A zircon petrochronologic view on granitoids and continental evolution

Binary alloys; Feldspar; Gallium; Geochronology; Igneous rocks; Lead alloys; Reservoirs (water); Structural geology; Thermometers; Trace elements; Uranium alloys; Continental crusts; Crustal evolution; Crustal thickness; Detrital zircon; Element chemistry; Magmatic temperatures; Metasedimentary rocks; Trace element geochemistry; Zircon

Abstract :

[en] Temporal trends in granitoid chemistry and thermometry constrain major global changes in magmatism, tectonism or crustal thickness in the continents. Our study relies on zircon geochronology and trace element geochemistry on four new detrital rocks (two modern sediments and two Archean metasedimentary rocks) and a global compilation of published single zircon detrital chronology and trace chemistry data acquired on 5587 individual grains. Zircons of all ages from 4.4 Ga to present exist in this archive. Ti-in-zircon thermometry indicates that more than 98% of the grains with concordant U-Pb ages formed at temperatures exceeding 650 °C. The great majority of these zircons formed in the 650–850 °C range consistent with growth in intermediate to silicic magmas. Magmatic temperatures increased over time for the first 1.2 Ga of Earth's history after which they stayed constant before decreasing during the more recent past. U/Th<5 values in the overwhelming majority of grains are consistent with a magmatic origin. La/Yb, Sm/Yb and Eu/Eu* values are relatively constant throughout the history of the Earth suggesting that most granitoids formed at, or evolved from magmatic reservoirs located at depths of 35–45 km in the presence of amphibole, garnet and limited plagioclase. Such reservoirs are common today in hot deep crustal environments beneath some of the thicker island arcs and all continental arcs along subduction zones. Processes other than modern day style subduction may have contributed to the formation of granitoids in the early Earth but temperatures, depths and the presence of water arbitrated by the presence of amphibole were similar. These results also suggest that the thickness of continental crust in areas that produced granitoids was similar to today's global average throughout the 4.4 Ga time period covered by the zircon archive. There is no correlation between zircon chemistry over time and the assembly of supercontinents. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.

Disciplines :

Earth sciences & physical geography

Author, co-author :

Balica, C.; Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj Napoca, Romania

Ducea, M. N.; University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences, Tucson, AZ, United States, Faculty of Geology and Geophysics, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

Gehrels, G. E.; University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences, Tucson, AZ, United States

Kirk, J.; University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences, Tucson, AZ, United States

Roban, R. D.; Faculty of Geology and Geophysics, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

Luffi, P.; Geodynamics Institute of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania, Geological Institute of Romania, Bucharest, Romania

Chapman, J. B.; Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, United States

Triantafyllou, Antoine ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géologie > Pétrologie, géochimie endogènes et pétrophysique

Guo, J.; State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China

Stoica, A. M.; University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences, Tucson, AZ, United States

More authors (5 more)

Language :

English

Title :

A zircon petrochronologic view on granitoids and continental evolution

Publication date :

2020

Journal title :

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

ISSN :

0012-821X

eISSN :

1385-013X

Publisher :

Elsevier, Netherlands

Volume :

531

Issue :

February

Pages :

116005

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Funders :

PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF-2016-0014EAR 1725002

Available on ORBi :

since 15 July 2021

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