Petrogenesis and tectonic significance of Early Cretaceous high-Zr rhyolite in the Dazhou uranium district, Gan-Hang Belt, Southeast China

Early Cretaceous felsic intrusions and volcanic rocks are widespread in the Gan-Hang Belt, SE China. In this study, we report a distinctive high-Zr rhyolite (802–1145 ppm Zr) from the Dazhou uranium district in the eastern Gan-Hang Belt. SHRIMP zircon U–Pb dating shows that the Dazhou rhyolite erupted at 127.3 ± 1.7 Ma. Geochemical data indicate A-type characteristics for the Dazhou rhyolite, such as high contents of alkali elements, high Fe2O3∗/MgO and high Ga/Al ratios, enrichment in some LILEs, HFSEs, and REEs, and depletion in Sr, Ba, P, and Ti. Compared to other A-type granitoids reported previously in the same belt, the Dazhou high-Zr rhyolite shows only a slight enrichment in other HFSE elements and LREE, but has similar whole-rock Nd and zircon Hf isotopic compositions to those A-type granitoids with relatively lower Zr concentrations, indicating that all these A-type rocks may have similar magma sources. Hence, the difference of Zr contents in these rocks is not due to their different source rocks. We found that zircon grains in the Dazhou high-Zr rhyolite are generally inheritance-poor, and the calculated zircon saturation temperatures are extremely high at ∼1000 °C. It is therefore suggested that the distinctive high-Zr characteristic of the Dazhou rhyolite was a result of high-temperature suppression of zircon crystallization by ambient mafic magmas correlative with the upwelling of the asthenospheric mantle. The fundamental difference in magma temperature and magmatic evolution mechanism between the Dazhou high-Zr rhyolite and other A-type granitoid suites in the eastern Gan-Hang Belt brought about their different Zr concentrations.

► A distinctive high-Zr rhyolite (802–1145 ppm Zr) is reported from the Dazhou uranium district in the eastern Gan-Hang Belt.
► The Dazhou rhyolite was erupted at 127.3 ± 1.7 Ma.
► Geochemical data indicate a A-type characteristic for the Dazhou high-Zr rhyolite.
► The calculated zircon saturation temperatures are extremely high at ∼1000 °C for the Dazhou rhyolite.