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Abstract: Lithospheric thinning beneath the North China Craton is widely recognized, but whether the Yangtze block has undergone the same process is a controversial issue. Based on a detailed petrographic study, a suite of xenoliths from the Lianshan Cenozoic basalts have been analyzed for the compositions of minerals and whole rocks, and their Sr–Nd isotopes to probe the nature and evolution of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the lower Yangtze block. The Lianshan xenoliths can be subdivided into two Types: the main Type 1 xenoliths (9–15% clinopyroxene and olivine-Mg#<90) and minor Type 2 peridotites (1.8–6.2% clinopyroxene and olivine-Mg#>90). Type 1 peridotites are characterized by low MgO, high levels of basaltic components (i.e., Al2O3, CaO and TiO2), LREE-depleted patterns in clinopyroxenes and whole rocks, and relatively high 143Nd/144Nd (0.513219–0.513331) and low 86Sr/87Sr (0.702279–0.702789). These features suggest that Type 1 peridotites represent fragments of the newly accreted fertile lithospheric mantle that have undergone ~1% of fractional partial melting and later weak silicate–melt metasomatism, similar to Phanerozoic lithospheric mantle beneath the eastern North China Craton. Type 2 peridotites may be shallow relics of the older lithospheric mantle depleted in basaltic components, with LREE-enriched and HREE-depleted patterns, relatively low 143Nd/144Nd (0.512499–0.512956) and high 86Sr/87Sr (0.703275–0.703997), which can be produced by 9–14% partial melting and subsequent carbonatite–melt metasomatism. Neither type shows a correlation between equilibration temperatures and Mg# in olivine, indicating that the lithospheric mantle is not compositionally stratified, but both types coexist at similar depths. This coexistence suggests that the residual refractory lithospheric mantle (i.e., Type 2 peridotites) may be irregularly eroded by upwelling asthenosphere materials along weak zones and eventually replaced to create a new and fertile lithosphere mantle (i.e., Type 1 xenoliths) as the asthenosphere cooled. Therefore, the subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the lower Yangtze block shared a common evolutional dynamic environment with that beneath the eastern North China Craton during late Mesozoic–Cenozoic time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Knowledge about the nature and history of the lithospheric mantle beneath the west Cathaysia block (South China) is still sparse. The major- and trace-element compositions and H 2 O contents of minerals from peridotite xenoliths entrained in the Cenozoic lamprophyres of the Anyuan area (SE China), were conducted to investigate the nature and evolution of the lithospheric mantle, as well as the factors controlling the distribution of water. The xenoliths including spinel harzburgites and lherzolites are moderately refractory (Mg # Olivine = 90.2–91.2) with minor fertile lherzolites (Mg # Olivine = 89.1–89.9). Clinopyroxenes in lherzolites show variable REE patterns from LREE-depleted to LREE-enriched patterns, and commonly exhibit negative anomalies of U, Pb and Ti. The mantle represented by the xenoliths mostly experienced 1–10% partial melting and obvious subsequent silicate metasomatism. H 2 O contents of clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, and olivine in the peridotites are 320–404 ppm, 138–200 ppm, and 11–33 ppm, respectively. The whole-rock H 2 O contents range from 63 to 120 ppm, similar to that estimated for the MORB source. The negative correlations of H 2 O contents with Mg # in olivine and lack of correlation correlations with (La/Yb) N in clinopyroxene suggest that the H 2 O contents are mainly controlled by the partial melting process rather than mantle metasomatism. The fertile and moderately refractory peridotite xenoliths have similar equilibrium temperatures, implying that the lithospheric mantle is not compositionally stratified. Integrated with published data, we suggest that the widespread fertile and moderately refractory lithospheric mantle beneath the studied area (west Cathaysia), even the whole South China, might be eroded or melt-rock reacted by upwelling asthenospheric materials. Finally, the cooling of the upwelled asthenospheric materials resulted in the formation of the accreted lithospheric mantle mixed with pre-existing moderately refractory volumes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]