with quartz being much less affected.The granites all show low values of D_(SMOW) for biotite andamphibole separates (–137 to –104). The lowest valuesoccur close to the margins of the plutons, near internal contactsor near greisen localities, and these probably reflect limitedinteraction with meteoric water. The higher D values are fromsamples which show evidence of chloritization. This processappears to have occurred both during interaction with meteoricwater, and also during autometasomatism by an exsolved magmaticfluid in other parts of the plutons, including central locationswhere there is little or no evidence for the penetration ofmeteoric water. Granite samples which exhibit near-equilibriumoxygen isotope fractionations for constituent minerals are characterizedby magmatic O-isotopic compositions. The G2 granite, the largestpluton of the eastern centre, has a magmatic ¹⁸O_(SMOW) valueof {small tilde}+95; intrusions G3 (eastern centre) and G4(western centre) both have ¹⁸O_(SMOW) values of {small tilde}+90.The other two main intrusive phases have distinctly lower ¹⁸O_(SMOW)values: {small tilde}+75 for Gl (the least fractionated graniteof the Mourne Mountains central complex), and from +75 to +85for G5. The oxygen isotopic data rule out simple partial meltingof the country rocks as the origin of the granites and alsopreclude an origin by closed-system fractional crystallizationof basaltic magma typical of that represented by Tertiary basicigneous rocks of the region. ^* Present address: NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, Keyworth, Nottingham BG12 5GG, UK Present address: School of Engineering Technology, Georgian College, Barrie, Ontario, L4M 3X9, Canada