Contribution of subducted Pacific slab to Late Cretaceous mafic magmatism in Qingdao region, China: A petrological record

Abstract

Abstract The occurrence of the Pishikou mafic dike in the Qingdao region, China provides important constraints on the origin of Late Cretaceous (86–78 Ma) mafic magmatism on the eastern North China craton. The Pishikou mafic dike is distributed in the Cretaceous Laoshan granitoid body, Qingdao region and contains peridotitic and granulitic xenoliths, xenocrysts, and megacrysts. Rocks from the Pishikou mafic dike are basanites and have low SiO2 (< 42 wt%) and Al2O3 (12.5 wt%) contents, and high MgO (> 8 wt%), total alkalis (Na2O + K2O > 4.8 wt%, Na2O/K2O > 1), TiO2 (> 2.5 wt%), CaO (> 9 wt%) and P2O5 (> 1 wt%). In trace element abundances, they are highly enriched in large ion lithophile elements (LILEs) and light rare‐earth elements (LREEs) (ΣREE = 339–403 ppm, (La/Yb)N = 39–42) without high field strength element (HFSE) depletion. These rocks have radiogenic Sr and Pb, and less radiogenic Nd isotopic compositions [(87Sr/86Sr)i > 0.7059, εNd ≈ 2.7–3.8 (206Pb/204Pb)i ≈ 18.0 ± 0.1]. The diagnostic elemental ratios, such as Nb/La, Nb/U, and Nb/Th, are compatible with those of mid‐oceanic ridge basalts (MORBs) and oceanic island basalts (OIBs). Therefore, the Pishikou mafic dike has a geochemical feature completely different from those of the Early Cretaceous mafic dikes from the Qingdao region, but similar to those of back‐arc basalts from the Japan Sea. This geochemical feature suggests that the Pishikou mafic dike was derived from an asthenosphere source, but contaminated by materials from the subducted Pacific slab. The discovery of this mafic dike thus provides a petrological evidence for the contribution of subducted Pacific slab to the Late Cretaceous magmatism in the Qingdao region of the eastern North China craton.