The discovery of Palaeoproterozoic volcanic rocks in the Bulunkuoler Group from the Tianshuihai Massif in Xinjiang of Northwest China and its geological significance

In the Dabudaer region of the Tianshuihai Massif (Xinjiang, Northwest China), metavolcanic rocks within the mainly meta-sedimentary Bulunkuoler Group are basalt, basaltic andesite, and rhyolite. In situ zircon U-Pb LA-ICP-MS dating on rhyolite magmatic zircons yielded an age of 2481±14 Ma, interpreted as the eruption age of the Bulunkuoler Group volcanic rocks. The basalt and basaltic andesite are low-Al tholeiite series and the rhyolite is low-Al calc-alkaline series. All of rocks are charac-terized by enrichment of LREE and LILE (Rb, Th and Ba), depletion of P, Nb, Ta and Ti, and absence of Eu anomalies. The εNd(t) of basalts ranges from 3.14 to 4.88 indicating a depleted mantle source. The trace element signatures show that these magmas experienced intense crustal contamination during their ascent. Direct evidence for crustal contamination is the xenocrystic zircons in the ryholite, with ages back to ca. 3300 Ma. The primitive-mantle normalized and Zr/Y-Zr diagrams for the basic volcanic rocks show that they formed in an intra-continental tectonic setting. Combined with the previous studies and compared with North China Craton Neoarchean basic volcanic rocks, it is supposed that the Bulunkuoler Group volcanic rocks reflect the Palaeoproterozoic mantle magma underplating and interaction with felsic crust.