The Wenquan Ultramafic Rocks in North Terrane, East Kunlun Mountains, NW China – Arc Cumulates of the Paleo‐Tethys

Abstract

AbstractThe Wenquan ultramafic rocks, located in the East Kunlun Orogenic belt in the northeastern part of the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau, consist of dunite, wehrlite, olivine‐clinopyroxenite and clinopyroxenite, and exhibit cumulate textures. Olivine from dunite has high Fo (forsterite, 90–92) and NiO (0.15–0.42 wt%) contents. Cr‐spinels from all of the rocks in this suite are characterized by high Cr# (100×[Cr/(Cr+Al)], 67–91), low Mg# (100×[Mg/(Mg+Fe2+)], 17–35) and low TiO2 contents (mostly < 0.5 wt%). Clinopyroxenes display high Mg# (92–98) and low TiO2 contents (0.002–0.099 wt%), similar to those in ophiolitic cumulates. Geochemically, the Wenquan ultramafic rocks show enrichment of LILE, Sr, and Ba, and depletion of Nb and Th. Mineral chemistry and geochemistry indicate that the Wenquan cumulates were generated from a depleted mantle and likely evolved from high‐Mg basaltic magmas (Mg#=78) that underwent fractional crystallization and crustal contamination. Zircons from clinopyroxenites yield a U–Pb weighted mean age of 331 ± 2 Ma, which is nearly coeval with the formation age of the Buqingshan and A'nyemaqen Carboniferous ophiolites. The Wenquan Carboniferous ophiolites are confirmed to exist in the Central East Kunlun Fault zone, whereas previous studies have considered them to be the Proterozoic ophiolites. The Wenquan ultramafic rocks might be an arc cumulates of the Paleo‐Tethyan ocean, indicating that there were two cycles of oceanic–continental evolution along the Central East Kunlun Fault zone. Keywords Ultramafic rock, Cumulate, Ophiolite, East Kunlun Orogenic belt.