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Complex ages of five colour and morphology populations of zircon from the Jabal Radwa alkali granite, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Part of: Ed Grew at 80: The Testimony of the Minerals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2025

John N. Aleinikoff Open the ORCID record for John N. Aleinikoff [Opens in a new window] ,
Douglas B. Stoeser ,
Edward A. du Bray ,
Christopher Holm-Denoma Open the ORCID record for Christopher Holm-Denoma [Opens in a new window] ,
Heather Lowers  and
Jay Thompson Open the ORCID record for Jay Thompson [Opens in a new window]
John N. Aleinikoff*
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO, USA
Douglas B. Stoeser
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO, USA
Edward A. du Bray
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO, USA
Christopher Holm-Denoma
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO, USA
Heather Lowers
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO, USA
Jay Thompson
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO, USA
*
Corresponding author: J.N. Aleinikoff; Email: aleinikoffjohn@gmail.com
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Abstract

The Jabal Radwa pluton (referred to here as the Radwa alkali granite), northwestern Arabian Shield, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is a near-circular exposure of peralkaline granite. Previous TIMS U–Pb age determinations of multigrain zircon fractions suggested an age of ∼480 Ma, at least 100 m.y. younger than the youngest known rocks of the Arabian Shield.

A single sample of the Radwa alkali granite contains dark brown, green, blue, tan and yellow colour populations of zircon, plus yellow titanite. The ages of dark brown zircon were unobtainable by SHRIMP due to large matrix effects caused by high concentrations of REE and other trace elements. Green and blue zircon grains were determined to be ∼518 Ma. Tan zircon forms prismatic crystals that resemble those typical of igneous zircon. Three analytical investigations for tan zircon resulted in a SHRIMP age of 501.3 ± 3.9 and LA-ICP-MS ages of 506.7 ± 7.8 and 501.2 ± 5.4 Ma, confirming the uncharacteristically young age of this granite. Yellow zircon yielded a LA-ICP-MS age of 493 ± 13 Ma. Dark brown, green and blue zircon are considered to be xenocrysts, whereas tan and yellow zircon are igneous in origin.

REE distribution patterns define two groups of zircon. Group 1 is composed of tan, yellow and dark brown zircon that have HREE-enriched patterns typical of igneous zircon. Group 2 is composed of green and blue zircon that have essentially horizontal REE patterns typical of hydrothermal zircon.

Because essentially all Proterozoic magmatism in the Arabian Shield ended by ∼570 Ma, magmatism recorded by the Radwa alkali granite might represent igneous activity associated with the Cadomian orogeny and southward subduction beneath the northern edge of Gondwana.

Keywords

zirconArabian ShieldU–Pb geochronologytrace elements

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Article
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Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 89 , Issue 6 , December 2025 , pp. 897 - 912
Creative Commons
This is a work of the US Government and is not subject to copyright protection within the United States. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Mineralogical Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
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© U.S. Gov’t Work in Public Domain, 2025.

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Footnotes

†

deceased

This paper is part of a collection in tribute to the work of Edward Grew at 80

Guest Editor: Barb Dutrow

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