Geochronology and Geochemistry of the Zengudi and Tuobake Granite Porphyries in the Sanjiang Region, SW China: Petrogenesis and Tectonic Significance

The boundary between the Gondwana and Yangtze plate is still controversial. In southwest China, the Sanjiang region marks the collision zone which accreted several blocks coming from the northern Gondwana margin. In this region, subduction of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean and associated continental blocks during the Triassic Period led to the formation of an N–S trending complex involving intrusive and volcanic rocks. The intrusive rocks are important for constraining the evolution of the Paleo-Tethyan in southwestern China. This study presents new geochronological, geochemical, and Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic data of granite porphyries from northern Lancangjiang, in order to discuss the origin of these granites and their tectonic significance. Representative samples of the Zengudi and the Tuobake granite porphyries from the Yezhi area yielded weighted mean 206Pb/238U ages of 247–254 Ma and 246 Ma, respectively. The Zengudi granite porphyries display zircon ԐHf(t) values of −12.94 to −2.63, ԐNd(t) values of −14.5 to −9.35, and initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.708 to 0.716. The Tuobake granite porphyries have zircon ԐHf(t) values of −14.06 to −6.55, ԐNd(t) values of −10.9 to −9.41, and initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.716 to 0.731. Both the Zengudi and Tuobake granite porphyries exhibit strongly peraluminous signatures with high A/CNK nAl2O3/(K2O + Na2O + K2O) ratios (1.07–1.86 and 0.83–1.33, respectively). These granites are enriched in Rb and Th, and depleted in Ti, Nb, Ta, Sr, and P, with negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* < 0.61). These geochemical and isotopic data indicate that the primary magma of the granite porphyries originated from partial melting of ancient continental crust as a result of basaltic magma underplating and underwent fractionation crystallization during their emplacement. We propose that the Triassic subduction of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean led to crust shortening and thickening in the Sanjiang region, while the northern Lancangjiang area was involved in the continental collision after the subduction of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean before 254 Ma.