Obduction-type granites within the NE Jiangxi Ophiolite: Implications for the final amalgamation between the Yangtze and Cathaysia Blocks

Abstract

Leucogranitic lenses are found within the Xiwan ophiolitic mélange in northeastern Jiangxi Province, South China. The leucogranites occur exclusively within the serpentinized peridotite unit of the ophiolite suite. SHRIMP U–Pb zircon dating results indicate that these granites were formed at 880 ± 19 Ma, and were overprinted by an Indosinian tectono-thermal event at ~ 230 Ma. The leucogranites are peraluminous (A/CNK = 1.0–1.24), characterized by high Al 2O 3 (14–18.33%) and Na 2O (6.5–10%) and clearly low εNd(T) values of 0.8 to − 3.9 compared with the other rock units of the ophiolite suite. On the basis of their REE characters, the leucogranites can be divided into three groups. Group I leucogranites show the most fractionated LREE-enrichment patterns (with La N/Yb N and La N/Sm N ratios of 30.1–75.0 and 2.3–3.9, respectively). Group II leucogranites have moderately fractionated LREE-enrichment patterns (with La N/Yb N and La N/Sm N ratios of 13.1–26.5 and 0.8–1.9, respectively). Group III leucogranites are characterized by obviously low total REE contents and flat REE patterns with significant positive Eu anomalies, probably due to small degrees of partial melting. All these leucogranites were likely formed by partial melting of sedimentary rocks from a marginal basin at the Yangtze side of the orogen, beneath a major thrust fault during the obduction of the ophiolite onto the continental crust. They are broadly similar to obduction-related granites within ophiolites identified in many places worldwide. Identification of the ca. 880 Ma obduction-type granites in the NE Jiangxi ophiolite provides a petrological constraint on the timing of the ophiolite obduction onto the continental crust. In combination with the termination of the Shuangxiwu arc magmatism at ca. 890 Ma, we interpret that the close of the Neoproterozoic back-arc basin and the termination of the continental amalgamation between the Yangtze and Cathaysia Blocks occurred at ca. 880 Ma.