Archaean fluid-assisted crustal cannibalism recorded by low delta O-18 and negative epsilon(Hf(T)) isotopic signatures of West Greenland granite zircon

• Published in: Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology
• Main Authors: Hiess, Joe, Bennett, Vickie C., Nutman, Allen P., Williams, Ian S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 2011
• Subjects: Greenland; Ikkattoq; Nuuk
• Online Access: http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/14826/; https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/14826/1/Hiess_et_al._2011_CMP.pdf; http://www.springerlink.com/content/100406/

The role of fluids during Archaean intra-crustal magmatism has been investigated via integrated SHRIMP U–Pb, δ18O and LA-MC-ICPMS 176Hf isotopic zircon analysis. Six rock samples studied are all from the Nuuk region (southern West Greenland) including two ~3.69 Ga granitic and trondhjemitic gneisses, a 3.64 Ga granitic augen gneiss, a 2.82 Ga granodioritic Ikkattoq gneiss, a migmatite with late Neoarchaean neosome and a homogeneous granite of the 2.56 Ga Qôrqut Granite Complex (QGC). All zircon grains were thoroughly imaged to facilitate analysis of magmatic growth domains. Within the zircon analysed, there is no evidence for metamictization. Initial εHf zircon values (n = 63) are largely sub-chondritic, indicating the granitic host magmas were generated by the remelting of older, un-radiogenic crustal components. Zircon from some granite samples displays more than one 207Pb/206Pb age, and correlated with 176Hf/177Hf compositions can trace multiple phases of remelting or recrystallization during the Archaean. Model ages calculated using Lu/Hf arrays for each sample indicate that the crustal parental rocks to the granites, granodiorites and trondhjemites segregated from a chondrite-like reservoir at an earlier time during the Archaean, corresponding to known formation periods of more primitive tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) gneisses. Zircon from the ~3.69 Ga granite, the migmatite and QGC granite contains Eoarchaean cores with chondritic 176Hf/177Hf and mantle-like δ18O compositions. The age and geochemical signatures from these inherited components are identical to those of surrounding tonalitic gneisses, further suggesting genesis of these granites by remelting of broadly tonalitic protoliths. Zircon oxygen isotopic compositions (n = 62) over nine age populations (six igneous and three inherited) have weighted mean or mean δ18O values ranging from 5.8 ± 0.6 to 3.7 ± 0.5‰. The 3.64 Ga granitic augen gneiss sample displays the highest δ18O with a mildly supra-mantle composition of 5.8 ± 0.6‰. Inherited ...