Earth Science Frontiers ›› 2022, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (4): 345-357.DOI: 10.13745/j.esf.sf.2021.10.29

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Discovery of Late Ordovician sanukitoid-like diorite in southern Altyn orogeny and its geological significance

ZENG Zhongcheng1,2,3(), HONG Zenglin2,3,4,*(), BIAN Xiaowei3, CHEN Ning3, ZHANG Ruoyu3, LI Qi3   

  1. 1. Shaanxi Mineral Resources and Geological Survey, Xi’an 710068, China
    2. Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
    3. Shaanxi Institute of Geological Survey, Xi’an 710054, China
    4. Key Laboratory of Mine Geological Hazards Mechanism and Control, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xi’an 710054, China
  • Received:2020-11-02 Revised:2021-09-20 Online:2022-07-25 Published:2022-07-28
  • Contact: HONG Zenglin

Abstract:

In this study, we report the occurrence of Late Ordovician sanukitoid-like diorites of the southern Altyn orogeny, and discuss, on the basis of detailed field work, their petrography, geochronology, whole-rock geochemistry, petrogenesis, mantle source as well as constraint on the tectonic evolution framework of the orogeny. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating yielded weighted 206Pb/237U age of 445±3 Ma, which is interpreted as the formation age of diorite. Geochemically, the diorites had low Al2O3 (15.11%-16.19%) and high MgO (3.93%-5.29%) and K2O (1.68%-2.67%) contents belonging to high Mg, calc-alkaline and metaluminous series. In addition, the diorites possess high Cr (29.3×10-6 -140×10-6), Ni (27.1×10-6-43.5×10-6), Ba (606×10-6-936×10-6), Sr (513×10-6-734×10-6) and Y (26.4×10-6-31.1×10-6) contents, consistent with global high-Mg sanukitoid. They were enriched in REE and LILE (Rb, K), but depleted in HFSE (Nb, Ti, Zr), consistent with arc magma of the subduction zone. Moreover, the diorites could be generated from enriched lithospheric mantle metasomatized by subduction components, on account of high Ti/Zr ratio (48-60) and Mg# value (46.74-53.06), as well as high Cr (29.3×10-6-140×10-6) and Ni (7.1×10-6-43.5×10-6) contents. Thus we propose that the Late Ordovician high-Mg sanukitoid-like diorites are the product of decompression melting of mantle wedge during the slab break-off process in a post-collision tectonic setting, and represent the most intensive Paleozoic mantle-derived mafic intrusion in the southern Altyn orogeny.

Key words: southern Altyn orogeny, Late Ordovician, high-Mg sanukitoid-like diorite, post-collisional tectonic setting, mantle-derived mafic magma

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