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Granitic rocks are crucial in revealing continental crust formation and evolution. The classic S- and I-type granitoid classification (based upon metasedimentary vs. metaigneous protolith) is widely adopted, but is not always straightforward when diagnostic minerals (e.g., cordierite for S-type and amphibole for I-type) are absent. In this study, zircon oxygen isotope and water content were measured simultaneously with Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) on I- and S-type granitoids from various tectonic settings, including the New England Orogens (NEO), the Diancangshan–Ailaoshan and the Himalayan orogens, and the South China Block. Our results indicate the S-type samples are characterized by lower water-in-zircon content (median 14–170 ppm) than the I-type samples (median 449–885 ppm). Also, inherited I-type zircon cores in S-type samples from the NEO have higher water-in-zircon content than the zircon rims, confirming the different water content between the two granitoid types. We propose that water-in-zircon content is a potential tool to distinguish I- and S-type granitoids. Nonetheless, the low water-in-zircon content of S-type granitoids has likely no correlation with high magma water content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the petrogenesis of the Xinxian granitic batholith and its tectonic implications for the Dabie orogen. Two Xinxian granites yield Early Cretaceous U/Pb ages of 122.7 ± 1.3 Ma and 123.6 ± 2.2 Ma. The granites are metaluminous differentiated I-type granites, with A/NKC ranging from 0.90 to 0.96. The chondrite-normalised REE patterns display significant LREE/HREE enrichments with moderate negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu = 0.30 ~ 0.85). The granites show enrichments in large-ion lithophile elements (LILEs, e.g. Rb, K, Th and U) and depletions in Sr, Ba and high field strength elements (HFSEs, e.g. Nb, Ta and Ti). Inherited zircons of different age (Neoproterozoic, one Early Proterozoic, one Archean and two Triassic inherited metamorphic zircons) are identified. The Early Cretaceous magmatic zircons contain enriched Hf isotopes with ε ( t) values ranging from −26.9 to −18.7 (average = −22.5), more enriched than their probable alleged source, i.e. the Dabie Complex, represented by the Neoproterozoic and Triassic inherited zircons. Thus, the Archean and Early Proterozoic crustal materials may represent an enriched end member source for the parental magma of the Xinxian granites. Provenance analysis of the magmatic zircons in the North China and Yangtze blocks demonstrates that the Early Proterozoic inherited zircon in Xinxian has North China affinity. Thus, we proposed a multiple-sourced petrogenetic model for the Xinxian granitic batholith, which suggests that the batholith was formed by the remelting of a mixed crustal assemblage, including the Archean and Early Proterozoic crust of the North China Block, the Neoproterozoic crust of the Yangtze Block, as well as some Triassic collision-related ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphic rocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]