12 Crustal Differentiation Processes, Timescales and Products in the North American Cordillera

Saturday, 5 May 2007
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

INSIGHTS INTO CRUSTAL PROCESSES WITHIN ARCS FROM GRANITOID ROCKS

Paper number: 12-1
Program: THEME SESSIONS
Time: 8:00 AM – 8:20 AM

Authors

Abstract

Granitoid rocks commonly constitute a significant proportion of the magmatic record exposed within collisional belts that have been interpreted as former arcs. Information these rocks can provide include: 1. a record of both relative and absolute (using precise geochronology) changes over time in many parameters (e.g. mineralogy, geochemistry, isotopes); 2. an understanding of complex magmatic processes that occurred at various crustal levels and stages during arc formation, including partial melting P-T conditions; 3. as lower crustal probes, they can map large scale crustal boundaries or sutures; and, 4. constraining large scale geodynamic, tectonic and metallogenic processes within arcs. Examples of Mesozoic to Paleoproterozoic granitoid suites will help illustrate these insights.