Transition from adakitic to bimodal magmatism induced by the paleo-Pacific plate subduction and slab rollback beneath SE China: Evidence from petrogenesis and tectonic setting of the dike swarms

Abstract

The late Mesozoic magmatic record of SE China is dominated by felsic volcanics and intrusions. However, this magmatism mainly occurred in coastal areas at 110–80 Ma, in contrast to poorly researched dike swarms that were emplaced inland at 165–120 Ma. Here, we focus on Early Cretaceous mafic and felsic dike swarms that provide new insights into the tectono-magmatic evolution of SE China. The swarms were intruded into Neoproterozoic plutons and include granodioritic porphyry, granitic porphyry, and diabase dikes. The granodioritic porphyry (128 ± 2 Ma) dikes are geochemically similar to adakitic rocks, suggesting that inland adakitic magmatism occurred between ca. 175 and ca. 130 Ma. The majority of these adakitic rocks are calc-alkaline and have Sr-Nd-Hf-O isotopic compositions that are indicative of derivation from a Neoproterozoic magmatic arc source within the lower crust. The granitic porphyry and diabase dikes were emplaced coevally at ca. 130 Ma, and the former contain high alkali and high field strength element (HFSE; e.g., Zr, Nb, Ce, and Y) concentrations that together with their high Ga/Al and FeOT/(FeOT + MgO) ratios imply an A-type affinity. The widespread ca. 130 Ma magmatism that formed the A-type granites and coeval diabase dikes defines a NE-SW trending inland belt of bimodal magmatism in SE China. The presence of mafic enclaves in some of the A-type granites, and the Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic compositions of the latter are indicative of inadequate mixing between the basement sediment-derived and coeval mantle-derived basaltic melts that define the bimodal magmatism. The transition from adakitic rocks to bimodal magmatism in the inland region of SE China indicates a change in the prevailing tectonic regime. This change was associated with an increase in the dip angle of the northwestward-subducting paleo-Pacific Plate beneath SE China between the Middle Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous. This resulted in a transition from a local intra-plate extensional tectonic regime induced by far-distance stress at the plate margin to a back-arc extensional regime induced by rollback of the subducted slab.