Geochemical and geochronological constraints on Late Jurassic volcanic rocks at Tuen Mun,Hong Kong,with implications for the Palaeo-Pacific subduction

Widespread Mesozoic igneous rocks in Hong Kong form part of the giant Mesozoic igneous province in Southeastern China. The Tuen Mun Formation in the Northwestern New Territories is the oldest volcanic unit known in Hong Kong. This formation contains a lower unit composed of dominantly volcanic breccia, minor dacite, rhyolite, and tuff, and an upper unit of basaltic andesitic to andesitic lava. The volcanic rocks from the lower unit contain zircon grains with a mean U–Pb age of 163.4 ± 0.9 Ma, synchronous with the adjacent Tsuen Wan Volcanic Group in the region. Good inter-correlations between different elements in the Harker diagrams indicate that the volcanic rocks with high SiO₂ (e.g. >65 wt.%) are essentially physical mixtures of intermediate magmas and various xenoliths of country rocks, characterizing the palaeo-volcanic plug facies. Preservation of large amounts of xenoliths of sandstone and marble in the volcanic rocks, which is revealed both in field and under microscopic observation, further supports this hypothesis. The original andesitic magma, represented by the intermediate volcanic rocks with SiO₂ <65 wt.%, exhibit enrichments of LILEs and LREEs compared with N-MORB, but have negative Nb–Ta–Ti anomalies in the primitive-mantle normalized diagram, similar to those derived from metasomatized mantle wedge in an arc environment. Large ranges of SiO₂, MgO, and CaO contents, and negative Eu and Ce anomalies are consistent with significant fractional crystallization of likely olivine/pyroxene and plagioclase. We propose that during the Late Jurassic subduction of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate underneath the coastal continental arc in Southeast China generated prolonged and cyclic volcanism in the northern part of Hong Kong.