Implications of super dense carbonic and hypersaline fluid inclusions in granites from the Ranchi area, Chottanagpur Gneissic Complex, Eastern India

A combined fluid inclusion and mineral thermobarometric study in groups of synchronous inclusions in quartz within weakly foliated granites from the Chottanagpur Gneissic Complex, India, reveals super dense carbonic (CO2 with minor CH4 and H2O) inclusions and hypersaline (H2O–NaCl ± NaHCO3) inclusions, with halite- and nahcolite daughter phases. This study documents the highest density (1.115 g cm− 3) CO2 fluids ever reported in granites. Fluid isochores, constructed from CO2 (± CH4) and halite-bearing inclusions, coupled with two-feldspar thermometry constrain the minimum P–T at 8 kbar/∼ 750 °C for fluid entrapment in granites. By contrast, the carbonic inclusions in quartz from granite-hosted metapelite enclaves contain substantial CH4 (up to 30 mol%), and the entrapment pressure (∼ 4.3 kbar/600 °C) is considerably lower compared to those in the granites. By implication, the sillimanite-free granites were not derived from the metapelitic enclaves, and instead were formed by partial melting of fluid-heterogeneous lower crustal protoliths, with fluid entrapment at magmatic conditions.