Hot subduction in the southern Paleo-Asian Ocean:Insights from clinopyroxene chemistry and Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb isotopes of Carboniferous volcanics in West Junggar

The chemical evolution and pressure-temperature conditions of subduction zone magmatism along ancient suture zones in orogenic belts can provide important information regarding plate convergence processes in paleo-oceans.Carboniferous magmatism in West Junggar is key to understanding the tectonothermal and subduction history of the Junggar Ocean,which was a branch of the Paleo-Asian Ocean,as well as the accretionary processes in the southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt(CAOB).We undertook a geochronological,mineralogical,geochemical,and Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb isotopic study of volcanic rocks from the Baikouquan area of West Junggar.We used these data to determine the petrogenesis,mantle source,and pressure-temperature conditions of these magmas,and further constrain the subduction and tectonic history of the Junggar Ocean.The studied volcanic rocks yielded zircon U-Pb ages of 342-337 Ma and are characterized by enrichments of large-ion lithophile elements(LILEs),and depletions in high-field-strength elements(HFSEs),indicative of an island arc affinity.The volcanic rocks have positiveƐNd(t)(5.83-7.04)andƐHf(t)(13.47-15.74)values,87Sr/86Sr(t)ratios of 0.704023-0.705658,and radiogenic 207Pb/204Pb(t)and 208Pb/204Pb(t)ratios at a given 206Pb/204Pb(t)ratio,indicative of a depleted mantle source contaminated by subduction-related materials.Geochemical modeling calculations indicate that≤1%of a subduction component comprising fluid and sediment melt could have generated the source of the parental melts of the Baikouquan volcanic rocks.Clinopyroxene phenocrysts in the volcanic rocks are classified as high-and low-Ti clinopyroxene,and pressure-temperature calculations suggest the host rocks formed at high temperatures(~1300℃)and shallow to moderate depths(<2 GPa).The magma was probably generated by hot and hydrous melting in a mantle wedge in response to subduction of young,hot oceanic lithosphere.The present results,combined with published data,suggest that the Baikouquan volcanic rocks record a transition in tectonic setting from normal cold to anomalous hot subduction of young oceanic lithosphere close to a mid-ocean ridge.This indicates ridge subduction began shortly after 337 Ma.Our results provide new insights into the tectonomagmatic evolution during intra-oceanic subduction prior to ridge subduction.