ABSTRACT

The Zhantang andesites, which erupted in the Late Cretaceous Huichang Basin of SE China interior, were associated with the Late Mesozoic lithospheric extension and basaltic underplating. They are high-Na (6.59-8.46 wt% Na₂O), high-Al trondhjemitic rocks with high Sr and Ba, low Y and HREE, and high Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios, similar to modern adakites. However, they are much higher in Na₂O but lower in CaO than adakites. Their εNd(T) values of -2.3 to -3.8 and initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of 0.707 to 0.708 are also significantly different from those of adakites with MORB-like isotopic compositions. These chemical and isotopic features, along with the tectonic setting, suggest that they were not produced by partial melting of subducting slab. The Zhantang adakite-like magmas may be derived from underplated basaltic lower crust, but require a compositionally peculiar basaltic protolith to account for their extremely high-Na and low-Ca feature. They are compositionally comparable to the experimentally produced partial melts of alkali-rich basalt. We therefore interpret them as the products of melting of an alkali-rich basaltic rock.