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Geochemistry and origin of granitic rocks, Scourian Complex, NW Scotland

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Abstract

Concordant granite sheets from the granulite facies Scourian Complex, N.W. Scotland exhibit the following features:

  1. 1)

    a common planar fabric with their host pyroxene granulites;

  2. 2)

    the presence of an exsolved ternary feldspar phase;

  3. 3)

    a low-pressure, water-saturated minimum composition;

  4. 4)

    K/Rb ratios (450–1,350) distinctly higher than most upper crustal granites but similar to the surrounding granulites;

  5. 5)

    low absolute concentrations of the rare earth elements (REEs), light REE enrichment, and large positive Eu anomalies.

It is proposed that the granite sheets have originated by anatexis of gneisses undergoing granulite facies metamorphism — gneisses that were already essentially dry and depleted in incompatible elements. Their unusual trace element chemistry may be explained by either disequilibrium melting and/or sub-solidus reequilibration of the granite sheets with the surrounding gneisses.

Isotopic and trace element data suggest that cross-cutting, potash-rich pegmatites represent reworking of the granite sheets during a later amphibolitization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    C. Pride

  2. Department of Geology, Dalhousie University, B3H 3J5, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    G. K. Muecke

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  1. C. Pride
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  2. G. K. Muecke
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Pride, C., Muecke, G.K. Geochemistry and origin of granitic rocks, Scourian Complex, NW Scotland. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 80, 379–385 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00378010

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00378010

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