Complex magma sources of late Mesozoic granites along the southern margin of the North China Craton: constraints from geochemistry and geochronology of the massive Heyu and Lantian plutons

ABSTRACT

Mesozoic granitoid rocks in the eastern Qinling terrane along the southern margin of the North China Craton are significant for understanding geodynamics processes related to lithospheric delamination in the Late Mesozoic. In addition, these rocks have close genetic association with the largest Mo-(Au-Ag) polymetallic mineralization belt in China. In the present study, zircon U-Pb ages and elemental and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic geochemistry are reported for two representative granite plutons (Heyu and Lantian) exposed in the eastern Qinling terrane. Granitoid rocks from both plutons are metaluminous to weakly peraluminous and are classified as I-type granite with formation ages of 145 ~ 135 Ma and 150 Ma, respectively. These rocks are characterized by adakite-like affinity without significant Eu anomalies. Both plutons have relatively high initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios ranging between 0.7063 and 0.7109 and variable ε_Nd(t) values of – 29.2 to – 6.5. Their Pb isotopic compositions are comparable to those of old high-grade metamorphic basement rocks from the North China Craton but are different from those of country rocks from the Xiong’er and Taihua groups. These features indicate genesis via reworking of the lower crust beneath North China and partial involvement of juvenile crustal material to different extents. Occurrences of ca. 1000-Ma-old inherited zircon in the Lantian granites imply the contribution of the Qinling Group in North Qinling to the magma source(s). This magmatism occurred intensively in a transitional setting from compression to extension and was likely induced by lithosphere thinning and asthenosphere upwelling beneath eastern China during the Cretaceous.