The chemical evolution from older (323–318 Ma) towards younger highly evolved tin granites (315–314 Ma)—sources and metal enrichment in variscan granites of the western Erzgebirge (central european variscides, Germany)

  • The sources and critical enrichment processes for granite related tin ores are still not well understood. The Erzgebirge represents one of the classical regions for tin mineralization. We investigated the four largest plutons from the Western Erzgebirge (Germany) for the geochemistry of bulk rocks and autocrystic zircons and relate this information to their intrusion ages. The source rocks of the Variscan granites were identified as high-grade metamorphic rocks based on the comparison of Hf-O isotope data on zircons, the abundance of xenocrystic zircon ages as well as Nd and Hf model ages. Among these rocks, restite is the most likely candidate for later Variscan melts. Based on the evolution with time, we could reconstruct enrichment factors for tin and tungsten starting from the protoliths (575 Ma) that were later converted to high-grade metamorphic rocks (340 Ma) and served as sources for the older biotite granites (323–318 Ma) and the tin granites (315–314 Ma). This evolution involved a continuous enrichment of both tin and tungsten with an enrichment factor of ~15 for tin and ~7 for tungsten compared to the upper continental crust (UCC). Ore level concentrations (>10–100 times enrichment) were achieved only in the greisen bodies and dykes by subsequent hydrothermal processes.

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Author:Marion TichomirowaORCiDGND, Axel GerdesORCiDGND, Manuel Lapp, Dietmar Leonhardt, Martin J. WhitehouseORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-527625
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/min9120769
ISSN:2075-163X
Parent Title (English):Minerals
Publisher:MDPI
Place of publication:Basel
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Completion:2019
Date of first Publication:2019/12/11
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2020/01/27
Tag:Erzgebirge; S-type granites; crustal melts; granite source; greisen; hafnium isotopes; oxygen isotopes; tin granites; zircon
Volume:9
Issue:12, Art. 769
Page Number:29
First Page:1
Last Page:29
Note:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
HeBIS-PPN:459848917
Institutes:Geowissenschaften / Geographie / Geowissenschaften
Dewey Decimal Classification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 55 Geowissenschaften, Geologie / 550 Geowissenschaften
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0