Petrogenesis and tectonic implications of ultrapotassic microgranitoid enclaves in Late Triassic arc granitoids, Qinling orogen, central China

• Published in: International geology review Vol. 54; no. 2; pp. 208 - 226
• Main Authors: Jiang, Yao-Hui, Jin, Guo-Dong, Liao, Shi-Yong, Zhou, Qing, Zhao, Peng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Taylor & Francis 20.01.2012; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: high-K calc-alkaline granites; Indexing in process; microgranitoid enclaves; Qinling orogen; ultrapotassic rocks
• ISSN: 0020-6814; 1938-2839
• DOI: 10.1080/00206814.2010.513202

The origin of microgranitoid enclaves in granitic plutons has long been debated (hybrid magma blobs vs. refractory restites or cognate fragments). This article presents detailed petrography, SHRIMP zircon U-Pb chronology, bulk-rock major and trace element analyses, and Sr-Nd isotope and in situ zircon Hf isotopic geochemistry for microgranitoid enclaves within two Late Triassic granitic plutons in the Qinling orogen. Zircon U-Pb dating shows that the enclaves formed during the Carnian (222.5 ± 2.1 to 220.7 ± 1.9 Ma) coeval with their host granitoids (220.0 ± 2.0 to 218.7 ± 2.4 Ma). Field and petrological observations (e.g. double enclaves, xenocrysts, acicular apatite, and poikilitic K-feldspar or quartz) suggest that the enclaves are globules of a mantle-derived more mafic magma that was injected into and mingled with the host magma. The enclaves are mainly ultrapotassic, distinct from the host granitoids that have high-K calc-alkaline bulk-rock compositions. Although the enclaves have closely similar bulk-rock Sr-Nd isotope [initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr = 0.7046-0.7056, ϵ Nd (T) = -0.3 to -5.0] and in situ zircon Hf isotope [ϵ Hf (T) = -1.5 to +2.9] ratios as the granitoids [initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr = 0.7042-0.7059, ϵ Nd (T) = -0.6 to -6.3, ϵ Hf (T) = -2.2 to +1.6], chemical relationships including very different bulk-rock compositions at a given SiO 2 content lead us to interpret the isotopic similarities as reflecting similar but separate isotopic source rocks. Detailed elemental and isotopic data suggest that the enclaves and the host granitoids were emplaced in a continental arc environment coupled with northward subduction of the Palaeo-Tethyan oceanic crust. Partial melting of subducted sediments triggered by dehydration of the underlying igneous oceanic crust, with melts interacting with the overlying mantle wedge, formed high-K calc-alkaline granitic magmas, whereas partial melting of diapiric phlogopite-pyroxenites, solidified products of the same subducting sediment-derived melts, generated ultrapotassic magmas of the microgranitoid enclaves. Our new data further confirm that in the Late Triassic time the Qinling terrane was an active continental margin rather than a post-collisional regime, giving new insights into the tectonic evolution of this orogen.