Zircon U-Pb geochronology, and elemental and Sr-Nd-Hf-O isotopic geochemistry of post-collisional rhyolite in the Chiang Khong area, NW Thailand and implications for the melting of juvenile crust.

Volcanic rocks are widely exposed within the Chiang Khong-Lampang-Tak igneous zone in NW Thailand. A representative rhyolite sample from the Chiang Khong area yielded a zircon U-Pb age of 230.7 ± 1.1 Ma ( n = 20, MSWD = 0.98). The Chiang Khong rhyolites are characterized by low TiO (0.29-0.62 wt%) and MgO (0.04-0.82 wt%) with A/CNK values of 0.95-1.06 (one outlier at 1.47), and can be classified as highly fractionated I-type rhyolites. They are enriched in LILEs and LREEs, and depleted in HFSEs. Two representative samples have Sr/Sr ( i) ratios of 0.70497 and 0.70527, and the ε ( t) values fall at +1.1 and +1.3, respectively. ε ( t) and δO in zircon are between +4.7 to +12.0 and 5.3 to 5.9 ‰, respectively. Our geochemical data suggest that the Chiang Khong rhyolites formed by partial melting of juvenile mafic lower crust in a post-collisional setting. Deep crustal anatexis was probably induced by upwelling asthenospheric mantle, shortly after slab detachment subsequent to closure of the Paleo-Tethys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]