Miocene Crustal Anatexis of Paleozoic Orthogneiss in the Zhada Area,Western Himalaya

Granitic gneiss(orthogneiss)and Himalayan leucogranite are widely distributed in the Himalayan orogen,but whether or not the granitic gneiss made a contribution to the Himalayan leucogranite remains unclear.In this study,we present the petrological,geochronological and geochemical results for orthogneisses and leucogranites from the Zhada area,Western Himalayas.Zhada orthogneiss is composed mainly of quartz,plagioclase,K-feldspar,biotite and muscovite,with accessory zircon and apatite.Orthogneiss zircon cathodoluminescence(CL)images show that most grains contain a core with oscillatory zoning,which indicates an igneous origin.Sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe(SHRIMP)U-Pb dating of the zircon cores in the orthogneiss shows a weighted ^(206)Pb/^(238)U age of 515±4 Ma(early Paleozoic),with sponge-like zircon rims of 17.9±0.5 Ma(Miocene).Zhada leucogranite shows^(206)Pb/^(238)U ages ranging from 19.0±0.4 Ma to 12.4±0.2 Ma,the weighted average age being 16.2±0.4 Ma.The leucogranites have a low Ca content(<1 wt%),FeOt content(<1 wt%),Rb content(67.0-402 ppm),Sr content(<56.6 ppm),Ba content(3.35-238 ppm)and Rb/Sr ratio(0.5-14.7),which are similar to the geochemical characteristics of the Himalayan leucogranite derived from muscovite dehydration partial melting of metasediments and representative of most Himalayan leucogranites.The highly variable Na_(2)O+K_(2)O(4.33 wt%-9.13 wt%),Al_(2)O_(3)(8.44 wt%-13.51 wt%),ΣREE(40.2-191.0 ppm),Rb(67.0-402 ppm)and Nb(8.23-26.4 ppm)contents,^(87)Sr/^(86)Sr(t)ratios(0.7445-0.8605)andεNd(t)values(−3.6 to−8.2)indicate that the leucogranite is derived from a heterogenetic source.The nonradiogenic Nd isotope values of the studied Zhada leucogranite and orthogneiss range from−8.2 to−3.6 and from−8.7 to−4.1,respectively.Therefore,the general mixing equation was used to perform the Sr and Nd isotope mixing calculations.The results indicate that the heterogenetic source was the Tethyan Himalayan Sequence(THS)/Higher Himalayan Crystalline(HHC)metasediments and Zhada orthogneiss.The Zhada area experienced crustal anatexis during the Miocene and the heterogenetic source of the orthogneiss and metasediment may have experienced crustal anatexis controlled by muscovite dehydration.The Zhada leucogranite inherited not only the geochemical characteristics of the Himalayan metasediment(muscovite dehydration melting),but also the trace elements and Sr-Nd isotopic characteristics of the Zhada orthogneiss.These results indicate that the Paleozoic Zhada orthogneiss was involved in crustal anatexis at 17.9±0.5 Ma(Miocene)and that the muscovite dehydration of the metasediments in the heterogenetic source produced fluid,which may have caused the orthogneiss solidus lines to decline,triggering a partial melting of the Zhada orthogneiss.It is therefore proposed that Himalayan leucogranite is a crust-derived granite rather than a S-type granite,as previously hypothesized.

Zircon Zr isotope fractionation during crustal anatexis

Zirconium is one of high field strength elements but its isotope behavior during geochemical processes is still uncertain because of the limited database.While Zr isotopes in magmatic rocks are often used to trace the evolution of magmas through fractional crystallization,it is intriguing how highly heterogeneous Zr isotopes were produced by the growth of zircon during crustal anatexis.We address this issue by in-situ zircon Zr isotope analyses of migmatites from two high-temperature metamorphic terranes in the South Lhasa zone and the North Dabie zone,respectively,in China.The results show highly variable δ^(94)Zr values from-0.30‰ to +0.81‰ and from-0.58‰ to +0.49‰,respectively.In addition to the relict zircon of magmatic origin,two types of newly-grown zircons were identified in terms of their occurrences,trace elements and δ^(94)Zr values.The peritectic zircon,mainly occurring in the in-situ leucosomes,exhibits the highest Nb-Ta-Hf-U contents and variably higher δ^(94)Zr values than those of the relict zircon.The anatectic zircon,mainly occurring in the leucocratic veins,shows higher Nb-Ta-Hf-U contents than and similar δ^(94)Zr values to those of the relict zircon.Model calculations demonstrate that the variable Zr isotope compositions of newly-grown zircons would result from decoupled release of Zr from zircon and non-zircon phases.The Zr supply of the peritectic zircon is mainly derived from the decomposition of Zr-bearing minerals in the in-situ anatectic melt(the non-zircon effect),whereas the Zr supply of the anatectic zircon is mainly from the dissolution of pre-existing zircons in the evolved melt(the zircon effect).The significant Zr isotope variations in the migmatites well illustrate the generation,migration and accumulation of the anatectic melts during the partial melting.Therefore,Zr isotopes can be used as a powerful means for distinguishing between the peritectic and anatectic zircons during crustal anatexis.

Behavior of apatite in granitic melts derived from partial melting of muscovite in metasedimentary sources

Fluid-absent and fluid-fluxed melting of muscovite in metasedimentary sources are two types of crustal anatexis to produce the Himalaya Cenozoic leucogranites.Apatite grains separated from melts derived from the two types of parting melting have different geochemical compositions.The leucogranites derived from fluid-fluxed melting have relict apatite grains and magmatic crystallized apatite grains,by contrast,there are only crystallized apatite grains in the leucogranites derived from fluid-absent melting.Moreover,apatite grains crystallized from fluid-fluxed melting of muscovite contain higher Sr,but lower Th and LREE than those from fluid-absent melting of muscovite,which could be controlled by the distribution of partitioning coefficient(D_(Ap/Melt))between apatite and leucogranite.D_(Ap/Melt) in granites derived from fluidabsent melting is higher than those from fluid-fluxed melting.So,not only SiO_(2) and A/CNK,but also types of crustal anatexis are sensitive to trace element partition coefficients for apatite.In addition,due to being not susceptible to alteration,apatite has a high potential to yield information about petrogenetic processes that are invisible at the whole-rock scale and thus is a useful tool as a petrogenetic indicator.

Equilibrium vs.disequilibrium melting relations in the Higher Himalayan Crystalline(HHC) pelitic migmatites,Sikkim Himalaya

Higher Himalayan Crystalline（HHC） complex of the Sikkim Himalaya predominantly consists of high-grade pelitic migmatites.In this study,reaction textures,mineral/bulk rare earth elements （REE）,trace element partition coefficients and trace element zoning profiles in garnet are used to demonstrate a complex petrogenetic process during crustal anatexis.With the help of equilibrium REE and trace element partitioning model,it is shown that strong enrichment of Effective Bulk Composition（EBC） is responsible for the zoning in garnet in these rocks.The data strongly support disequilibrium element partitioning and suggest that the anatectic melts associated with mafic selvedges are likely produced by disequilibrium melting because of fast melt segregation process.