Search

High Ba-Sr granitoids occur in a number of tectonic settings, and variable petrogenetic models have been proposed. Those from post-collisional settings are rarely studied and are the focus of this study. Zircon U-Pb geochronology and whole-rock elemental and Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic data are presented for a suite of high Ba-Sr granitoids from the southern margin of the Alxa block, NW China. U-Pb zircon dating shows that the Xijing high Ba-Sr granitoids were emplaced in two periods at ~440 Ma and ~410 Ma, and they are characterized by elevated Ba and Sr contents. The older ~440 Ma high Ba-Sr granitoids range from monzodiorite to quartz monzonite, and the younger ~410 Ma high Ba-Sr granites tend to be more evolved. Both suites have similar enriched Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic ratios, low Ba/Th and Sr/Th ratios, and high Th contents and Th/Ce ratios indicative of a sediment contribution. This is potentially linked to previous subduction of the North Qilian ocean slab. Major and trace element calculations suggest that the older ~440 Ma granitoids experienced up to ~60% fractionation at 4–6 kbar with a crystallizing assemblage dominated by amphibole and plagioclase. The younger ~410 Ma granites could in turn have been formed by a further 80% fractional crystallization at lower pressures (1–2 kbar). Trace element and Sr-Nd isotopic modeling suggest incorporation of ~5% slab-derived sediment into mantle magma source of these high Ba-Sr granitoids. We note that post-collisional granitoids with high Ba and Sr characteristics may also reflect a sediment contribution in their source region, and this may be a key aspect of why such granites plot in the field of post-collisional granites in the Rb vs Y + Nb diagram. Some sanukitoids with high Ba and Sr contents in the late Archean also appear to reflect sediment subduction and they hence may represent early stages of crustal recycling.

Neoproterozoic intrusions are widespread in the northwestern margin of the Yangtze Block, and their petrogenesis was closely related to the assembly and breakup of Rodinia supercontinent. A combined study of zircon U–Pb dating, geochemistry and Sr–Nd–Hf isotopes was carried out for three types of intrusive rocks from the Hannan region, including the Beiba gabbros, the Tianpinghe and Taojiaba I-type granites and the Tiechuanshan and Huangguan A-type granites. LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb dating results show that the studied intrusions have crystallization ages ranging from ca. 880 to 770 Ma. The ca. 880 Ma Beiba gabbros have variable contents of MgO, Al2O3, Cr and Ni and extremely low high field strength elements (HFSE) concentrations that indicate a cumulate origin. These gabbros display subduction-related geochemical signatures with whole-rock initial 87Sr/86Sr (ISr) = 0.704–0.705, eNd(t) = −0.4 to +0.6 and zircon eHf(t) = +6.9 to +8.4, suggesting that they were derived from the partial melting of an enriched lithospheric mantle that had been modified by slab-derived materials. The ca. 860 Ma Tianpinghe I-type granites have high ISr (> 0.704) and negative eNd(t) (−5.6 to −3.5) values and zircon eHf(t) = −1.9 to +1.6, indicating their sources were mixtures of Neoproterozoic juvenile mafic crust and minor Paleoproterozoic crustal components, whereas the ca. 770 Ma Taojiaba I-type granites have relatively low ISr (

The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) formed mainly in the Paleozoic due to the closure of the Paleo-Asian oceanic basins and accompanying prolonged accretion of pelagic sediments, oceanic crust, magmatic arcs, and Precambrian terranes. The timing of subduction–accretion processes and closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean has long been controversial and is addressed in a geochemical and isotopic investigation of mafic rocks, which can yield important insight into the geodynamics of subduction zone environments. The Xilingol Complex, located on the northern subduction–accretion zone of the CAOB, mainly comprises strongly deformed quartzo-feldspathic gneisses with intercalated lenticular or quasi-lamellar amphibolite bodies. An integrated study of the petrology, geochemistry, and geochronology of a suite of amphibolites from the complex constrains the nature of the mantle source and the tectono-metamorphic events in the belt. The protoliths of these amphibolites are gabbros and gabbroic diorites that intruded at ca. 340–321 Ma with positive eHf (t) values ranging from + 2.89 to + 12.98. Their T DM1 model ages range from 455 to 855 Ma and peak at 617 Ma, suggesting that these mafic rocks are derived from a depleted continental lithospheric mantle. The primitive magma was generated by variable degrees of partial melting of spinel-bearing peridotites. Fractionation of olivine, clinopyroxene and hornblende has played a dominant role during magma differentiation with little or no crustal contamination. The mafic rocks are derived from a Late Neoproterozoic depleted mantle source that was subsequently enriched by melts affected by slab-derived fluids and sediments, or melts with a sedimentary source rock. The Carboniferous mafic rocks in the northern accretionary zone of the CAOB record a regional extensional event after the Early Paleozoic subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean. Both addition of mantle-derived magmas and recycling of oceanic crust played key roles in significant Late Carboniferous (ca. 340–309 Ma) vertical crustal growth in the CAOB. Amphibolite–facies metamorphism (P = 0.34–0.52 GPa, T = 675–708 °C) affected these mafic rocks in the Xilingol Complex at ca. 306–296 Ma, which may be related to the crustal thickening by northward subduction of a forearc oceanic crust beneath the southern margin of the South Mongolian microcontinent. The final formation of the Solonker zone may have lasted until ca. 228 Ma.

Early Paleozoic peraluminous granites are abundant in the eastern part of the Qilian orogen, northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. A combined study involving geochronology, whole-rock geochemical and Sr–Nd–Hf isotopic compositions for three Early Paleozoic peraluminous granitic plutons (Jishishan, Ledu and Shichuan plutons) from the eastern Qilian orogen was carried out to evaluate the causes of chemical variations and generation mechanisms of peraluminous granitic magmas. These granitic plutons have magma crystallization ages of 455–427 Ma and are moderately to strongly peraluminous (A/CNK = 1.03–1.18). Geochemical and Sr–Nd–Hf isotopic data indicate that they consist substantially of crust-derived melts. The Jishishan and Ledu peraluminous granites were dominantly produced by partial melting of Precambrian orthogneisses. The Shichuan monzogranites, with low HREE contents (e.g., Yb = 0.80–1.83 ppm) and slightly negative eNd(t) (− 5.3 to − 2.3) and positive eHf(t) (+ 1.6 to + 3.4), could be derived from immature crustal materials. Relatively high average zircon saturation temperatures (> 750 °C for each pluton), obvious negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.28–0.80) and low Pb/Ba ratios (0.03–0.16) for the Jishishan, Ledu and Shichuan granites are consistent with crustal melting involving biotite breakdown under fluid-absent conditions. Our results suggest that compositional variations of moderately to strongly peraluminous granitic magmas are mainly controlled by source compositions and melting conditions, while the processes such as mixing with mantle-derived magma, fractional crystallization, restite unmixing and peritectic assemblage entrainment were insignificant (or only play secondary roles) in their genesis. Late Ordovician to Middle Silurian crustal anatexis in the eastern Central Qilian was probably linked with slab break-off which may be an important mechanism in addition to lithospheric delamination for the generation of moderately to strongly peraluminous granites in a post-collisional setting.