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Miocene to Quaternary alkali basalts in the Lut–Sistan region, eastern Iran are spatially associated with two active, N–S-trending dextral strike–slip fault systems in the region, i.e., the Neh faults in the Sistan suture zone and the Nayband fault ~ 200 km further to the west in the Lut block. Here, we present new 40Ar/39Ar ages, geochemical and Sr–Nd isotopic data for these rocks to decipher the petrogenetic processes responsible for their formation and regional tectonic implications. Our new ages indicate that the volcanism commenced at ~ 14 Ma in the western Lut region and ~ 11 Ma in the northern Sistan suture zone. The rocks are composed dominantly of hawaiites and mugearites with minor basanites and basaltic andesites. Petrographic observations and major and trace elemental variations suggest that the alkali basalts underwent variable fractionation of olivine, clinopyroxene and Fe–Ti oxides. Chondrite-normalized rare earth element and mantle-normalized trace element patterns of these rocks largely resemble those of ocean island basalts. High eNd(t) (+ 1.4 to + 3.6), low to moderate initial Sr isotopic ratios (0.7047–0.7073), and trace element ratios indicate that crustal contamination was insignificant in the petrogenesis. The rocks have neither geochemical features pointing to residual hornblende or phlogopite, nor arc-related signatures characteristic of the Iranian sub-continental lithospheric mantle. Thus, the alkali basalts most likely have asthenospheric origin. Modeling of REE suggests that they could have formed by low degrees of partial melting (~ 3–10%) of an enriched mantle source at garnet-stable depths. We propose that the east Iranian alkali basaltic volcanism was triggered by asthenospheric upwelling in an extensional setting, presumably caused by delamination of thickened lithospheric root following the Late Cretaceous collision between the Lut and Afghan continental blocks. Our results imply that two contrasting tectonic regimes coexist in Iran since the Middle Miocene, i.e., extensional in eastern and compressional in southwestern Iran.

Study of the Maobei garnet peridotite and pyroxenite are significant, because these rocks were subjected to subduction-zone UHP metamorphism that is indicative of deep continental subduction. In order to better understand the origin of the Maobei peridotite and pyroxenite and the processes of continental subduction, we performed geochemical analyses on whole-rock and mineral samples. The studied samples were recovered in the main-hole of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling in the Sulu UHP terrane, east-central China. The garnet peridotites occur as lenses or layers in pyroxenite; they comprise garnet wehrlite and garnet dunite with minor interlayers of garnet websterite and garnet. Mini-bands, nodules or veins of eclogite and garnet clinopyroxenite (“internal”) also irregularly occur in garnet wehrlite. The peridotites are composed of olivine (Fo 83–84 ), garnet (Prp 51–56 ), ± diopside ± enstatite (En 86–87 ) ± titanoclinochumite, and have lower Mg/(Mg + Fe total ) values of 0.79–0.83 and higher Al 2 O 3 and CaO contents in comparison with the gneiss-hosted Sulu mantle peridotites. Garnet wehrlite displays variable REE patterns, from LREE-enriched to slightly LREE depleted relative to MREE and HREE; whereas, other ultramafic rocks show roughly flat REE patterns. In general, Rb, Ba and LREE increase, and compatible element (e.g. Cr, Co and Ni) abundances decrease from peridotite, pyroxenite to “internal eclogite” and “internal Grt-clinopyroxenite”. The calculated REE partition coefficients (D REE ) between Cpx and Grt of the Maobei peridotite and pyroxenite decrease regularly from LREE (D Ce = 32–708) to HREE (D Yb = 0.01–0.10), which is comparable with natural mantle peridotite and eclogite crystallized at 800–1100 °C. The geochemical data and occurrence of these rocks suggest that the protoliths of the Maobei peridotites are cumulates derived by differentiation of basaltic magma at the lower continental crust. Thus, the “Internal eclogite and Grt-clinopyroxenite” result from post-cumulus crystallization of the trapped melt. Ti-clinohumite orthopyroxenite may have formed by reaction between peridotitic olivine and indigenous melt or country rock-derived (“exotic”) TiO 2 -bearing fluids at high-P condition during continental subduction to mantle depths. The peak P−T estimates of 795–840 °C and 5.3–6.8 GPa of the Maobei peridotites and the available petrological data of country rocks indicate that the continental crust was subducted to a depth of ∼ 200 km.

During the Mesozoic–Cenozoic, northward Neotethyan subduction and subsequent India–Asia collision gave rise to the extensive Transhimalayan magmatism that stretches from Burma and western Yunnan through southern Tibet to the Ladakh and Kohistan complexes. To understand the age distribution and petrogenesis of the Gangdese batholith, the largest intrusive exposure along the Transhimalayan magmatic belt, fifty granitic samples were selected for in situ zircon U–Pb and Hf isotopic analyses. The U–Pb data suggest four discrete stages of magmatic activity, i.e., ~ 205–152, ~ 109–80, ~ 65–41 and ~ 33–13 Ma, respectively, with the 65–41 Ma stage being the most prominent. The Hf isotopic data indicate that the Gangdese batholith is overwhelmed by positive e Hf ( t ) values, which are comparable to those of the Kohistan–Ladakh batholiths in the west but differ markedly from those of the Chayu–Burma batholiths in the east. Most of the Gangdese granites show similar and young Hf model ages (1000–300 Ma), indicating their derivation from juvenile crust. However, those formed in the 65–41 Ma stage exhibit more heterogeneous Hf isotopic ratios, with negative e Hf ( t ) values being observed in some granites younger than 50 Ma, suggesting the involvement of old Indian continental crust in their petrogenesis. This age may thus mark the onset of the India–Asia collision. The newly established zircon U–Pb age and Hf isotope database of the Gangdese batholith can be used as a powerful tracer or “fingerprint” when studying the source-to-sink relation of the sediments eroded from the southern Tibetan Plateau.

The Trans-Himalayan magmatism, which occurred extensively in the Lhasa terrane of southern Tibet, has long been related to the Neotethyan subduction before the India–Asia collision. To better delineate the magmatic duration, we report a geochronological study with 25 SHRIMP zircon U–Pb ages from the Gangdese Batholith that represents the largest Trans-Himalayan plutonic complex. The results suggest two distinct stages of plutonism in the Late Cretaceous (ca. 103–80 Ma) and early Paleogene (ca. 65–46 Ma), respectively. Our new data confirm if not refine the notion that a Gangdese magmatic gap or quiescent period existed between ca. 80 and 70 Ma. It is furthermore identified that the early stage ended with adakitic intrusion and the latter stage is marked by a peak activity at ca. 50 Ma. We attribute the cessation of the early stage, and following magmatic gap, to a flattening of the northward Neotethyan subduction, and the initiation of the latter stage to rollback of the subducted slab. The proposed scenarios can also account for the southward migration and intensification of Cretaceous to Paleogene volcanism in the Lhasa terrane that demonstrates a coeval, eruptive “flare-up” event around 50 Ma, interpreted as the result of detaching the Neotethyan oceanic slab from the adherent, more buoyant Indian continental lithosphere owing to the India–Asia collision. Our model is, moreover, in general accord with sedimentary and structural geologic records from southern Tibet where subduction-related orogenesis appears to have evolved through time before India started colliding Asia.

Geochronological, geochemical, whole-rock Sr–Nd and zircon Hf isotopic analyses have been carried out on two suites of Late Mesozoic mafic to felsic magmatic rocks in the Sulu orogenic belt (east-central China) with the aim of characterizing their petrogenesis and tectonic implications. The Shijiusuo monzogranite has a SHRIMP zircon 206Pb / 238U age of 127 ± 2 Ma and an 40Ar / 39Ar age on hornblende of 123.5 ± 0.4 Ma. A mafic enclave from this pluton has a SHRIMP zircon 206Pb / 238U age of 124 ± 3 Ma and a hornblende 40Ar / 39Ar age of 124.2 ± 0.4 Ma, indicating coeval crystallization of the mafic enclaves and host monzogranite. Whole rock 40Ar / 39Ar dating gives an emplacement age of 111.2 ± 0.1 Ma for the mafic dikes. The monzogranites have low MgO and Cr, high Na2O, and Sr–Nd–Hf isotopic data (87Sr / 86Sr > 0.7085, ɛNd(t) = − 20.5 and ɛHf(t) = − 22.5 to − 56.6) consistent with derivation from Late Archean to Paleoproterozoic lower crust with involvement of mantle materials. The presence of coeval mafic enclaves with high ɛNd(t) and ɛHf(t) values indicates magma mixing and involvement of mantle-derived materials in the generation of the Shijiusuo pluton. The mafic dikes that intrude the monzogranite have characteristics of ultrapotassic rocks. Their geochemical features, such as high MgO (Mg# up to 75) and Cr (up to 1233 ppm), low TiO2 (1.11–1.24 wt.%) and total Fe2O3 (8.33–9.09 wt.%), enrichment in LILEs (e.g., Rb, Ba, Sr) and LREEs, and depletion in HFSE (e.g., Nb, Ta and Ti), together with initial 87Sr / 86Sr ratios of 0.7076–0.7078 and negative ɛNd(t) values (− 17.6 to − 18.2), indicate they were derived from an amphibole-bearing, refractory lithospheric mantle. The Shichang–Fangzi monzodioritic to monzonitic rocks have zircon SHRIMP U–Pb ages of ∼122 Ma. These rocks have Sr, Nd and Hf isotopic compositions (initial 87Sr / 86Sr = 0.7083–0.7088, ɛNd(t) = − 16.5 to − 17.7 and ɛHf(t) = − 20.4) similar to the mafic dikes in the nearby Shijiusuo pluton, indicating they were derived from a common source. High Rb and HREE, low Sr and Ba and strongly negative Eu anomalies indicate that the monzodioritic magmas resulted from pyroxene- and plagioclase-dominated fractionation of magma derived from an enriched mantle source. Taken together, these features indicate that Early Cretaceous magmatism in the Sulu orogenic belt was not related to Late Triassic subduction or exhumation of the ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks that characterize the Sulu region; instead they resulted from mantle–crust interaction in an extensional setting, most likely induced by widespread removal of lithospheric mantle in the eastern North China Craton during the Early Cretaceous.

The Jiazishan alkaline complex in the eastern Sulu ultrahigh pressure (UHP) metamorphic orogenic belt of eastern China is composed of potassic to ultrapotassic pyroxene syenite, quartz syenite and associated mafic dikes. A SHRIMP zircon 206Pb/238U age of 215±5 Ma was obtained for the quartz syenite and mineral 40Ar/39Ar dating gave emplacement ages of 214.4±0.3 and 214.6±0.6 Ma for the pyroxene syenite and 200.6±0.2 Ma for the mafic dike. These dates establish that the Jiazishan Complex was emplaced shortly after the UHP metamorphic event at 240 to 220 Ma due to the continental collision between the North China and Yangtze cratons. The ultrapotassic mafic dikes, with K2O≈4.4–6.4 wt.% and K2O/Na2O≈3.5, have high MgO (8.06–12.44 wt.%), Ni (119–319 ppm) and Cr (477–873 ppm) and moderately low CaO/Al2O3 (∼0.76) and TiO2 (∼1.12 wt.%). They also have high Sr (87Sr/86Sr∼0.7073), low Nd (ɛNd=∼−16.5) isotopic ratios, enriched LILE (Ba/La=66–74), LREE [(La/Yb)N=28–33] and depleted HFSE (La/Nb=4–6). It appears that the mafic dikes were derived from a refractory, re-enriched lithospheric mantle source. The syenites have Sr and Nd isotopic compositions similar to the mafic dikes, implying a common origin. Geochemical and isotopic modeling suggests that the pyroxene syenites may have been generated by early fractionation of clinopyroxene and olivine, coupled with minor amounts of crustal contamination, of a mafic magma that had a similar composition to the mafic dikes. Subsequent fractionation of feldspar-dominated assemblages, with minor or no contamination, would result in the quartz syenites. This post-orogenic magmatism, resulting most likely in an extensional setting, provides time constraints on the major geodynamic transition from convergence to extension at the eastern margin of the North China craton. The Jiazishan potassic magmatism and geodynamic transition from convergence to extension can be explained by convective removal of the lower lithospheric mantle.

The Northern Taiwan Volcanic Zone (NTVZ) is a Late Pliocene–Quaternary volcanic field that occurred as a result of extensional collapse of the northern Taiwan mountain belt. We report here mineral compositions, major and trace element and Sr/Nd isotope data of high-Mg basaltic andesites from the Mienhuayu, a volcanic islet formed at ∼2.6 Ma in the central part of the NTVZ. The rocks are hypocrystalline, showing porphyritic texture with Mg-rich olivine (Fo≈81–80), bronzite (En≈82–79) and plagioclase (An≈66–58) as major phenocryst phases. They have uniform whole-rock compositions, marked by high magnesium (MgO≈5.9–8.1 wt.%, Mg value≈0.6) relative to accompanying silica contents (SiO2≈52.8–54.5 wt.%). The high-Mg basaltic andesites contain the highest TiO2(∼1.5 wt.%) and lowest K2O (∼0.4 wt.%) among the NTVZ volcanic rocks. In the incompatible element variation diagram, these Mienhuayu magmas exhibit mild enrichments in large ion lithophile (LILE) and light rare earth elements (LREE), coupled with an apparent Pb-positive spike. They do not display depletions in high field strength elements (HFSE), a feature observed universally in the other NTVZ volcanics. The high-Mg basaltic andesites have rather unradiogenic Nd (eNd≈+5.1–7.2) but apparently elevated Sr (87Sr/86Sr≈0.70435–0.70543; leached values) isotope ratios. Their overall geochemical and isotopic characteristics are similar to mid-Miocene (∼13 Ma) high-Mg andesites from the Iriomote-jima, southern Ryukyus, Japan. Despite these magmas have lower LILE and LREE enrichments and Pb positive spike, their “intraplate-type” incompatible element variation patterns are comparable to those of extension-induced Miocene intraplate basalts emplaced in the Taiwan–Fujian region. Therefore, we interpret the Mienhuayu magmas as silica-saturated melts derived from decompression melting of the ascended asthenosphere that had been subtly affected by the adjacent Ryukyu subduction zone processes. This interpretation is consistent with the notion that in the northern Taiwan mountain belt post-orogenic lithospheric extension started in Plio–Pleistocene time.

Late Cenozoic intraplate basaltic volcanism in SE China and Taiwan occurred as a result of lithospheric extension related to the opening of the South China Sea. It was gradually terminated by the compression which propagated westwards from the arc-continent collision in Taiwan since ∼ 12 Ma ago. The basalts show a spatial variation in chemical composition. Their alkalinity, degree of silica undersaturation and abundance of incompatible elements increase whilst Pb isotopic ratios decrease ( 206 Pb 204 Pb from 19.0 to 18.2) progressively away from a NE-trending extension axis in the western Taiwan Strait. Abundant tholeiites were emplaced near the axial zone whereas alkali basalts, basanites and nephelinites took place further away from this axis. Overall, the basalts have Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic systematics similar to those of seamount basalts in the South China Sea which are characterized by a Dupal-type Pb isotopic anomaly. Based on geochemical constraints from the basalts, depth estimates for mantle xenoliths and regional geophysical data, a passive extension model is proposed for the geodynamic evolution of this region. It suggests greatest lithosphere thinning during the Miocene beneath the axial zone. The lithospheric mantle was thermo-mechanically eroded by convective upwelling of the asthenosphere, a process that raised the lithospheric geotherm and resulted in a plum-pudding-type convecting mantle. The spatial chemical and isotopic variation in the basalts can be explained by different degrees of decompression melting of this convecting mantle, corresponding to a change in lithosphere thickness, compounded by various contributions from the continental lithospheric mantle (CLM) -derived plum component. This model, which involves continental extension followed by magma generation via lithosphere-asthenosphere interaction, should be applicable to other areas of Cenozoic rift magmatism around the South China Sea and in the eastern Eurasian continental margin.