Pb and O isotopic constraints on the source of granitic rocks from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

Pb isotopic compositions of leached feldspars from twenty-three plutons in Cape Breton Island can be divided into two groups: anorthosite, syenite, and granite in the Blair River Complex, which have the least radiogenic compositions on the Island, and granitic rocks from terranes (Aspy, Bras d'Or, and Mira) to the south. Pb isotopic data for the Blair River Complex (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 17.399-18.107; ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 15.505-15.560; ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 36.689-37.733) are consistent with an old source region ultimately derived from the mantle and contaminated by sialic crust. Oxygen isotopic compositions of syenite in the Blair River Complex (δ¹⁸O = +8.0 to +8.5 permil) are slightly higher than anorthosite (+7.0 to +8.3 permil); a Silurian granite in the Blair River Complex has δ¹⁸O = +7.5 permil. Cambrian to Devonian plutons in the Aspy, Bras d'Or, and Mira terranes are more radiogenic (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 18.192-18.981; ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 15.574-15.712; ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb =37.815-38.936) than the Blair River Complex and were generated from source regions having a predominant crustal Pb signature (high μ). The δ¹⁸O values of granites and granodiorites in the Aspy terrane (+7.5 to +9.2 permil; avg = +8.6 permil) and Bras d'Or (+3.7 to +11.3 permil; avg = +9.4 permil) are also consistent with involvement of sialic crust. Many Late Proterozoic granites from the Mira terrane have anomalously low δ¹⁸O values (+0.2 to +5.9 permil), perhaps produced from protoliths that had undergone hydrothermal alteration prior to melting. Paleozoic granitic rocks from the Aspy, Bras d'Or, and Mira terranes cannot be uniquely distinguished on the basis of their Pb and O isotopic compositions. The granitic rocks could have been generated during terrane amalgamation from combinations of unradiogenic (Grenville-like) and more radiogenic (Avalon-like) sources.