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Sources of basaltoid magmas in rift settings of an active continental margin: Example from the bimodal association of the Noen and Tost ranges of the Late Paleozoic Gobi-Tien Shan rift zone, southern Mongolia

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Abstract

The bimodal volcanoplutonic (basalt-peralkaline rhyolite with peralkaline granites) association of the Noen and Tost ranges was formed 318 Ma ago in the Gobi-Tien Shan rift zone of the Late Paleozoic-Early Mesozoic central Asian rift system, the development of which was related to the movement of the continental lithosphere over a mantle hot spot. A specific feature of the Late Paleozoic rifting was that it occurred within the Middle-Late Paleozoic active continental margin of the northern Asian paleocontinent. Continental margin magmatism was followed after a short time delay by the magmatism of the Gobi-Tien Shan rift zone, which was located directly in the margin of the paleocontinent. Such a geodynamic setting of the rift zone was reflected in the geochemical characteristics of rift-related rocks. The distribution of major elements and compatible trace elements in the rift-related basic and intermediate rocks corresponds to a crystallization differentiation series. The distribution of incompatible trace elements suggests contributions from several sources. This is also supported by the heterogeneity of Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of the rift-related basaltoids: εNd(T) ranges from 4.4 to 6.7, and (87Sr/86Sr)0, from 0.70360 to 0.70427. The geochemical characteristics of the rift-related basaltoids of the Noen and Tost ranges are not typical of rift settings (negative anomalies in Nb and Ta and positive anomalies in K and Pb) and suggest a significant role of the rocks of a metasomatized mantle wedge in their source. In addition, there are high-titanium rocks among the rift-related basaltoids, whose geochemical characteristics approach those of the basalts of mid-ocean ridges and ocean islands. This allowed us to conclude that the compositional variations of the rift-related basaltoids of the Noen and Tost ranges were controlled by three magma sources: the enriched mantle, depleted mantle (high-titanium basaltoids), and metasomatized mantle wedge (medium-Ti basaltoids). The medium-titanium basaltoids were formed in equilibrium with spinel peridotites, whereas the high-titanium magmas were formed at deeper levels both in the spinel and garnet zones. It terms of geodynamics, the occurrence of three sources of the rift-related basaltoids of the Noen and Tost ranges was related to the ascent of a mantle plume with enriched geochemical characteristics beneath a continental margin, where its influence caused melting in the overlying depleted mantle and the metasomatized mantle wedge. The formation of rift-related andesites in the Noen and Tost ranges was explained by the contamination of mantle-derived basaltoid melts with sialic (mainly sedimentary) continental crustal materials or the assimilation of anatectic granitoid melts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry (IGEM), Russian Academy of Sciences, Saromonetnyi per. 35, Moscow, 119017, Russia

    A. M. Kozlovsky & V. V. Yarmolyuk

  2. Institute of Precambrian Geology and Geochronology, Russian Academy of Sciences, nab. Makarova 2, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia

    V. M. Savatenkov & V. P. Kovach

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  1. A. M. Kozlovsky
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  2. V. V. Yarmolyuk
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  3. V. M. Savatenkov
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  4. V. P. Kovach
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Original Russian Text © A.M. Kozlovsky, V.V. Yarmolyuk, V.M. Savatenkov, V.P. Kovach, 2006, published in Petrologiya, 2006, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 358–383.

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Kozlovsky, A.M., Yarmolyuk, V.V., Savatenkov, V.M. et al. Sources of basaltoid magmas in rift settings of an active continental margin: Example from the bimodal association of the Noen and Tost ranges of the Late Paleozoic Gobi-Tien Shan rift zone, southern Mongolia. Petrology 14, 337–360 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0869591106040023

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