Abstract
Seventy samples of Hercynian peraluminous granites (Guéret, Millevaches and Saint Sylvestre massifs) and metamorphic units of the Limousin area were analysed for Rb−Sr and Sm−Nd. The source rocks of the peraluminous granites can be found in the metamorphic rocks of Limousin, among them meta-igneous rocks were largely predominent over meta-sedimentary rocks in the source of the three granites. Millevaches and Guéret granites were generated by the partial melting of rocks comprising meta-volcanics and meta-sediments, whereas the Saint Sylvestre granite was produced exclusively by the melting of late Precambrian granites. This leads to confusing T NdDM values, the confusion being amplified by the segregation of monazite during the petrogenetic evolution of the peraluminous granites, which leads to dramatic fractionation in Sm/Nd ratios. The data of the present study tend to demonstrate that peraluminous granites do not give a good representation of isotopic mean crustal estimates. Late Precambrian time seems, however, to have been a period of extensive crustal generation in Western Europe.
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Turpin, L., Cuney, M., Friedrich, M. et al. Meta-igneous origin of Hercynian peraluminous granites in N.W. French Massif Central: implications for crustal history reconstructions. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 104, 163–172 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00306440
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00306440