Mesozoic tectonic transition from the Tethyan to Paleo-Pacific domains in South China: New insights from Mesozoic igneous rocks in the western Nanling Range

•The studied Mesozoic igneous in the Nanling Rang include post-orogenic ultramafic–mafic rock, subduction-related mafic rocks and other calc-alkaline intermediate-felsic rocks.•Those igneous rock assemblages in the Nanling Rang reflect the tectonic transition of the SCB.•The Nanling Rang was a Tethyan domain before ca. 170 Ma but a Paleo-Pacific domain after that.•The Mesozoic evolution of the SCB involved four stages: post-orogenic extension, slab foundering, and tectonic transition from subduction to rollback, followed by slab rollback.