Geochemical and isotopic investigation of the Laiwu–Zibo carbonatites from western Shandong Province, China, and implications for their petrogenesis and enriched mantle source

Major and trace element and Nd–Sr isotope data of the Mesozoic Laiwu–Zibo carbonatites (LZCs) from western Shandong Province, China, provide clues to the petrogenesis and the nature of their mantle source. The Laiwu–Zibo carbonatites can be petrologically classified as calcio-, magnesio- and ferro-carbonatites. All these carbonatites show a similarity in geochemistry. On the one hand, they are extremely enriched in Ba, Sr and LREE and markedly low in K, Rb and Ti, which are similar to those global carbonatites, on the other hand, they have extremely high initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0.7095–0.7106) and very low _Nd (?18.2 to ?14.3), a character completely different from those global carbonatites. The small variations in Sr and Nd isotopic ratios suggest that crustal contamination can not modify the primary isotopic compositions of LZC magmas and those values are representatives of their mantle source. The Nd–Sr isotopic compositions of LZCs and their similarity to those of Mesozoic Fangcheng basalts imply that they derived from an enriched lithospheric mantle. The formation of such enriched lithospheric mantle is connected with the major collision between the North China Craton (NCC) and the Yangtze Craton. Crustal materials from the Yangtze Craton were subducted beneath the NCC and melts derived from the subducted crust of the Yangtze Craton produced an enriched Mesozoic mantle, which is the source for the LZCs and Fangcheng basalts. The absence of alkaline silicate rocks, which are usually associated with carbonatites suggest that the LZCs originated from the mantle by directly partial melting.