Diversification of Archean tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite suites in a mushy middle crust

Tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) suites are the dominant component of Earth’s first continents, but their origins are debated. The trace element concentrations of these rocks are conventionally linked to their source depths and inferred geodynamic settings with the implicit assumption that TTG compositions are source-controlled. Alternatively, their variable compositions may be caused by fractional crystallization in TTG plutons after emplacement and less clearly linked to source depth. Most TTGs in Archean mid-crustal exposures are the dominant component of igneous gray gneiss complexes; the processes that influence the evolution of TTG magmas in this setting are poorly understood. We present a petrological–geochemical model that explains the coexistence of TTGs in the middle crust with low-pressure and high-pressure geochemical trends, irrespective of tectonic setting or depth of the TTG source. We propose that mid-crustal TTGs were long-lived crystal mushes with compositions controlled by the separation of early-crystallizing plagioclase and melt. Using phase equilibrium modeling, we demonstrate that a suite of TTGs from the southern Superior Province in Canada represents variably plagioclase-rich and melt-rich fractions from a common parent magma. The behavior of plagioclase may have a strong influence on the geochemical trends of TTGs, including the degree of rare earth element fractionation. Our results suggest that trace element compositions of TTGs may not primarily reflect the depth of the source and cannot be used alone to infer Archean geodynamic settings.

HEAVY CLASTIC MINERALS AS AN INDICATOR OF GEODYNAMIC SETTINGS OF ACCUMULATION AND PROVENANCE OF CRETACEOUS SEDIMENTS OF THE WEST SAKHALIN TERRANE

The article discusses the results of studying heavy clastic minerals from the Cretaceous sandy rocks of the West Sakhalin Terrane, and also presents their paleogeodynamic interpretation. It is shown that in terms of mineralogical and petrographic parameters, the terrane sandstones correspond to typical graywackes and are petrogenic rocks formed mainly by destruction of igneous rocks of the source areas. The sediments were found to contain both sialic, granite-metamorphic association minerals, and femic, formed by products of the destruction of basic and ultrabasic volcanic rocks. The interpretation of the entire set of data on the content, distribution and microchemical composition of heavy minerals was carried out by comparing them with minerals from older rocks and modern sediments accumulated in known geodynamic settings. The results obtained indicate that during the Cretaceous, sedimentation occurred along the continent-ocean boundary in a basin associated with large-scale left-lateral transform movements of the Izanagi Plate relative to the Eurasian continent. The source area that supplied clastic material to that basin combined a sialic landmass composed of granite-metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, a mature deeply dissected ensialic island arc, and fragments of accretion prisms, in the structure of which involved ophiolites.