The effect of allanite inclusions on U–Pb step-leaching ages and Sm–Nd isotope systematics of garnet from the Ogcheon metamorphic belt, South Korea

The Ogcheon metamorphic belt consists primarily of metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks that have experienced polyphase tectonometamorphism since the Neoproterozoic. Peak metamorphism reaching up to lower-amphibolite facies produced ubiquitous garnet porphyroblasts in pelitic and mafic schists. To determine the timing of their formation, step-leaching experiments were undertaken for five garnet fractions separated from pelitic and quartz-hornblende-garnet schists. The U–Pb ages from three samples are identical within 2σ errors, ranging from 291 ± 41 Ma to 276 ± 29 Ma. The quasi-linearity of leachates in 238U–206Pb and 208Pb–206Pb diagrams suggests that U and Pb are released from a single mineral phase and that minor chemical fractionation between U and Pb may have occurred during the leaching experiment. Deviations of residues and bulk garnet fractions from the linear trend are attributed to partial dissolution of refractory inclusions of detrital zircon. Th/U ratios of leachates are in the range of 3.4–12, much higher than those of pure garnet, and suggest the contribution of allanite. Negative relationships in the Sm–Nd isochron diagram and similar 147Sm/144Nd ratios between whole rock and garnet corroborate the influence of light rare earth element (LREE)-rich allanite on the Sm–Nd isotopic system. Simple mass-balance calculations indicate that only a trace amount (0.35 modal%) of allanite inclusions should govern the U–Th–Pb systematics of garnet. Petrographic evidence together with the consistency in U–Pb ages suggests that allanite is a product of prograde metamorphism. Thus, peak metamorphism responsible for the growth of allanite-bearing garnet porphyroblasts in the Ogcheon metamorphic belt is best estimated to be Early Permian.