The Chinese Central Tianshan Arc Terrane (CTA) in the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt is characterized by voluminous Palaeozoic to Mesozoic (500–240 Ma) granites, with a magmatic “flare‐up” at Early Permian time (ca. 280 Ma). However, the tectonic setting of the Early Permian granites in the CTA is highly debated. In this study, Early Permian (ca. 280 Ma) granitic intrusions, including quartz diorite and dioritic enclave, amphibole granite, biotite granite, dioritic porphyry dyke, and a weakly mylonitic granitic dyke, were revealed from the Xingxingxia area of the CTA by LA‐ICP‐MS zircon UPb dating. These granitic rocks show magnesian and calc‐alkaline affinities and are characterized by Nb, Ta, P, Ti, and MREE depletion [(Dy/Yb)N = 1.02–1.51] with no significant Eu anomalies, suggesting geochemical characteristics of typical active continental margin magmatic rocks. Zircon trace element geochemistry of these Early Permian granitic rocks also indicates a continental arc setting with high U/Yb and Gd/Yb ratios. Among these granitic intrusions, the dioritic porphyry dyke has negative zircon εHf(t) values (−8.0 to −5.7), suggesting that the magma was produced by partial melting of the ancient crustal basements of the CTA. The rest intrusions show positive but largely varied zircon εHf(t) values of +4.1 to +10.9 (5 samples), suggesting that the magmas were probably derived from the mantle wedge with variable contributions from ancient crustal component during the magma evolution. These granitic intrusions were coeval with high‐temperature metamorphic rocks, mafic‐ultramafic rocks, and Cu‐Ni sulphide deposits in the CTA. Therefore, we propose a geodynamic model of oceanic ridge subduction of the South Tianshan Ocean during Early Permian involving upwelling of asthenospheric mantle through slab window and partial melting of the mantle wedge. The multiple‐derived magmas, including those from mantle wedge and/or ancient crustal basement, and their blendings formed the studied Early Permian granitic associations in the CTA.
The Central Tianshan microcontinent (CTM) in the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt is characterized by Precambrian crustal basements and widespread Palaeozoic granitic rocks. However, the Palaeozoic tectonic process and associated crustal evolution of the CTM have not been well constrained. In this paper, we report whole‐rock geochemistry, zircon U–Pb ages, Hf isotopes, and trace elements for the Late Carboniferous granodiorite and monzogranite from the Hongliujingbei area of the eastern CTM. These data were further integrated with previously published whole‐rock geochemistry and zircon Hf isotopic data of the intensive Late Carboniferous (327–300 Ma) magmatic rocks in the CTM in order to gain more insights into the crustal and tectonic evolution of the CTM during the Late Carboniferous. LA‐ICP‐MS zircon U–Pb dating results indicate that the granodiorite and monzogranite from the Hongliujingbei area were emplaced at ~320 Ma. Their highly variable zircon εHf(t) values (−0.1 to +12.9) suggest that the magmas of these rocks were formed by the mixing of mantle‐ and crustal‐derived magmas. The Late Carboniferous magmatic rocks from the CTM, as a whole, show a wide range of zircon εHf(t) values (−3.7 to +13.4) and geochemical characteristics typical for magma evolution in an active continental margin setting. Therefore, we suggest that the Late Carboniferous magmatic rocks in the CTM were probably generated in a continental arc formed by the southward subduction of the North Tianshan Ocean Plate beneath the CTM, and their mostly depleted zircon Hf isotopic compositions indicate that juvenile crustal growth was a dominant process in the CTM during the Late Carboniferous.
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