Late Carboniferous extension-related magmatism in the southwestern Alxa block of NW China: geochronology, geochemistry, and tectonic implications

Whether the northern margin of the North China Craton (NCC) was a continental arc or in a lithospheric extensional setting during the Carboniferous is the primary divergence among different tectonic models about the terminal evolutionary history of the southeastern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The Alxa block is the western segment of the northern NCC and contiguous to the southeastern CAOB, and therefore the tectonic setting of the Carboniferous magmatic intrusions in this block can shed light on this controversy. In this contribution, new zircon U-Pb ages, elemental geochemistry, and Sr-Nd isotopes are presented for thirteen Late Carboniferous (similar to 318-300 Ma) magmatic intrusions in the southwestern Alxa block. Among them, seven calc-alkaline 1-type granites and one aluminous A2-type granite were probably generated by the partial melting and crystallization differentiation of various crustal sources (perhaps including earlier orogenic materials) under different temperature conditions. Four quartz diorites and one hornblende gabbro may be the partial melts of subduction-modified basaltic lower crust sources and sub-continental lithospheric mantle sources, respectively. According to the integration of the new results and regional geological correlations, the Alxa block and the southeastern CAOB were most likely in a uniform tectonic regime during the Carboniferous. At that time, this region was characterized by the lithospheric extension-related magmatic rock associations, the increasing mantle inputs over time, the clockwise P-T paths of high temperature-low pressure metamorphic rocks, and the transgression sedimentary sequences. All these lines of evidence suggest an intracontinental lithospheric extensional setting rather than a continental arc setting for the southeastern CAOB during the Carboniferous.

Automated summary

This study investigates the tectonic setting of Carboniferous magmatic intrusions in the Alxa block and concludes that the region most likely experienced intracontinental lithospheric extension during this period.