MINERALOGY, PETROGRAPHY AND WHOLE-ROCK GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE TERTIARY GRANITIC INTRUSIONS IN THE EASTERN PONTIDES, TURKEY

Abstract

Granitic intrusions in Eocene and post-Eocene volcanic rocks outcrop in the Northern and Southern Zones of the Eastern Pontides, NE Turkey. Intrusions in the Northern Zone extend NW-SE whereas those in the Southern Zone are nearly E-W orientated. The contacts of the intrusions with the volcanic rocks are sharp, epidotized and include volcanic xenoliths. The margins of Southern Zone intrusions often contain abundant angular mafic microgranular enclaves of diorite to quartz diorite composition. The rocks also show evidence of mingling and mixing between coeval mafic and felsic magmas. Field observations suggest a stopping type of ascent and emplacement style for the intrusions. Petrographically, intrusions show variations in both colour and mineralogy with fine to medium granular, monzonitic, poikilitic, rapakivi, anti-rapakivi and graphic textures. Based on modal mineralogy, the Northern rocks are monzonite, quartz monzonite, monzodiorite and quartz monzodiorite whereas the Southern samples are monzogranite and granodiorite. The rocks are generally calc-alkaline to mildly alkaline transitional and metaluminous, and show a CAFEMIC trend. The Northern Zone intrusions form a post-collisional, A-type, alkaline monzonitic association and Southern Zone intrusions form a post-collisional, I-type, granodioritic calc-alkaline-transitional association. Whole-rock compositional data indicate that differentiation occurred via fractional crystallisation with or without magma mixing. Incompatible and rare earth element patterns indicate that both the Northern and the Southern Zone intrusions were derived from melting of a mantle region enriched by subduction-related fluids but evolved differently during ascent and emplacement. U-Pb zircon dating in the Southern Zone yields an intrusion age of 44.4±0.3 Ma. Regional geodynamics indicates post-collisional extensional tectonics in the region. Crustal involvement and the level of emplacement may have been important for magmatic evolution, especially for the Southern Zone intrusions, after the cessation of subduction and subsequent crustal thickening. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.