Origin of two types of rhyolites in the Tarim Large Igneous Province: Consequences of incubation and melting of a mantle plume

• Two types of rhyolites are recognized in the Tarim Large Igneous Province.
• The low-Nb–Ta rhyolites were formed by crustal melting induced by magma underplating.
• The high-Nb–Ta rhyolites are fractionation products of plume-derived magmas.

The Early Permian Tarim Large Igneous Province (LIP) in northwestern China contains a large area of silicic volcanics (~ 48,000 km2) which are spatially and temporally associated with mafic–ultramafic rocks. In order to understand the behavior of crust above a mantle plume, selected rhyolitic samples are investigated in terms of U–Pb zircon dating, geochemical and isotopic analyses. The Tarim rhyolites have high A/CNK ratios (= molar Al2O3/CaO + Na2O + K2O), Fe#, Ga/Al ratios, concentrations of high field strength elements (HFSEs) such as Zr and Nb, and rare earth elements (REEs), along with high zircon saturation temperatures (872–940 °C), typical of aluminous A-type granitoids. Two contrasting rock types have been recognized. The low Nb–Ta type rhyolites are mainly associated with the first phase of the Tarim flood basalt magmatism at ~ 290 Ma. They are characterized by negative Nb–Ta anomalies, low εNd(t) and εHf(t) values, and high 87Sr/86Sr(t) and δ18Ozircon values, consistent with a derivation from continental crustal source. The high Nb–Ta type rhyolites and their plutonic equivalents are associated with the second episode of Tarim magmatism (283–272 Ma). They are characterized by small negative to positive Nb–Ta anomalies, oceanic island basalt (OIB)-like trace element ratios, low 87Sr/86Sr(t) and high εNd(t) and εHf(t) values. These high Nb–Ta rhyolites are best interpreted as hybrid products of crystal fractionation of mafic magmas, coupled with crustal assimilation.The temporal and compositional evolution of the Tarim rhyolites reflects various extents of thermal and mass exchange between mantle-derived basaltic magma and crustal material above a mantle plume. When the plume head rises to the base of the Tarim craton, it first melts enriched components in the lithospheric mantle (~ 290 Ma), part of which may have ponded near the crust–mantle boundary and induced crustal anatexis leading to the formation of the low Nb–Ta type rhyolites. At ~ 280 Ma, large magma chambers and plumbing systems were formed due to increasing magma supply rate during decompression melting of the mantle plume. This led to the formation of a mafic–ultramafic and felsic association of which the high Nb–Ta type rhyolites are a part.