Timing, relations and cause of plutonic and volcanic activity of the Siluro-Devonian post-collision magmatic episode in the Grampian Terrane, Scotland

• Published in: Journal of the Geological Society Vol. 166; no. 3; pp. 545 - 561
• Main Authors: Neilson, J. C, Kokelaar, B. P, Crowley, Quentin G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, UK Geological Society of London 01.05.2009; The Geological Society of London; Geological Society; Geological Society Publishing House
• Subjects: absolute age; andesites; appinite; asthenosphere; calc-alkalic composition; Caledonides; Clach Leathad Pluton; Cruachan Intrusion; Crystalline rocks; dacites; dates; Devonian; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Etive dike swarm; Etive Pluton; Europe; Exact sciences and technology; geochemistry; Geology; Glencoe Fault; Grampian Highlands; Grampian Terrane; Great Britain; igneous and metamorphic rocks; Igneous and metamorphic rocks petrology, volcanic processes, magmas; igneous rocks; Inner Starav Intrusion; intrusions; lamprophyres; lithosphere; Lorn Lava Pile; Magma; magmatism; mantle; mass spectra; nesosilicates; oceanic lithosphere; orthosilicates; Paleozoic; partial melting; Petrology; Plate tectonics; plutonic rocks; plutons; Rannoch Moor Pluton; Scotland; Scottish Highlands; silicates; Silurian; spectra; subduction; thermal ionization mass spectra; U/Pb; United Kingdom; upper mantle; volcanic rocks; volcanism; Volcanoes; Western Europe; zircon; zircon group; United Kingdom; Scotland; Great Britain; Europe; Western Europe; swarms; dacites; isotope dilution; faults; Devonian; lava; magmatism; zircon; granites; plutons; Terranes; silicates; dating; ions; piles; nesosilicates; andesites; volcanic rocks; volcanoes; igneous rocks; magmas; U/Pb; partial melting; intrusions; crust; Paleozoic; subduction; Laurentia; uplifts; plutonic rocks; erosion
• ISSN: 0016-7649; 2041-479X
• DOI: 10.1144/0016-76492008-069

Calc-alkaline magmatism in the Grampian Terrane started at c. 430 Ma, after subduction of the edge of continental Avalonia beneath Laurentia, and it then persisted for at least 22 Ma. Isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry U-Pb zircon dating yields 425.0±0.7 Ma for the Lorn Lava Pile, 422.5±0.5 Ma for Rannoch Moor Pluton, 419.6±5.4 Ma for a fault-intrusion at Glencoe volcano, 417.9±0.9 Ma for Clach Leathad Pluton in Glencoe, and, in the Etive Pluton, 414.9±0.7 Ma for the Cruachan Intrusion and 408.0±0.5 Ma for the Inner Starav Intrusion. The Etive Dyke Swarm was mostly emplaced during 418-414 Ma, forming part of the plumbing of a large volcano (≥2000 km3) that became intruded by the Etive Pluton and was subsequently removed by erosion. During the magmatism large volumes (thousands of km3) of high Ba-Sr andesite and dacite were erupted repeatedly, but were mostly removed by contemporaneous uplift and erosion. This volcanic counterpart to the 'Newer Granite' plutons has not previously been fully recognized. The intermediate magmas forming both plutons and volcanoes originated mainly by partial melting of heterogeneous mafic to intermediate lowermost crust that had high Ba-Sr derived from previous melting of large ion lithophile element (LILE)-enriched mantle, possibly at c. 1.8 Ga. This crustal recycling was induced by heat and volatiles from underplated small-degree melts of LILE- and light REE-enriched lithospheric mantle (appinite-lamprophyre magmas). The post-collision magmatism and uplift resulted from breakoff of subducted oceanic lithosphere and consequent rise of asthenosphere.