Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotopic and geochemical systematics in Phanerozoic granulites from Fiordland,southwest New Zealand

Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotopic analyses are reported for granulite facies orthogneisses from Fiordland southwest New Zealand. Whole-rock samples define a Rb-Sr isochron age of 120±15 Ma and an initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.70391±4. _Nd values (at 120 Ma) show a relatively wide range of from –0.4 to 2.7 indicating decoupling of Sr-Nd isotope systems. Associated ultramafic rocks have initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of from 0.70380 to 0.70430 and _Nd values of from 0.1 to 3.0. The different initial ratios suggest that the various intrusions, although contemporaneous, were not derived through fractionation of a single parent magma. A metasedimentary enclave incorporated during emplacement of the granulitic rocks preserves a Proterozoic isotopic signature with a measured _Nd(0) value of –10.2, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.73679 and a T^Nd provenance age of 1490 Ma. The Rb-Sr whole rock age of the granulites is the same as obtained from recent U-Pb zircon dating (Mattinson et al. 1986) and is interpreted as the time of magmatic emplacement and essentially contemporaneous granulite facies metamorphism. Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd analyses of mineral systems indicate that the terrain had cooled below 300° C by 100 Ma providing further evidence that high grade metamorphism was of exceptionally short duration.Unmetamorphosed leucogabbros from the Early Cretaceous Darran Complex of eastern Fiordland have significantly higher _Nd values (3.9 to 4.6) and slightly lower ⁸⁷Sr/ ⁸⁶Sr (0.70373 to 0.70386) than the western Fiordland granulites. This indicates that the western and eastern Fiordland complexes are not correlative although both have geochemical similarities to Phanerozoic calc-alkaline island-arc suites. The Fiordland granulites are LREE enriched (La_N/ Yb_N=12 to 40) and have trace element characteristics (e.g. high K/Rb and low Rb/Sr ratios) typical of many Rb-depleted Precambrian granulite terrains. The Fiordland trace element trends, however are attributed to magmatic, not metamorphic processes, reflecting the character of the Early Cretaceous magma sources. The range of _Nd values, but uniform initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of the western Fiordland granulites is consistent with derivation of the parent Early Cretaceous magmas at least in part from a LREE enriched, low Rb/Sr protoliths of mid-to late-Paleozoic age. Partial melting of this protolith occurred during or immediately preceding a period of great crustal thickening culminating in rapid thickening of existing crust by 20 km following emplacement of the granulitic rocks. The rapid crustal thickening was probably a consequence of a collisional event in which an Early Cretaceous magmatic arc was over-ridden by one or more thrust sheets.