The Cretaceous igneous rocks in southeastern Guangxi and their implication for tectonic environment in southwestern South China Block

Abstract

Southeastern Guangxi is located in the southwestern South China Block and to the northwest of the South China Sea (SCS), with abundant records of the Cretaceous magmatism. A detailed study of igneous rocks will contribute to a better understanding of the late Mesozoic tectonic environment. Zircon U–Pb dating yields ages of 93.37 ± 0.43 Ma for Yulin andesites and 107.6 ± 1.2 Ma for Luchuan granites. Yulin andesites are hornblende andesites, of which w(MgO) is between 7.72% and 8.42%, and Mg# is between 66.7 and 68.0, belonging to high magnesian andesites (HMAs) from peridotite sources. Luchuan granites are medium- to fine-grained monzogranites. Monzogranites and clastoporphyritic lava are high-K calc-alkaline series and metaluminum to weakly peraluminous series, which belong to the I-type granites. Those are enriched in Rb, Th, K and LREEs and depleted in Nb, Ta, P and Eu, showing the geochemical characteristics related to subduction. Unlike the contemporary “bimodal igneous rock assemblages” in Zhejiang and Fujian, the intermediate-acid magmatites in the southeastern Guangxi imply the compressive tectonic environment. The assemblage of HMAs and adakitic rocks indicates that the southwestern South China Block was under the Neo-Tethyan subduction during Cretaceous, and slab melting contributed to the magma in this area.

Keywords

• high-magnesian andesites 1
• i-type granite 2
• clastoporphyritic lava 3
• neo-tethyan subduction 4
• southwestern south china block 5