Geocronologia U-Pb e geologia isotópica Sm-Nd do Granito Rio Verde, Neoproterozoico no Terreno Granjeiro -Várzea Alegre (CE)

Abstract

Several magmatic events, from the late Archean to the beginning of the Phanerozoic, are recognized in Borborema Province. The plutonic Ediacaran-Cambrian activity (Brasiliano cycle) is one of the most important geological features of this Province since it generated a large number of granitic bodies of different ages and nature. In this context, there are several granitoids emplaced in the Neoarchean rocks of the Granjeiro Terrain, of the Rio Grande do Norte Domain. Undergraduate geology students of the UFPA mapped some granitic bodies hitherto not described in this terrain yet. Among the new occurrences, a small granitic pluton located southwest of the city of Várzea Alegre-CE is the object of geochronological investigation of this dissertation. It is being referred here as Rio Verde Granite. The pluton presents porphyritic texture with feldspar phenocrysts (1,0 to 5,0 cm in size) immersed in a medium-grained matrix. The Rio Verde Granite has three lithofacies. Titanite-biotite-hornblende granodiorite (TnBtHbGdr), biotite monzogranite (BtMzg), and enclaves of quartz diorite composition. It also shows evidence of magmas mingling. The rocks are deformed; however, magmatic structures are also observed. The U-Pb zircon dating of the BtMzg and associated intermediate enclaves by LA-MC-ICP-MS was carried out to correlate this magmatism with one of the magmatic events recognized in the Borborema Province. In parallel, the Sm-Nd isotopic systematics was performed to characterize the source of the granitic magma (crustal rework or juvenile crust). U-Pb zircon dating provided a concordant age of 592 ± 3.2 Ma (2σ, n = 5) for the BtMzg. In turn, zircon dating in two samples of the quartz diorite enclave was not good enough due to the degree of metamictization of zircon crystals, which resulted in poor preservation of primary igneous features. Nevertheless, it was possible to define, in one of the samples, the concordant age of 607 ± 4.8 Ma (2σ, n = 3), which is indicative of the timing of the intermediate rocks. Thus, the contemporaneity between the granitic and the more mafic magmatism is suggested. However, additional geochronological studies are needed to define the age of the mafic magmatism accurately. The use of the Sm-Nd isotopic system in whole-rock revealed negative εNd (590Ma) values of -18.26 and -19.42, indicating the reworking old crust as source of the granitic magma. The Nd-TDM ages, calculated in two-stage, of 2.48 and 2.56 Ga, show the contribution of the Archean crust, probably of the Granjeiro Complex, to the formation of the magma that originated the Rio Verde Granite. However, the mixing of Archean crust with younger crustal material cannot be discarded as the Nd-TDM ages are in the Archean-Paleoproterozoic boundary. Considering the petrographic and geochronological features the Rio Verde Granite, it may be associated with the 570-590Ma syn-transcurrent granitic magmatism that occurred in the Borborema Province. This magmatic event has the granitoids of the Itaporanga Intrusive Suit as one of its representatives.