Transitional I S type characteristic in the Main Range Granite, Peninsular Malaysia

Journal article

The dominantly Triassic Main Range Granite of Peninsular Malaysia that occurs west of the Paleo-Tethyan Bentong-Raub suture zone was regarded exclusively as an S-type granite. The Main Range dominantly biotite granites are of batholithic proportion and host one of the world's largest tin provinces. The S-type characteristics include high initial 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios (>0.710), a narrow range in silica, presence of ilmenite and occasional cordierite and andalusite, and the presence of pelitic or quartzose meta-sedimentary xenoliths. However, the present review shows that the Main Range Granites also have many features that are more characteristic of I-type granites such as the very large scale of plutonism, the presence of primary titanite and amphibole, occurrence of hornblende-bearing mafic enclaves, increasing peraluminosity towards the more differentiated end-members of the suite and decreasing P2O5 with increasing SiO2 contents. The moderately peraluminous nature of the bulk Main Range Granite, without containing cordierite, Fe-Mg garnet or sillimanite, is consistent with derivation from a meta-sedimentary protolith that was itself undersaturated with respect to Al2SiO5. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Authors: Ghani, A; Searle, M; Robb, L; Chung, S

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: JOURNAL OF ASIAN EARTH SCIENCES
• Volume: 76
• Pages: 225-240
• Publication date: 2013-10-25
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.05.013
• ISSN: 1367-9120
• Language: English
• Keywords: Crustal thickening; S-type granite; Main Range Granite; Peninsular Malaysia; Tin granite