Introduction to special issue on granites and rhyolites: A commentary for the nonspecialist
No abstract available.
Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗
Geology topics
F. Barker
Publications and source records attributed to F. Barker.
Back-arc with frontal-arc component origin of Triassic Karmutsen basalt, British Columbia, Canada
The largely basaltic, ???4.5-6.2-km-thick, Middle to Upper Triassic Karmutsen Formation is a prominent part of the Wrangellian sequence. Twelve analyses of major and minor elements of representative samples of pillowed and massive basalt flows and sills from Queen Charlotte and Vancouver Islands are ferrotholeiites that show a range of 10.2-3.8% MgO (as normalized, H2O- and CO2-free) and related increases in TiO2 (1.0-2.5%), Zr (43-147 ppm) and Nb (5-16 ppm). Other elemental abundances are not related simply to MgO: distinct groupings are evident in Al2O3, Na2O and Cr, but considerable scatter is present in FeO* (FeO + 0.9Fe2O3) and CaO. Some of the variation is attributed to alteration during low-rank metamorphism or by seawater - including variation of Ba, Rb, Sr and Cu, but high-field-strength elements (Sc, Ti, Y, Zr and Nb) as well as Cr, Ni, Cu and rare-earth elements (REE's) were relatively immobile. REE's show chondrite-normalized patterns ranging from light-REE depleted to moderately light-REE enriched. On eleven discriminant plots these analyses fall largely into or across fields of within-plate basalt (WIP), normal or enriched mid-ocean-ridge tholeiite (MORB) and island-arc tholeiite (IAT). Karmutsen basalts are chemically identical to the stratigraphically equivalent Nikolai Greenstone of southern Alaska and Yukon Territory. These data and the fact that the Karmutsen rests on Sicker Group island-arc rocks of Paleozoic age suggest to us that: 1. (1) the basal arc, after minor carbonate-shale deposition, underwent near-axial back-arc rifting (as, e.g., the Mariana arc rifted at different times); 2. (2) the Karmutsen basalts were erupted along this rift or basin as "arc-rift" tholeiitite; and 3. (3) after subsequent deposition of carbonates and other rocks, and Jurassic magmatism, a large fragment of this basalt-sediment-covered island arc was accreted to North America as Wrangellia. The major- and minor-elemental abundances of Karmutsen basalt is modeled by first mixing primitive arc magma with enriched basaltic liquid derived either from garnet peridotite or metasomatized mantle, followed by fractionation of olivine, pyroxenes, plagioclase and spinel. ?? 1989.
Chemical Geology↗
Evolution of the Coast batholith along the Skagway Traverse, Alaska and British Columbia.
Reconnaissance geological mapping of a strip 10-15 km wide across the Coast batholith from Haines to Skagway to the vicinity of Log Cabin was performed. The petrography, major- and minor-element chemistry, geochronology (using the U/Pb method on zircons), and initial ratios of 87Sr/86Sr of a suite of representative samples from each major unit are reported.-J.A.Z.
American Mineralogist↗
Preliminary results, Central Gneiss Complex of the Coast Range batholith, southeastern Alaska: the roots of a high-K, calc-alkaline arc?
The Central Gneiss Complex (CGC) of the Coast Range batholith is the oldest unit of the batholith east of Ketchikan, Alaska, being dated by the zircon UPb method (by T.W. Stern) at 128-140 Ma. Heterogeneous, layered, commonly migmatitic, orthogneiss of hornblende-biotite quartz diorite, tonalite, quartz monzodiorite and granodiorite compositions (IUGS terminology) form the major part of the CGC. These gneisses show a range of 50-65% SiO2 and are high in Al2O3 (c. 15-19%), K2O (1.5-4%) and Sr (800-900 ppm). Most major elements show coherent, typically magmatic trends with SiO2. La and Rb show maxima at ??? 58% SiO2. Initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios are relatively high and range from 0.7052 to 0.7066. Wallrocks of the CGC are mostly metagraywacke, pelite and metavolcanic rocks at amphibolite facies; they are geochemically dissimilar to the CGC. Major and minor elements of the CGC are very similar to those of high-K orogenic, calc-alkaline andesitic suites. The CGC may have formed largely by fractionation of mantle-derived, high AlKSr basaltic liquid in an ascending diapir, having hornblende, plagioclase, and biotite as major precipitating phases. The CGC probably represents the plutonic equivalent of a continental-margin or Andean arc that formed when the Taku terrane of the Insular belt on the west collided with the previously emplaced (but also allochthonous) Stikine terrane on the east in Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous time. ?? 1984.
Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors↗
Geochemical investigation of Archaean Bimodal and Dwalile metamorphic suites, Ancient Gneiss Complex, Swaziland
The bimodal suite (BMS) comprises leucotonalitic and trondhjemitic gneisses interlayered with amphibolites. Based on geochemical parameters three main groups of siliceous gneiss are recognized: (i) SiO 2 < 73%, Al 2 O 3 > 14%, and fractionated light rare-earth element (REE) and flat heavy REE patterns; (ii) SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 contents similar to (i) but with strongly fractionated REE patterns with steep heavy REE slopes; (iii) SiO 2 > 73%, Al 2 O 3 < 14%, Zr ∼ 500 ppm and high contents of total REE having fractionated light REE and flat heavy REE patterns with large negative Eu anomalies. The interlayered amphibolites have major element abundances similar to those of basaltic komatiites, Mg-tholeiites and Fe-rich tholeiites. The former have gently sloping REE patterns, whereas the Mg-tholeiites have non-uniform REE patterns ranging from flat (∼ 10 times chondrite) to strongly light REE-enriched. The Fe-rich amphibolites have flat REE patterns at 20–30 times chondrite. The Dwalile metamorphic suite, which is preserved in the keels of synforms within the BMS, includes peridotitic komatiites that have depleted light REE patterns similar to those of compositionally similar volcanics in the Onverwacht Group, Barberton, basaltic komatiites and tholeiites. The basaltic komatiites have REE patterns parallel to those of the BMS basaltic komatiites but with lower total REE contents. The Dwalile tholeiites have flat REE patterns. The basic and ultrabasic liquids were derived by partial melting of a mantle source which may have been heterogeneous or the heterogeneity may have resulted from sequential melting of the mantle source. The Fe-rich amphibolites were derived either from liquids generated at shallow levels or from liquids generated at depth which subsequently underwent extensive fractionation.
Mankayane district↗
Sm-Nd age and isotopic systematics of the bimodal suite, ancient gneiss complex, Swaziland
Studies of the development and stabilization of the Archaean crust often focus on the relative temporal relationships between the metamorphosed basaltic to ultramafic volcanic units (greenstone belts) and the sialic gneiss terrains that make up the oldest sections of the terrestrial crust. At the heart of this interest are the questions of the processes responsible for crust formation in the Archaean and whether or not the various units of an Archaean crustal section represent new additions to the crust from the mantle or are products of the reprocessing of even older crustal materials. One area where this controversy has been particularly pronounced is the Archaean crustal section of south-west Africa1-6. The oldest rocks in the Kaapvaal craton consist of the Onverwacht Group of mafic to ultramafic metavolcanics of the Barberton greenstone belt and a grey-gneiss complex termed the ancient gneiss complex (AGC) of Swaziland. We report here the results of a whole-rock Sm-Nd isotopic study of the AGC and the implications these data may have for crustal evolution in the Kaapvaal craton. ?? 1983 Nature Publishing Group.
Nature↗
Tonalites in crustal evolution
Tonalites, including trondhjemite as a variety, played three roles through geological time in the generation of Earth’s crust. Before about 2.9 Ga ago they were produced largely by simple partial melting of metabasalt to give the dominant part of Archaean grey gneiss terranes. These terranes are notably bimodal; andesitic rocks are rare. Tonalites played a crucial role in the generation of this protocontinental and oldest crust 3.7- 2.9 Ga ago in that they were the only low-density, high-SiO 2 rocks produced directly from basaltic crust. In the enormous event giving the greenstone-granite terranes, mostly 2.8-2.6 Ga ago, tonalites formed in lesser but still important proportions by partial melting of metabasalt in the lower regions of down-buckled greenstone belts and by remobilization of older grey gneisses. Tectonism in the Archaean (3.9- 2.5 Ga ago) perhaps was controlled by small-cell convection (McKenzie & Weiss 1975). Little or no ophiolite or eclogite formed, and only minor andesite. Plate tectonics of modern type (involving large, rigid plates) commenced in the early Proterozoic. Uniformitarianism thus goes back one-half of the age of the earth. Tonalites compose about 5-10 % of crust generated in Proterozoic and Phanerozoic time at convergent oceanic-continental margins. They occur here as minor to prominent members of the compositionally continuous continental-margin batholiths. A simple model of generation of these batholiths is offered: mantle-derived mafic magma pools in the lower crust above a subduction zone reacts with and incorporates wall-rock components (Bowen 1922), and breaches its roof rocks as an initial diapir. This mantle magma also develops a gradient of partial melting in its wall rocks. This wall-rock melt accretes in the collapsed chamber and moves up the conduit broached by the initial diapir, the higher, less siliceous fractions of melting first, the lower, more siliceous (and further removed) fractions of melting last. The process gives in the optimum case a mafic-to-siliceous sequence of diorite or quartz diorite through tonalite or quartz monzodiorite to granodiorite and granite. The model implies that great masses of cumulate phases and refractory wall rock form the roots of continentalmargin batholiths, and that migmatites overlie that residuum and underlie the batholiths.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A:↗
Geochronology of archean gneisses in the Lake Helen area, southwestern Big Horn Mountains, Wyoming
The Rb-Sr and U-Pb methods were used to study gneisses in the 7 1 2 - minute "> 712-minute Lake Helen quadrangle of the Big Horn Mountains, Wyoming. Two episodes of magmatism, deformation and metamorphism occurred during the Archean. Trondhjemitic to tonalitic orthogneisses and amphibolite of the first episode (E-1) are cut by a trondhjemite pluton and a calc-alkaline intrusive series of the second episode (E-2). The E-2 series includes hornblende-biotite quartz diorite, biotite tonalite, biotite granodiorite and biotite granite. A Rb-Sr whole-rock isochron for E-1 gneisses indicates an age of 3007 ± 34 Ma (1 sigma) and an initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr of 0.7001 ± 0.0001. U-Pb determination on zircon from E-1 gneisses yield a concordia intercept age of 2947 ± 50 Ma. The low initial ratio suggests that the gneisses had no significant crustal history prior to metamorphism, and that the magmas from which they formed had originated from a mafic source. A RbSr whole-rock isochron for E-2 gneisses gives an age of 2801 ± 31 Ma. The 87 Sr/ 86 Sr initial ration is 0.7015 ± 0.0002 and precludes the existence of the rocks for more than 150 Ma prior to metamorphism. The E-2 magmas may have originated from melting of E-1 gneisses or from a more mafic source.
Wyoming↗
The geochemical nature of the Archean Ancient Gneiss Complex and Granodiorite Suite, Swaziland: A preliminary study
The Ancient Gneiss Complex (AGC) of Swaziland, an Archean gray gneiss complex, lies southeast and south of the Barberton greenstone belt and includes the most structurally complex and highly metamorphosed portions of the eastern Kaapvaal craton. The AGC is not precisely dated but apparently is older than 3.4 Ga. The AGC consists of three major units: (a) a bimodal suite of closely interlayered siliceous, low-K gneisses and metabasalt; (b) homogeneous tonalite gneiss; and (c) interlayered siliceous microcline gneiss, metabasalt, and minor metasedimentary rocks - termed the metamorphite suite. A geologically younger gabbro-diorite-tonalite-trondhjemite suite, the Granodiorite Suite, is spatially associated with the AGC and intrusive into it. The bimodal suite consists largely of two types of low-K siliceous gneiss: one has SiO 2 < 75%, Al 2 O 3 > 14%, low Rb/Sr ratios, and depleted heavy rare earth elements (REE's); the other has SiO 2 > 75%, Al 2 O 3 < 13%, high Rb/Sr ratios, and relatively abundant REE's except for negative Eu anomalies. The interlayered metabasalt ranges from komatiitic to tholeiitic compositions. Lenses of quartz monzonitic gneiss of K 2 O/Na 2 O close to 1 form a minor part of the bimodal suite. Tonalitic to trondhjemitic migmatite locally is abundant and has major-element abundances similar to those of non-migmatitic varieties. The siliceous gneisses of the metamorphic suite show low Al 2 O, K 2 O/Na 2 O ratios of about 1, high Rb/Sr ratios, moderate REE abundances and negative Eu anomalies. K/Rb ratios of siliceous gneisses of the bimodal suite are very low (∼130); of the tonalitic gneiss, low (∼225); of the siliceous gneiss of the metamorphite suite, moderate (∼300); and of the Granodiorite Suite, high (∼400). Rocks of the AGC differ geochemically in several ways from the siliceous volcanic and hypabyssal rocks of the Upper Onverwacht Group and from the diapirs of tonalite and trondhjemite that intrude the Swaziland Group.
Precambrian Research↗
Oxygen isotopes of some trondhjemites, siliceous gneisses, and associated mafic rocks
Analyses of oxygen isotopes in whole-rock samples of 58 Precambrian and Phanerozoic trondhjemites and siliceous gneisses and of 28 cogenetic mafic to intermediate rocks from North America, Fennoscandia, and southern Africa give the following results: 1. (1) 47 trondhjemites, tonalites, and mostly Archean acidic gneisses that apparently are not isotopically disturbed show an overage δ 15 O +7.3‰ "> +7.3‰ and a range of 5.2–8.9‰; 11 other samples are slightly to moderately disturbed and show higher values; and 2. (2) the mafic rocks show a wide range of δ-values, from about 0–9‰ but the undisturbed ones give an average δ 18 O of 5.2‰ "> 5.2‰ . The δ 18 O values of the trondhjemitic intrusives and siliceous gneisses of similar composition are lower than those of most granitic rocks and support models for derivation of these rocks from basaltic parents. This approach, however, cannot be used to determine if individual bodies formed by differentiation or by partial melting.
Precambrian Research↗
The Pikes Peak batholith, Colorado front range, and a model for the origin of the gabbro-anorthosite-syenite-potassic granite suite
This study of the Pikes Peak batholith includes the mineralogy and petrology of quartz syenite at West Creek and of fayalite-bearing and fayalite-free biotite granite near Mount Rosa; major element chemistry of the batholith; comparisons with similar postorogenic, intracratonic, sodic to potassic intrusives; and genesis of the batholith. The batholith is elongate in plan, 50 by 100 km, composite, and generally subalkalic. It was emplaced at shallow depth 1,040 m. y. ago, sharply transects its walls and may have breached its roof. Biotite granite and biotite—hornblende granite are predominant; quartz syenite, fayalite granite and riebeckite granite are present in minor amounts. Fayalite-bearing and fayalite-free quartz syenite, fayalite-biotite granite and riebeckite granite show a well-defined sodic differentiation trend; the less sodic fayalite-free granites exhibit a broader compositional range and no sharp trends. Crystallization was largely at P H2O < P total ; P H2O approached P total only at late stages. Aplite residual to fayalite-free biotite granite in the north formed at about 1,500 bars, or 5 km depth. Feldspar assemblages indicate late stages of crystallization at about 720°C. In the south ilmenite and manganian fayalite indicate f O2 of 10 −17 or 10 −18 bars. Biotite and fayalite compositions and the ‘granite minimum’ imply completion of crystallization at about 700°C and 1,500 bars. Nearby fayalite-free biotite granite crystallized at higher water fugacity. All types of syenite and granite contain 5–6% K 2 O through a range of SiO 2 of 63–76%. Average Na 2 O percentages in quartz syenite are 6.2, fayalite granite 4.2, and fayalite-free granite 3.3 MgO contents are low, 0.03–0.4%; FeO averages 1.9–2.5%. FeO/Fe 2 O 3 ratios are high. Fluorine ranges from 0.3 to 0.6%. The Pikes Peak intrusives are similar in mode of emplacement, composition, and probably genesis to rapakivi intrusives of Finland, the Younger Granites of Nigeria, Cape Ann Granite and Beverly Syenite, Mass., and syenite of Kungnat, Greenland, among others — allowing for different levels of erosion. A suite that includes gabbro or basalt, anorthosite, quartz syenite, fayalite granite, riebeckite granite, and biotite and/or hornblende granites is of worldwide occurrence. A model is proposed in which mantle-derived, convecting alkali olivine basaltic magma first reacts with K 2 O-poor lower crust of granulite facies to produce magma of quartz syenitic composition. The syenitic liquid in turn reacts with granodioritic to granitic intermediate crust of amphibolite facies to produce the predominant fayalite-free biotite and biotite-hornblende granites of the batholith. This reaction of magma and roof involves both partial melting and the reconstitution and precipitation of refractory phases, as Bowen proposed. Intermediate liquids include MgO-depleted and Na 2 O-enriched gabbro, which precipitated anorthosite, and alkali diorite. The heat source is the basaltic magma; the heat required for partial melting of the roof is supplied largely by heats of crystallization of phases that settle out of the liquid — mostly olivine, clinopyroxene and plagioclase.
Colorado↗
Bimodal tholeiitic-dacitic magmatism and the Early Precambrian crust
Interlayered plagioclase-quartz gneisses and amphibolites from 2.7 to more than 3.6 b.y. old form much of the basement underlying Precambrian greenstone belts of the world; they are especially well-developed and preserved in the Transvaal and Rhodesian cratons. We postulate that these basement rocks are largely a metamorphosed, volcanic, bimodal suite of tholeiite and high-silica low-potash dacite—compositionally similar to the 1.8-b.y.-old Twilight Gneiss — and partly intrusive equivalents injected into the lower parts of such volcanic piles. We speculate that magmatism in the Early Precambrian involved higher heat flow and more hydrous conditions than in the Phanerozoic. Specifically, we suggest that the early degassing of the Earth produced a basaltic crust and pyrolitic upper mantle that contained much amphibole, serpentine, and other hydrous minerals. Dehydration of the lower parts of a downgoing slab of such hydrous crust and upper mantle would release sufficient water to prohibit formation of andesitic liquid in the upper part of the slab. Instead, a dacitic liquid and a residuum of amphibole and other silica-poor phases would form, according to Green and Ringwood's experimental results. Higher temperatures farther down the slab would cause total melting of basalt and generation of the tholeiitic member of the suite. This type of magma generation and volcanism persisted until the early hydrous lithosphere was consumed. An implication of this hypothesis is that about half the present volume of the oceans formed before about 2.6 b.y. ago.
Precambrian Research↗
A Rubidium-Strontium study of the Twilight Gneiss, West Needle Mountains, Colorado
The Precambrian trondhjemitic Twilight Gneiss (Twilight Granite of CROSS and HOWE , 1905b) of the West Needle Mountains, southwestern Colorado, and its interlayered amphibolite and metarhyodacite yield a Rb-Sr isochron of 1,805±35 m.y. A low initial Sr 87 /Sr 86 ratio of 0.7015 implies that metamorphism of these rocks to amphibolite facies took place soon after their emplacement. The mild metamorphism of Uncompahgran age, prior to 1,460 m.y. ago, and Laramide volcanism did not affect the Rb-Sr system in the Twilight. Rb contents of 26.5 to 108 ppm, Sr contents of 114 to 251 ppm, and K 2 O percentages of 1.23 to 3.64 in the Twilight Gneiss, in conjunction with high K/Rb ratios and the low initial ratio of Sr 87 /Sr 86 , lend support to geologic data that suggest the Twilight originated as volcanic or hypabyssal igneous rocks in a basaltic volcanic pile.
Colorado↗