| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Journal of Petrology Volume 42 Number 12 Pages 2259-2277 2001
© Oxford University Press 2001
Gabbro-derived Granulites from the Northern Apennines (Italy): Evidence for Lower-crustal Emplacement of Tholeiitic Liquids in Post-Variscan Times
1DIPARTIMENTO DI SCIENZE DELLA TERRA, UNIVERSITÀ DI PARMA, PARCO AREA DELLE SCIENZE 157A, I-43100 PARMA, ITALY
2DIPARTIMENTO DI SCIENZE DELLA TERRA, UNIVERSITÀ DI PAVIA, VIA FERRATA 1, 27100 PAVIA, ITALY
3CNR–CENTRO DI STUDIO PER LA CRISTALLOCHIMICA E LA CRISTALLOGRAFIA, VIA FERRATA 1, I-27100 PAVIA, ITALY
The mafic granulites from the Northern Apennines commonly contain significant amounts of either olivine or Fe–Ti-oxide phases. On the basis of mineralogy and whole-rock major and trace element compositions, their protoliths are recognized as cumulus rocks derived from variably evolved tholeiitic liquids. Clinopyroxenes from the olivine-bearing rocks show peculiar trace element compositions (e.g. low amounts of Cr, Zr and lanthanides, coupled with relatively high Sr concentrations) that record a process of granulite-facies trace element redistribution controlled by a reaction between olivine and plagioclase. The trace element compositions of clinopyroxenes from the Fe–Ti-oxide-bearing rocks point to igneous geochemical trends that argue for a common igneous parentage. The 
Nd of the mafic granulites calculated at the age of emplacement of the gabbroic protoliths (290 Ma) ranges between +6·8 and -4·5. 87Sr/86Sr(290 Ma) varies between 0·7031 and 0·7077. The least evolved rocks show initial Nd–Sr isotopic compositions close to typical depleted mantle values. Two samples of felsic granulites associated with the mafic rocks yield age-corrected Nd of -8·0 and -5·7, and Sr isotope ratios of 0·7107 and 0·7109. As a whole, the Nd and Sr isotope data at the time of emplacement form a hyperbolic array. Whole-rock rare earth element and Nd–Sr isotopic compositions indicate that the parental liquids of the mafic granulite protoliths were tholeiites derived from a depleted mantle source. Isotopic compositions of the least evolved rocks are consistent with those of residual mantle lherzolites from the ophiolites of the Northern Apennines and the Western Alps. The protoliths of the Fe–Ti-oxide-bearing mafic granulites can be related to the least evolved rocks through fractional crystallization and assimilation of crustal material. The felsic granulites probably represent anatectic and migmatitic rocks resulting from multi-stage melting of lower-crustal basement rocks.
KEY WORDS: granulite; gabbro; Northern Apennines; lower crust; crustal contamination; post-Variscan magmatism
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  A. Pietranik and T. E. Waight Processes and Sources during Late Variscan Dioritic-Tonalitic Magmatism: Insights from Plagioclase Chemistry (Gesiniec Intrusion, NE Bohemian Massif, Poland) J. Petrology, September 1, 2008; 49(9): 1619 - 1645. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. MONTANINI, R. TRIBUZIO, and R. ANCZKIEWICZ Exhumation History of a Garnet Pyroxenite-bearing Mantle Section from a Continent-Ocean Transition (Northern Apennine Ophiolites, Italy) J. Petrology, October 1, 2006; 47(10): 1943 - 1971. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. R. GREENE, S. M. DEBARI, P. B. KELEMEN, J. BLUSZTAJN, and P. D. CLIFT A Detailed Geochemical Study of Island Arc Crust: the Talkeetna Arc Section, South-Central Alaska J. Petrology, June 1, 2006; 47(6): 1051 - 1093. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. ULIANOV and A. KALT Mg-Al Sapphirine- and Ca-Al Hibonite-bearing Granulite Xenoliths from the Chyulu Hills Volcanic Field, Kenya J. Petrology, May 1, 2006; 47(5): 901 - 927. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. TRIBUZIO, M. F. THIRLWALL, and R. VANNUCCI Origin of the Gabbro-Peridotite Association from the Northern Apennine Ophiolites (Italy) J. Petrology, June 1, 2004; 45(6): 1109 - 1124. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|