Noble gas isotopic systematics of Fe–Ti–V oxide ore-related mafic–ultramafic layered intrusions in the Panxi area, China: The role of recycled oceanic crust in their petrogenesis

Olivine and clinopyroxene grains have been separated from four large Fe–Ti–V oxide ore-bearing intrusions (Panzhihua, Hongge, Baima and Taihe) in the Panxi area, Emeishan large igneous province, Southwest China, for He and Ar isotope studies. The samples examined revealed extremely low 3He/4He ratios (0.078–4.34 Ra with the mean value 0.78 Ra) for gases extracted by stepwise heating. This feature, combined with low 40Ar/36Ar ratios can be interpreted as due to addition of subduction-related fluids and melts that had been stored in the lithospheric mantle for long periods. Considering the regional geologic history, such addition can be attributed to the paleo subduction that occurred along the western margin of the Yangtze Block during the Neoproterozoic. The subducted oceanic crust beneath the Panxi area underwent eclogite-facies metamorphism and subsequent exhumation. The infiltration of subduction-related melts and fluids into the lithospheric mantle led to enriched isotopic signatures from that of the slightly depleted asthenopheric mantle which has been suggested by the Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic data of the Emeishan basalts and picrites. In addition, considerable amounts of eclogitic melts produced by partial melting of eclogite-facies oceanic crust extensively contaminated the lithospheric mantle. During the late Permian, partial melting of an upwelling mantle plume that contained an eclogite or pyroxenite component generated the parental Fe-rich magma that supplied the ore-bearing intrusions. The combination of these factors may have been the crucial reason that many world-class Fe–Ti–V oxides deposits are clustered in the Panxi area.