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Radioelement geochemistry of Irish granites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

Patrick J. O'Connor
Patrick J. O'Connor*
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Ireland, 14 Hume Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
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Abstract

Data for U, Th, and K, determined by neutron activation analysis, in 128 rock samples from 14 Irish Caledonian and Tertiary granite plutons are sum-marized. Irish Newer Caledonian granites (ninety-four samples) have values of radioelements (average 3.6 ppm U, 12.1 ppm Th, and 3.4% K) consistent with derivation from a source of broadly uniform composition. U mineralization occurs in the voluminous and forcefully emplaced Main Donegal and Leinster plutons whereas smaller passively emplaced granites (Galway, Barnesmore, Rosses) lack mineralization. Irish Tertiary granites (thirty-four samples), which represent small batches of highly fractionated acid magmas, show moderate or high radioelement contents (11.5 ppm U, 39.9 ppm Th, 4.5% K) but are not mineralized. It is concluded that the use of elevated radioelement contents as a criterion of granite ‘fertility’ may be misleading in the British Isles Caledonian Province. The radioelement chemistry of granites may reflect their source composition more closely than expected for differentiated and/or contaminated acid melts.

Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 44 , Issue 336 , December 1981 , pp. 485 - 495
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1981

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