Geochemistry and Petrology of Emeishan Basalts and Subcontinental Mantle Evolution in Southwestern China

Three major volcanic rock sequences in the P2β formation(Emeishan basalts)were sampled dur-ing a comprehensive study of the Late Permian volcanics associated with the Panxi paleorift in southwestern China .Two of the three sections-Emei and Tangfang are composed of continental flood basalts(CFB) while the third-Ertan is an alkalic center.Multi-element chemical analyses indi-cate a predominance of low MgO transitional quartz tholeiites at Emei and Tangfang,whereas the Ertan suite ranges from high-MgO alkaline olivine basalts to rhombic porphyry trachytes and quartz-bearing aegerine-augite syenites.Consanguineity of the rocks from the three sections is sug-gested by consistently high TiO2 ,K2O,incompatible trace elements and uniformly fractionated REE patterns typical of alkalic compositions,but antypical of CFB.Sr isotope data for ten Emei basalt samples(^87Sr/^86Sr=0.7066-0.7082)which show no correla-tion with Rb/Sr ratios (0.02-0.12) and Nd isotopes for two of the samples(^143Nd/^144Nd=0.51171-0.51174)are interpreted as being related to the mantle evolution.The primary magmas re-sponsible for all the three sequences have been modeled in terms of a uniformly metasomatized man-tle source.Trace element models support the derivation of the Emei and Tangfang primary magmas from 10-15 percent partial melting of spinel lherzolite,followed by fractional crystallization of olivive and clinopyroxene.The primary alkaline olivine basalts at Ertan are generated by 7-10 percent par-tial melting of a chemically equivalent source in the garnet-peridodite stability region.The assumed mantle composition is characterixzed by Rb=3.8-5.5 ppm,Sr=62-83ppm,Ba=45-64 ppm,La=3.8-5.6ppm,and Yb=0.46-0.57ppm.The proposed mechanism of regional mantle enrichment requires metasomatic stabilization of phlogopite which becomes depleted later during par-tial melting.Such enrichment is consistent with the models proposed for alkalic systems in which a large mantle diaper acts as the agent for upward enrichment as well as uplift and extension of the crust.