Caledonian hot zone magmatism in the “Newer Granites”: insight from the Cluanie and Clunes plutons, Northern Scottish Highlands

Milne, E. J. M., Neill, I. , Bird, A. C., Millar, I. L., McDonald, I., Dempsey, E. D., Olive, V. , Odling, N. and Waters, E. C. (2023) Caledonian hot zone magmatism in the “Newer Granites”: insight from the Cluanie and Clunes plutons, Northern Scottish Highlands. Journal of the Geological Society, 180(2), jgs2022-076. (doi: 10.1144/jgs2022-076)

Abstract

Scottish “Newer” Granites record the evolution of the Caledonides resulting from Iapetus subduction and slab breakoff during the Silurian-Devonian Scandian Orogeny, but relationships between geodynamics, petrogenesis and emplacement are incomplete. Laser ablation U-Pb results from magmatic zircons at the Cluanie Pluton (Northern Highlands) identify clusters of concordant Silurian data points. A cluster with a weighted mean 206Pb/238U age of 431.6 ± 1.3 Ma (2σ confidence interval, n = 6) records emplacement whilst older points (clustered at 441.8 ± 2.3 Ma, n = 9) record deep crustal hot zone magmatism prior to ascent. The Cluanie Pluton, and its neighbour the ∼428 Ma Clunes tonalite, have adakite-like high Na, Sr/Y, La/Yb and low Mg, Ni and Cr characteristics, and lack mafic facies common in other “Newer Granites”. These geochemical signatures indicate the tapping of batches of homogenised, evolved magma from the deeper crust. The emplacement age of the Cluanie Pluton confirms volumetrically modest subduction-related magmatism occurred beneath the Northern Highlands before slab breakoff, probably as a result of crustal thickening during the ∼450 Ma Grampian 2 event. Extensive new in-situ geochemical-geochronological studies for this terrane may further substantiate the deep crustal hot zone model and the association between Caledonian magmatism and potentially metallogenesis. The term “Newer Granites” is outdated as it ignores the demonstrated relationships between magmatism, Scandian orogenesis and slab breakoff. Hence, “Caledonian intrusions” would be a more appropriate generic term to cover those bodies related to either Iapetus subduction or to slab breakoff.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Adakite, Caledonian, geochemistry, geochronology, Scotland.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Waters, Dr Emma and Neill, Dr Iain and Olive, Dr Valerie and Milne, Eilidh
• Authors: Milne, E. J. M., Neill, I., Bird, A. C., Millar, I. L., McDonald, I., Dempsey, E. D., Olive, V., Odling, N., and Waters, E. C.
• Subjects: Q Science > QE Geology
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences; College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences > Earth Sciences; College of Science and Engineering > Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre
• Journal Name: Journal of the Geological Society
• Publisher: The Geological Society
• ISSN: 0016-7649
• ISSN (Online): 2041-479X
• Published Online: 25 November 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Journal of the Geological Society 180(2): jgs2022-076
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence