The Morcles microgranite (Aiguilles Rouges, Swiss Alps): geochronological and geochemical evidences for a common origin with the Vallorcine intrusion

The Morcles microgranite is located in the N–E termination of the Aiguilles Rouges massif (External Crystalline Massifs, Switzerland). It outcrops as dykes, a few meters to 150 m in thickness, intruding the Aiguilles Rouges polymetamorphic basement, and presents variation of texture from granophyric to rhyolitic. We present here for the first time, in situ U–Pb zircon dating of the Morcles microgranite/rhyolite based on laser-ablation—inductively coupled plasma—mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) data. Results indicate late Variscan emplacement ages at ~303 and ~309–312 Ma, a major Caledonian inherited component age at ~445–460 Ma, and secondary inherited ages ranging from Pan-African (550–1000 Ma) to Paleoproterozoic (2.3 Ga). Geochronological and geochemical data indicate that the Morcles microgranite/rhyolite shares a common origin with the higher (or “H”) facies of the neighbouring Vallorcine granitic intrusion. This close affinity is further corroborated by the geographical alignment of both intrusive bodies on either side of the Rhone Valley. The fine-grained texture of the microgranite groundmass and the rhyolite indicates a very rapid cooling rate and emplacement close to the surface, suggesting that the Morcles microgranite/rhyolite may constitute the shallow-level counterpart of the Vallorcine granite. The mineralogical assemblages observed in the Morcles microgranite/rhyolite support the idea of high-temperature melting conditions provided by underplating of mantle-derived magmas during the Carboniferous extension of the Variscan cordillera.