U-Pb dating of two granite types from Soultz (Rhine Graben, France)

Deep boreholes drilled in the basement of the Rhine Graben at Soultz-sous-Forêts have shown the presence of an ubiquitous monzogranite. Borehole GPK-2, with a total depth of 5090 m, also intersected a more leucocratic fine-grained two-mica granite, locally present below 4860 m depth and continuously found between 5047 and 5090 m. Thanks to trace elements and in particular to REE (rare-earth elements), it could be shown that the leucocratic rock is a differentiated expression of the potassic magma that was at the origin of the monzogranite pluton. This model agrees with Sr-Nd isotope data, even though a slight contribution from the pre-existing basement should be considered as well. Use of the U-Pb method on monzogranite from EPS-1 - after zircon dissolution - has yielded an emplacement age of 334•0+3•8•-3•5 Ma •2• •. Point dates obtained by SHRIMP II on the rare zircons from the fine-grained granite showed that it was emplaced in a basement with very heterogeneous ages, ranging from Early Proterozoic to Silurian. The estimated crystallization age of the last granite is 327±7 Ma •2• •, slightly later than, or sub-contemporaneous with, the emplacement of the common monzogranite, in agreement with structural constrains.