Landmark Papers: Granite Petrogenesis

This book will be useful to undergraduate students of mineralogy, petrology and geochemistry, especially those at third or fourth year, engaged in more advanced courses or specialized projects, and also as a reference work for students for 'Masters' degrees by taught courses or research. For doctorate students, and research workers in the Earth Sciences as well as those in Materials Science and other related disciplines, this work can be useful as a condensed version of the very extensive treatment presented in the volumes of the DHZ Series Rock-Forming Minerals, second edition. A compilation of landmark papers on granite petrogenesis is overdue. This volume is organized into a number of sections that rep­resent what the editors regard as the main research fields in which progress has been made in understanding granites and their genesis. The origin of granitic magmas is part of the cycle that unites tectonic processes with the generation of mantle magma, crustal growth, the transfer of mantle heat to the crust, high-grade regional metamorphism, crustal melting and crustal differentiation. The extended subject area is far too wide to deal with in a single volume and therefore the selec­tion has been limited to papers dealing with the formation, physical behaviour and chemical evolution of granitic magmas, and just touching on the matter of associated ore deposits. John (JC) Clemens and Fernando Bea are world experts on the subject of granite petrogenesis. Clemens' most important work has been on the origin and evolution of granites and silicic volcanic magmas, experimental studies and modelling of partial melting and the ascent and chemical evolution of granitic magmas, and these continue to be his main interests. Bea's research interests have been in the petrology and geochemistry of granite rocks and the mechanisms of generation of granite magmas, having studied in detail the role of heat-producing elements.