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Granulite

About: Granulite is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6763 publications have been published within this topic receiving 268925 citations.


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TL;DR: In this article, the Mesozoic Shangshuiquan granite from the northern margin of the North China craton has been reported to have high initial 87Sr/86Sr (≥0.706) and low eNd (t) <−15.
Abstract: We report geochronological, geochemical and isotopic data for the Mesozoic Shangshuiquan granite from the northern margin of the North China craton. The granite is highly fractionated, with SiO2 > 74%. Occurrence of annitic biotite, high contents of alkalis (K2O + Na2O), Rb, Y, Nb and heavy rare earth elements, high FeOt/MgO, low contents of CaO, Al2O3, Ba, and Sr, and large negative Eu anomalies, makes it indistinguishable from typical A-type granites. A mantle-derived origin for the rocks of the granite is not favored because their high initial 87Sr/86Sr (≥0.706) and low eNd (t) (<−15) are completely different from either those of the lithospheric or asthenospheric mantle. In fact, their Sr–Nd isotopes fall within the range of Sr–Nd isotopic compositions of the Archean granulite terrains and are comparable to those of Mesozoic crustal-derived I-type granitoids in the region. Therefore, the Shangshuiquan granite is considered to be dominantly derived from partial melting of the ancient lower crust. Its parental magmas prove to be similar to I-type magmas and to have undergone extensive fractionation during its ascent. This is supported by the fact that some of the nearby Hannuoba feldspar-rich granulite xenoliths can be indeed regarded as the early cumulates in terms of their mineralogy, chemistry, Sr–Nd isotopes and zircon U–Pb ages and Hf isotopes. It is furthermore argued that some of highly fractionated granites worldwide, especially those with A-type characteristics and lacking close relationship with unfractionated rocks, may in fact be fractionated I-type granites. This suggestion can explain their close temporal and spatial associations as well as similar Sr–Nd isotopes with I-type granites. Our study also sheds new light on the petrogenesis of deep crustal xenoliths.

84 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the age of the eclogite forming event was determined by ion probe dating of zircon inclusions in garnets, which were found exclusively in the core of garnets.

84 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a generalised crustal structure of Fiordland is proposed, based on the recognition of a basement granulite facies lower crustal material separated by a regional thrust zone from a cover sequence.

84 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Bolhar et al. as discussed by the authors showed that the processes of carbonate ion complexation controlling rare earth element−yttrium (REE−Y) patterns were already established in the hydrosphere at the start of the sedimentary record 3,600-3,850-Ma ago.
Abstract: Modern chemical sediments display a distinctive rare earth element + yttrium (REE + Y) pattern involving depleted LREE, positive La/La*SN, Eu/Eu*SN, and YSN anomalies (SN = shale normalised) that is related to precipitation from circumneutral to high pH waters with solution complexation of the REEs dominated by carbonate ions. This is often interpreted as reflecting precipitation from surface waters (usually marine). The oldest broadly accepted chemical sediments are c. 3,700 Ma amphibolite facies banded iron-formation (BIF) units in the Isua supracrustal belt, Greenland. Isua BIFs, including the BIF international reference material IF-G are generally considered to be seawater precipitates, and display these REE + Y patterns (Bolhar et al. in Earth Planet Sci Lett 222:43–60, 2004). Greenland Eoarchaean BIF metamorphosed up to granulite facies from several localities in the vicinity of Akilia (island), display REE + Y patterns identical to Isua BIF, consistent with an origin by chemical sedimentation from seawater and a paucity of clastic input. Furthermore, the much-debated magnetite-bearing siliceous unit of “earliest life” rocks (sample G91/26) from Akilia has the same REE + Y pattern. This suggests that sample G91/26 is also a chemical sediment, contrary to previous assertions (Bolhar et al. in Earth Planet Sci Lett 222:43–60, 2004), and including suggestions that the Akilia unit containing G91/26 consists entirely of silica-penetrated, metasomatised, mafic rock (Fedo and Whitehouse 2002a). Integration of our trace element data with those of Bolhar et al. (Earth Planet Sci Lett 222:43–60, 2004) demonstrates that Eoarchaean siliceous rocks in Greenland, with ages from 3.6 to 3.85 Ga, have diverse trace element signatures. There are now geographically-dispersed, widespread examples with Isua BIF-like REE + Y signatures, that are interpreted as chemically unaltered, albeit metamorphosed, chemical sediments. Other samples retain remnants of LREE depletion but are beginning to lose the distinct La, Eu and Y positive anomalies and are interpreted as metasomatised chemical sediments. Finally there are some siliceous samples with completely different trace element patterns that are interpreted as rocks of non-sedimentary origin, and include metasomatised mafic rocks. The positive La/La*SN, Eu/Eu*SN and YSN anomalies found in Isua BIFs and other Eoarchaean Greenland samples, such as G91/26 from Akilia, suggests that the processes of carbonate ion complexation controlling the REE − Y patterns were already established in the hydrosphere at the start of the sedimentary record 3,600–3,850 Ma ago. This is in accord with the presence of Eoarchaean siderite-bearing marbles of sedimentary origin, and suggests that CO2 may have been a significant greenhouse gas at that time.

84 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Sep 2007-Geology
TL;DR: In this article, the first ion microprobe U-Pb (zircon) ages for orthopyroxene-bearing granulites, tonalites, and gabbros of the Cenozoic Hidaka metamorphic belt (Hokkaido, Japan) were reported.
Abstract: There is no consensus as to how the extreme metamorphic conditions required to form granulites are attained, or how these rocks relate to crustal growth and differentiation processes. Studying young granulites offers two advantages: the tectonic setting is likely to be well constrained, and the ambiguities that result from overprinting by younger metamorphic events are potentially avoided. We report the first ion microprobe U-Pb (zircon) ages for orthopyroxene-bearing granulites, tonalites, and gabbros of the Cenozoic Hidaka metamorphic belt (Hokkaido, Japan) to clarify the magmatic-metamorphic connection in this area. The data support a two-stage evolution for this terrane, which is attributed to episodes of supra-subduction zone magmatism (late Eocene) and back-arc extension (early Miocene). We relate granulite facies metamorphism and garnet-orthopyroxene tonalite generation to mafic magma under-accretion and lithosphere thinning due to the opening of the Japan Sea at 19 Ma. The Hidaka granulites are thus among the youngest exposed granulites on Earth, and manifest the thermal response to continental growth.

84 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
2023126
2022301
2021177
2020203
2019148
2018142