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Neoproterozoic highly fractionated I-type granitoids of Shillong Plateau, Meghalaya, Northeast India: geochemical constraints on their petrogenesis

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Abstract

There are several Pan-African granitoid plutons widely distributed in Shillong Plateau, NE India. Nongpoh (506.7 ± 7 Ma) and Mylliem (480–430 Ma) plutons were chosen for the petrological and geochemical study to constrain their petrogenesis. Nongpoh pluton consists of coarse-grained porphyritic quartz-monzogranite (NQM) and Mylliem pluton consists of medium to coarse-grained porphyritic granite (MG). The constituent minerals are K-feldspar, plagioclase, quartz, and biotite in both granitoids with accessory minerals of hornblende, zircon, sphene, and ilmenite. Both NQM and MG are metaluminous to weakly peraluminous (A/CNK = 0.82–1.06), exhibit varied ranges of SiO2 (NQM: 58.4–64.9 wt%; MG: 66.9–69.9 wt%), and display a clear compositional gap in the Harker variation diagram. NQM contains higher abundances of CaO, MgO and Fe2O3t and similar K2O and total alkali contents compared to MG. They have distinctive geochemical features typical of highly fractionated I-type granitoids such as higher abundances of K2O, Al2O3, MgO, CaO, Al2O3 + CaO > 15 wt% and A/CNK < 1.1, low P2O5 content, enrichment in LILE, depletion in HFSE and HREE and highly fractionated REE patterns with moderate Eu anomalies, implying magma generation in a post-collisional extension setting and thinning induced asthenosphere upwelling, accompanied by the partial melting of the overlying enriched lithospheric mantle. The multi-element diagram of both NQM and MG shows pronounced negative anomalies at Ba, Nb, Sr, P, Zr, and Ti which implies a major role of crystal fractionation in their petrogenesis. High concentrations of Th, U, and Pb in the granitoid types point to additional involvement of crustal components in their generation. However, MGs with more pronounced positive spikes at U, Th, and Pb compared to NQM in multi-element diagram suggests the involvement of more felsic crustal material. The observed geochemical features of the granitoid types thus suggest that they are genetically unrelated to each other and their parental magmas were modified during magmatic differentiation processes. We suggest that the NQM and MG were formed as a result of fractional crystallization of compositionally diverse hybrid magmas produced due to mingling and mixing of an enriched lithospheric mantle-derived melts with lower crust- and middle crust-derived melts respectively during a period of extension late in the cycle of Pan-African orogeny.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for the constructive reviews and suggestions which has enhanced the quality of the earlier version of the manuscript. They also thank the Head of Dept. of Earth Science, Assam University, Silchar, India for extending Laboratory facilities to carry out the work. They are also thankful to the Directors of National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India and NCESS Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India for the geochemical analysis. This research is financially supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India under the Inspire Research Fellowship Programme (File No.: DST/Inspire Fellowship/2016/IF160812).

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  1. Department of Earth Science, Assam University, Silchar, 788 011, India

    Debjani Choudhury & M. Faruque Hussain

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Choudhury, D., Hussain, M.F. Neoproterozoic highly fractionated I-type granitoids of Shillong Plateau, Meghalaya, Northeast India: geochemical constraints on their petrogenesis. Acta Geochim 40, 51–66 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-020-00410-w

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