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U-Pb geochronology on zircon and columbite-group minerals of the Cap de Creus pegmatites, NE Spain

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Abstract

The Cap de Creus granitic pegmatites in the eastern Catalan Pyrenees were dated using in situ U-Pb geochronology by laser ablation ICP-MS on zircon and columbite-group minerals (CGM), which are present in the different types of pegmatites from type I (K-feldspar pegmatites, least evolved) to type IV (albite pegmatites, most evolved) and therefore allow dating the different pegmatitic pulses. In a type III pegmatite where zircon and CGM are co-genetically associated in the same sample, both minerals were dated using zircon and tantalite reference materials, respectively, to avoid laser-induced matrix-dependent fractionation. In one sample, xenotime genetically associated with zircon was also dated. Two ages were obtained for type I and three ages for type III pegmatites. Three of these 5 ages range from 296.2 ± 2.5 to 301.9 ± 3.8 Ma and are allocated to the primary magmatic stage of crystallization and therefore to the emplacement event. Two younger ages (290.5 ± 2.5 and 292.9 ± 2.9 Ma) obtained on secondary zircon and xenotime, respectively, are interpreted as late post-solidus hydrothermal remobilization. There is no age difference between type I and type III pegmatites. The mean 299 Ma primary magmatic age allows the main late Carboniferous deformation event to be dated and is also synchronous with other peraluminous and calc-alkaline granites in the Pyrenees. However, the youngest ages around 292 Ma imply that tectonics was still active in Early Permian times in the Cap de Creus area.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Thierry Aigouy, Sophie Gouy and Philippe de Parseval for SEM imaging and electron probe microanalyses. Constructive comments by reviewers Jérémie Melleton, Simon Goldmann, Ian Buick, Frank Melcher and an anonymous expert are greatly appreciated. Associate Editor Dirk Frei and Editor-in-Chief Lutz Nasdala are thanked for editorial handling of the manuscript. This work was financed by the program CESSUR of CNRS-INSU and the 2014 SGR 1661 of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, Université de Toulouse, CNES, CNRS, IRD, UPS, 14 avenue Edouard Belin, 31400, Toulouse, France

    Marieke Van Lichtervelde, Michel de Saint-Blanquat & Philippe Olivier

  2. ISTerre, Université Grenoble, 1381 Rue de la Piscine, BP 53, 38041, Grenoble, France

    Alexis Grand’Homme

  3. Department of Geosciences, Petrology and Geochemistry, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Altenhoeferallee 1, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Axel Gerdes

  4. UMR 6524 Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Clermont Université, Université Blaise Pascal, CNRS, IRD, BP 10448, 63000, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Jean-Louis Paquette

  5. Departament de Cristal·lografia, Mineralogia i Dipòsits Minerals, Universitat de Barcelona, C/ Martí i Franquès s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    Joan Carles Melgarejo

  6. Departament de Geologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra (Barcelona), Catalonia, Spain

    Elena Druguet

  7. Departament d’Enginyeria Minera i Recursos Naturals, Escola Politècnica Superior d’Enginyeria de Manresa-UPC, Avinguda Bases de Manresa, 61–73, 08240, Manresa, Spain

    Pura Alfonso

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  1. Marieke Van Lichtervelde
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  2. Alexis Grand’Homme
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  9. Pura Alfonso
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Correspondence to Marieke Van Lichtervelde.

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Editorial handling: L. Nasdala

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Van Lichtervelde, M., Grand’Homme, A., de Saint-Blanquat, M. et al. U-Pb geochronology on zircon and columbite-group minerals of the Cap de Creus pegmatites, NE Spain. Miner Petrol 111, 1–21 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-016-0455-1

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