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Trace element modelling of pelite-derived granites

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Abstract

The presence or absence of a vapour phase during incongruent-melt reactions of muscovite and biotite together with the composition of the protolith determines the trace-element characteristics of the resulting melt, provided that equilibrium melting occurs for those phases that host the tracc elements of interest. For granitic melts, Rb, Sr and Ba provide critical constraints on the conditions that prevailed during melting, whereas REE are primarily controlled by accessory phase behaviour. Mass-balance constraints for eutectic granites that are formed by the incongruent melting of muscovite in pelites indicate that melting in the presence of a vapour phase will result in a large melt fraction, and deplete the restite in feldspar. Hence the melt will be characterized by low Rb/Sr and high Sr/Ba ratios. In contrast, vapour-absent melting will result in a smaller melt fraction, and an increase in the restitic feldspar. Consequently high Rb/Sr and low Sr/Ba ratios are predicted. Vapour-absent melting will also enhance the negative Eu anomaly in the melt. Granites that result from the incongruent melting of biotite in the source will be characterized by higher Rb concentrations than those that result from the incongruent melting of muscovite. The Himalayan leucogranites provide an example of unfractionated, crustally derived eutectic melts that are enriched in Rb but depleted in Sr and Ba relative to their metasedimentary protoliths. These compositions may be generated by the incongruent melting of muscovite as a low melt fraction (F∼0.1) from a pelitic source under vapour-absent conditions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Open University, MK7 6AA, Milton Keynes, UK

    N. B. W. Harris & S. Inger

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  1. N. B. W. Harris
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  2. S. Inger
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Harris, N.B.W., Inger, S. Trace element modelling of pelite-derived granites. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 110, 46–56 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00310881

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