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Geoscience ›› 2021, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (04): 968-980.DOI: 10.19657/j.geoscience.1000-8527.2020.076

• Petrology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Geochronology, Geochemistry, and Tectonic Significance of Mid-Cretaceous Andesites in Guangxi and Guangdong

LIU Yang1(), FANG Nianqiao1(), QIANG Menglin2, JIA Lei3, SONG Chaojie4   

  1. 1. School of Ocean Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
    2. Shandong No.3 Exploration Institute of Geology and Mineral Research, Yantai, Shandong 264000, China
    3. Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510760, China
    4. Minmetals Mining Holdings Limited, Hefei, Anhui 230091,China
  • Received:2020-04-29 Revised:2020-09-10 Online:2021-08-10 Published:2021-09-08
  • Contact: FANG Nianqiao

Abstract:

There are numerous records of Cretaceous magmatism in the coastal Southeast China. Cretaceous andesite is limited in Guangdong and Guangxi, but it may significantly reveal the Late Mesozoic tectonic setting of the northern continental margin of the South China Sea (SCS). In this paper, andesites from Yulin in Guangxi, together with Lianping and Renhua in Guangdong are selected for the study. Based on zircon U-Pb geochronology, petrography and geochemistry, systematic study on the above rock types is carried out for the first time. The results include: (1) The samples are porphyritic with phenocrysts of mainly hornblende, pyroxene and plagioclase, and the groundmass displays andesitic texture with mainly subhedral plagioclase grains; (2) Zircons of Yulin andesite yielded a weighted mean 206Pb/238U age of (93.38±0.83) Ma, which is younger than the Renhua andesites (zircon U-P age: ca.105 Ma). Therefore, there are many Mid-Cretaceous andesite records in the northern continental margin of SCS; (3) The samples are charactered with high MgO and Mg#, lower FeOT/MgO ratios, and are LREE- and LILE-enriched and HFSE-depleted. The high-Mg andesites in Guangdong and Guangxi were formed almost coevally with the adakitic rocks in Hainan Island and Shilu (Guangdong), indicating that the tectonic setting in northern continental margin of SCS differs from that of Zhejiang and Fujian, which was influenced by the Paleo-Pacific subduction. It is concluded that tectonics of the northern SCS margin may have been influenced by the Late Mesozoic Neo-Tethyan ridge subduction.

Key words: northern South China Sea margin, Mid-Cretaceous, high-Mg andesite, Neo-Tethyan ridge subduction

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