Geochemistry of the subduction-related magmatic rocks in the Dahong Mountains, northern Hubei Province

The existence and subduction of the eastern Mianlüe oceanic basin in the south Qinling belt are keys to understand the Qinling orogen. Based on geological mapping, several volcanic slices have been identified in Tumen, Zhoujiawan, Xiaofu and Yuantan areas, which distribute in the northern margin of the Dahong Mountains (DHM), and thrust into the Sanligang-Sanyang fault. These slices consist mainly of diabases, basaltic-andesitic lavas, pyroclastic rocks and a minor tuff. The geochemistry of the basalts, andesites, and diabases is characterized by depleting in Nb and Ta, enriching in Th and LILE (e.g.K, Rb, Ba), and undifferentiating in HFSE. These geochemical characteristics suggest that the original magma of these rocks was derived from a mantle wedge above a subduction zone, and formed in an island-arc setting in Carboniferous-early Triassic. Comparing with the ophiolites and island-arc volcanic rocks in Mianxian-Lüeyang area to the west, it is reasonable to consider that there had been an oceanic basin connecting with the Mianlüe ancient ocean to the westward, distributing along the south edge of the Tongbai-Dabie block. In view of the ophiolite in Huashan area and these island-arc volcanic rocks along the north of the Dahong Mountains, it is suggested that there had been a plate tectonic evolutionary history with oceanic basin rifting and subduction in this region.