Possible correlation between a mantle plume and the evolution of Paleo-Tethys Jinshajiang Ocean: Evidence from a volcanic rifted margin in the Xiaru-Tuoding area, Yunnan, SW China

Abstract

Several Paleozoic sutures in Southwestern China provide a record of the history of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean, whose birth and final closure are associated with the breakup and assembly of Gondwanaland. Recent studies indicate that there are widespread OIB-type mafic volcanic rocks within these suture zones and intervening terranes. This paper examines the geology and geochemistry of volcanic rocks in the Xiaruo-Tuoding area, a remnant passive margin succession of the Jinshajiang Paleo-Tethyan Ocean. The sedimentary and volcanic stratigraphy of this area is interpreted as a seaward dipping margin with a few continentward dipping normal faults. The available geochemistry of these volcanic rocks suggest that they are OIB-like basalts, characterised by SiO 2 = 42.78–50.46 wt.%, high TiO 2 contents (TiO 2 = 2.2–3.55 wt.%), moderate MgO = 4.15–6.49 wt.%, Mg# = 0.37–0.50, high Ti/Y ratios (mostly > 450), large ion lithosphere elements enrichment, high strength field elements and rare earth elements, with La/Nb = 1.04–1.39, Ce/Yb = 18.38–30, Sm/Yb = 2.16–3.52, ( 87Sr/ 86Sr)i = 0.705350–0.707867, and ɛNd( t) = − 1.43–1.90. These geochemical and isotopic signatures are generally similar to those of the Emeishan flood basalts, which together with stratigraphic constraints, demonstrate that these volcanics were formed in a volcanic rifted margin, probably associated with a mantle plume. A new model is proposed to interpret the evolution of the Jinshajiang Paleo-Tethyan Ocean and its possible relationship to the Emeishan mantle plume. In this model, we argue that the opening of the Jinshajiang Paleo-Tethyan Ocean in the Carboniferous was caused by a mantle plume. The mantle plume was active to the east along the western margin of the Yangtze Craton between 300 and 260 Ma, from which the voluminous Emeishan flood basalts were erupted at 260 Ma. The closure of the Jinshajiang Ocean occurred since the Middle Permian. Continuous westward subduction generated the Jiangda-Weixi magmatic arc to the west of the Jinshajiang suture. This subduction also partly destroyed and/or tectonically sliced the volcanic rifted margin. Some seaward dipping volcanic-sedimentary sequences on the east flank of the Jinshajiang Ocean were preserved, but are strongly deformed.