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Microgeochemical data and transmission electron microscope (TEM) imaging of S-rich monazite crystals demonstrate that S has been incorporated in the lattice of monazite as a clino-anhydrite component via the following exchange Ca + S = REE + P, and that it is now partly exsolved in nanoclusters (5-10 nm) of CaSO. The sample, an osumilite-bearing ultra-high-temperature granulite from Rogaland, Norway, is characterized by complexly patchy zoned monazite crystals. Three chemical domains are distinguished as (1) a sulphate-rich core (0.45-0.72 wt% SO, Th incorporated as cheralite component), (2) secondary sulphate-bearing domains (SO >0.05 wt%, partly clouded with solid inclusions), and (3) late S-free, Y-rich domains (0.8-2.5 wt% YO, Th accommodated as the huttonite component). These three domains yield distinct isotopic U-Pb ages of 1034 ± 6, 1005 ± 7, and 935 ± 7 Ma, respectively. Uranium-Th-Pb EPMA dating independently confirms these ages. This study illustrates that it is possible to discriminate different generations of monazite based on their S contents. From the petrological context, we propose that sulphate-rich monazite reflects high-temperature Fe-sulphide breakdown under oxidizing conditions, coeval with biotite dehydration melting. Monazite may therefore reveal the presence of S in anatectic melts from high-grade terrains at a specific point in time and date S mobilization from a reduced to an oxidized state. This property can be used to investigate the mineralization potential of a given geological event within a larger orogenic framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mbengwi plutonics consist of intermediate to felsic granitoids forming a continuous magmatic series from monzonite to granite and mafic intrusions. Their mineralogical composition consists of quartz, plagioclases, K-feldspars, biotite, muscovite, and amphibole. The accessory phase includes opaque minerals + titanite ± apatite ± zircon, while secondary minerals are pyrite, phengite, chlorite, epidote, and rarely calcite. These plutonics are assigned high–K calc–alkaline to shoshonitic series, metaluminous to weakly peraluminous and mostly belong to an I–type suite (A/CNK = 0.63–1.2). They are typically post–collisional, with a subduction signature probably being inherited from their protoliths emplaced during the subduction phase. The Sr and Nd isotopic data evidence that these plutonics result from melting of the lower continental crust with variable contribution of the oceanic crust. Their geochemical features are similar to those of western Cameroon granitoids related to the Pan–African D 1 event in Cameroon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]