Zircon reveals crystal-melt segregation processes in the genesis of Cretaceous A-type granites and related cumulated rocks in southeastern China

A-type granites are a distinctive group of igneous rocks classified based on chemical and mineralogical criteria. Although numerous theories for the origin of A-type granite have previously been proposed, their genesis remains highly controversial. In the current study, we present bulk-rock geochemistry and zircon UPb isotopes, Hf isotopes, and trace elemental data for a suite of quartz monzonite, porphyritic granite, and miarolitic alkali feldspar granite from the coastal area of Fujian, southeastern China, to evaluate the genetic link between these rocks. Zircon UPb dating indicates that these rocks were crystallized at ∼94–102 Ma. Our data strongly suggests that lithological differences in these rocks are the result of crystal-melt segregation in the shallow crust. The quartz monzonites are enriched in Sr and Ba, with high Zr/Hf and low silica content and a weak negative Eu anomaly, representing the cumulate residue from the crystal-melt segregation of a magma reservoir. A limited fraction of zircon from the quartz monzonite has evolved trace element signatures (high Hf, Nb, Y, U; low Eu/Eu⁎), indicating that the quartz monzonite represents a mixture of accumulated crystals and high silicic melt trapped in cumulate mush. The miarolitic alkali feldspar granites and porphyritic granites are enriched in silica and Rb, and depleted in Sr and Eu. They also display low whole-rock Zr/Hf and Eu/Eu⁎ ratios, and high Rb/Sr ratios, representing highly evolved silicic melts that were segregated from a magma reservoir. The majority of the zircon grains from the miarolitic alkali feldspar granites exhibit the most evolved trace element signatures (high Hf, Nb, Y, U; low Zr/Hf and Eu/Eu⁎) of the entire suite. This reveals that these zircons crystallized from the high silicic melts extracted from a magma reservoir. Magma recharge and the exsolution of volatiles from the interstitial melt have promoted the segregation and upward extraction of high silica magmas from a compacting magma reservoir in the upper crust. Our work demonstrates that the miarolitic alkali feldspar granites with A-type granite features from the coastal area of southeastern China were generated by the crystal-melt segregation process in a shallow crustal magma reservoir.