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High-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic suites are widespread and generally volumetrically small but provide key information on magmatic mantle-crust interactions. Limited work has addressed the multi-stage formation of relatively high-volume high-K to shoshonitic rocks. A newly identified, Late-Cretaceous to Early-Cenozoic high-volume high-K to shoshonitic association (ca. 28,000 km3) is described, from the southeastern Himalayan–Tibetan orogen. The mafic intrusions are shoshonitic (K2O contents, ~ 3.3 wt.%), have high-Mg contents (~ 5.1 wt.%) with high-Mg# (57), LREE and LILEs with low Ba/Th, Ba/La, Sm/La (< 0.3), Nb/Yb and 208Pb/206Pb ratios but high Hf/Sm (> 0.70), Th/Yb, Th/La (> 0.2) and La/Sm, and lack an Eu anomaly. Their mafic minerals are hydrous, dominated by magnesio-hornblende (Mg#, ~ 0.69–0.73) and Mg- and K-biotite (MgO, 7.27–9.26 wt.%; K2O, 9.65–10.1 wt.%). Such characteristics strongly suggest derivation from the sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM), metasomatized by sediment-derived melts/fluids. The associated felsic intrusions have high SiO2, alkali content (Na2O + K2O contents up to 10.0 wt.%) and incompatible elements (e.g., K, Rb), with ferropargasite-hastingsite and ferrobiotite-siderophyllite as the mafic phases. These characteristics point to derivation from the continental crust enriched by fluids, likely those released from the contemporaneous mafic magmas crystallising at depth. In contrast to low-volume potassic magmatism from post-collision and earliest arc-rift settings, these high-volume high-K and shoshonitic intrusions define a mantle-to-upper crust pathway at an active continental margin. Alongside geophysical data, these observations are consistent with the contemporary subduction history, arising from subduction of the Neo-Tethyan ocean slab to initial collision of India-Asia, from steepening subduction to slab rollback and breakoff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In plutonic systems, magma mixing is often modelled by mass balance based on whole-rock geochemistry. However, magma mixing is a chaotic process and chemical equilibration is controlled by non-linear diffusive-advective processes unresolved by the study of bulk samples. Here we present textural observations, LA-(MC-)ICP-MS trace element and Sr-Nd isotopic data of accessory apatites and titanites from a hybrid granodiorite of the Neoarchean Matok pluton (South Africa), collected in a zone of conspicuous mixing between mafic and felsic magmas. Apatite grains mostly show a pronounced zoning in CL images, corresponding to abrupt changes in REE and HFSE concentrations recording their transfer through compositionally different melt domains during mixing. These grains crystallized early, at temperatures of 950-1000 °C. Titanite grains crystallized at temperatures of 820-900 °C (Zr-in-sphene thermometry). They show limited intra-grain chemical variations but huge inter-grain compositional scatter in REE and HFSE, pinpointing crystallization within a crystal mush, from isolated melt pockets having different composition from one another owing to incomplete chemical homogenization and variable Rayleigh fractionation. These chemical-textural characteristics, in combination with partitioning models and Polytopic Vector Analysis, point to 'self-mixing' between co-genetic dioritic and granodioritic/granitic magmas. Both resulted from differentiation of mantle-derived mafic melts, showing that mixing does not necessarily involve magmas from contrasted (crust vs. mantle) sources. Systematic variations in εNd (−4.5 to −2.5) and Sr/Sr (0.703-0.707) of titanite and apatite grains/domains crystallized from the two magmas point to an isotopically inhomogeneous mantle source, which is not resolved by bulk-rock isotopic data. Interaction between the two magmas must have occurred at relatively high temperatures (ca. 900°C) so that their viscosity contrast remained low, allowing efficient mechanical mixing. Despite this, chemical homogenization was incomplete, as recorded by diffusive fractionation between REE-HFSE and Sr. Modelling thereof reveals that chemical exchange between the liquid phases of the two mixed magmas did not last more than a few tens to hundreds of years. The chemical equilibration between mixed magmas thus strongly depends on the considered elements and observational length scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An alkali feldspar megacryst from a protomylonite has been studied using laser ablation-ICP-mass spectrometry combined with cathodoluminescence imaging, Raman spectroscopy, and electron probe microanalysis. The aim was to determine the original (magmatic) geochemical pattern of the crystal and the changes introduced by protomylonitization. Digital concentration-distribution models, derivative gradient models, and fractal statistics, e.g., Hurst-exponent values are used in a novel way to reveal subtle changes in the trace-element composition of the feldspar. Formation of the crystal is reflected in a slightly chaotic trace-element (Ba, Sr, and Rb) distribution pattern that is more or less characterized by continuous development from a fairly homogeneous environment. Derivative gradient models demonstrate a microdomain pattern. Fractal statistics show that element behavior was changeable, with Ba and Sr always more persistent (continuing) and Rb always less persistent, with the latter showing a tendency to migrate. The variations in the Hurst exponent are, however, too large to be explained by magmatic differentiation alone. The observed element behavior may be explained by structural changes revealed by Raman spectroscopy and CL. In high-strain domains, T-O-T modes become stronger for Si-O-Al than Al-O-Al linkages. Increasing amounts of Al-O-Al defects are demonstrated by cathodoluminescence. Both may result from small-distance diffusion creep, making the crystal geochemical pattern slightly patchy. In turn, the marginal part of the megacryst has a mosaic of randomly orientated, newly crystallized K-feldspars. The re-growth is confirmed by trace-element distribution patterns and fractal statistics which identify an abrupt change in the transformation environment. The novel set of tools used in this study reveals a complicated history of megacryst formation and transformation that otherwise would be difficult to unravel and decipher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As has been demonstrated in recent years, the heterogeneities of coeval magmas can be more successfully revealed by zoned megacrysts rather than by analysis of the whole rocks hosting them. Here, the geochemical heterogeneities of feldspar megacrysts from the Karkonosze granite, Poland, are investigated by LA-ICP-MS. The crystals are the product of migration and growth in regions of poorly mixed magmas. 3D-modeling of the Ba, Sr, and Rb distributions emphasizes the importance of micro-domain growth morphologies. Two models of element behavior-a relative concentration model and a composition gradient model-provide a potentially effective tool for tracking the mixing process on a microscale. Measured concentrations of elements of different mobilities do not agree with what might be expected from the mixing of two end-member magmas. If mixing was the only process occurring, linear correlations between the concentrations of any two elements should be observed; this, however, is not the case. For combinations of any two of the three elements, modeling reveals differing non-linear correlations between concentrations. The megacryst heterogeneities provide an insight into how mixing magmas are chaotically advected to growing crystals and the degree of inter-magma element exchange between the magmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]