Fluid-fluxed partial melting of the Buncheon granitic gneiss in the Yeongnam Massif, Korea: Protracted (ca. 1.86-1.84 Ga) reworking of the Paleoproterozoic Korean arc

The fluid-fluxed melting of igneous protoliths provides an opportunity to assess the role of fluid for the formation and modification of continental crust during high-temperature metamorphism. In order to investigate such an anatexis in the Buncheon granitic gneiss, Yeongnam Massif, we combined field, microstructural, and geochemical studies with the U-Pb and oxygen isotopic analyses of zircon and monazite. The granitic gneisses comprise metatexitic migmatites containing leucosomes, although neither melanosomes nor peritectic phases are associated with neosomes. These migmatites underwent syn-kinematic wet melting in the presence of ca. 0.9-1.4 wt% H2O (estimated from the pseudosection modeling) via the reaction, plagioclase +K-feldspar + quartz + H2O = melt, that took place at -650-750 degrees C and 4-6 kbar. The leucosomes differ in the degree of Eu anomalies and have variable amounts of rare earth elements, Zr, Y, and Th. Such variations are attributed to the segregation and migration of melts as well as the entrainment of residual phases. Sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Pb ages of zircon and monazite were determined from two granitic gneisses and three leucosomes together with an adjacent, undeformed Hongjesa granite. Zircon grains are oscillatory-zoned, except for homogeneous overgrowth rims rarely present in two leucosomes. Both zircon domains were dated at ca. 1.98-1.97 Ga and ca. 1.86 Ga, respectively, suggesting that igneous protoliths were partly recrystallized during the late Orosirian. Monazites from two gneiss samples contain submicroscopic polycrystalline inclusions of K-feldspar + quartz + apatite, reflecting the presence of former melts, and yielded a pooled 207Pb/206Pb age of 1859 +/- 6 Ma (n = 30). In contrast, monazites from a leucosome are inclusion-free, and yielded the youngest age of 1840 +/- 16 Ma (n = 6). This result is interpreted to represent the melt crystallization at ca. 1.84 Ga following the ca. 1.86 Ga anatexis. On the other hand, monazite from the Hongjesa granite, yielded a weighted mean 207Pb/206Pb age of 1878 +/- 5 Ma (n = 11), most likely reflecting a prograde metamorphic growth. The delta 18O values of ca. 1.98-1.97 Ga igneous zircon in granitic gneisses are 7.1-7.2 %o, but those from the leucosome are reduced at 5.9-6.7 %o. The latter is largely identical to 5.7-6.7 %o estimated from ca. 1.86 Ga domains of zircon in the leucosome and monazite in the granitic gneiss; in contrast, a slightly lower delta 18O value of 5.46 +/- 0.61 %o is recorded in the ca. 1.84 Ga monazite of leucosome. The relatively low delta 18O values are most likely accounted for by an influx of fluid that has apparently triggered partial melting in the granitic gneiss, and the fluid itself is possibly linked to the crystallization of mafic magmas in an arc complex. Taken together, in contrast to the majority of zircons preserving the crystallization age of igneous protoliths, monazites are more susceptible to recrystallization during the fluid-present melting and permit us to decode a protracted (-20 m.yr.) episode from partial melting to melt crystallization in the Yeongnam Massif. Such a longevity of melt-present system typifies the prolonged crustal reworking of Paleoproterozoic Korean arc situated at the eastern margin of the North China Craton.

Automated summary

The study on Buncheon granitic gneiss reveals the significant role of fluid-fluxed melting in the formation and modification of continental crust during high-temperature metamorphism. The presence of melts and the recrystallization of igneous protoliths are evidenced by the field, microstructural, and geochemical studies, as well as the U-Pb and oxygen isotopic analyses of zircon and monazite. The results suggest a long episode of partial melting to melt crystallization in the Yeongnam Massif, indicating the prolonged crustal reworking of the Paleoproterozoic Korean arc.