Amalgamation between the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks in South China: Evidence from the ophiolite geochemistry

Abstract

Neoproterozoic ophiolites in the southeastern margin of the Yangtze Block record tectonic evolution of South China. The ∼1.0 Ga Xiwan ophiolite and the ca. 830 Ma Fuchuan ophiolite indicate a long-term assembly of the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks during the Neoproterozoic time. Peridotites from the Xiwan ophiolite show high Al2O3 (1.24–2.67 wt%) and low MgO contents (39.61–44.26 wt%), similar to the abyssal and back-arc peridotites that experienced low degrees of partial melting. Their U-shaped REE patterns and HFSE enrichment indicate weak melt metasomatism. Whole rock 187Re/188Os (0.09–0.29) and 187Os/188Os ratios (0.11526–0.12193) yield a melt-extraction age of 1.8–2.1 Ga. However, peridotites from the Fuchuan ophiolite are more refractory and have low Al2O3 (0.51–0.95 wt%) and high MgO contents (43.99–48.24 wt%), similar to the forearc peridotites that underwent high degrees of melt extraction. Their 187Re/188Os (0.01–1.08) and 187Os/188Os (0.11852–0.12867) variations may have resulted from fluxed melting induced by the subduction-related fluids. The peridotites, in combination with the overlying mafic oceanic crustal rocks, suggest that the Xiwan and Fuchuan ophiolites are SSZ-type ophiolites which were formed in back-arc and forearc settings, respectively, followed by the collision between the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks at ca. 830 Ma.