Inclusions in magmatic zircon from Slavonian mountains (eastern Croatia): anatase, kumdykolite and kokchetavite and implications for the magmatic evolution

Abstract

Abstract. Micro-Raman spectroscopy was used to determine the inclusions in magmatic zircon from the Late Cretaceous A-type acid igneous rocks in the Slavonian mountains (Mt. Papuk and Mt. Požeška Gora), in the southwestern part of the Pannonian Basin (Croatia). The mineral inclusions detected in the early-crystallised zircon are anatase, apatite, hematite, ilmenite and possibly magnetite. Numerous melt inclusions comprise albite, cristobalite, hematite, kaolinite, K-feldspar, kokchetavite, kumdykolite muscovite and quartz, where this mineral association is characteristic of so-called nanorocks (nanogranites), commonly found in peritectic garnets from high-grade metamorphic rocks. Here we present the first finding of kokchetavite and kumdykolite in a magmatic zircon. Together with anatase and hematite, these polymorphs are likely evidence of rapid uplift and consequent rapid cooling of hot oxidised magma generated in the lower crust and its emplacement in the upper crustal level. This finding provides further confirmation that kumdykolite and kokchetavite do not require ultra-high pressure (UHP) to form and should not be considered exclusively UHP phases. The rapid uplift was possible due to the formation of accompanying extensional deep rifts during the tectonic transition from compression to extension, associated with the closure of the Neotethys Ocean in the area of present-day Slavonian mountains in the Late Cretaceous (∼82 Ma).