Granitoids and magmatic series: the contextualized study of granitoids.

Abstract

The relationship that many granitic rocks show with less differentiated mantle-derived magmas has been underestimated in the last decades and, that has led to the loss of a powerful scientific tool for the investigation of ancient geotectonic settings and, even for the evolution of the mantle-crust system. It is proposed in this paper that granitic magmas should be considered as possible products of the differentiation of mantle-derived magmas, with variable, but sometimes, massive assimilation of crustal melts. In this way, the criteria for classifying granitoids, according to their magmatic series relationship, and the geotectonic implications of such approach, are revised, and the main characteristics of granites formed by pure crustal melting are discussed.