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Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotopic and geochemical systematics in Phanerozoic granulites from Fiordland, southwest New Zealand

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Abstract

Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotopic analyses are reported for granulite facies orthogneisses from Fiordland southwest New Zealand. Whole-rock samples define a Rb-Sr isochron age of 120±15 Ma and an initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.70391±4. ɛ Nd values (at 120 Ma) show a relatively wide range of from −0.4 to 2.7 indicating decoupling of Sr-Nd isotope systems. Associated ultramafic rocks have initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of from 0.70380 to 0.70430 and ɛ Nd values of from 0.1 to 3.0. The different initial ratios suggest that the various intrusions, although contemporaneous, were not derived through fractionation of a single parent magma. A metasedimentary enclave incorporated during emplacement of the granulitic rocks preserves a Proterozoic isotopic signature with a measured ɛ Nd(0) value of −10.2, 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.73679 and a T Nd provenance age of 1490 Ma. The Rb-Sr whole rock age of the granulites is the same as obtained from recent U-Pb zircon dating (Mattinson et al. 1986) and is interpreted as the time of magmatic emplacement and essentially contemporaneous granulite facies metamorphism. Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd analyses of mineral systems indicate that the terrain had cooled below ∼300° C by ∼100 Ma providing further evidence that high grade metamorphism was of exceptionally short duration.

Unmetamorphosed leucogabbros from the Early Cretaceous Darran Complex of eastern Fiordland have significantly higher ɛ Nd values (3.9 to 4.6) and slightly lower 87Sr/ 86Sr (0.70373 to 0.70386) than the western Fiordland granulites. This indicates that the western and eastern Fiordland complexes are not correlative although both have geochemical similarities to Phanerozoic calc-alkaline island-arc suites. The Fiordland granulites are LREE enriched (LaN/ YbN=12 to 40) and have trace element characteristics (e.g. high K/Rb and low Rb/Sr ratios) typical of many Rb-depleted Precambrian granulite terrains. The Fiordland trace element trends, however are attributed to magmatic, not metamorphic processes, reflecting the character of the Early Cretaceous magma sources. The range of ɛ Nd values, but uniform initial 87Sr/86Sr of the western Fiordland granulites is consistent with derivation of the parent Early Cretaceous magmas at least in part from a LREE enriched, low Rb/Sr protoliths of mid-to late-Paleozoic age. Partial melting of this protolith occurred during or immediately preceding a period of great crustal thickening culminating in rapid thickening of existing crust by ∼20 km following emplacement of the granulitic rocks. The rapid crustal thickening was probably a consequence of a collisional event in which an Early Cretaceous magmatic arc was over-ridden by one or more thrust sheets.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, A.C.T., Australia

    M. T. McCulloch & S. R. Taylor

  2. Department of Geology, Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand

    J. Y. Bradshaw

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  1. M. T. McCulloch
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  2. J. Y. Bradshaw
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  3. S. R. Taylor
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McCulloch, M.T., Bradshaw, J.Y. & Taylor, S.R. Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotopic and geochemical systematics in Phanerozoic granulites from Fiordland, southwest New Zealand. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 97, 183–195 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00371238

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