China's Igneous Rock Associations and Their Temporal–Spatial Distribution and Relations to the Structure and Composition of the Crust and Mantle

Abstract

The Geological Map of Igneous Rocks of China (1:5 000 000) compiled by Li Zhaonai, Wang Bixiang and other editors portrays China’s geological settings, embracing tectono-magmatic domains; major faults, volcano centers, ages of volcanic rocks and plutonic rocks and Moho depth contours, with emphasis on associations of volcanic and plutonic rocks. In the classification of igneous rock associations the editors consider their geological environments and geological, petrological and mineralogical features as well as their major and trace element and isotope geochemical features. In the map essential rock associations are expressed and the Early Proterozoic to Quaternary ages of volcanic and plutonic rocks are marked. The contents of this map indicates the following: the Chinese continent originated by assembly of multiple blocks and different blocks have brought about the three-dimensional inhomogeneity of the structure and composition of the crust and mantle of the continent; the features of various volcanic and plutonic rock associations imply that they occur respectively in different second–order geological environments of three kinds of tectonic settings: collisional orogenic belts, stable continental blocks and continental activation belts; trace element and isotope geochemical features of different magma types suggest that they are the products of interactions of different blocks and different crustal and mantle layers.