Early Cretaceous adakitic lavas and A-type rhyolites in the Songliao Basin, NE China: Implications for the mechanism of lithospheric extension

Abstract

There is a broad consensus that the extensive late Mesozoic igneous rocks in NE China were generated in an extensional setting. However, the timing and mechanism of the lithospheric extension remain controversial. To address this, we carried out an integrated study involving LA–ICP–MS zircon U–Pb dating and geochemical analyses (major elements, trace elements, and Hf isotopes) for the Early Cretaceous adakitic lavas and A-type rhyolites of the Songliao Basin. The adakitic lavas are andesites and dacites. The U–Pb dating of zircons from the adakitic lavas and A-type rhyolites yielded ages between 115 and 102 Ma. Geochemically, the adakitic lavas are characterized by high Sr contents (515–1610 ppm) and low Y (0.98–17.58 ppm) and heavy rare earth element (HREE) contents, and they therefore have high Sr/Y (51–112) ratios. They also exhibit high Mg# values (36–57) and high contents of MgO (0.56–3.53 wt%), Cr (15.7–87.3 ppm), and Ni (6.7–44.7 ppm) that are comparable with those of high-Mg adakitic rocks. The A-type rhyolites show an affinity with aluminous A-type magmatic rocks, and they are metaluminous to peraluminous (A/CNK = 0.98–1.35), enriched in alkalis, Ga, Zr, Nb, and Y, depleted in Sr and P, and exhibit fractionated REE patterns with negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.05–0.77). All the primary zircons from the adakitic lavas and A-type rhyolites have positive εHf(t) values of +3.6 to +12.1 and juvenile two-stage model (TDM2) ages of 934–392 Ma. The adakitic lavas probably resulted from the partial melting of a delaminated region of the lower continental crust, with the magmas subsequently interacting with mantle materials upon ascent, while the A-type rhyolites were probably generated by the partial melting of a dehydrated charnockitic middle–lower crust. The data suggest that the adakitic lavas and the A-type rhyolites formed in an extensional environment related to the rollback of the subducting Paleo-Pacific Plate. The upwelling of asthenospheric mantle and local delamination of the lithosphere, which were induced by rollback of the subducting Paleo-Pacific Plate, extended from the Great Xing'an Range southeastward through the Songliao Basin to eastern Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, giving rise to the southeastward migration of lithospheric extension and extension-related volcanism after ca. 140 Ma.