Electron microprobe Th-U-Pb monazite dating and metamorphic evolution of the Acaiaca Granulite Complex, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

The Acaiaca Complex (AC) is located in southeastern Minas Gerais state, and comprises felsic, mafic, ultramafic, and aluminous granulites as well as lower grade gneisses and mylonites. The complex is distributed over an area ofca. 36 km by 6 km, surrounded by amphibolite facies gneisses of the Mantiqueira Complex (MC). The discrepancy in the metamorphic grade between both complexes led to the present study aiming to understand the metamorphic history of the AC by means of geothermobarometric calculations and electron microprobe Th-U-Pb monazite dating. Estimates of the metamorphic conditions of the granulites based on conventional geothermobarometry and THERMOCALC resulted in temperatures around 800 oC and pressures between of 5.0 and 9.9 kbar and a retrometamorphic path characterized by near-isobaric cooling. Part of the granulites was affected by anatexis. The melting of felsic granulites resulted in the generation of pegmatites and two aluminous lithotypes. These are: i) garnet-sillimanite granulite with euhedral plagioclase and cordierite that show straight faces against quartz, and is the crystallization product of an anatectic melt, and ii) garnet-kyanite-cordierite granulite, which is probably the restite of anatexis, as indicated by textures and high magnesium contents. Th-U-Pb monazite geochronology of two granulite samples resulted in a metamorphic age around 2060 Ma, which is similar to the age of the MC registered in the literature. The similar Paleoproterozoic metamorphic ages of both complexes lead to the conclusion that the Acaiaca Complex may be the high grade metamorphic unit geochronologically related to the lower grade Mantiqueira Complex.