Petrogenesis of early cretaceous andesite dykes in the Sulu orogenic belt, eastern China

This study presents data of in-situ mineral major and trace element chemistry, whole-rock major and trace element and Sr–Nd isotope geochemistry, as well as zircon U–Pb dating and Lu–Hf isotope studies of andesite dykes from the Sulu orogenic belt of eastern China to evaluate their petrogenesis and thus to provide insights into crust–mantle interactions in a tectonic terrane that underwent continental subduction and was then overprinted by oceanic subduction. The andesites mainly comprise plagioclase, hornblende, clinopyroxene and magnetite as phenocrysts that are embedded in a groundmass of fine-grained quartz and K-feldspar, with minor amounts of biotite, magnetite, titanite, apatite and zircon. They possess intermediate concentrations of SiO2 (54.97–62.24 wt.%), Na2O + K2O (6.35–7.24 wt.%) and MgO (3.37–7.12 wt.%) with high Mg# values [Mg# = 100 × Mg/(Mg + Fe2+) molar] of 54–64, and are characterized by arc-like trace element patterns that are enriched in light rare earth elements (LREE) and large ion lithophile elements (LILE) but depleted in high field strength elements (HFSE). The hornblende and clinopyroxene phenocrysts exhibit enrichment in Th and U but an obvious depletion of HFSE. The andesites have high initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.7073–0.7086 and negative ɛNd(t) values of −15.7 to −14.4 for whole-rock, and newly crystallized magmatic zircons show negative ɛHf(t) values of −27.0 to −17.6. U–Pb dating on syn-magmatic zircons yields consistent ages of 124 ± 2 to 116 ± 1 Ma, indicating eruption of the andesitic lavas during the Early Cretaceous. Inherited zircons are present and yield Neoproterozoic, Paleoproterozoic and Archean U–Pb ages. Taking into account all these geochemical and geochronological data, and the compositional features of contemporaneously formed mafic–andesitic igneous rocks from the Sulu belt and the adjacent continental crust of the North China Craton, we propose that the andesites crystallized from primary andesitic magmas derived from partial melting of enriched metasomatites in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle. The enriched metasomatites are inferred to be formed by a two-step process: firstly by crust–mantle interactions during the Triassic collisional orogeny and secondly by a subsequent modification by fluids/melts that mainly derive from seafloor sediments during subduction of the paleo-Pacific plate in eastern Asia. Slab rollback of the subducted paleo-Pacific slab and concomitant asthenosphere upwelling are an appropriate geodynamic mechanism for the generation of extensive arc-like magmatism during the Early Cretaceous in the Sulu belt.