Geochemistry of the Serifos calc-alkaline granodiorite pluton, Greece: constraining the crust and mantle contributions to I-type granitoids

Abstract

The Late Miocene (11.6–9.5 Ma) granitoid intrusion on the island of Serifos (Western Cyclades, Aegean Sea) is composed of syn- to post-tectonic granodiorite with quartz monzodiorite enclaves, cut by dacitic and aplitic dikes. The granitoid, a typical I-type metaluminous calcic amphibole-bearing calc-alkaline pluton, intruded the Cycladic Blueschists during thinning of the Aegean plate. Combining field, textural, geochemical and new Sr–Nd–O isotope data presented in this paper, we postulate that the Serifos intrusion is a single-zoned pluton. The central facies has initial ^(87)Sr/^(86)Sr = 0.70906 to 0.7106, ε_(Nd)(t) = − 5.9 to −  7.5 and δ^(18)Ο_(qtz) = + 10 to + 10.6‰, whereas the marginal zone (or border facies) has higher initial ^(87)Sr/^(86)Sr = 0.711 to 0.7112, lower ε_(Nd)(t) = −  7.3 to − 8.3, and higher δ^(18)Ο_(qtz) = + 10.6 to + 11.9‰. The small range in initial Sr and Nd isotopic values throughout the pluton is paired with a remarkable uniformity in trace element patterns, despite a large range in silica contents (58.8 to 72 wt% SiO_2). Assimilation of a crustally derived partial melt into the mafic parental magma would progressively add incompatible trace elements and SiO2 to the evolving mafic starting liquid, but the opposite trend, of trace element depletion during magma evolution, is observed in the Serifos granodiorites. Thermodynamic modeling of whole-rock compositions during simple fractional crystallization (FC) or assimilation-fractional crystallization (AFC) processes of major rock-forming minerals—at a variety of pressure, oxidation state, and water activity conditions—fails to reproduce simultaneously the major element and trace element variations among the Serifos granitoids, implying a critical role for minor phases in controlling trace element fractionation. Both saturation of accessory phases such as allanite and titanite (at SiO_2 ≥ 71 wt%)(to satisfy trace element constraints) and assimilation of partial melts from a metasedimentary component (to match isotopic data) must have accompanied fractional crystallization of the major phases.