Geochronology and genesis of the young (Pliocene) granitoids of the Greater Caucasus: Dzhimara multiphase Massif of the Kazbek neovolcanic area

This paper reports an integrated petrological, geochronological, and isotopic geochemical study of the Pliocene Dzhimara granitoid massif (Greater Caucasus) located in the immediate vicinity of Quaternary Kazbek Volcano. Based on the obtained results, it was suggested that the massif has a multiphase origin, and temporal variations in the chemical composition of its granitoids and their possible sources were determined. Two petrographic types of granitoids, biotite-amphibole and amphibole, were distinguished among the studied rocks of the Dzhimara Massif belonging to the calc-alkaline and K-Na subalkaline petrochemical series. The latter are granodiorites, and the biotite-amphibole granitoids are represented by calc-alkaline granodiorites and quartz diorites and subalkaline quartz diorites. Geochemically, the granitoids of the Dzhimara Massif are of a “mixed” type, showing signatures of S-, I-, A-, and even M-type rocks. Their chemical characteristics suggest a mantle-crustal origin, which is explained by the formation of their parental magmas in a complex geodynamic environment of continental collision associated with a mantle “hot field” regime.