Geochemistry and petrogenesis of the Yishak Volcanic Sequence, Kudi ophiolite, West Kunlun (NW China): implications for the magmatic evolution in a subduction zone environment

The Yishak Volcanic Series (YVS) is part of the Late Cambrian Kudi ophiolite in the western Kunlun Mountains, NW China, which marks the oldest suture zone in the Tibetan Plateau. The YVS is a well-preserved sequence comprising five conformable units (A to E) of basalts to andesites, with mafic dykes in Units A to D. These rocks are sequentially characterized upward by geochemical features of N-MORB (Unit A), E-MORB (Unit B), island-arc basalt (Unit C), BABB (Unit D and mafic dykes) and boninite series rocks (Unit E), reflecting complex interactions among various source components. The evolution of magma compositions from MORB-dominated to boninite series rocks clearly indicates temporally increasing subduction signatures, which, in combination with the extensional tectonic background, suggests that the Kudi ophiolite most likely formed in a spontaneous nucleation of subduction zone.