Petrogenetic and tectonic significance of Permian calc-alkaline lamprophyres, East Kunlun orogenic belt, Northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Abstract

We present new geochronological, mineralogical, geochemical, and isotopic data for recently recognized lamprophyre dikes in the East Kunlun orogenic belt of NW China. Based on euhedral amphibole phenocrysts and fine-grained, plagioclase-bearing groundmass with accessory magnetite, apatite, and titanite, these dikes are classified as spessartites. Plagioclase in these rocks is Ca-rich with An ranging from 45 to 82. Most of the amphibole phenocrysts are magnesiohastingsite or ferropargasite, with systematic ‘‘normal’ zoning in which Al2O3, CaO, and Mg# decrease from core to rim. The dikes have moderate Mg# (43–49) and high Al2O3 (17.5–18.0 wt.%), FeOtotal (7.4–8.4 wt.%), and CaO (5.9–7.4 wt.%). Based on low total alkalis (Na2O + K2O = 4.2%–5.0 wt.%), most samples plot in the low-K, calc-alkaline field. They are enriched in large-ion lithophile elements (e.g. K, Rb, Sr, and Ba) and light rare-earth elements, but are depleted in high-field-strength elements (e.g. Ta, Nb, P, and Ti), and have enriched Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic compositions ((87Sr/86Sr)i = 0.70883–0.71045, εNd(t) = –5.51–5.72, εHf(t) = –4.42–0.38). Zircon U–Pb geochronology indicates that the dikes were emplaced at 253 ± 2.5 Ma and are unrelated to their granite host, which has an age of 443 ± 1.7 Ma. The geochemical and isotopic data suggest derivation from an enriched lithospheric mantle source that had been metasomatized by subduction-related fluids. Low degrees of partial melting of a phlogopite-bearing, spinel peridotite, followed by fractional crystallization of olivine, amphibole, and Ti-bearing minerals, can account for the observed geochemical features of the dikes. Trace element geochemistry and regional geology suggest that the East Kunlun lamprophryes formed in a subduction-related setting.