Evidence for carbonatite derived from the earth's crust: The late Paleoproterozoic carbonate-rich magmatic rocks in the southeast Tarim Craton, northwest China

Carbonatites are generally accepted as derived from the mantle, whereas viewpoint of carbonatitic melt formed at crust level is considered marginal. Here we document large-scale (∼17 km2) igneous carbonate-rich rocks in the southeast Tarim Craton that were formed within the crust. These rocks exhibit clear intrusive contact with the wall-rocks and contain diverse xenolith, indicating an igneous origin. Zircon U-Pb dating reveals that they were emplaced at ca. 1.94–1.92 and 1.87–1.86 Ga, respectively. δ18O values in zircons (5.7–13.7‰) are higher than those crystallized in equilibrium with mantle melt. Total REE content is 1–2 magnitude lower than that of mantle carbonatite and shows weak fractionation of HREE. REE modeling reveals that the samples cannot be produced by partial melting of carbonated MORB at mantle conditions. The studied samples have positive δ13CV-PDB values (4.2–15.7‰), which are distinct from the mantle carbonatite but comparable to sedimentary carbonates. C-O-Sr-Nd isotope modelling indicates that the compositions of the studied samples cannot be produced by evolution of mantle carbonatite. Integrating these lines of evidence, we conclude that the studied carbonate-rich magmatic rocks were derived from partial melting of impure marble at crustal level via fluid-present melting. These carbonatites probably represent the initial magmatic record of tectonic extension of the late Paleoproterozoic collisional orogenic belt in the southern margin of the Tarim craton. The positive carbon excursion recorded by the high δ13CV-PDB values probably corresponds to the global Paleoproterozoic Lomagundi-Jatuli event. Our study implies that partial melting of sedimentary carbonates is more common than previously thought, which has significant impacts on crust rheology and global carbon cycling