Remelting of subducted continental lithosphere: Petrogenesis of Mesozoic magmatic rocks in the Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt

Abstract

The Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt was formed by the Triassic continental collision between the South China Block and the North China Block. There is a large area of Mesozoic magmatic rocks along this orogenic belt, with emplacement ages mainly at Late Triassic, Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. The Late Triassic alkaline rocks and the Late Jurassic granitoids only crop out in the eastern part of the Sulu orogen, whereas the Early Cretaceous magmatic rocks occur as massive granitoids, sporadic intermediate-mafic intrusive and volcanic rocks throughout the Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt. Despite the different ages for their emplacement, the Mesozoic magmatic rocks are all characterized not only by enrichment of LREE and LILE but depletion of HFSE, but also by high initial Sr isotope ratios, low ɛNd(t) values and low radiogeneic Pb isotope compositions. Some zircons from the Jurassic and Cretaceous granitoids contain inherited magmatic cores with Neoprotozoic and Triassic U-Pb ages. Most of the Cretaceous mafic rocks have zircon δ18O values and whole-rock δ13C values lower than those for the normal mantle. A systematic comparison with adjacent UHP metaigneous rocks shows that the Mesozoic granitoids and mafic rocks have elemental and isotopic features similar to the UHP metagranite and metabasite, respectively. This indicates that these magmatic and metamorphic rocks share the diagnostic features of lithospheric source that has tectonic affinity to the northern edge of the South China Block. Their precursors underwent the UHP metamorphism and the post-collisional anatexis, respectively at different times and depths. Therefore, the Mesozoic magmatic rocks were derived from anatexis of the subducted continental lithosphere itself beneath the collision-thickened orogen; the geodynamic mechanism of the post-collisional magmatisms is tectonic collapse of orogenic roots in response to lithospheric extension.