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Petrogenetic and tectonic interpretation of strongly peraluminous granitic rocks and their significance in the archean rock record

  • Carol D. Frost ORCID logo EMAIL logo and Fabio A. Da Prat
Published/Copyright: August 4, 2021
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 106 Issue 8

Abstract

Strongly peraluminous granitic rocks (SPG), defined by an aluminum saturation index ≥1.1, become abundant in the rock record in the Neoarchean. This study identifies three different varieties of Neoarchean SPG in the Archean Wyoming Province, U.S.A. These include calcic SPG, represented by the Webb Canyon Gneiss and Bitch Creek Gneiss of the Teton Range; calc-alkalic to alkali-calcic suites composed entirely of SPG, including the Rocky Ridge garnet granite gneiss of the northern Laramie Mountains and the Bear Mountain granite in the Black Hills; and calc-alkalic to alkali-calcic suites that include both weakly and strongly peraluminous granitic rocks, such as the Mount Owen batholith, Wyoming batholith, and Bears Ears granite. Although the petrogenesis of all the SPG suites involves partial melting of crustal sources, the composition of those sources, the melting conditions, and the tectonic settings vary. The calcic suites originate by dehydration melting or water excess melting of hornblende-plagioclase rocks at relatively high temperature. The suites composed entirely of SPG formed by partial melting of metasedimentary rocks by reactions involving muscovite at lower temperatures. Suites with both weakly and strongly peraluminous granite may form by partial melting of metasedimentary rocks by reactions involving biotite or by assimilation of aluminous melts of felsic crust by differentiated calc-alkalic magma. Most of the Wyoming SPG appear to have formed in collisional orogens, but SPG of the Wyoming batholith and Bears Ears granite are associated with continental arc magmatism. The appearance of SPG in the Neoarchean rock record marks the time when subduction enabled the formation of strong, thick, increasingly felsic continental crust, which in turn allowed the development of a mature, clastic sedimentary cover. Lateral movement of crustal blocks led to collisional orogeny, SPG magma genesis, and the formation of the first supercontinents.

Keywords: Strongly peraluminous granite; crustal evolution; Neoarchean; petrogenesis

† Present address: Rio Tinto Kennecott, 4700 W Daybreak Parkway, South Jordan, UT 84009, U.S.A.

Acknowledgments

C.D.F. thanks the officers, staff, and members of the Mineralogical Society of America for a rewarding year as its 101st president. C.D.F. and F.D.P. acknowledge USGS EDMAP award number G19AC0014 supporting geologic mapping and study of the Rocky Ridge gneiss as part of FDP’s M.S. thesis at the University of Wyoming. The authors thank C. Bucholz, B.R. Frost, and P. Nabelek for their very helpful reviews.

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Received: 2001-02-01
Accepted: 2001-03-31
Published Online: 2021-08-04
Published in Print: 2021-08-26

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2022-8001
Keywords for this article
Strongly peraluminous granite; crustal evolution; Neoarchean; petrogenesis

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Highlights and Breakthroughs
  2. Crustal melting: Deep, hot, and salty
  3. MSA Presidential Address
  4. Petrogenetic and tectonic interpretation of strongly peraluminous granitic rocks and their significance in the archean rock record
  5. Partial melting and P-T evolution of eclogite-facies metapelitic migmatites from the Egere terrane (Central Hoggar, South Algeria)
  6. High-pressure, halogen-bearing melt preserved in ultrahigh-temperature felsic granulites of the Central Maine Terrane, Connecticut (U.S.A.)
  7. Targeting mixtures of jarosite and clay minerals for Mars exploration
  8. Zirconolite from Larvik Plutonic Complex, Norway, its relationship to stefanweissite and nöggerathite, and contribution to the improvement of zirconolite end-member systematics
  9. Nanomineralogy of hydrothermal magnetite from Acropolis, South Australia: Genetic implications for iron-oxide copper gold mineralization
  10. Effect of magnesium on monohydrocalcite formation and unit-cell parameters
  11. Formation pathway of norsethite dominated by solution chemistry under ambient conditions
  12. A model for the kinetics of high-temperature reactions between polydisperse volcanic ash and SO2 gas
  13. Redox control and measurement in low-temperature (<450 °C) hydrothermal experiments
  14. Heat capacity and thermodynamic functions of partially dehydrated sodium and zinc zeolite A (LTA)
  15. P-V-T measurements of Fe3C to 117 GPa and 2100 K: Implications for stability of Fe3C phase at core conditions
  16. New Mineral Names
  17. Erratum
  18. Book Review
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