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Zircon from four plutons of peralkaline granites and quartz-bearing syenites, differing in geotectonic positions, petrological and mineralogical compositions, and contents of volatile and trace elements, was studied using SEM, CL, and EPMA with the intention to define typical textural and chemical features of zircon from peralkaline rocks. In strongly peralkaline Na-pyroxene-bearing rocks represented by the Khan Bogd and Khalzan Buregte plutons (Mongolia), the primary zircon is scarce or missing. Most zircon grains are secondary, originating in hydrothermal stage from primary Zr silicates. They often form globular or radial aggregates. Chemical compositions of zircon in these rocks typically show high contents of Y, moderate contents of REE (thus high Y/Yb values) together with low contents of U and Th and low analytical totals. In mildly peralkaline mica-bearing rocks represented by Ivigtut stock (Groenland) and Madeira pluton (Brazil), the exclusive primary Zr mineral is zircon, mostly of orthomagmatic origin. Its analytical totals approach 100 wt%, enrichment in HREE, resulting in low Y/Yb values, is typical. Zircon populations from two types of peralkaline granitoids can be distinguished from each other and from zircon from S-type granites based on combination of the Zr/Hf, Y/Yb, and U/Th values, or on the Y-Hf-P ternary diagram. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zircon from 14 representative granite samples of the late-Variscan Comubian Batholith in SW England was analysed for W, P, As, Nb, Ta, Si, Ti, Zr, Hf, Th, U, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Er, Yb, Al, Sc, Bi, Mn, Fe, Ca, Pb, Cu, S and F using electron probe microanalyses. Zircons from the biotite and tourmaline granites are poor in minor and trace elements, usually containing 1.0-1.5 wt.% HfO2, <0.5 wt.% UO2 and P2O5, <0.25 wt.% Y2O3, <0.2 wt.% Sc2O3 and Bi2O3 and <0.1 wt.% ThO2. Zircon from topaz granites from the St. Austell Pluton, Meldon Aplite and Megiliggar Rocks are slightly enriched in Hf (up to 4 wt.% HfO2), U (1-3.5 wt.% UO2) and Sc (0.5-1 wt.% Sc2O3). Scarce metamictized zircon grains are somewhat enriched in Al, Ca, Fe and Mn. The decrease of the zircon Zr/Hf ratio, a reliable magma fractionation index, from 110 - 60 in the biotite granites to 30-10 in the most evolved topaz granites (Meldon Aplite and Megiliggar Rocks), supports a comagmatic origin of the biotite and topaz granites via long-lasting fractionation of common peraluminous crustal magma. In comparison with other European rare-metal provinces, the overall contents of trace elements in Cornubian zircons are low and the Zr/Hf and U/Th ratios show lower degrees of fractionation of the parental melt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trace element content in zircons from A-type granites and rhyolites was investigated by using back-scattered electron images and electron microprobe analyses. The studied Proterozoic (Wiborg batholith, Finland and Pará, Amazonas and Goiás states, Brazil) and Variscan (Krušné Hory/Erzgebirge, Czech Republic and Germany) plutons cover a wide range of rocks, from large rapakivi-textured geochemically primitive plutons to small intrusions of F-, Li-, Sn-, Nb-, Ta-, and U-enriched rare-metal granites. While zircon is one of the first crystallized minerals in less fractionated metaluminous and peraluminous granites, it is a late-crystallized phase in peralkaline granites and in evolved granites that may crystallize during the whole process of magma solidification. The early crystals are included in mica, quartz, and feldspar; the late grains are included in fluorite or cryolite or are interstitial. The zircon in hornblende–biotite and biotite granites from the non-mineralized plutons is poor in minor and trace elements; the zircon in moderately fractionated granite varieties is slightly enriched in Hf, Th, U, Y, and HREEs; whereas the zircon in highly fractionated ore-bearing granites may be strongly enriched in Hf (up to 10wt.% HfO2), Th (up to 10wt.% ThO2), U (up to 10wt.% UO2), Y (up to 12wt.% Y2O3), Sc (up to 3wt.% Sc2O3), Nb (up to 5wt.% Nb2O5), Ta (up to 1wt.% Ta2O5), W (up to 3wt.% WO3), F (up to 2.5wt.%F), P (up to 11wt.% P2O5), and As (up to 1wt.% As2O5). Metamictized zircons may also be enriched in Bi, Ca, Fe, and Al. The increase in the Hf content coupled with the decrease in the Zr/Hf value in zircon is one of the most reliable indicators of granitic magma evolution. In the zircon of A-type granites, the Zr/Hf value decreases from 41–67 (porphyritic granite) to 16–19 (equigranular granite) in the Kymi stock, Finland, and from 49–52 (biotite granite) to 18–36 (leucogranite) in the Pedra Branca pluton, Brazil. In the in situ strongly fractionated Cínovec cupola (Erzgebirge), the Zr/Hf value decreases from 33–51 in the protolithionite granite at a depth of 1255m to 7.5–25 in the zinnwaldite granite at a depth of 40m. At the scale of individual crystals, the Zr/Hf value decreases from 86 to 68 from the cores to the rims of the zircons from the Teplice rhyolite and from 64 to 33 in the zircons from the biotite granite at Krupka, Erzgebirge. The contents of Hf and U in zircon are dependent mainly on the degree of granite fractionation and the nature and volume of the volatile phases and are independent of the A- or S-character of the parental melt. The zircon Zr/Hf ratios 55 and 25 are proposed to approximately distinguish common, moderately evolved and highly evolved granites. Zircons from the moderately and highly evolved granites of A- and S-type can be discriminated on the basis of their HREE content and the U/Th ratios. Nb, Ta, and W are present in zircon from the highly evolved granites from all studied areas, while high As, Bi, and Sc contents are typical only for the Erzgebirge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nine SHRIMP U/Pb ages on zircon and two Pb/Pb single zircon ages have been determined from Late Paleozoic volcanic rocks from Saxony and northern Bohemia. Samples came from the Teplice-Altenberg Volcanic Complex, the Meissen Volcanic Complex, the Chemnitz Basin, the Döhlen Basin, the Brandov-Olbernhau Basin, and the North Saxon Volcanic Complex. The Teplice-Altenberg Volcanic Complex is subdivided into an early Namurian phase (Mikulov Ignimbrite, 326.8 ± 4.3 Ma), thus older than assumed by previous studies, and a late caldera-forming phase (Teplice Ignimbrite, 308.8 ± 4.9 Ma). The age of the latter, however, is not well constrained due to a large population of inherited zircon and possible hydrothermal overprint. The Leutewitz Ignimbrite, product of an early explosive volcanic episode of the Meissen Volcanic Complex yielded an age of 302.9 ± 2.5 Ma (Stephanian A). Volcanic rocks intercalated in the Brandov-Olbernhau Basin (BOB, 302 ± 2.8 Ma), Chemnitz Basin (CB, 296.6 ± 3.0 Ma), Döhlen Basin (DB, 296 ± 3.0 Ma), and the North Saxon Volcanic Complex (NSVC, c. 300-290 Ma) yielded well-constrained Stephanian to Sakmarian ages. The largest Late Paleozoic ignimbrite-forming eruption in Central Europe, the Rochlitz Ignimbrite, has a well-defined middle Asselian age of 294.4 ± 1.8 Ma. Ages of palingenic zircon revealed that the Namurian-Westphalian magmatism assimilated larger amounts of crystalline basement that formed during previous Paleozoic geodynamic phases. The Precambrian inherited ages support the chronostratigraphic structure assumed for the Saxo-Thuringian Zone of the Variscan Orogen. The present results help to improve the chronostratigraphic allocation of the Late Paleozoic volcanic zones in Central Europe. At the same time, the radiometric ages have implications for the interbasinal correlation and for the geodynamic evolution of the Variscan Orogeny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The strongly peraluminous and P-rich, protolithionite and zinnwaldite leucogranites from Podlesí, western Krušné Hory Mts., Czech Republic, contain accessory zircon with extraordinary enrichment of several elements, which constitute trace elements in common zircon. Elements showing a not yet reported anomalous enrichment include P (up to 20.2 wt.% P2O5; equivalent to 0.60 apfu, formula calculated on the basis of 4 oxygen atoms), Bi (up to 9.0 wt.% Bi2O3; 0.086 apfu), Nb (up to 6.7 wt.% Nb2O5, 0.12 apfu), Sc (up to 3.45 wt.% Sc2O3; 0.10 apfu), U (up to 14.8 wt.% UO2; 0.12 apfu) and F (up to 3.81 wt.% F; 0.42 apfu). Strong enrichment of P preferentially involved the berlinite-type substitution (2 Si4+ ⇔P5+ +Al3+) implying that significant Al may enter the Si position in zircon. Incorporation of other exotic elements is primarily governed by the xenotime (Si4+ +Zr4+ ⇔P5+ +Y3+), pretulite (Sc3+ +P5+ ⇔Zr4+ +Si4+), brabantite-type (Ca2+ +(U, Th)4+ +2P5+ ⇔2Zr4+ +2Si4+), and ximengite-type (Bi3+ +P5+ ⇔Zr4+ +Si4+) substitution reactions. One part of the anomalous zircons formed late-magmatically, from a strongly peraluminous, P–F–U-rich hydrous residual melt that gave rise to the zinnwaldite granite. Interaction with aggressive residual fluids and metamictization have further aided in element enrichment or depletion, particularly in altered parts of zircon contained in the protolithionite granite. Most of the zircon from F-rich greisens have a composition close to endmember ZrSiO4 and are chemically distinct from zircon in its granite parent. This discrepancy implies that at Podlesí, granitic zircon became unstable and completely dissolved during greisenization. Part of the mobilized elements was reprecipitated in newly grown, hydrothermal zircon. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Padrť Stock is a small (~5 km²) intrusion located near the SE margin of the Teplá-Barrandian Unit, Bohemian Massif, several kilometers away from the NW periphery of the Central Bohemian Plutonic Complex. On outcrops, which are all located close to the contact of the stock with Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks, two types of granitoids were detected, fine- to medium-grained hornblende-biotite Padrť granodiorite, and, along its SW margin, fine- to medium-grained partly porphyritic biotite Teslíny leucogranite. The U-Pb zircon dating of the more voluminous Padrť granodiorite by laser ablation ICP-MS yielded a magmatic age of 342.8 ± 1.1 Ma, which is slightly lower than are the published age data for the nearby Blatná suite granitoids of the plutonic complex. The Re-Os dating of molybdenite occurring in quartz veins within a quartzite lens in close exocontact yielded ages of 337.2 ± 2.4 Ma and 339.8 ± 2.5 Ma (two samples). The data indicate that the formation of molybdenite postdated that of the magmatic rock. This is in agreement with relatively low-temperature deposition of quartz related to formation of the molybdenite, as indicated by the fluid inclusions (280 to 300 °C). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]