Nb-Ta fractionation in peraluminous granites: A marker of the magmatic-hydrothermal transition: REPLY

International audienceWe thank A. Stepanov and co-authors (Stepanov et al., 2016) forgiving us the opportunity to clarify some important points made in ouroriginal manuscript (Ballouard et al., 2016) and to discuss the issuesraised in their Comment. In Ballouard et al. (2016), we propose that thedecrease of the Nb/Ta ratios to <~5 in peraluminous granites “is theconsequence of both fractional crystallization and sub-solidus hydrothermalalteration,” an interpretation challenged by Stepanov et al. (2016)who argue that low Nb/Ta ratios in peraluminous granites are betterexplained by magmatic fractionation and that the role of magmatichydrothermalprocesses is not significant