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The nature of zircon inheritance in two granite plutons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

B. A. Paterson ,
W. E. Stephens ,
G. Rogers ,
I. S. Williams ,
R. W. Hinton  and
D. A. Herd
B. A. Paterson
Affiliation:
Bruce A. Paterson, Isotope Geology Unit, Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre, East Kilbride, Glasgow G75 OQU, Scotland and Department of Geography and Geology, Division of Geology,University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9ST, Scotland
W. E. Stephens
Affiliation:
W. Edryd Stephens, Department of Geography and Geology, Division of Geology,University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9ST, Scotland
G. Rogers
Affiliation:
Graeme Rogers, Isotope Geology Unit, Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre, East Kilbride, Glasgow G75 0QU, Scotland
I. S. Williams
Affiliation:
Ian S. Williams, Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, GPO Box 4, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
R. W. Hinton
Affiliation:
Richard W. Hinton, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, Scotland
D. A. Herd
Affiliation:
Donald A. Herd, Department of Geography and Geology, Division of Geology,University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9ST, Scotland
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Abstract

Using zircons taken from two granite plutons, Strontian (Caledonian, northwestern Scotland) and Kameruka (Bega Batholith, southeastern Australia), this study presents observations that have a bearing on refractory zircons as provenance indicators. Two broad textural types of refractory zircon were identified: (1) those which show simple two-stage growth histories; and (2) those which have apparently undergone repeated periods of growth, resorption, mechanical abrasion, fracturing and fracture-healing. SHRIMP U-Pb ages obtained from the Kameruka zircons indicate that the cores are the textural manifestation of inheritance. The shapes of refractory cores are not unambiguously indicative of their ultimate origin, since they may also be modified by processes that occur before and after incorporation into the magma. The cores within the two populations show a great diversity in types and styles of zoning, and in composition, implying that they have not chemically equilibrated internally, or externally with their host melt.

Keywords

Bega BatholithCaledoniancoreelectron microprobegrowth historiesHfion microprobe, mineral zoningNd isotopesREErimSHRIMPThU
Type
Research Article
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 83 , Issue 1-2: Second Hutton Symposium: The Origin of Granites and Related Rocks , 1992 , pp. 459 - 471
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1992

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