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The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) is one of the world's largest and longest-lived accretionary orogens that has been regarded as an important area of crustal growth during the Phanerozoic, yet the growth mechanism is still under debate. A combined study of petrology, geochronology and geochemistry for drilling-sampled early Carboniferous volcanic rocks from the Junggar Basin (NW China), southwestern CAOB, aims to constrain their petrogenesis and implications for Phanerozoic crustal growth. The volcanics show a bimodal-type suite, dominated by basalts, basaltic andesites and subordinate rhyolites, and have consistent zircon U–Pb ages of 334–336 Ma. The mafic rocks exhibit arc-like trace-element distribution patterns characterized by enrichment of LILEs (e.g., Pb) and LREEs but depletion of HFSEs (e.g., Nb, Ta and Ti). They have juvenile isotopic signatures of zircon ɛHf(t) (+11.4 to +15.4) and whole-rock ɛNd(t) (+7.8 to +8.5), with initial (87Sr/86Sr)i of 0.7040–0.7054 and (206Pb/204Pb)i of 17.681–17.817. These geochemical features, together with their variable Ba/La (4.28–44.2) but low (Tb/Yb)N (1.24–1.85) and Sm/Yb (1.65–3.44) ratios, suggest that the mafic volcanics could be derived from a main spinel-bearing mantle source metasomatized by subduction-related fluids. In contrast, the felsic samples are geochemically equivalent to A2-type granite, with high contents of SiO2, Zr, Ga, and show strong depletions in Eu, Sr and Ti. They have zircon Hf (ɛHf(t) = +12.0 to +15.3) and whole-rock Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic compositions ((87Sr/86Sr)i = 0.7032–0.7038; ɛNd(t) = +7.8 to +8.1; (206Pb/204Pb)i = 17.973–18.004) similar to the coeval mafic rocks. These observations, along with the model calculations using MELTS, favor a derivation of felsic rocks from the mafic magma by fractional crystallization. We suggest that the early Carboniferous bimodal-type volcanism formed in a localized back-arc extension within an overall convergent setting, presumably triggered by slab roll-back of the subducting Paleo-Junggar Ocean plate. This bimodal-type magmatism recorded a significant vertical crustal growth event in the Junggar Basin during the Phanerozoic. We propose that oceanic subduction (flare-ups) not only leads to the lateral accretion of arcs, but also results in the vertical growth of mantle-derived materials and subsequent magma differentiation during slab roll-back (flare-lulls); this may considerably change our view of the models of crustal growth in CAOB.

Crustal recycling is an important cause of mantle heterogeneity and can have significant control on basalt compositions. Recycled components from the subducted (Paleo-) Pacific slab have frequently been recognized in Cenozoic basalts from the eastern North China Craton (NCC). However, it still remains unclear if the subducted Paleo-Asian oceanic slab contributed to intraplate basalts in this Craton. In a search of evidence for the recycled components from this slab, we have studied the Ar Ar age and elemental and Sr-Nd-Pb isotope compositions of newly-discovered basalts from the Langshan area and compiled a regional synthesis of Cenozoic alkali basalts from the northwest NCC. This region is far from the Pacific domain but near the suture zone of the Paleo-Asian Ocean. With a Late Cretaceous eruption age (~89 Ma), Langshan basalts have low silica and high FeO, MgO and alkali contents, high incompatible elemental concentrations, positive Sr, Eu, Ba, Nb, Ta and negative Pb and Ti anomalies with high Ce/Pb, Nb/U, Ba/Rb and low Rb/Sr ratios, superchondritic Zr/Hf ratios, and uniform radiogenic isotopes (ɛNd(t) = 2.20–2.51, 87Sr/86Sri = 0.703807–0.704348, 206Pb/204Pbi = 18.200–18.384, 207Pb/204Pbi = 15.470–15.515, 208Pb/204Pbi = 38.007–39.430). These compositional characteristics are shared by the compiled Cenozoic alkali basalts from northwest NCC. The low silica and high MgO, FeO and alkali contents together with the positive Nb, Ta and negative Ti anomalies were probably controlled by silica-deficient garnet pyroxenite in the mantle source. The partial melting is estimated to have occurred in the asthenosphere under an average mantle potential temperature of 1300–1450 °C and a pressure of ~2.5 GPa. The positive Sr, Eu, Ba, Nb, Ta anomalies and the canonical indices (high Ce/Pb, Nb/U, Ba/Rb and low Rb/Sr ratios) indicate the involvement of a subducted oceanic igneous slab. Considering 1) the particular tectonic locality of the study region, 2) the inferred northward increase of silica-deficient pyroxenite in the mantle source of Cenozoic alkali basalts, 3) the evidence for strong lithospheric modification beneath the northwest NCC induced by slab-derived components, and 4) the longevity of subducted slabs in convecting mantle, the subducted Paleo-Asian oceanic materials could have introduced ubiquitous mantle heterogeneity beneath the northwest NCC and played a significant role in the generation of the Late Cretaceous to Cenozoic intraplate alkali basalts there.

Transformation of refractory cratonic mantle into more fertile lithologies is the key to the fate of cratonic lithosphere. This process has been extensively studied in the eastern North China Craton (NCC) while that of its western part is still poorly constrained. A comprehensive study of newly-found pyroxenite xenoliths from the Langshan area, in the northwestern part of this craton is integrated with a regional synthesis of pyroxenite and peridotite xenoliths to constrain the petrogenesis of the pyroxenites and provide an overview of the processes involved in the modification of the deep lithosphere. The Langshan pyroxenites are of two types, high-Mg# [Mg2+/(Mg2++Fe2+)*100 = ∼90, atomic ratios] olivine-bearing websterites with high equilibration temperatures (880–970 oC), and low-Mg# (70–80) plagioclase-bearing websterites with low equilibration temperatures (550–835 oC). The high-Mg# pyroxenites show trade-off abundances of olivine and orthopyroxene, highly depleted bulk Sr–Nd (εNd = +11·41, 87Sr/86Sr = ∼0·7034) and low clinopyroxene Sr isotopic ratios (mean 87Sr/86Sr = ∼0·703). They are considered to reflect the reaction of mantle peridotites with silica-rich silicate melts derived from the convective mantle. Their depletion in fusible components (e.g., FeO, TiO2 and Na2O) and progressive exhaustion of incompatible elements suggest melt extraction after their formation. The low-Mg# pyroxenites display layered structures, convex-upward rare earth element patterns, moderately enriched bulk Sr–Nd isotopic ratios (εNd = -14·20– -16·74, 87Sr/86Sr = 0·7070–0·7078) and variable clinopyroxene Sr-isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr = 0·706–0·711). They are interpreted to be crustal cumulates from hypersthene-normative melts generated by interaction between the asthenosphere and heterogeneous lithospheric mantle. Combined with studies on regional peridotite xenoliths, it is shown that the thinning and refertilization of the lithospheric mantle was accompanied by crustal rejuvenation and that such processes occurred ubiquitously in the northwestern part of the NCC. A geodynamic model is proposed for the evolution of the deep lithosphere, which includes long-term mass transfer through a mantle wedge into the deep crust from the Paleozoic to the Cenozoic, triggered by subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean and the Late Mesozoic lithospheric extension of eastern Asia.

The North China Craton (NCC) witnessed Mesozoic vigorous tectono-thermal activities and transition in the nature of deep lithosphere. These processes took place in three periods: (1) Late Paleozoic to Early Jurassic (~170 Ma); (2) Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (160–140 Ma); (3) Early Cretaceous to Cenozoic (140 Ma to present). The last two stages saw the lithospheric mantle replacement and coupled basin-mountain response within the North China Craton due to subduction and retreating of the Paleo-Pacific plate, and is the emphasis in this paper. In the first period, the subduction and closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean triggered the back-arc extension, syn-collisional compression and then post-collisional extension accompanied by ubiquitous magmatism along the northern margin of the NCC. Similar processes happened in the southern margin of the craton as the subduction of the Paleo-Tethys ocean and collision with the South China Block. These processes had caused the chemical modification and mechanical destruction of the cratonic margins. The margins could serve as conduits for the asthenosphere upwelling and had the priority for magmatism and deformation. The second period saw the closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk ocean and the shear deformation and magmatism induced by the drifting of the Paleo-Pacific slab. The former led to two pulse of N-S trending compression (Episodes A and B of the Yanshan Movement) and thus the pre-existing continental marginal basins were disintegrated into sporadically basin and range province by the Mesozoic magmatic plutons and NE-SW trending faults. With the anticlockwise rotation of the Paleo-Pacific moving direction, the subduction-related magmatism migrated into the inner part of the craton and the Tanlu fault became normal fault from a sinistral one. The NCC thus turned into a back-arc extension setting at the end of this period. In the third period, the refractory subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) was firstly remarkably eroded and thinned by the subduction-induced asthenospheric upwelling, especially those beneath the weak zones (i.e., cratonic margins and the lithospheric Tanlu fault zone). Then a slightly lithospheric thickening occurred when the upwelled asthenosphere got cool and transformed to be lithospheric mantle accreted (~125 Ma) beneath the thinned SCLM. Besides, the magmatism continuously moved southeastward and the extensional deformations preferentially developed in weak zones, which include the Early Cenozoic normal fault transformed from the Jurassic thrust in the Trans-North Orogenic Belt, the crustal detachment and the subsidence of Bohai basin caused by the continuous normal strike slip of the Tanlu fault, the Cenozoic graben basins originated from the fault depression in the Trans-North Orogenic Belt, the Bohai Basin and the Sulu Orogenic belt. With small block size, inner lithospheric weak zones and the surrounding subductions/collisions, the Mesozoic NCC was characterized by (1) lithospheric thinning and crustal detachment triggered by the subduction-induced asthenospheric upwelling. Local crustal contraction and orogenesis appeared in the Trans-North Orogenic Belt coupled with the crustal detachment; (2) then upwelled asthenosphere got cool to be newly-accreted lithospheric mantle and crustal grabens and basin subsidence happened, as a result of the subduction zone retreating. Therefore, the subduction and retreating of the western Pacific plate is the outside dynamics which resulted in mantle replacement and coupled basin-mountain respond within the North China Craton. We consider that the Mesozoic decratonization of the North China Craton, or the Yanshan Movement, is a comprehensive consequence of complex geological processes proceeding surrounding and within craton, involving both the deep lithospheric mantle and shallow continental crust.

The eastern North China Craton (NCC), where an initially diamondiferous deep cratonic mantle root was lost during Paleozoic and Mesozoic time, represents a prime natural laboratory to study the processes and mechanisms of continental lithospheric mantle destruction and replacement, which remain, however, controversial. In this study, detailed petrography, whole-rock and mineral compositions of spinel-facies peridotite xenoliths from Cenozoic basalts in the Huinan area, northeastern NCC, are presented to provide new constraints on the transformation of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). These xenoliths define two groups based on textural observation and mineral modes: Group 1 peridotites show protogranular textures and consist of harzburgites and dunites. They have low Al2O3 contents in whole-rock and orthopyroxene (0.53–1.06 wt.% and 2.10–3.21 wt.%, respectively), high olivine modes (79–96%), whole-rock MgO (44.8–47.9 wt.%) and Mg# (100 Mg/(Mg + FeT) molar: 90.1–90.7), suggesting that they were derived from moderately refractory SCLM. In contrast, Group 2 xenoliths display porphyroclastic to protogranular textures and consist of lherzolites and harzburgites with rare spinel-pyroxene intergrowths. They have overall higher Al2O3 (1.48–3.23 wt.% and 3.02–4.65 wt.%, respectively) in whole-rock and orthopyroxene, lower olivine modes (64–83%), MgO (38.6–44.5 wt.%) and whole-rock Mg# values 87.6–90.1, and they may represent fertile SCLM. Peridotites of both groups have similar equilibration temperatures (i.e., 923–977 °C and 881–1110 °C, respectively), which are not correlated with Mg# in olivines, suggesting that they coexist over a range of depths. However, clinopyroxenes in the Group 1 xenoliths display LREE-enriched and convex-upward REE patterns, whereas those in Group 2 mainly show LREE-depleted and spoon-shaped REE patterns, with minor LREE-enriched and convex-upward ones. In addition, spinel-pyroxene intergrowths indicative of garnet destabilization are ubiquitous in Group 1, consistent with variable Al2O3 over a narrow range of Mg# in some opx and low HREE in some cpx, but rare in Group 2 peridotites. Interaction of the fertile mantle with melts similar to the Cenozoic basalts at high melt–rock ratios eradicated most signatures of their origin in the garnet stability field, whereas the refractory peridotites, which reacted with residual melts or fluids at low melt/fluid-rock ratios, retained evidence for the former presence of garnet. We suggest that, combined, these observations are best reconciled if portions of ancient refractory lithosphere, which were partly delaminated during multiple subduction episodes affecting the eastern NCC, were re-accreted together with fertile mantle during asthenospheric upwelling driven by extension.

Peridotite xenoliths from the northern North China Craton (NCC) are characterized by lithological and chemical heterogeneity, related to mantle accretion and metasomatism. However, the accretion mechanism and origin of metasomatic agent are contentious. Here, we report the petrology, whole-rock major elements and Re Os isotopes, and in situ mineral major- and trace-elements as well as Sr isotopic compositions for peridotite xenoliths in the Nangaoya area to evaluate the evolution of the lithospheric mantle beneath the northern NCC. Nangaoya peridotites can be divided into Group A harzburgites and Group B lherzolites. Group A harzburgites are refractory with high Fo contents (91.8–92.9) in olivine and have low whole-rock 187Os/188Os ratios of 0.11418, giving ~2.1 Ga TRD age. Clinopyroxenes in Group A show enrichment of incompatible element with low Ti/Eu and high (La/Yb)N ratios. These characteristics indicate that Group A harzburgites should be the relics of the Archean–Paleoproterozoic “cratonic” mantle and witness carbonatite metasomatism with its agent from asthenosphere. Comparatively, Group B lherzolites are transitional with low Fo contents (90.2–91.9) in olivine and have high whole-rock 187Os/188Os ratios (0.11635–0.112502), giving 1.8–1.2 Ga TRD age. Thus, these lherzolites are considered as accretive mantle components formed by the cooling and re-extracting of the upwelling asthenosphere related to the collision of Eastern and Western blocks. Furthermore, Group B lherzolites can be subdivided into two sub-groups. Group B1 clinopyroxenes without sieve-textured rims are depleted in incompatible element, which was interpreted as weak or without metasomatism, whereas those in Group B2 lherzolites with sieve-textured rims display enriched light rare earth elements (LREE) and various trace element patterns, resulted from different types of strong metasomatism. Clinopyroxenes in Group B2–1 exhibit depletion of high field strength elements (HFSE), with high Ti/Eu but low (La/Yb)N ratios, and the cores of them have higher 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.70355–0.70443) than the rims (0.70352–0.70406), demonstrating that Group B2–1 lherzolites may have witnessed hydrous CO2-rich silicate metasomatism from subducted plates in cores and a new stage silicate melt metasomatism from asthenosphere in rims. Group B2–2 lherzolites just record later silicate melt metasomatism. These two stage metasomatisms may be triggered by the mantle accretion events in response to the peripheral subduction in the northern NCC during the Phanerozoic. Based on the above results, we suggest that the lithospheric mantle beneath the Nangaoya area underwent multiple modifications through crust–mantle recycling or asthenosphere–lithosphere interaction related to subduction/collision processes, which plays important roles in the evolution of the mantle in the northern NCC.

U-Pb and Hf-isotope analyses of zircon xenocrysts from drilling-sampled Carboniferous volcanic rocks suggest the presence of unexposed Eoarchean crust beneath the Junggar Basin (NW China), southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The oldest zircon population with U-Pb ages of 3.8 Ga shows chondritic eHf(t) of −0.7 to +0.7, and Hf model ages of 3900–3952 Ma (TDM) and 3973–4062 Ma (Tcrust). Three slightly younger populations at 3.7, 3.62 and 3.45 Ga have eHf(t) of −5.7 to +2.4, TDM of 3.6–3.9 Ga and Tcrust of 3.7–4.1 Ga. The youngest xenocrysts yield U-Pb ages of 2.55 Ga with eHf(t) values of +3.7 to +8.0. Crustal mineral inclusions and the trace-element compositions of all these zircons show that they probably crystallized from granitic magmas. The observation of deeply hidden Archean crust significantly older than the exposed Phanerozoic upper crust suggests that the juvenile origin in CAOB may be overestimated, and the study of crustal growth rates through time for young orogens will require revision. By comparing the Hf isotopic signatures of ancient zircons (>3.4 Ga) worldwide, we infer that there may have been a great change in early crustal evolution at the Hadean–Archean transition (~3.9 Ga), possibly linked to the Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB).