Evolution of the eastern segment of the northern margin of the North China Craton in the Triassic: Evidence from the geochronology and geochemistry of magmatic rocks in Kaiyuan area, North Liaoning

To constrain the evolution of the eastern segment of the Paleo-Asian Ocean (PAO), petrography, geochemistry and zircon U-Pb dating analyses were conducted over the gabbro and rhyolite in the Kaiyuan area, North Liaoning, in the eastern segment of the northern margin of the North China Craton (NCC). Zircon dating results indicate that the gabbros and rhyolite were formed in the Trassic (246 +/- 2Ma, 241 +/- 2Ma, 226 +/- 3Ma and 241 +/- 2Ma). The three gabbros of Triassic have similar geochemical characteristics, originated from the mantle, and were contaminated by crust materials in the process of ascending and emplacement. The Early Triassic gabbro (246Ma) originated from the enriched mantle source metasomatized by fluid. It was formed by 1% partial melting of garnet spinel lherzolite in the extensional environment caused by breaking off slab. The Middle Triassic gabbro (241Ma) was derived from a transitional mantle metasomatized by fluid and melt, and was formed by 1% to 2% partial melting of garnet spinel peridotite. The Late Triassic gabbro (226Ma) was derived from a transitional mantle metasomatized by fluid and melt, and was formed by 3% similar to 4% partial melting of garnet spinel lherzolite in the post-orogenic extensional environment. The Middle Triassic rhyolite (241Ma) has the characteristic of post collisional I-type granite, that enriched in light rare earth elements and large ion lithophile elements, depleted in high field strength elements, and negative Nb, Ti, P and Sr anomaly. The low content of Sr and Yb suggested a 30 similar to 40km depth source. The Middle Trassic "bimodal" igneous rocks implied an extensional environment caused by the remainder oceanic crust breaked away at the bottom of the crust. Based on the lithologic association, regional strata information and the chronological data in this paper and published by predecessors, the Triassic magmatism in the eastern segment of the northern margin of the NCC can be divided into five stages: 252 similar to 246Ma, 246 similar to 242Ma, 242 similar to 240Ma, 240 similar to 230Ma and 230 similar to 215Ma. These five magmatic events were the results of the southward subduction and extinction of the PAO: (1) The transformation from active continental margin to syn-collisional setting resulted in the final closure of the PAO (252 similar to 246 Ma); (2) Continuous pushing resulted in orogenic uplift (246 similar to 242Ma); (3) Extension caused by the detachment of the remainder subduction oceanic crust at the bottom of the crust (242 similar to 240Ma); (4) Rapid uplift and crustal thickening (240 similar to 230Ma); (5) Extension of post-orogenic(230 similar to 215Ma).