Geothermobarometry and geochemical modeling of Archean charnockites from Carajás Province, Amazonian craton, Brazil

Abstract

Orthopyroxene-bearing tonalites/trondhjemites with scarce quartz diorites comprise the Café enderbite that crops out in three Neoarchean plutons in the central portion of the Canaã dos Carajás domain, Carajás Province, northern Brazil. Intrinsic parameters based on the mineral chemistry of plagioclase, biotite, amphibole, and pyroxene constrain crystallization conditions to 1150–850°C and 750–600 MPa, moderate water content in the melt (4.8–5.6 wt.%) and relatively oxidizing conditions, between the fayalite–magnetite–quartz (FMQ) and nickel–nickel oxide (NNO) + 1.7 buffers. Geochemical modeling indicates that the Café enderbite evolved via at least two fractional crystallization stages – quartz diorite to orthopyroxene tonalite and orthopyroxene tonalite to orthopyroxene trondhjemite – with high crystal content (45–60%, or even higher). This high crystal content during fractional crystallization was the key factor to the preservation of orthopyroxene in the magmatic system as it left only a relatively small proportion of melt to react with early-formed orthopyroxene.