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Geoscience ›› 2020, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (03): 431-449.DOI: 10.19657/j.geoscience.1000-8527.2020.018

• Petrology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Characteristics and Geological Significance of the Triassic Mungbean Rocks in the Wenquan Town Area, Northern Chongqing

JU Pengcheng1,2(), WANG Xunlian1, WANG Zhentao2(), LIU Xifang2, ZHONG Jiaai2,3, ZHANG Zaiming1,2   

  1. 1. School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
    2. MNR Key Laboratory of Saline Lake Resources and Environments, CAGS, Beijing 100037, China
    3. No. 405 Geological Party, Sichuan Bureau of Geology and Mineral Exploration and Development, Dujiangyan, Sichuan 611830, China
  • Received:2019-06-12 Revised:2019-12-30 Online:2020-07-04 Published:2020-07-05
  • Contact: WANG Zhentao

Abstract:

Altered Triassic volcanic ash beds are widely distributed in South China, and is locally called “mungbean rocks”. In the Pinghongcun and Xiejiacao sections in the Wenquan town (northern Chongqing), these “mungbean rocks” were sampled and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyzed. Our results show these rocks contain mainly quartz and alkali feldspars, together with clay minerals such as illite and montmorillonite.Zircon morphology, Th/U ratio and zircon REE patterns indicate typical magmatic zircon features. However, geological interpretations yielded from zircon geochemistry of different samples are markedly different. Zircon U-Pb dating reveals that the Pinghongcun sample was formed at (247.2±0.59) Ma (MSWD=2.3, n =30), coeval with the T1/T2 boundary (247.2 Ma). The zircon geochemical characteristics indicate an intraplate origin, presumably resulted from the intraplate volcanism after the main-stage Emeishan large igneous province (LIP) activity. The Xiejiacao sample was formed at (225.9±1.4) Ma (MSWD=7.1, n=29), and the zircon geochemistry points to a magmatic arc origin. Combined with regional geology, especially the discovery of the coeval volcanic ash beds to the north (southern margin of North China Block) ,we inferred that the Xiejiacao sample was probably the product of the Mian-Lue Ocean closure.

Key words: Sichuan Basin, mungbean rock, Triassic, zircon U-Pb dating, provenance

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