Early Carboniferous intra-oceanic arc and back-arc basin system in the West Junggar, NW China.

A series of Lower Carboniferous volcanic rocks occur in the Hatu, Darbut, and Baogutu areas of Xinjiang Province. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) zircon U–Pb isotopic data indicate that two samples of these rocks coevally erupted at 324.0 ± 2.8 Ma and 324.9 ± 3.4 Ma. Three detailed profile measurements show that the volcanics include the Hatu basalt, the Baogutu andesite and dacite, and the Darbut andesite. Whole-rock compositions suggest that the Hatu volcanics are tholeiites and have a mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-like signature with a small negative Nb anomaly, suggesting formation in a back-arc basin. Their isotopic compositions (ϵNd(t) = +2.2 to +4.0, (87Sr/86Sr)i = 0.70414 to 0.70517) suggest a mixing origin from depleted to enriched mantle sources. In contrast, the Baogutu and Darbut rocks are andesite and dacite possessing a transitional tholeiite to calc–alkaline character and have E-MORB-like and OIB signatures, with a marked negative Nb anomaly and Th/Yb-enrichment, indicating that they were generated in a subduction zone setting. Isotopically, they display consistently depleted Sr–Nd isotopic compositions [(87Sr/86Sr)i = 0.70377–0.70469, ϵNd(t) = 1.0–5.2], suggesting that they were derived from a depleted mantle, and that fluid and sediments were involved in their petrogenesis. These features suggest that an early Carboniferous intra-oceanic arc and back-arc basin system generated the studied volcanic units in the West Junggar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]