Geochemistry and zircon U-Pb geochronology of the rhyolitic tuff on Port Island, Hong Kong: Implications for early Cretaceous tectonic setting

Abstract

Early Cretaceous rhyolitic tuffs, widely distributed on Port Island, provide insights into the volcanism and tectonic setting of Hong Kong. In this paper we present petrological, geochronological and geochemical data of the rhyolitic tuff to constrain the diagenesis age and petrogenesis of the rocks, tectonic setting and early Cretaceous volcanism of Hong Kong. The first geochronological data show that the zircons in the volcanic rocks have U-Pb age of 141.1–139.5 Ma, which reveals that the rhyolitic tuff on Port Island was formed in the early Cretaceous (K1). Geochemically, these acid rocks, which are enriched in large ion lithophile elements (LILEs) and light rare earth elements (LREEs), and depleted in high field strength elements (HFSEs), belong to the high K calc-alkaline to shoshonite series with strongly-peraluminous characteristic. The geochemical analyses suggest that the volcanic rocks were derived from deep melting in the continental crust caused by basaltic magma underplating. Based on the geochemical analysis and previous studies, we concluded that the rhyolitic tuffs on Port Island were formed in a back-arc extension setting in response to the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate.