Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Experimental and geochemical evidence for derivation of the El Capitan Granite, California, by partial melting of hydrous gabbroic lower crust

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Partial melting of mafic intrusions recently emplaced into the lower crust can produce voluminous silicic magmas with isotopic ratios similar to their mafic sources. Low-temperature (825 and 850°C) partial melts synthesized at 700 MPa in biotite-hornblende gabbros from the central Sierra Nevada batholith (Sisson et al. in Contrib Mineral Petrol 148:635–661, 2005) have major-element and modeled trace-element (REE, Rb, Ba, Sr, Th, U) compositions matching those of the Cretaceous El Capitan Granite, a prominent granite and silicic granodiorite pluton in the central part of the Sierra Nevada batholith (Yosemite, CA, USA) locally mingled with coeval, isotopically similar quartz diorite through gabbro intrusions (Ratajeski et al. in Geol Soc Am Bull 113:1486–1502, 2001). These results are evidence that the El Capitan Granite, and perhaps similar intrusions in the Sierra Nevada batholith with lithospheric-mantle-like isotopic values, were extracted from LILE-enriched, hydrous (hornblende-bearing) gabbroic rocks in the Sierran lower crust. Granitic partial melts derived by this process may also be silicic end members for mixing events leading to large-volume intermediate composition Sierran plutons such as the Cretaceous Lamarck Granodiorite. Voluminous gabbroic residues of partial melting may be lost to the mantle by their conversion to garnet-pyroxene assemblages during batholithic magmatic crustal thickening.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ague JJ, Brimhall GH (1988) Regional variations in bulk chemistry, mineralogy, and the compositions of mafic and accessory minerals in the batholiths of California. Geol Soc Amer Bull 100:891–911

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Allegre CJ, Othman DB (1980) Nd–Sr isotopic relationship in granitoid rocks and continental crust development: a chemical approach to orogenesis. Nature 286:335–342

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Anders E, Grevesse N (1989) Abundances of the elements: meteoritic and solar. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 53:197–214

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Arndt NT, Goldstein SL (1989) An open boundary between lower continental crust and mantle: its role in crust formation and crustal recycling. Tectonophysics 161:201–212

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bacon CR, Druitt TH (1988) Compositional evolution of the zoned calcalkaline magma chamber of Mount Mazama, Crater Lake, Oregon. Contrib Mineral Petrol 98:224–256

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bacon CR, Hildreth W, Druitt TH (1987) Partition coefficients determined from phenocryst and glass analyses of the climatic ejecta of Mount Mazama, Oregon. US Geol Survey Open-File Report 87–589

  • Barker F (1979) Trondhjemite: definition, environment and hypotheses of origin. In: Barker F (ed) Trondjhemites, Dacites and related rocks. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Bateman PC (1965) Geology and tungsten mineralization of the Bishop district California. US Geol Survey Prof Pap 470:208

    Google Scholar 

  • Bateman PC (1992) Plutonism in the central part of the Sierra Nevada batholith, California. US Geol Survey Prof Paper 1483:186

    Google Scholar 

  • Bateman PC, Dodge FC (1970) Variations of major element chemical constituents across the central Sierra Nevada batholith. Geol Soc Amer Bull 81:409–420

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bateman PC, Clark LD, Huber NK, Moore JG, Reinhart CD (1963) The Sierra Nevada batholith—a synthesis of recent work across the central part. US Geol Survey Prof Paper 414D:D1–D46

    Google Scholar 

  • Beard BL, Glazner AF (1995) Trace element and Sr and Nd isotopic composition of mantle xenoliths from the Big Pine volcanic field, California. J Geophys Res 100:4169–4179

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beard JS, Lofgren GE (1991) Dehydration melting and water-saturated melting of basaltic and andesitic greenstones and amphibolites. J Petrol 32:365–401

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beard JS, Lofgren GE, Sinha AK, Tollo RP (1994) Partial melting of apatite-bearing charnockite, granulite, and diorite: melt compositions, restite mineralogy, and petrologic implications. J Geophys Res 99:21591–21603

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergantz GW (1989) Underplating and partial melting: implications for melt generation and extraction. Science 245:1093–1095

    Google Scholar 

  • Blundy JD, Wood BJ (1991) Crystal-chemical controls on the partitioning of Sr and Ba between plagioclase feldspar, silicate melts, and hydrothermal solutions. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 55:193–209

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blundy JD, Wood BJ (2003) Mineral-melt partitioning of uranium, thorium and their daughters. Rev Mineral 52:59–123

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bradford KJ (1995) Petrology of a mafic intrusive suite in the central Sierra Nevada batholith, California. MS Thesis, University of North Carolina

  • Calkins FC, Huber NK, Roller JA (1985) Geologic bedrock map of Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California. US Geol Survey Map I-1639

  • Chen JH, Tilton GR (1991) Applications of lead and strontium isotopic relations to the petrogenesis of granitoid rocks, central Sierra Nevada batholith, California. Geol Soc Am Bull 103:439–447

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman DS, Glazner AF (1997a) The Sierra Crest magmatic event: rapid formation of juvenile crust during the Late Cretaceous in California. Int Geol Rev 39:768–787

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman DS, Glazner AF (1997b) Where in the world does 0.706 come from? Geol Soc Am Abstracts Prog 29:68

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman DS, Walker JD (1992) Generation of juvenile granitic crust during continental extension. J Geophys Res 92:11011–11024

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman DS, Frost TP, Glazner AF (1992) Evidence from the Lamarck Granodiorite for rapid Late Cretaceous crust formation in California. Science 258:1924–1926

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman DS, Glazner AF, Miller JS, Bradford KJ, Frost TP, Joye JL, Bachl CA (1995) Exposure of a Late Cretaceous layered mafic-felsic magma system in the central Sierra Nevada batholith, California. Contrib Mineral Petrol 120:129–136

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cruden AR (1998) On the emplacement of tabular granites. J Geol Soc Lond 155:853–862

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • DePaolo DJ (1980) Sources of continental crust: Neodymium isotope evidence from the Sierra Nevada and Peninsular ranges. Science 209:684–687

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • DePaolo DJ (1981) A neodymium and strontium isotopic study of Mesozoic calc-alkaline granitic batholiths of the Sierra Nevada and Peninsular Ranges, California. J Geophys Res 86:10470–10488

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Didier J, Duthou JL, Lameyre J (1982) Mantle and crustal granites: genetic classification of orogenic granites and the nature of enclaves. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 14:125–132

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dodge FCW, Millard HT Jr, Elsheimer HN (1982) Compositional variations and abundances of selected elements in granitoid rocks and constituent minerals, central Sierra Nevada batholith, California. US Geol Survey Prof Paper 1248:24 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodge FCW, Calk LC, Kistler RW (1986) Lower crustal xenoliths, Chinese Peak lava flow, central Sierra Nevada. J Petrol 27:1277–1304

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Domenick MA, Kistler RW, Dodge FCW, Tatsumoto M (1983) Nd and Sr isotopic study of crustal and mantle inclusions from the Sierra Nevada and implications for batholith petrogenesis. Geol Soc Am Bull 94:713–719

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ducea MN (2002) Constraints on the bulk composition and root foundering rates of continental arcs: A California perspective. J Geophys Res 107: doi:10.1029/2001JB000643

  • Ducea MN, Saleeby J (1996) Lithospheric mantle origin for the isotopic gradients within the Sierra Nevada batholith. Geol Soc Am Abstracts Prog 28:381

    Google Scholar 

  • Ducea MN, Saleeby J (1998a) The age and origin of a thick mafic-ultramafic keel from beneath the Sierra Nevada batholith. Contrib Mineral Petrol 133:169–185

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ducea MN, Saleeby J (1998b) A case for delamination of the deep batholithic crust beneath the Sierra Nevada, California. Int Geol Rev 40:78–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Eichelberger JC (1980) Vesiculation of mafic magma during replenishment of silicic magma reservoirs. Nature 288:446

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ewart A (1982) The mineralogy and petrology of Tertiary-Recent orogenic volcanic rocks: with special reference to the andesitic-basaltic compositional range. In: Thorpe RS (ed) Andesites. Wiley, New York, pp 25–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Ewart A, Griffin WL (1994) Application of proton-microprobe data to trace-element partitioning in volcanic rocks. Chem Geol 117:251–284

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Faure G, Powell JL (1972) Strontium isotope geology. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Fliedner MM, Ruppert SD, Malin PE, Park SK, Jiracek GR, Phinney RA, Saleeby JB, Wernicke BP, Clayton RW, Keller GP, Miller KC, Jones CH, Luetgert JH, Mooney WD, Oliver HL, Klemperer SL, Thompson GA (1996) Three-dimensional crustal structure of the southern Sierra Nevada from seismic fan profiles and gravity modeling. Geology 24:367–370

    Google Scholar 

  • Frost TP (1987) Sample localities, descriptions, major- and trace-element abundances of rocks from the Lamark Granodiorite and associated mafic rocks, eastern Sierra Nevada, California: U.S. Geol Survey Open File Report 87–193, 38 p

  • Frost TP, Mahood GA (1987) Field, chemical, and physical constraints on mafic-felsic magma interaction in the Lamarck Granodiorite, Sierra Nevada, California. Geol Soc Am Bull 99:272–291

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Furlong KP, Fountain DM (1986) Continental crustal underplating: thermal considerations and seismic-petrologic consequences. J Geophys Res 91:8285–8294

    Google Scholar 

  • Garland F, Hawkesworth CJ, Mantovani SM (1995) Description and petrogenesis of the Paraná rhyolites, southern Brazil. J Petrol 36:1193–1227

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gill JB (1981) Orogenic andesites and plate tectonics. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison TM, Watson EB (1984) The behavior of apatite during crustal anatexis: equilibrium and kinetic considerations. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 48:1467–1477

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Helz RT (1976) Phase relations of basalts in their melting ranges at PH2O = 5 kb. Part II. Melt compositions. J Petrol 17:139–193

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hildreth W (1981) Gradients in silicic magma chambers: implications for lithospheric magmatism. J Geophys Res 86:10153–10192

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hildreth W, Moorbath S (1988) Crustal contributions to arc magmatism in the Andes and central Chile. Contrib Mineral Petrol 98:455–489

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hill DP (1978) Seismic evidence for the structure and Cenozoic tectonics of the Pacific Coast states. Geol Soc Amer Mem 152:145–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Huber NK, Bateman PC, Wahrhaftig C (1989) Geologic map of Yosemite National Park and vicinity, California. USGS Misc Inv Series Map I-1874

  • Johnson CM (1991) Large scale crust formation and lithosphere modification beneath Mid-to Late Cenozoic calderas and volcanic fields, western North America. J Geophys Res 96:13485–13507

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston AD (1986) Anhydrous P-T phase relations of near primary high alumina basalt from the south Sandwich Islands, implications for the origin of island arcs and tonalite-trondhjemite series rocks. Contrib Mineral Petrol 92:368–382

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston AD, Wyllie PJ (1988) Constraints on the origin of Archean trondhjemites based on phase relations of Nûk gneiss with H2O at 15 kbar. Contrib Mineral Petrol 100:35–46

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kempton PD, Fitton JG, Hawkesworth CJ, Ormerod DS, (1991) Isotopic and trace-element constraints on the composition and evolution of the lithosphere beneath the southwestern United States. J Geophys Res 96:13713–13735

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kistler RW (1973) Geologic map of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir quadrangle, Yosemite National Park, California. USGS Geol Quad Map GQ-1112

  • Kistler RW (1974) Hetch Hetchy Reservoir quadrangle, Yosemite National Park, California—analytic data. US Geol Survey Prof Paper 774-B:15

  • Kistler RW (1990) Two different lithosphere types in the Sierra Nevada, California. Geol Soc Amer Mem 174:271–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Kistler RW, Peterman ZE (1973) Variations in Sr, Rb, K, Na, and initial Sr87/Sr86 in Mesozoic granitic rocks and intruded wall rocks in central California. Geol Soc Amer Bull 84:3489–3512

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kistler RW, Peterman ZE (1978) Reconstruction of crustal blocks of California on the basis of initial strontium isotopic compositions of Mesozoic granitic rocks. US Geol Survey Prof Paper 1071:17

    Google Scholar 

  • Kistler RW, Chappell BW, Peck DL, Bateman PC (1986) Isotopic variation in the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, central Sierra Nevada, California. Contrib Mineral Petrol 94:205–220

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lackey JS, Hinke HJ, Valley JW (2002) Tracking contamination in felsic magma chambers with δ18O of magmatic garnet and zircon: V. M. Goldschmidt conference: extended abstracts. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 66(Suppl 1):428

    Google Scholar 

  • Lackey JS, Valley JW, Chen JH (2001) Correlated O-Sr-Pb isotope ratios in the West-Central Sierra Nevada batholith, California. GSA Abstract Prog 33:295

    Google Scholar 

  • Lackey JS, Valley JW, Stockli DF, House MA (2003) Magmatic processes in the central Sierra Nevada batholith: a cryptic pre-Jurassic boundary in Long Valley, CA. Geol Soc Am Abstract Prog 35:92

    Google Scholar 

  • Lange RA, Carmichael ISE, Renne PR (1993) Potassic volcanism near Mono basin, California: evidence for high water and oxygen fugacities inherited from subduction. Geology 21:949–952

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee C-T, Qingzhu Y, Rudnick RL, Chesley JT, Jacobsen SB (2000) Osmium isotopic evidence for Mesozoic removal of lithospheric mantle beneath the Sierra Nevada, California. Science 289:1912–1916

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lopez S, Castro A (2001) Determination of the fluid-absent solidus and supersolidus phase relationships of MORB-derived amphibolites in the range 4–14 kbar. Am Mineral 86:1396–1403

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Luhr JF, Carmichael ISE (1980) The Colima volcanic complex, Mexico. Contrib Mineral Petrol 71:343–372

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mack S, Saleeby JB, Farrell JE (1979) Origin and emplacement of the Academy Pluton, Fresno County, California. Geol Soc Am Bull 90(Part II):633–394

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mahood GA, Halliday AN (1988) Generation of high-silica rhyolite: a Nd, Sr and O isotopic study of La Primavera, Mexican neotectonic belt. Contrib Mineral Petrol 100:183–191

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mahood GA, Hildreth EW (1983) Large partition coefficients for trace elements in high-silica rhyolites. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 47:11–30

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mahood GA, Stimac JA (1990) Trace-element partitioning in pantellerites and trachytes. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 54:2257–2276

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Manley CR, Glazner AF, Farmer GL (2000) Timing of volcanism in the Sierra Nevada of California: evidence for Pliocene delamination of the batholithic root. Geology 28:811

    Google Scholar 

  • Masi U, O’Neil JR, Kistler RW (1981) Stable isotope systematics in Mesozoic granites of central and northern California and southwestern Oregon. Contrib Mineral Petrol 76:116–126

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Menzies MA, Leeman WP, Hawkesworth CJ (1983) Isotope geochemistry of Cenozoic volcanic rocks reveals mantle heterogeneity below western USA. Nature 303:205–209

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moore JG (1963) Geology of the Mount Pinchot Quadrangle, southern Sierra Nevada, California. US Geol Survey Bull 1130:152

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore JG (2000) Exploring the highest Sierra. Stanford University Press, Stanford

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore G, Vennemann T, Carmichael ISE (1998) An empirical model for the solubility of H2O in magmas to 3 kilobars. Amer Mineral 83:36–42

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan GB, London D (1996) Optimizing the electron microprobe analysis of hydrous alkali aluminosilicate glasses. Amer Mineral 81:1176–1185

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mukhopadhyay B, Manton WI (1994) Upper mantle fragments from beneath the Sierra Nevada batholith: Partial fusion, fractional crystallization, and metasomatism in a subduction-related ancient lithosphere. J Petrol 35:1417–1450

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nagasawa H, Schnetzler CC (1971) Partitioning of rare earth, alkali, and alkaline earth elements between phenocrysts and acidic igneous magma. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 35:953–968

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nash WP, Crecraft HR (1985) Partition coefficients for trace elements in silicic magmas. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 49:2309–2322

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ormerod DS, Hawkesworth CJ, Rogers NW, Leeman WP, Menzies MA (1988) Tectonic and magmatic transitions in the Western Great Basin, USA. Nature 333:349–353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons T, Christensen NI, Wilshire HG (1995) Velocities of southern Basin and Range xenoliths: Insights on the nature of lower crustal reflectivity and composition. Geology 23:129–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Peck DL (2001) Yosemite quadrangle, central Sierra Nevada, California; analytic data. US Geol Survey Open File Report 01–252:24 p

  • Peck DL (2002) Geologic map of the Yosemite quadrangle, central Sierra Nevada, California. USGS Map I-2751

  • Philpotts JA, Schnetzler CC (1970) Phenocryst-matrix partition coefficients for K, Rb, Sr, and Ba, with applications to anorthosite and basalt genesis. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 34:307–322

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Piccoli PM, Candela P (1994) Apatite in felsic rocks: a model for the estimation of initial halogen concentrations in the Bishop Tuff (Long Valley) and Tuolumne Intrusive Suite (Sierra Nevada batholith) magmas. Amer J Sci 294:92–135

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rapp RP, Watson EB, Miller CF (1991) Partial melting of amphibolite/eclogite and the origin of Archean trondhjemites and tonalites. Precambrian Res 51:1–25

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rapp RP, Watson EB (1995) Dehydration melting of metabasalt at 8–32 kbar: implications for continental growth and crust-mantle recycling. J Petrol 36:891–931

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ratajeski K (1999) Field, geochemical, and experimental study of mafic to felsic plutonic rocks associated with the intrusive suite of Yosemite Valley, California. PhD Dissertation, University of North Carolina, p 196

  • Ratajeski K, Sisson T (1999) Loss of iron to gold capsules in rock-melting experiments. Am Mineral 84:1521–1527

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ratajeski K, Glazner AF, Miller BV (2001) Geology and geochemistry of mafic to felsic plutonic rocks associated with the intrusive suite of Yosemite Valley, California. Geol Soc Am Bull 113: 1486–1502. DOI: 10.1130/0016-7606(2001)113<1486:GAGOMT>2.0.CO;2

  • Ratajeski K, Glazner AF, Miller BV (2002) Erratum: Geol Soc Am Bull 114: 921. DOI: 10.1130/0016-7606(2002)114<0921:GAGOMT>2.0.CO;2

  • Reid JB Jr, Evans OC, Fates DG (1983) Magma mixing in granitic rocks of the central Sierra Nevada, California. Earth Planet Sci Lett 66:243–261

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ross DC (1989) The metamorphic and plutonic rocks of the southernmost Sierra Nevada, California, and their tectonic framework. US Geol Survey Prof Paper 1381:159

    Google Scholar 

  • Rushmer T (1991) Partial melting of two amphibolites: contrasting experimental results under fluid absent conditions. Contrib Mineral Petrol 107:41–59

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Saleeby JB, Kistler RW, Longiaru S, Moore JG, Nokleberg WJ (1990) Middle Cretaceous metavolcanic rocks in the Kings Canyon area, central Sierra Nevada, California. Geol Soc Am Memoir 174:251–270

    Google Scholar 

  • Saleeby JB, Sams DB, Kistler RW (1987) U/Pb zircon, strontium and oxygen isotopic and geochronological study of the southernmost Sierra Nevada batholith, California. J Geophys Res 92:10443–10466

    Google Scholar 

  • Sawka WN, Chappell BW, Kistler RW (1990) Granitoid compositional zoning by side-wall boundary layer differentiation: evidence from the Palisade Crest Intrusive Suite, central Sierra Nevada, California. J Petrol 31:519–553

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwandt C, McKay G (1998) Rare earth element partition coefficients from enstatite/melt synthesis experiments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 62:845–848

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sen C, Dunn T (1994) Dehydration melting of a basaltic composition amphibolite at 1.5 and 2.0 Gpa: implications for the origin of adakites. Contrib Mineral Petrol 117:394–409

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sisson TW (1991) Pyroxene-high silica rhyolite trace element partition coefficients measured by ion microprobe. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 55:1575–1585

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sisson TW (1992) Triple Divide Peak quadrangle, Fresno and Tulare Counties, California—analytic data. US Geol Survey Bull 2026:18

    Google Scholar 

  • Sisson TW (1994) Hornblende-melt trace-element partitioning measured by ion microprobe. Chem Geol 117:331–344

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sisson TW, Bacon CR (1992) Garnet/high-silica rhyolite trace element partition coefficients measured by ion microprobe. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 56:2133–2136

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sisson TW, Grove TL (1993) Experimental investigations of the role of H2O in calc-alkaline differentiation and subduction zone magmatism. Contrib Mineral Petrol 113:143–166

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sisson TW, Grove TL, Coleman DS (1996) Hornblende gabbro sill complex at Onion Valley, California, and a mixing origin for the Sierra Nevada batholith. Contrib Mineral Petrol 126:81–108

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sisson TW, Ratajeski KR, Glazner AF (2005) Voluminous granitic magmas from common basaltic sources. Contrib Mineral Petrol 148: 635–661. DOI 10.1007/s00410-004-0632-9

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Springer W, Seck HA (1997) Partial fusion of basic granulites at 5 to 15 kbar: implications for the origin of TTG magmas. Contrib Mineral Petrol 127:30–45

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Spulber SD, Rutherford MJ (1983) The origin of rhyolite and plagiogranite in oceanic crust: an experimental study. J Petrol 24:1–25

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stern TW, Bateman PC, Morgan BA, Newell MF, Peck DL (1981) Isotopic U–Pb ages of zircon from the granitoids of the central Sierra Nevada, California. US Geol Survey Prof Paper 1381:159

    Google Scholar 

  • Streckseisen A (1976) To each plutonic rock its proper name. Earth Sci Rev 12:1–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor RZ, Frankel KL, Ratajeski K (1999) Variation in composition and texture with elevation within the El Capitan Granite, Yosemite National Park, California. Geol Soc Am Abstr Prog, Cordilleran Section, 31:101

  • Tepper JH, Nelson BK, Bergantz GW, Irving AJ (1993) Petrology of the Chilliwack batholith, North Cascades, Washington: generation of calc-alkaline granitoids by melting of mafic lower crust with variable water fugacity. Contrib Mineral Petrol 113:333–351

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Kooten GK (1981) Pb and Sr systematics of ultrapotassic and basaltic rocks from the central Sierra Nevada, California. Contrib Mineral Petrol 76:378–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voshage H, Hofmann AW, Mazzucchelli M, Rivalenti G, Sinigoi S, Raczek I, Demarchi G (1990) Isotopic evidence from the Ivrea Zone for a hybrid lower crust formed by magmatic underplating. Nature 347:731–736

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Watson EB (1980) Some experimentally determined zircon/liquid partition coefficients for the rare-earth elements. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 44:895–897

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Watson EB, Green TH (1981) Apatite/liquid partition coefficients for the rare earth elements and strontium. Earth Planet Sci Lett 56:405–421

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wiebe RA, Blair KD, Hawkins DP, Sabine CP (2002) Mafic injections, in situ hybridization, and crystal accumulation in the Pyramid Peak granite, California. Geol Soc Am Bull 114:909–920

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Winther KT (1996) An experimentally based model for the origin of tonalitic and trondhjemitic melts. Chem Geol 127:43–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf MB, Wyllie PJ (1994) Dehydration-melting of amphibolite at 10 kbar: the effects of temperature and time. Contrib Mineral Petrol 115:369–383

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This manuscript was greatly improved from the constructive and insightful reviews of Andy Calvert, Ron Kistler, Jeff Tepper, and an anonymous reviewer. KR thanks Ben Hankins (USGS) for his training and assistance with piston cylinder techniques, Lew Calk and Robert Oscarson (both USGS) and William Meurer and Alan Boudreau (both of Duke University) for their assistance with electron microprobing, and Nobu Shimizu (WHOI) for his assistance with the ion probe during the early stages of the study. This work was funded in part by NSF grant EAR-9805079 to AG and by a Martin Fellowship to KR administered through the UNC Department of Geological Sciences. Field work in Yosemite Valley was supported by research grants to KR by Sigma Xi and the Geological Society of America. Experimental and analytical facilities were supported by the USGS Volcano Hazards and Deep Continental Studies Programs. Whole-rock INAA data was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Reactor Sharing Grant to Oregon State University. SIMS analyses at the Northeast National Ion Microprobe Facility at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution were partially supported by grant EAR-9628749 from the National Science Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Sciences, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA, 30138, USA

    Kent Ratajeski

  2. Volcano Hazards Program, United States Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA

    Thomas W. Sisson

  3. Department of Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3315, USA

    Allen F. Glazner

Authors
  1. Kent Ratajeski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Thomas W. Sisson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Allen F. Glazner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kent Ratajeski.

Additional information

Communicated by T.L. Grove

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ratajeski, K., Sisson, T.W. & Glazner, A.F. Experimental and geochemical evidence for derivation of the El Capitan Granite, California, by partial melting of hydrous gabbroic lower crust. Contrib Mineral Petrol 149, 713–734 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-005-0677-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-005-0677-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation