Chronology and Geochemistry of Early Cretaceous Magmatism in the Northwestern Erguna Block, Northeast China

Abstract

This study was conducted to define the background structure and petrogenetic significance of the Early Cretaceous magmatic rocks in the Badaguan area of northern Daxing’anling and to explore the Late Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the Mongol-Okhotsk suture zone. The Early Cretaceous magmatic rock was systematically investigated using zircon U-Pb dating and geochemical and petrological analyses. The results show that the rock: mainly consists of granites and rhyolites; has an age of 125–140 Ma; has a strong MgO, Al2O3, and total alkali content; has a SiO2 content of 61.68 wt% to 77.41 wt%; and contains Rb, Th, U, and light REEs with depleted levels of of Sr, P, Ti, and heavy REEs. When combined with the Hf isotopic characteristics of the Early Cretaceous magmatic rock from the Erguna Massif, these results suggest that the magma originated from the partial melting of basal crustal materials during the Neoproterozoic-Phanerozoic period and that various mineral forms (including hornblende, plagioclase, and apatite) underwent fractional crystallization processes during the evolution of the magma. The Early Cretaceous magmatic rock from the Badaguan area recorded the extensional environment of the lithosphere after the closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean, and this hypothesis is consistent with the results of previous studies on the tectono-magmatic activities in Northeast China during the same period.