Abstract
We present data from the Mesozoic Keumkang, Palbong, and Baekhwa granites in Garorim Bay, in the southwestern part of the Gyeonggi massif, South Korea. Using major and trace element concentrations, Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic compositions, and sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) zircon U-Pb ages, we aim to constrain the petrogenesis of the granites and explain their origin within a broader regional geological context. SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages of $232.8{\pm}3.2$, $175.9{\pm}1.2$, and $176.8{\pm}9.8$ Ma were obtained from the Keumkang, Palbong and Baekhwa granites, respectively. The Late Triassic Keumkang granites belong to the shoshonite series and show an overall enrichment in large ion lithophile elements (LILE), a depletion in high field strength elements (HFSE) relative to primitive mantle, compared with neighboring elements in the primitive mantle-normalized incompatible trace element diagram with notable high Ba and Sr contents, and negligible Eu anomalies. The Keumkang granites are typified by highly radiogenic Sr and unradiogenic Nd and Pb isotopic compositions: $(^{87}Sr/^{86}Sr)_i=0.70931-0.70959$, $(^{143}Nd/^{144}Nd)_i=0.511472-0.511484$ [$({\varepsilon}_{Nd})_i=-17.0$ to -16.7], and $(^{206}Pb/^{204}Pb)=17.26-17.27$. The Middle Jurassic Palbong and Baekhwa granites belong to the medium- to high-K calc-alkaline series, and show LILE enrichment and HFSE depletion similar to the Keumkang granites, but exhibit significant negative anomalies in Ba, Sr, and Eu. Furthermore, they have elevated Y and Yb contents at any given $SiO_2$ content compared with other Jurassic granitoids from the Gyeonggi massif. The Palbong and Baekhwa granites have slightly less radiogenic Sr and more radiogenic Nd and Pb isotopic compositions [$(^{87}Sr/^{86}Sr)_i=0.70396-0.70908$, $(^{143}Nd/^{144}Nd)_i=0.511622-0.511660$, $({\varepsilon}_{Nd})_i=-15.4$ to -14.7, $(^{206}Pb/^{204}Pb)=17.56-17.76$] relative to the Keumkang granites. The Keumkang granites are considered to have formed in a post-collisional environment following the Permo-Triassic Songrim orogeny that records continent-continent collision between the North and South China blocks, and may have formed by fractional crystallization of metasomatized lithospheric mantle-derived mafic melts. The Palbong and Baekhwa granites may have been produced from a gabbroic assemblage at pressures of less than ~15 kbar, associated with subduction of the paleo-Pacific (Izanagi) plate at the Eurasian continental margin. Elevated ${\varepsilon}_{Nd}(t)$ values in the granitoids from the southwestern part of the Gyeonggi massif relative to those of the central and northern parts, together with the comparatively shallow depth of origin, imply the presence of an exotic block in the Korean lithosphere.