Abstract
The Val Fredda igneous complex in the southern Adamello batholith (N. Italy) consists of dioritic to gabbroic sills and dykes that were injected at 6–10 km depth into partly crystallized tonalites and granodiorites. High-precision U–Pb age determinations by chemical abrasion–isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA–ID–TIMS) show very similar dispersion of zircon U–Pb dates over 90–200 ka and identical age distributions with a dominant mode at 42.5 Ma for six samples ranging in composition from gabbro to granodiorite. The co-variation of the probability density curves of zircon dates from mafic and felsic units suggests that they shared a common thermal history with periods of enhanced and reduced zircon growth, reflecting lowered and increased magma temperatures, respectively. However, trace element compositions, Ti-in-zircon temperatures and Hf isotopic compositions of zircon from mafic lithologies are distinctly different from those in felsic zircon and suggest their crystallization occurred in isotopically and chemically diverse magma batches. These magma batches formed in the lower crust from mingling and mixing of residual melts (derived from fractional crystallization of mainly amphibole from basaltic melt) with crustal partial melts at high temperatures above zircon saturation. Zircons crystallized during incipient cooling of these magmas and were entrained into the ascending melts, which were emplaced and rapidly solidified in the upper crust. The reported age dispersions imply that fractional crystallization and hybridization in the lower-to-middle crust, ascent into the upper crust and solidification did not last for more than 200 ka. The small magma volumes and flux also preclude significant zircon crystallization at the upper crustal emplacement level.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Annen C (2011) Implications of incremental emplacement of magma bodies for magma differentiation, thermal aureole dimensions and plutonism–volcanism relationships. Tectonophysics 500:3–10
Annen C, Blundy JD, Sparks RSJ (2006) The genesis of intermediate and silicic magmas in deep crustal hot zones. J Petrol 47:505–539
Annen C, Blundy JD, Sparks RSJ (2007) The sources of granitic melt in Deep Hot Zones. Trans. Royal Soc. Edinburgh, Earth Sci. 97:297–309
Blundy J, Sparks R (1992) Petrogenesis of mafic inclusions in granitoids of the Adamello Massif, Italy. J. Petrol 33:1039–1105
Boehnke P, Watson EB, Trail D, Harrison TM, Schmitt AK (2013) Zircon saturation re-revisited. Chem Geol 351:324–334
Boekhout F, Spikings R, Sempere T, Chiaradia M, Ulianov A, Schaltegger U (2012) Jurassic arc magmatism along the southern Peruvian margin during Pangea breakup and dispersal. Lithos 146–147:48–64
Bowring JF, McLean NM, Bowring SA (2011) Engineering cyber infrastructure for U–Pb geochronology: tripoli and U–Pb_Redux. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 12:Q0AA19
Brack P (1983) Multiple intrusions-examples from the Adamello batholith (Italy) and their significance on the mechanism of intrusion. Mem Soc Geol Ital 26:145–157
Broderick C (2013) Timescales and petrologic processes during incremental pluton assembly: a case study from the Val Fredda Complex, Adamello Batholith, N. Italy. Unpublished PhD thesis No. 4612, Univ. of Geneva, Terre & Environnement 125
Callegari E, Brack P (2002) Geological map of the Tertiary Adamello Batholith (Northern Italy) Explanatory notes and legend. Mem Sci Geol 54:19–49
Caricchi L, Annen C, Rust A, Blundy J (2012) Insights into the mechanisms and timescales of pluton assembly from deformation patterns of mafic enclaves. J Geophys Res 117(B11):B11206
Caricchi L, Annen C, Blundy J, Simpson G, Pinel V (2014a) Frequency and magnitude of volcanic eruptions controlled by magma injection and buoyancy. Nat Geosci 7:126–130
Caricchi L, Simpson G, Schaltegger U (2014b) Zircons reveal magma fluxes in the Earth’s crust. Nature 511:457–461
Cashman K, Blundy J (2013) Petrological cannibalism: the chemical and textural consequences of incremental magma body growth. Contrib Mineral Petrol 166:703–729
Chelle-Michou C, Chiaradia M, Ovtcharova M, Ulianov U, Wotzlaw J (2014) Zircon petrochronology reveals the temporal link between porphyry systems and the magmatic evolution of their hidden plutonic roots (the Eocene Coroccohuayco deposit, Peru). Lithos 198–199:129–140
Claiborne LL, Miller CF, Wooden JL (2010) Trace element composition of igneous zircon: a thermal and compositional record of the accumulation and evolution of a large silicic batholith, Spirit Mountain, Nevada. Contrib Mineral Petrol 160:511–531
Coleman DS, Gray W, Glazner AF (2004) Rethinking the emplacement and evolution of zoned plutons: geochronologic evidence for incremental assembly of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, California. Geology 32:433–436
Condon D, Schoene B, McLean NM, Bowring SA, Parrish RR (2015) Metrology and traceability of U–Pb isotope dilution geochronology (EARTHTIME tracer calibration part I). Geochim Cosmochim Acta 164:464–480
Cooper KM, Kent AJR (2014) Rapid remobilization of magmatic crystals kept in cold storage. Nature 506:1–19
Cortecci G, Del Moro A, Leone G, Pardini GC (1979) Correlation between strontium and oxygen isotopic compositions of rocks from the Adamello Massif (Northern Italy). Contrib Mineral Petrol 68:421–427
de Saint Blanquat M, Horsman E, Habert G, Morgan S, Vanderhaeghe O, Law R, Tikoff B (2011) Multiscale magmatic cyclicity, duration of pluton construction, and the paradoxical relationship between tectonism and plutonism in continental arcs. Tectonophysics 500:20–33
Del Moro A, Pardini GC, Quercioli C, Villa IM, Callegari E (1983) Rb/Sr and K/Ar chronology of Adamello granitoids, southern Alps. Mem Soc Geol Ital 26:285–299
Farina F, Stevens G, Dini A, Rocchi S (2012) Peritectic phase entrainment and magma mixing in the late Miocene Elba Island laccolith–pluton–dyke complex (Italy). Lithos 153:243–260
Ferry JM, Watson EB (2007) New thermodynamic models and revised calibrations for the Ti-in-zircon and Zr-in-rutile thermometers. Contrib Mineral Petrol 154:429–437
Fu B, Page FZ, Cavosie AJ, Fournelle J, Kita NT, Lackey JS, Wilde SA, Valley JW (2008) Ti-in-zircon thermometry: applications and limitations. Contrib Mineral Petrol 156:197–215
Gerdes A, Zeh A (2009) Zircon formation versus zircon alteration—new insights from combined U–Pb and Lu–Hf in situ LA-ICP-MS analyses, and consequences for the interpretation of Archean zircon from the Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt. Chem Geol 261:230–243
Glazner AF, Bartley JM, Coleman DS, Gray W, Taylor RZ (2004) Are plutons assembled over millions of years by amalgamation from small magma chambers? GSA Today 14:4–12
Grimes CB, John BE, Cheadle MJ, Mazdab FK, Wooden JL, Swapp S, Schwartz JJ (2009) On the occurrence, trace element geochemistry, and crystallization history of zircon from in situ ocean lithosphere. Contrib Mineral Petrol 158:757–783
Hanchar JM, Watson EB (2003) Zircon saturation thermometry. Rev Miner Geochem 53:89–112
Hansmann W, Oberli F (1991) Zircon inheritance in an igneous rock suite from the southern Adamello batholith (Italian Alps). Contrib Mineral Petrol 107:501–518
Harrison TM, Watson EB, Aikman AB (2007) Temperature spectra of zircon crystallization in plutonic rocks. Geology 35:635–638
Hayden LA, Watson EB (2007) Rutile saturation in hydrous siliceous melts and its bearing on Ti-thermometry of quartz and zircon. Earth Planet Sci Lett 258:561–568
Hayden LA, Watson EB, Wark DA (2008) A thermobarometer for sphene (titanite). Contrib Mineral Petrol 155:529–540
Hürlimann N, Müntener O, Ulmer P., Nandedkar R, Chiaradia M, Ovtcharova M. Primary magmas in continental arcs and their differentiated products: petrology of a post-plutonic dyke suite in the Tertiary Adamello batholith (Alps). J Petrol (in press)
Ickert RB, Williams IS, Wyborn D (2010) Ti in zircon from the Boggy Plain zoned pluton: implications for zircon petrology and Hadean tectonics. Contrib Mineral Petrol 162:447–461
John BE, Blundy JD (1993) Emplacement-related deformation of granitoid magmas, southern Adamello Massif, Italy. Geol Soc Am Bull 105:1517–1541
Leuthold J, Müntener O, Baumgartner LP, Putlitz B, Ovtcharova M, Schaltegger U (2012) Time resolved construction of a bimodal laccolith (Torres del Paine, Patagonia). Earth Planet Sci Lett 325:85–92
Marsh BD (1981) On the crystallinity, probability of occurrence, and rheology of lava and magma. Contrib Mineral Petrol 78:85–98
Mattinson JM (2005) Zircon U-Pb chemical abrasion (“CA-TIMS”) method: combined annealing and multi-step partial dissolution analysis for improved precision and accuracy of zircon ages. Chem Geol 220:47–66
Matzel JEP, Bowring SA, Miller RB (2006) Time scales of pluton construction at differing crustal levels: examples from the Mount Stuart and Tenpeak intrusions, North Cascades, Washington. Geol Soc Am Bull 118:1412–1430
McLean NM, Bowring JF, Bowring SA (2011) An algorithm for U–Pb isotope dilution data reduction and uncertainty propagation. Geochem Geophys Geosyst. doi:10.1029/2010GC003478
Michel J, Baumgartner L, Putlitz B, Schaltegger U, Ovtcharova M (2008) Incremental growth of the Patagonian Torres del Paine laccolith over 90 ky. Geology 36:459–462
Miller CF, Furbish DJ, Walker BA, Claiborne LL, Koteas GC, Bleick HA, Miller JS (2011) Growth of plutons by incremental emplacement of sheets in crystal-rich host: evidence from Miocene intrusions of the Colorado River region, Nevada, USA. Tectonophysics 500:65–77
Nimis P, Ulmer P (1998) Clinopyroxene geobarometry of magmatic rocks Part 1: an expanded structural geobarometer for anhydrous and hydrous, basic and ultrabasic systems. Contrib Mineral Petrol 133:122–135
Piwinskii AJ, Wyllie PJ (1968) Experimental studies of igneous rock series: a zoned pluton in the Wallowa batholith, Oregon. J Geol 76:205–234
Pupin JP (2000) Granite genesis related to geodynamics from Hf–Y in zircon. Trans R Soc Edinb Earth Sci 91:245–256
Reid MR, Vazquez JA, Schmitt AK (2010) Zircon-scale insights into the history of a Supervolcano, Bishop Tuff, Long Valley, California, with implications for the Ti-in-zircon geothermometer. Contrib Mineral Petrol 161:293–311
Schaltegger U, Brack P, Ovtcharova M, Peytcheva I, Schoene B, Stracke A, Marocchi M, Bargossi GM (2009) Zircon and titanite recording 1.5 million years of magma accretion, crystallization and initial cooling in a composite pluton (southern Adamello batholith, northern Italy). Earth Planet Sci Lett 286:208–218
Schaltegger U, Schmitt AK, Horstwood MSA (2015) U–Th–Pb zircon geochronology by ID-TIMS, SIMS, and laser ablation ICP-MS: recipes, interpretations, and opportunities. Chem Geol 402:89–110
Schmitt AK (2011) Uranium series accessory crystal dating of magmatic processes. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 39:321–349
Schoene B, Latkoczy C, Schaltegger U, Günther D (2010) A new method integrating high-precision U–Pb geochronology with zircon trace element analysis (U–Pb TIMS-TEA). Geochim Cosmochim Acta 74:7144–7159
Schoene B, Schaltegger U, Brack P, Latkoczy C, Stracke A, Günther D (2012) Rates of magma differentiation and emplacement in a ballooning pluton recorded by U–Pb TIMS-TEA, Adamello batholith, Italy. Earth Planet Sci Lett 355:162–173
Skopelitis A (2014) Formation of a tonalitic batholith through sequential accretion of magma batches: a study of chemical composition, age and emplacement mechanisms of the Adamello Batholith, N. Italy. Unpubl. PhD thesis no. 4660, University of Geneva
Sláma J, Košler J, Condon DJ, Crowley JL, Gerdes A, Hanchar JM, Horstwood MSA, Morris GA, Nasdala L, Norberg N, Schaltegger U, Schoene B, Tubrett MN, Whitehouse MJ (2008) Plešovice zircon—a new natural reference material for U-Pb and Hf isotopic microanalysis. Chem Geol 249:1–35
Stauffacher AK (2012) Petrology and mineral chemistry of the Val Fredda Complex leucocratic units, Adamello, Italy. Unpubl. MSc thesis, ETH Zürich
Tiepolo M, Tribuzio R (2005) Slab-melting during Alpine orogeny: evidence from mafic cumulates of the Adamello batholith (Central Alps, Italy). Chem Geol 216:271–288
Tiepolo M, Tribuzio R, Vannucci R (2002) The compositions of mantle-derived melts developed during the Alpine continental collision. Contrib Mineral Petrol 144:1–15
Tiepolo M, Tribuzio R, Langone A (2011) High-Mg andesite petrogenesis by amphibole crystallization and ultramafic crust assimilation: evidence from Adamello hornblendites (Central Alps, Italy). J Petrol 52:1011–1045
Tiepolo M, Tribuzio R, Ji WQ, Wu FY, Lustrino M (2014) Alpine Tethys closure as revealed by amphibole-rich mafic and ultramafic rocks from the Adamello and the Bergell intrusions (Central Alps). J Geol Soc Lond 171:793–799
Ulianov A, Müntener O, Schaltegger U, Bussy F (2012) The data treatment dependent variability of U–Pb zircon ages obtained using mono-collector, sector field, laser ablation ICPMS. J Anal At Spectrom 27:663
Ulmer P, Callegari E, Sonderegger UC (1983) Genesis of the mafic and ultramafic rocks and their genetical relations to the tonalitic–trondhjemitic granitoids of the southern part of the Adamello batholith (Northern Italy). Mem Soc Geol Ital 26:171–222
Vazquez J, Reid M (2004) Probing the accumulation history of the voluminous Toba magma. Science 305:991–994
Verberne R (2013) The role of magma rheology during the emplacement of the Listino Suite, Adamello Massif, Italy. Unpubl PhD thesis, University of Lausanne
Watson EB, Harrison TM (1983) Zircon saturation revisited: temperature and composition effects in a variety of crustal magma types. Earth Planet Sci Lett 64:295–304
Watson EB, Harrison TM (2005) Zircon thermometer reveals minimum melting conditions on earliest Earth. Science 308:841–844
Watson EB, Wark DA, Thomas JB (2006) Crystallization thermometers for zircon and rutile. Contrib Mineral Petrol 151:413–433
Wotzlaw JF, Bindeman IN, Schaltegger U, Brooks CK, Naslund HR (2012) High resolution insights into episodes of crystallization, hydrothermal alteration and remelting in the Skaergaard intrusive complex. Earth Planet Sci Lett 355–356:199–212
Wotzlaw JF, Schaltegger U, Frick DA, Dungan MA, Gerdes A, Günther D (2013) Tracking the evolution of large volume silicic magma reservoirs from assembly to supereruption. Geology 41:867–870
Wotzlaw JF, Bindeman IN, Watts KE, Schmitt AK, Caricchi L, Schaltegger U (2014a) Linking rapid magma reservoir assembly and eruption trigger mechanisms at evolved Yellowstone-type supervolcanoes. Geology 42:807–810
Wotzlaw JF, Hüsing SK, Hilgen FJ, Schaltegger U (2014b) High-precision zircon U–Pb geochronology of astronomically dated ash beds from the Mediterranean Miocene. Earth Planet Sci Lett 407:19–34
Acknowledgments
This study was carried out as a part of the ProDoctoral school “Adamello 4-D”, funded by the Swiss National Research Fonds and the Swiss University Conference (Proj. No. PDFMP2-123107). We thank all members of this ProDoc school for the continuous scientific exchange, and for awesome experiences in field and in the laboratory, and especially O. Müntener, P. Ulmer, P. Brack and L. Caricchi for many hours of discussion. M. Senn, M. Ovtcharova and A. Regnier are acknowledged for technical help during this research. We highly appreciate the extensive and challenging reviews of M. Tiepolo, C. Miller and J. Blundy, which helped us to improve the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by Othmar Müntener.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Broderick, C., Wotzlaw, J.F., Frick, D.A. et al. Linking the thermal evolution and emplacement history of an upper-crustal pluton to its lower-crustal roots using zircon geochronology and geochemistry (southern Adamello batholith, N. Italy). Contrib Mineral Petrol 170, 28 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-015-1184-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-015-1184-x