Late Triassic E-MORB-like basalts associated with porphyry Cu-deposits in the southern Yidun continental arc, eastern Tibet: Evidence of slab-tear during subduction?

Abstract

It is generally believed that andesite–dacite–rhyolite suites and contemporary porphyry Cu deposits are related to subduction in active continental margin settings. However, it is still unclear which tectonic events result in the generation of porphyry Cu deposits and whether asthenospheric mantle material is involved in this process. Widespread andesitic–dacitic felsic intrusions associated with porphyry Cu deposits and rarer basalts have been identified in the Late Triassic southern Yidun arc (SYA) of eastern Tibet. However, few geochronological and geochemical data are available for these basalts, thereby hampering the development of geodynamic models for this magmatic event and the formation of related porphyry Cu deposits in the region. Here we present the first geochemical and SIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometry) zircon U–Pb data of Xiaxiaoliu basalts in the SYA. The age of the Late Triassic Xiaxiaoliu basalts (216.1±2.8Ma) is consistent with the timing of emplacement of voluminous porphyritic intrusions and the formation of Cu deposits within the SYA (peaking at 215–217Ma). The Xiaxiaoliu basalts have E-MORB-like trace element patterns that are free of negative Nb–Ta anomalies, and have high 143Nd/144Nd(t) values, suggesting they were sourced from asthenospheric mantle without any arc-type influence. These observations, combined with the fact that some Late Triassic mineralized porphyritic intrusions within the SYA have adakitic affinities, suggest that the basalts and other igneous rocks and associated porphyry Cu deposits within the SYA were produced by tearing of a westward-dipping slab, triggering the upwelling of asthenospheric mantle material during subduction of the Garze–Litang Ocean crust.