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Published September 20, 2024 | Published
Book Section - Chapter Metadata-only

The diversity and origin of granites

Bucholz, Claire E.1 ORCID icon
  • 1. ROR icon California Institute of Technology

Abstract

Granites are an important compositional endmember and critical building block of the continental crust. Yet, their origin remains controversial primarily due to the diversity of granite types demanding different formation processes and sources. This chapter reviews the geochemical features of four broad categories of granites (strongly peraluminous granites, arc-related granites, post-collisional metaluminous, magnesian potassic granites, and ferroan granites) and their inferred modes of origin and distribution through time. Stable isotopes including traditional (O and S) and non-traditional (Si, Fe, and Ti) are highlighted as tools to understand differentiation of basalts and crustal assimilation during granite formation.

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Acknowledgement

I have tried to cite as many important papers on granite petrogenesis as possible, but as with all reviews and certainly for one on a subject with as a rich history as granites, I certainly have not succeeded in giving the credit due to everyone in the granite community. I apologize for any missing recognitions. I also recognize that I am a relatively young researcher of granite petrology and there are numerous scientists whom I have never met and yet my knowledge of granite petrogenesis is indebted to. I am grateful to many colleagues for discussions on granite petrogenesis and stable isotope geochemistry including (in alphabetical order by last name) Paul Asimow, George Bergantz, Michael Eddy, John Eiler, Carol Frost, Oliver Jagoutz, Benjamin Klein, Barbara Ratschbacher, Leon Silver, Tom Sisson, Christopher Spencer, Ed Stolper, and Francois Tissot. I also thank the participants in my 2022 reading seminar at Caltech for discussions on granite petrogenesis. Juliet Ryan Davis, Jade Star Lackey, Sebastian Fischer, and Jean-François Moyen generously provided field and petrographic photos. Bud Wobus kindly provided a thin section of the granite from the Pikes Peak batholith. John Foden is thanked for providing his Fe isotope model results. Jean-François Moyen and Carol Frost are thanked for the constructive and insightful reviews and discussion which resulted in a more cohesive and comprehensive chapter. Finally, I am indebted to Tim Grove who, during my qualifying exam as a 2nd year graduate student, asked me to draw the quartz-nepheline-kalsilite phase diagram (which at the time I couldn’t reproduce!). It has since been etched permanently in my memory.

Additional details

Dates Caltech Custom Metadata
Created:
October 15, 2024
Modified:
October 15, 2024