Late Paleozoic magmatism from northern Sibumasu terrane: Constraints on separation of Cimmeria from Gondwana

Abstract

The Cimmerian is one of several continental terranes that separated from northern Gondwana during the Carboniferous-Permian period. Magmatic evidence for the rifting of the fragments from Gondwana is preserved in the Baoshan area of eastern Cimmeria. These magmatic rocks outcrop over an area of more than 10,000 km2 and are mainly composed of basalts and dolerites, with limited occurrences of picrites. Our new results show that the basalts are tholeiitic and exhibit enriched trends in light rare earth elements (LREE), negative anomalies in Nb-Ta-Ti, and enriched isotopic signatures in Sr-Nd-Pb. They underwent fractional crystallization of clinopyroxene and olivine, with insignificant crustal contamination. Suppositional primary melt compositions and REE modeling results suggest that they were mainly formed by 2–5 % degrees of melting of spinel lherzolites with minor garnet (<1%) in a shallow enriched EMII lithospheric mantle, with minor components from the depleted mantle. Lack of plume-related ocean island basalts, a narrow south-north distribution, and a relatively low melting temperature may contradict the plume model. The Woniusi basalts could have originated in a back-arc environment, but further research is required to gather a more complete spectrum of volcanic rocks associated with the arc. In contrast, we propose that they were formed on the lower-plate passive Gondwana margin after the northward subduction of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean since the Late Devonian. This subduction may result in a longer-lasting extension of the passive Gondwana margin. The Woniusi basalts are roughly coeval with the subduction of the mid-ocean ridge during the Latest Carboniferous. After the active ridge has subducted, the slab pull is strong enough to separate a terrane, because the ridge spreading no longer absorbs the strain caused by subduction. If this is the case, subduction of the Paleo-Tethys ocean-ridge would enhance slab-pull forces and finally trigger Woniusi magmatism.