Iron, zinc, magnesium and uranium isotopic fractionation during continental crust differentiation: The tale from migmatites, granitoids, and pegmatites

The causes of some stable isotopic variations in felsic rocks are not well understood. In particular, the origin of the heavy Fe isotopic compositions (i.e., high delta Fe-56 values, deviation in parts per thousand of the Fe-56/Fe-54 ratio relative to IRMM-014) of granites with SiO2 >70 wt.% compared with less silicic rocks is still debated. It has been interpreted to reflect isotopic fractionation during late stage aqueous fluid exsolution, magma differentiation, partial melting, or Soret (thermal) diffusion. The present study addresses this issue by comparing the Fe isotopic compositions of a large range of differentiated crustal rocks (whole rocks of migmatites, granitoids, and pegmatites; mineral separates) with the isotopic compositions of Zn, Mg and U. The samples include granites, migmatites and pegmatites from the Black Hills, South Dakota (USA), as well as I-, S-, and A-type granitoids from Lachlan Fold Belt (Australia). The nature of the protolith (i.e., I-or S-type) does not influence the Fe isotopic composition of granitoids. Leucosomes (partial melts in migmatites) tend to have higher delta Fe-56 values than melanosomes (melt residues) indicating that partial melting of continental crust material can possibly fractionate Fe isotopes. No clear positive correlation is found between the isotopic compositions of Mg, U and Fe, which rules out the process of Soret diffusion in the systems studied here. Zinc isotopes were measured to trace fluid exsolution because Zn can easily be mobilized by aqueous fluids as chloride complexes. Pegmatites and some granitic rocks with high delta Fe-56 values also have high delta Zn-66 values. In addition, high-SiO2 granites show a large dispersion in the Zn/Fe ratio that cannot easily be explained by magma differentiation alone. These results suggest that fluid exsolution is responsible for some of the Fe isotopic fractionation documented in felsic rocks and in particular in pegmatites. However, some granites with high delta Fe-56 values have unfractionated delta Zn-66 values and were presumably poor in fluids (e. g., A-type). For these samples, iron isotopic fractionation during magma differentiation is a viable interpretation. Equilibrium Fe isotopic fractionation factors between silicic melts and minerals remain to be characterized to quantitatively assess the role of fractional crystallization on iron isotopes in granitoids. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.