Zircon U-Pb dating and petrogenesis of the São José do Campestre Granite Complex, NE Brazil: an example of neoarchean mantle-derived post-collisional magmatism

Abstract This article discusses the geochemical and petrological evolution of the São José do Campestre granite complex (SJCgr), the last Neoarchean plutonic event so far described in the São José do Campestre massif in NE Brazil. We report field, petrographic, zircon U-Pb dating, and whole rock and mineral chemistry for representative SJCgr samples. Laser ablation zircon U-Pb data indicate that the granite emplacement took place at 2664 ± 13 Ma. The rocks comprising the SJCgr have relatively well-preserved primary textures and fabrics and compositions varying from gabbro to syenogranite. Major and trace element contents reveal a metaluminous, calc-alkaline through transitional to alkaline signature, and LILE- and LREE-enriched series analogous to late Archean sanukitoid and modern arc granitoid. The evolution of the SJCgr is envisaged as follows: (1st) partial melting of a metasomatized mantle (2.5–3.0 GPa, ~85–102 km, 1,000–1,200°C), generating a basaltic to basaltic andesitic magma; (2nd) fractional crystallization (FC) of olivine at mantle or lower crustal depth, leading to the parental magmas of the magmatic series; and (3rd) 40–15% FC of olivine gabbro-norite and olivine monzonite cumulates (400–600 MPa, 15–23 km). The SJCgr shares similarities with post-collisional granitoids and, thus, would represent the last Neoarchean episode of mantle-derived magma in Northeastern Brazil.