Towards a magmatic quartz database: tracing melt sources

Abstract:

Quartz composition has seen increasing interest among the scientific community over the last decade due to new calibrations (e.g., Ti-in-quartz) and the proliferation of trace element analytical facilities. What is presently lacking in the field of quartz research is a quartz composition database. Such a single body of information can be used to evaluate whether variation seen in different crystallization environments is equally manifest in quartz composition. In this study we present >2000 new quartz analyses from >70 different granitoids and volcanic settings from around the globe (Lachlan Fold Belt, High Himalaya, French Massif, Cordilleran, Caledonian, White Mountains, Bishop, Toba, Snake River, Oman ophiolite and a number of other select locations). This dataset also combines data from a number of previous studies and together the data may collectively be used to determine which geochemical characteristics can be used to distinguish quartz from different magma types. A number of trace element concentrations or ratios (e.g., Al/Ti, Ge, Li, P and B) are notably useful when distinguishing peraluminous (e.g., cordierite-bearing granitoid) systems from more metaluminous systems (e.g., hornblende granodiorite) or plagiogranites.