Geochemistry and Tectonic History of Seamount Remnants in the Xingshuwa Subduction Accretionary Complex of the Xar Moron Area, Eastern Margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

Abstract

AbstractThis study focuses on the geology, geochemistry, zircon U‐Pb geochronology and tectonic settings of the three types of seamount basalts from the Xingshuwa subduction accretionary complex in the Xar Moron area, eastern margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The seamount remnants are composed of carbonate ‘cap’ sediments, large volumes of pillow and massive basalts, carbonate breccia slope facies and radiolarian cherts. Group 1 basalts are characterized by high contents of P2O5 and TiO2 with alkaline affinity and LREE enrichment, indicating that they are derived from intraplate magma. Group 2 basalts display N‐MORB LREE depletion patterns, indicating that they were formed at a mid‐ocean ridge. Group 3 basalts have shown distinct Nb depletion and high Th/Yb ratios, indicating that they were generated in an island arc tectonic setting. The zircon U‐Pb age of Group 1 basalt sample XWT18‐131 is 576.4 ± 9.4 Ma, suggesting that the oceanic island seamount was the product of intraplate magmatism related to a mantle plume or ‘hot spot’ in the late Neoproterozoic. The zircon U‐Pb age of Group 2 basalt sample XWT18‐132 is 483 ± 22 Ma, indicating that the Paleo‐Asian Ocean (PAO) was continuously expanding in the Early Ordovician. The zircon U‐Pb age of Group 3 basalt sample XWT18‐101 is 240.5 ± 8.2 Ma, suggesting that this area underwent the evolutionary path of ocean‐continent transition, developing towards continentalization during the Middle Triassic. Thus, we believe that there was both mantle plume‐related intraplate magmatism and intraoceanic subduction during the evolution of the PAO, the CAOB possibly being an evolutionary model of an intraoceanic subduction and mantle plume magmatism complex.