Petrogenesis of the Changlinggang A-type Syenites in the Western South China Block: Implications for Late Cretaceous Tectonic Evolution of the Neo-Tethys

Abstract

It is debated whether Cretaceous magmatism and mineralization in southeastern Yunnan (China) resulted from the subduction of Neo-Tethys or Paleo-Pacific lithosphere. To address this problem, we report whole-rock geochemical and Sr–Nd isotopic compositions and zircon U–Pb ages and Lu–Hf isotopic compositions from the Changlinggang syenites in the southeastern Yunnan Sn mineralization belt, western South China Block. LA–ICP–MS zircon U–Pb dating suggests that syenites were emplaced during the Late Cretaceous (79.2 ± 0.5 Ma). They contain nepheline and aegirine, and have high (K₂O + Na₂O) contents (16.0–18.6 wt %), K₂O/Na₂O ratios (0.7–1.7), FeO^T/(FeO^T + MgO) ratios (0.83–0.97), 10⁴ × Ga/Al ratios (2.3–3.7), and (Zr + Nb + Ce + Y) contents (505–2138 ppm), which are typical of A-type granitoids. The samples have slightly more enriched initial Sr–Nd isotopic compositions than the coeval Jiasha gabbros, with (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)_i ratios of 0.7088–0.7101 and ε_Nd(Т) values of –7.5 to –6.6. The geochemical data suggest that the Changlinggang syenites were derived by partial melting of enriched lithospheric mantle that had been metasomatized by subducted-sediment-derived melts, followed by crustal assimilation and fractional crystallization of the partial melt during ascent. These results, along with those of previous studies, indicate that Cretaceous magmatism and mineralization in southeastern Yunnan were emplaced in an extensional setting related to subduction of Neo-Tethys lithosphere. Therefore, we propose that the Neo-Tethyan slab was subducted under the western South China Block during the Late Cretaceous.