Should felsic magmas be considered as tectonic objects, just like faults or folds?

Integrated studies that correlate gravity data with magmatic structures or geochemical analysis reveal that the organization of granitic plutons (shape and feeder) varies according to the tectonic regime (brittle or ductile) and type (extension, strike-slip or compression) under which magma was generated. Deformation clearly controls granite emplacement. It also has influence during the ascent, segregation of melt and indirectly during the phase of initial melting. Because of the contrast of viscosity between melt and its plastic matrix, strain partitioning develops during magma ascent that facilitates melt flow, which bears consequences for the chemical evolution of the magma. Fast rate of melt extraction out of the source may lead to chemical disequilibrium. At a larger scale, petrochemical zoning of plutons is described as a dynamic process that results from the competition between the rate of magma emplacement (the rate of the room provided by deformation) and the rate of magma delivery.