No abstract

Trace and Rare-Earth element geochemical study of twenty samples of migmatitic banded gneisses, garnet biotite schists, dolerites, granites and rhyolites was carried out in a bid to determine their petrogenetic and tectonic significance in the evolution of the southeastern Basement complex of Nigeria. The data shows that partial melting (crustal anatexis) of migmatitic gneisses and schists played a significant role in the evolution of the granitic intrusions. This is supported by the high incompatible (Rb/Sr = 0.16 to 1.31 and Ba/Sr = 0.75 to 6.21) elements ratio in the granitic intrusions than that of the migmatitic gneisses and schists (Rb/Sr, 0.051 to 0.824; Ba/Sr, 0.7 to 5). High ratios of Ba/Sr and Rb/Sr and lesser values of Ba/Rb ratios in some granitic intrusions than in others suggests increasing fractionation during the anatexis. The role of partial melting is also evident in the smooth REE patterns shown by most of these rocks and the negative Eu anomaly as indicated by the values of Eu/Eu* (0.097 to 0.7). LREE enrichment is evident in the high values of Ce/YbN (12.08-174.5), La/YbN (15.2-228.4) and La/SmN (2.6-7.2) in the granitic intrusions. Tectonic discrimination diagrams of the rocks indicate that the basement rocks were most probably formed in a post-collision orogenic setting while the dolerite and the rhyolite were formed in within-plate anorogenic setting.

No abstract

No abstract

The presence of recently intruded granites at Earth’s surface suggests that their exhumation may have occurred rapidly. The Neogene granites of the Tuscan Magmatic Province (Italy) were emplaced during a period of extensional tectonics and are ideal for determining and quantifying the exhumation process. The peraluminous monzogranite of Giglio Island in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea is characterized by the presence of roof pendants, xenoliths and miarolitic cavities. The petrologic study of metamorphic xenoliths and new zircon U–Pb ages show that the granite was emplaced at 6.4–10 km depth at 5.7 ± 0.4 Ma. Exhumation, constrained by apatite (U–Th)/He ages, was essentially complete in 0.9 Myr at a minimum rate of 6 mm/year. This requires rapid tectonic unroofing, isostatic rebound and thermal softening activity, weakening the upper crust and favouring exhumation at a previously undocumented rate.