Abstract
Granite and dolerite occurring in the eastern unit of the Maures Massif (southern France Variscan belt) were emplaced in the waning stage of the evolution of a dextral shear zone along the Gondwana border with Laurasia. We present a geochronological and petro-geochemical study (major and trace elements, Sr–Nd isotopes) of (1) the foliated Moulin Blanc cordierite granite and related foliated dykes; (2) the equant Camarat granite and dyke; and (3) the andesite–basalt dolerite dykes (frequently mingled with leucogranite material at Pinet and Capon tips) and cross-cutting leucogranitic dykes. Zircon and monazite dating of the Moulin Blanc granite gives a crystallization age of 301 ± 2 Ma. SHRIMP dating on zircons from the leucogranite component of a Pinet composite dyke only reveals zircon core ages of mainly 310 ± 10 Ma (age of migmatization of the host gneiss). Undulating contacts of dolerite dykes within the c. 300 Ma old Camarat granite suggest penecontemporary relationships between the two intrusions. The age interval between the Moulin Blanc granite and the dolerite dykes would thus be very short. The Moulin Blanc pluton is formed by mingling and mixing of melts of granitic and dioritic composition, the latter occurring mainly as microgranular mafic enclaves. Two other types of diorites are also identified in the pluton. The foliated dykes are similar in composition to the Moulin Blanc granite, which confirms their relationship to the main pluton. The Moulin Blanc granite is a typical example of a pluton formed by repeated recharges coming from a deeper magma chamber. Formation of the Camarat dykes is controlled by hydrothermal fluids that are responsible for the non-CHARAC behavior of trace elements. The Pinet and Capon leucogranite components of the dolerite dykes have distinct geochemical signatures, different from the Camarat granite and dykes. The cross-cutting leucogranitic dykes have much geochemical similarities with the Capon granite. The age of similar dykes in the Tanneron Massif supports the contemporaneity of Camarat granite and dolerites. The dolerite geochemistry was deeply modified by alteration processes, but an andesite–basalt composition is still recognizable by using immobile element ratios. In a εNd vs. Sri diagram, all rocks plot close to a mixing hyperbola between a depleted mantle component and a crustal component, characteristic of the Variscan crust in the French Massif Central. There is a broad correlation between the NdTDM 2-stage model ages and the degree of fractionation of the rocks. Modeling of dehydration melting in a range of P–T conditions reveals that a variety of lithologies were the source of the Saint-Tropez magmas: high-alumina and alkali-basalt amphibolites, metagraywackes, metapelites and meta-arkoses. These sources were melted almost simultaneously at different levels in the crust. The calculated critical dyke width required to transport the granitic melt by buoyancy is far too large compared to the observed granitic dyke thicknesses. Therefore, tectonic processes and/or melt overpressure must have played a role in the emplacement mechanism. Thermo-mechanical constraints on mixing between mafic and felsic melts suggest that, in the Pinet composite dykes, both melts should have mixed. The observed lack of mixing is interpreted as due to quick cooling. The region was affected by a hot zone at the end of a transpressional regime.