Trondhjemite leucosomes generated by partial melting of a hornblende-gabbro (Alvand plutonic complex, Hamedan, NW Iran)

This work describes the petrogenesis of in situ and in-source trondhjemite leucosomes generated by low-degree partial melting of the Jurassic Cheshmeh-Ghasaban hornblende-gabbros in the northern Alvand batholith (Hamedan, NW Iran). These leucosomes occur in a metatexite migmatite as patches, net-structures, veinlets, and dikes at scales ranging from a few millimetres to a few metres. They have high SiO2 (mean ≈ 78 wt%) and Na2O (4–5 wt%) with low Al2O3 (<15 wt%), K2O (<1.5 wt%), Sr (33–267 ppm), Eu (0.31–0.62 ppm) and heavy REE (<4 ppm) contents similar to typical low-Al2O3 trondhjemites. Batch-melting models indicate these leucosomes are the result of ≈1-2% partial melting of the hornblende-gabbro, whereas thermobarometric modelling constrains their petrogenesis in the field of hornblende hornfels-facies metamorphism (pressure ≈3.0–4.5 kbar and temperature ≈700-750°C). On a wider scale, our results document natural trondhjemites generated in the upper crust by amphibole-dehydration melting of a mafic source at temperature conditions close to the solidus, filling the existing gap of data in low-pressure (P < 5kbar) and low-temperature (T < 800°C) amphibole-dominated partial melting experiments. The genesis of these trondhjemites is then discussed with respect to the Mesozoic evolution of the Alvand plutonic complex.