Geochronology and geochemistry of lithium-rich tuffs in the Sichuan basin,western Yangtze:Implication for the magmatic origin and final closure of eastern Paleo-Tethys

The felsic volcanogenic tuffs named"green-bean rocks"(GBRs),characterized by a green or yellowish green color,are widely distributed in the western Yangtze platform and have a high lithium content(286-957 ppm).This paper studies the ages,origin and tectonic setting of the GBRs in the Sichuan basin on the western margin of the Yangtze platform through the whole-rock geochemistry and zircon trace elements by using U-Pb dating and Hf-O isotopes.The GBR samples from the Quxian and Beibei sections yielded zircon U-Pb ages of 245.5±1.8 Ma and 244.8±2.2 Ma.These samples can be used as the isochronous stratigraphic marker of the Early-Middle Triassic boundary(EMTB)for regional correlation.The whole-rock and zircon geochemistry,and zircon Hf-O isotopes exhibited S-type geochemical affinities with high positiveδ^(18)0 values(9.28‰-11.98‰),low negativeε_(Hf)(t)values(-13.87 to-6.79),and T_(DM)^(2)ages of 2150-1703 Ma,indicating that the lithium-rich GBRs were generated by the remelting of the pre-existing ancient Paleoproterozoic layer without mantle source contamination in the arcrelated/orogenic tectonic setting.The results of this study demonstrate that the lithium-rich GBRs in the western Yangtze platform were derived from arc volcanic eruptions along the Sanjiang orogen,triggered by the closure of the eastern Paleo-Tethys Ocean and the syn-collision between the continental Indochina and Yangtze blocks at ca.247 Ma.This was marked by a major shift from I-type magmas with intermediateε_(Hf)(t)values to S-type magmas with low negativeε_(Hf)(t)values.Collectively,our results provide new insights into the origin of the GBRs and decodes the closure of the eastern Paleo-Tethys.