Closure of the Eastern Paleo-Asian Ocean: Evidence from Permian–Triassic Volcanic Rocks in the Northern Margin of the North China Craton

Abstract

The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) is the world’s largest accretionary orogenic belt, and its formation is related to the closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean (PAO). However, the closure time and style of the PAO remain controversial. To address these issues, this paper presents zircon U-Pb dating, whole-rock geochemistry and zircon Lu-Hf isotope analyses of the volcanic rocks in the Faku-Kaiyuan area on the northern margin of the North China Craton. The results show that the Bachagou andesites formed in the Early Permian (287 ± 2 Ma), while the Chaijialing andesites and dacites formed in the Late Permian (253.3 ± 3.7 Ma) and Middle Triassic (244.3 ± 1.3 Ma), respectively. The Bachagou andesites and Chaijialing andesites are enriched in LILEs and LREEs and depleted in HFSEs and HREEs, indicating that they formed in the active continental margins. The Chaijialing dacites show similar geochemical signatures to adakite and formed in a syn-collisional setting. Geochemistry and isotopic analysis indicates that the Bachagou andesites were derived from a partial melting of the mantle wedge that was metasomatized by subduction fluids. The Chaijialing andesites were generated from a metasomatized mantle by slab-derived and sediment fluids. The Chaijialing dacites formed by a partial melting of thickened lower crust. Combined with previous research results, we can conclude that the Eastern PAO closed by a scissor-like movement from west to east during the Late Permian–Middle Triassic.