Petrogenesis of the Cretaceous granitoids in Zhejiang, northeast South China Block and their implications for episodic retreat and roll-back of the Paleo-Pacific Plate

Two Cretaceous granitoid belts (i.e., the northwest and southeast belts) have been identified in Zhejiang, northeast South China Block. In this study, seven granitoid plutons from both the two belts were collected for zircon U-Pb dating, whole-rock geochemistry, Sr-Nd isotope, and zircon Hf isotope analyses. Chronologically, the Longyou (132 Ma), Sucun (136 Ma), Shanghekou (131 Ma), and Huangshitan (ca. 126 Ma) plutons from the northwest belt display older magma crystallization age than those of the Xiaoxiong (100 Ma), Zhujiajian (108 Ma), and Qingbang island (108 Ma) plutons from the southeast belt. The Sucun quartz monzonite and the Longyou, Shanghekou, Zhujiajian, and Qingbang island granites therein are fractionated I-type granites (i.e., partial melting of meta-igneous rocks) with relatively moderate-low Zr saturation temperature (723−823 °C) and pronouncedly evolved Nd and Hf isotopic compositions (ε_Nd(t) = −8.17 to −5.67 and ε_Hf(t) = −15.07 to −5.67), indicating that they are derivatives of ancient crustal melt-dominated magmas. The Huangshitan granite shows A-type granitic (i.e., granites that are alkaline and anhydrous and from anorogenic setting) features with high Ga/Al (3.47−5.58), rare earth element (REE) content (271−402 ppm), and Zr saturation temperature (781−889 °C). It holds less enriched Nd and Hf isotopic compositions (ε_Nd(t) = −4.13 to −3.60 and ε_Hf(t) = −5.90 to −2.16) and is attributed to partial melting of mature crustal materials with minor basaltic magma incorporation. The Xiaoxiong (quartz) syenitic porphyry is characterized by moderate SiO₂ content (60.68−69.92 wt%), high alkali (9.03−11.66 wt%) and REE contents with fractionated REE pattern [(La/Yb)_N = 13.8−26.1]. Its relatively depleted Nd and Hf isotopic compositions (ε_Nd(t) = −3.67 to −3.42 and ε_Hf(t) = −5.76 to −2.25) imply that it could be a derivative of basaltic magma from K-rich metasomatized mantle. Available geochronological data indicate that there were two episodic magmatic pulses at ca. 140−120 Ma and ca. 110−85 Ma associated with the Paleo-Pacific Plate underthrusting beneath the northeast South China Block. Here we put forward an episodic slab retreat and roll-back model to account for generation of these magmatic rocks. Firstly, the subducting Paleo-Pacific slab roll-back initiated at ca. 140 Ma and reached climax at ca. 130−120 Ma, which led to formation of the Longyou, Sucun, and Shanghekou I-type granites and the Huangshitan A-type granite, respectively. Subsequently, a flat slab subduction stage occurred with eastward trench retreat, causing a period of magmatic quiescence from ca. 120 to 110 Ma. The following second slab roll-back started at ca. 110 Ma and reached climax at ca. 100 Ma, giving rise to the earlier Zhujiajian and Qingbang island I-type granites and the later Xiaoxiong (quartz) syenitic porphyry.