Preservation of igneous and metamorphic charnockites in the Paleoproterozoic Prøven Igneous Complex, Rinkian Orogen, central West Greenland

Abstract

The Paleoproterozoic Prøven Igneous Complex (PIC) of the Rinkian Orogen in central West Greenland comprises a suite of arc-related charnockite plutons, extending over an area of at least 7200 km². The PIC was emplaced into paragneisses of the Karrat Group during a series of magmatic events between c. 1900 and 1850 Ma. Magmatism was accompanied by high-grade metamorphism and deformation, culminating in granulite facies peak conditions and partial melting at c. 1820 Ma. To unravel the conditions of charnockite formation and granulite facies metamorphism, a detailed petrographic study was carried out on samples from the PIC and the surrounding paragneisses. The rock types studied include i) charnockites from the massive PIC, ii) charnockites and migmatites from the layered lower PIC, iii) migmatites from the surrounding paragneisses, and iv) igneous enclaves from the lower PIC. Charnockites from the massive PIC generally show a magmatic, porphyritic texture and only minor macro-textural evidence of deformation. The lower PIC and paragneisses are both migmatized and exhibit extensive recrystallization with a solid-state crystal-plastic fabric. Igneous enclaves are found within the lower PIC and show an equigranular, igneous texture. Based on the dominant igneous texture it is interpreted that the massive PIC crystallized from a dry magma and was not significantly overprinted during peak metamorphism. Phase equilibrium modelling, Hb-Pl thermometry and Al-in-hornblende barometry constrain the PIC to have been emplaced at 680–795 °C and 4.2–5.4 kbar. By contrast, the lower PIC and paragneiss samples record granulite facies peak conditions of 785–805 °C and 3.4–4.0 kbar, suggesting that both charnockite magmatism and metamorphism took place at relatively shallow crustal levels. Our results are consistent with the P-T conditions recorded by the 1890–1880 Ma Qikiqtarjuaq Plutonic Suite, an arc-type charnockite intrusion on Baffin Island, Canada. A correlation between the tectonothermal events on Baffin Island and in the Rinkian Orogen is proposed, therefore relating the intrusion of the PIC to the collision of the Meta Incognita microcontinent and the Rae Craton.