Lecture 25 Granites

Wednesday, May 4th, 2005

Chapters 17 & 18: Granitoid Rocks

“Granitoids” (sensu lato): loosely applied to a wide
range of felsic plutonic rocks (granite (sensu
stricto), granodiorite, tonalite
● Associated volcanics occur and have same origin, but
are frequently eroded away
● Typically associated with diorites and gabbros in
granitic batholiths
● Granitoids are the most abundant plutonic rocks in the
upper continental crust
● Origins are diverse and very controversial!

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 Chapter 18: Granitoid Rocks
A few broad generalizations:
1) Most granitoids of significant volume occur in areas
where the continental crust has been thickened by
orogeny, either continental arc subduction or collision
of sialic masses. Many granites, however, may post-
date the thickening event by tens of millions of years.
2) Because the crust is solid in its normal state, some
thermal disturbance is required to form granitoids
3) Most workers are of the opinion that the majority of
granitoids are derived by crustal anatexis, but that the
mantle may also be involved. The mantle contribution
may range from that of a source of heat for crustal
anatexis, or it may be the source of material as well

Granite Classifications
● MODAL – relatively easy but tells us little
about the origins
● DEPTH – location of granite within the
crust
● CHEMICAL – attempts to relate
composition and mineralogy to the origin
● TECTONIC – uses tectonic regime to make
deductions about origin

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 Buddington’s Depth Zones

Epizonal Granite

Mesozonal Granite

Catazonal Granite

Figure 4-31. a. General characteristics of plutons in the epizone, mesozone, and

catazone. From Buddington (1959), Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull., 70, 671-747.

Chemical Classification
Table 18-3. The S-I-A-M Classification of Granitoids

Type SiO2 K2O/Na2O Ca, Sr A/(C+N+K)* Fe3+/Fe2+ Cr, Ni δ18O

87
Sr/86Sr Misc Petrogenesis
M 46-70% low high low low low < 9‰ < 0.705 Low Rb, Th, U Subduction zone
Low LIL and HFS or ocean-intraplate
Mantle-derived
I 53-76% low high in low: metal- moderate low < 9‰ < 0.705 high LIL/HFS Subduction zone
mafic uminous to med. Rb, Th, U Infracrustal
rocks peraluminous hornblende Mafic to intermed.
magnetite igneous source
S 65-74% high low high low high > 9‰ > 0.707 variable LIL/HFS Subduction zone
high Rb, Th, U
metaluminous biotite, cordierite Supracrustal
Als, Grt, Ilmenite sedimentary source
A high Na2O low var var low var var low LIL/HFS Anorogenic
→ 77% high peralkaline high Fe/Mg Stable craton
high Ga/Al Rift zone
High REE, Zr
High F, Cl
* molar Al2O3/(CaO+Na2O+K2O) Data from White and Chappell (1983), Clarke (1992), Whalen (1985)

M = mantle derived
I = Melting of igneous source material
S = melting of sediment source material
A = occur in anorogenic regions – origin controversial

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 S-Type I-Type A-Type
Figure 18-2. Alumina saturation classes based on the molar proportions of Al2O3/(CaO+Na2O+K2O) (“A/CNK”) after Shand (1927).
Common non-quartzo-feldspathic minerals for each type are included. After Clarke (1992). Granitoid Rocks. Chapman Hall.

Table 18-2. Representative Chemical Analyses of Selected Granitoid Types.

1 ∆ 2▲ 3 † 4 „ 5 ✧ 6 ♦ 7  8 z 9 + 10 Q 11 X 12 Ž
Oxide Plagiogr. Ascen. Nigeria M-type I-type S-type A-type Archean Modern Av. Crust U. Crust L. Crust

These analyses of granitic SiO2

TiO2
68.0
0.7
71.6
0.2
75.6
0.1
67.2
0.5
69.5
0.4
70.9
0.4
73.8
0.3
69.8
0.3
68.1
0.5
57.3
0.9
66.0
0.5
54.4
1.0

rocks are on p. 347 in

Al2O3
Major Elements

14.1 11.7 13.0 15.2 14.2 14.0 12.4 15.6 15.1 15.9 15.2 16.1
FeO* 6.6 4.0 1.3 4.1 3.1 3.0 2.7 2.8 3.9 9.1 4.5 10.6
MnO 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.6 0.3 0.8
MgO 1.6 0.2 0.1 1.7 1.4 1.2 0.2 1.2 1.6 5.3 2.2 6.3

your textbook. Those of CaO

Na2O
4.7
3.5
0.1
5.5
0.5
3.9
4.3
4.0
3.1
3.2
1.9
2.5
0.8
4.1
3.2
4.9
3.1
3.7
7.4
3.1
4.2
3.9
8.5
2.8
K2O 0.3 4.7 4.7 1.3 3.5 4.1 4.7 1.8 3.4 1.1 3.4 0.3

you with granitic “pet P 2 O5

Total
0.1
99.6 98.1
0.0
99.3
0.1
98.4
0.1
98.5
0.2
98.3
0.0
98.9
0.1
99.7
0.2
99.6 100.7 100.2 100.8
q 31.9 23.1 31.7 25.5 27.5 33.7 28.6 24.0 22.8 8.2 16.8 5.5

rocks” may find it useful or

ab
an
1.8
29.6
21.9
28.3
36.8
0.0
28.2
35.6
2.5
7.8
36.6
20.1
21.2
29.4
14.4
25.1
23.2
8.4
28.3
37.5
1.6
10.6
44.0
15.2
20.3
33.5
14.2
6.5
27.8
26.2
20.1
35.0
13.9
1.8
25.1
30.5
CIPW Norm

to plot some of these cor

di
hy
0.0
0.7
9.4
0.0
0.4
4.1
0.7
0.0
0.3
0.0
0.8
6.0
0.0
0.6
4.1
2.8
0.0
3.7
0.0
1.4
0.0
0.0
0.0
3.6
0.2
0.0
5.8
0.0
8.4
19.2
0.0
5.5
5.9
0.0
9.4
23.8

analyses with your own wo

ac
mt
0.0
0.0
3.2
0.0
4.8
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
2.1
0.0
0.0
2.0
0.0
0.0
2.1
0.3
0.0
1.9
0.0
0.0
1.9
0.0
0.0
2.1
0.0
0.0
2.5
0.0
0.0
2.1
0.0
0.0
2.6

data.
il 1.3 0.3 0.0 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.7 1.3 0.7 1.4
hem 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
ns 0.0 2.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Ni 12 2 8 11 1 14 11 105 20 135
Incompatible

Co 9 10 10 3 29 10 35
Cr 8 20 30 2 29 23 185 35 235
Cu 4 45 42 9 9 2 75 25 90
Zn 13 99 56 48 59 120 80 71 83
V 3 72 57 49 6 35 76 230 60 285
La 4 91 116 31 27 55 32 31 16 30 11
Rare Earth

Ce 11 274 166 16 66 61 137 56 67 33 64 23

Nd 122 30 28 67 21 27 16 26 13
Sm 3 17 6 6 16 3 5 4 5 3
Eu 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1
Gd 4 14 2 6 3 4 3
Tb 1 4 2 0 1 1 1 1
Dy 1 5 4 4 4
Yb 5 17 3 3 9 1 3 2 2 2
Lu 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0
Rb 4 94 471 18 164 245 169 55 110 32 112 5
Ba 38 53 94 236 519 440 352 690 715 250 550 150
LIL

Sr 124 1 20 282 235 112 48 454 316 260 350 230

Pb 42 5 19 27 24 8 20 4
Zr 97 1089 202 108 150 157 528 152 171 100 190 70
Hf 3 42 9 8 5 5 3 6 2
Th 1 24 52 1 20 19 23 7 12 4 11 1
Table 18-2. Representative Chemical Analyses
HFS

Nb 7 168 124 1 11 13 37 6 12 11 25 6
Ta 1 16 1 1 1 2 1
of Selected Granitoid Types. From Winter U 0 0 5 5 5 2 3 1 3 0
(2001) An Introduction to Igneous and Y 30 92 191 22 31 32
1: ave. of 6 ophiolite plagiogranites from Oman and Troodos (Coleman and Donato, 1979).
75 8 26 20 22 19
2: Granite from Ascension Island (Pearce et al ., 1984)
Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice Hall. 3: ave. of 11 Nigerian biotite granites (Bowden et al., 1987). 4: ave of 17 M-type granitoids, New Britain arc (Whalen et al. (1987).
5: ave. of 1074 I-type granitoids and 6:ave. of 704 S-type granitoids, Lachlan fold belt, Australia (Chappell and White, 1992).
7: ave of 148 A-type granitoids (Whalen et al . 1987, REE from Collins et al ., 1982). 8: ave. of 355 Archean grey gneisses (Martin, 1994).
9: ave of 250 <200Ma old I- and M-type granitoids (Martin, 1994). 10-12: est. ave., upper, and lower continental crust (Taylor & McClennan, 1985).

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 Chapter 18:
Granitoid Rocks

Figure 18-4. MORB-normalized spider

diagrams for the analyses in Table 18-2 . From
Winter (2001) An Introduction to Igneous and
Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice Hall.

Melting or Fractional Crystallization?

Both processes will
produce SiO2 – rich
melts around the
cotectics and eutectic
minima in this system

Field for
granites

Figure 18-3. The Ab-Or-Qtz system with the

ternary cotectic curves and eutectic minima
from 0.1 to 3 GPa. Included is the locus of most
granite compositions from Figure 11-2
(shaded) and the plotted positions of the norms
from the analyses in Table 18-2. Note the
effects of increasing pressure and the An, B,
and F contents on the position of the thermal
minima. From Winter (2001) An Introduction
to Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology.
Prentice Hall.

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 Crustal melting
Note that the zircon has a rounded
core (detrital sediment) surrounded
by euhedral zones (magmatic origin)

Figure 18-1. Backscattered electron image of a

zircon from the Strontian Granite, Scotland. The
grain has a rounded, un-zoned core (dark) that is
an inherited high-temperature non-melted crystal
from the pre-granite source. The core is
surrounded by a zoned epitaxial igneous
overgrowth rim, crystallized from the cooling
granite. From Paterson et al. (1992), Trans. Royal.
Soc. Edinburgh. 83, 459-471. Also Geol. Soc. Amer.
Spec. Paper, 272, 459-471.

1. Melting of water-saturated
metamorphosed sediments will be
initiated at a, b, c depending on P/T but
insufficient melt is produced
2. Breakdown of muscovite at (1)
produces <10% melt – sufficient for
migmatites
3. Only after breakdown of biotite at
7600C (2) is there sufficient melt to
produce a mobile granitic magma
4. Continued melting of anhydrous phases
may produce up to 60% melt
5. Refractory residue left behind is termed
RESTITE

Figure 18-5. a. Simplified P-T phase diagram and b. quantity of

melt generated during the melting of muscovite-biotite-bearing
crustal source rocks, after Clarke (1992) Granitoid Rocks.
Chapman Hall, London; and Vielzeuf and Holloway (1988)
Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 98, 257-276. Shaded areas in (a) indicate
melt generation. Winter (2001) An Introduction to Igneous and
Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice Hall.

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 Melting

Figure 18-6. A simple modification of Figure 16-17 showing the effect of subducting a slab of continental crust, which causes the dip of
the subducted plate to shallow as subduction ceases and the isotherms begin to “relax” (return to a steady-state value). Thickened crust,
whether created by underthrusting (as shown) or by folding or flow, leads to sialic crust at depths and temperatures sufficient to cause
partial melting. Winter (2001) An Introduction to Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice Hall.

Crustal melting may also be enhanced by dehydration

of the lower under-thrust crust

Figure 18-7. Schematic cross section of the Himalayas showing the dehydration and partial melting zones that produced the
leucogranites. After France-Lanord and Le Fort (1988) Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh, 79, 183-195. Winter (2001) An Introduction to
Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice Hall.

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 Continental Arc
Magmatism

Figure 17-2. Schematic diagram to illustrate how a

shallow dip of the subducting slab can pinch out the
asthenosphere from the overlying mantle wedge.
Winter (2001) An Introduction to Igneous and
Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice Hall.

Granite
Batholiths
along
Continental
Arcs

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 Figure 17-16. Schematic cross section of the Coastal batholith of Peru. The shallow flat-topped and steep-
sided “bell-jar”-shaped plutons are stoped into place. Successive pulses may be nested at a single locality.
The heavy line is the present erosion surface. From Myers (1975) Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull., 86, 1209-1220.

Coastal batholith
of Peru

Note typical calc-alkaline trend and range from gabbro to granite

Figure 17-17. Harker-type and AFM variation diagrams for the Coastal batholith of Peru. Data span several suites from W. S. Pitcher,
M. P. Atherton, E. J. Cobbing, and R. D. Beckensale (eds.), Magmatism at a Plate Edge. The Peruvian Andes. Blackie. Glasgow. Winter
(2001) An Introduction to Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice Hall.

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 Batholith plutonic rocks
are compositionally
similar to the associated
volcanics

Figure 17-18. Chondrite-normalized REE

abundances for the Linga and Tiybaya super-
units of the Coastal batholith of Peru and
associated volcanics. From Atherton et al. (1979)
In M. P. Atherton and J. Tarney (eds.), Origin of
Granite Batholiths: Geochemical Evidence. Shiva.
Kent. Winter (2001) An Introduction to Igneous
and Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice Hall.

How do they form?

Model # 1
1. Underplating of crust by
suduction zone mafic
magmas
2. Melting of underplate to
produce tonalite magmas
3. Differentiation of tonalite
(or crustal assimilation) to
produce granites

Figure 17-20. Schematic diagram illustrating (a)

the formation of a gabbroic crustal underplate at
an continental arc and (b) the remelting of the
underplate to generate tonalitic plutons. After
Cobbing and Pitcher (1983) in J. A. Roddick
(ed.), Circum-Pacific Plutonic Terranes. Geol.
Soc. Amer. Memoir, 159. pp. 277-291.

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 Model # 2
1. Underplating of crust by
subduction zone mafic
magmas
2. But also extensive
fractionation of mafic
magma accompanied by
assimilation and melting of
crust and homogenization
3. MASH = melting,
assimilation, storage and
homogenization

Figure 17-23. Schematic cross section of an active continental margin subduction zone, showing the dehydration of the subducting slab,
hydration and melting of a heterogeneous mantle wedge (including enriched sub-continental lithospheric mantle), crustal underplating of
mantle-derived melts where MASH processes may occur, as well as crystallization of the underplates. Remelting of the underplate to
produce tonalitic magmas and a possible zone of crustal anatexis is also shown. As magmas pass through the continental crust they may
differentiate further and/or assimilate continental crust. Winter (2001) An Introduction to Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice
Hall.

Magma Mixing versus the Restite Model

Many granites contain mafic
inclusions such as those shown here.
Generally the more mafic the granite
the more mafic inclusions it contains

What’s the Problem?

1. Are these inclusions blobs of mafic
magma that was liquid at the same
time as the granite?
2. Are they the refractory residua
(restite) remaining after crustal
rocks (or underplated gabbros) have
been melted to produce granite?

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Model # 3 The Restite Model

1. Melting of source
produces a granite melt
2. Source can be sedimentary
(S-type granites) or
igneous (I-type granites)
3. Restite represented by
mafic inclusions
4. Range in composition
(granite to granodiorite)
results from mixtures of
granite melt and restite

Model # 4 Magma Mixing Model

1. Melting of crust produces
a granitic melt
2. Invasion of mafic magma
into granitic magma
reservoir results in
mixing and formation of
mixed magmas ranging
from granite to
granodiorite

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Vinalhaven – an example of magma mixing

Mafic magma (red) has

ponded on top of a crystal
mush of granitic magma on
the floor of the magma
chamber

At nearby Isle au Haut this process has

been repeated about six times!

Mingling and mixing of coexisting

liquid granitic and basaltic magma
produces pillows of basalt in granite
Further confirmation that both magmas
were simultaneously liquid is provided by
these pipes of granite in the gabbro.
The less dense granite mush was lighter
than the overlying basalt magma and
therefore rose as pipes through the liquid
basalt.
Problem!
Although mingling and mixing of graniite
and mafic magmas can be clearly
demonstrated. The compositional range is
very limited and does not account for the
compositional range found in many
granitic batholiths

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 Classification according to tectonic setting

Table 18-4. A Classification of Granitoid Rocks Based on Tectonic Setting. After Pitcher (1983) in K. J. Hsü (ed.), Mountain
Building Processes, Academic Press, London; Pitcher (1993), The Nature and Origin of Granite, Blackie, London; and Barbarin
(1990) Geol. Journal, 25, 227-238. Winter (2001) An Introduction to Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice Hall.

Table 18-4. A
Classification of
Granitoid Rocks Based
on Tectonic Setting.
After Pitcher (1983) in
K. J. Hsü (ed.),
Mountain Building
Processes, Academic
Press, London; Pitcher
(1993), The Nature and
Origin of Granite,
Blackie, London; and
Barbarin (1990) Geol.
Journal, 25, 227-238.
Winter (2001) An
Introduction to Igneous
and Metamorphic
Petrology. Prentice Hall.

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 Use of trace elements as tectonic discriminants

Figure 18-9. Examples of granitoid discrimination diagrams used by Pearce et al. (1984, J. Petrol., 25, 956-983) with the granitoids
of Table 18-2 plotted. Winter (2001) An Introduction to Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice Hall.

Figure 18-8. Schematic models for the

uplift and extensional collapse of
orogenically thickened continental
crust. Subduction leads to thickened
crust by either continental collision
(a1) or compression of the continental
arc (a2), each with its characteristic
orogenic magmatism. Both
mechanisms lead to a thickened crust,
and probably thickened mechanical
and thermal boundary layers (“MBL”
and “TBL”) as in (b) Following the
stable situation in (b), either
compression ceases (c1) or the thick
dense thermal boundary layer is
removed by delamination or
convective erosion (c2). The result is
extension and collapse of the crust,
thinning of the lithosphere, and rise of
hot asthenosphere (d). The increased
heat flux in (d), plus the
decompression melting of the rising
asthenosphere, results in bimodal
post-orogenic magmatism with both
mafic mantle and silicic crustal melts.
Winter (2001) An Introduction to
Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology.
Prentice Hall.

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