Cenozoic basalts from the Linqu County, Shandong Province, China entrain some clinopy- roxene crystals, of which many contain abundant glass melt inclusions. These melt inclusions are ex- tremely irregular in shape with most grain sizes in a range of 10-50 μm and coexist with low-Mg# olivines, labradorites and Ca-rich potassium feldspars. In-situ major and trace element analyses show that the glass melt inclusions are high in alkalis (Na2O+K2O > 10 wt%), SiO2 (>54 wt%), CaO and FeO (>4 wt%), but low in MgO (Mg# < 20), and have LREE enrich- ments ((Ce/Yb)cn = 11.6-16.4) and apparently posi- tive Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* > 2), thus having phonoli- tic compositions. The compositional features of cli- nopyroxene crystals, glass melt inclusions and their coexistent minerals suggest that these melt inclu- sions were exotic melts in clinopyroxenes trapped prior to their entrainment in the host basalt. The dis- covery of these melt inclusions provides a new ap- proach to further investigating the evolution of Meso- zoic lithospheric mantle beneath the southeastern North China Craton.
This paper presents an overview of recent studies dealing with different ages of mantle peridotitic xenoliths and xenocrysts from the North China Craton, with aim to provide new ideas for further study on the destruction of the North China Craton. Re-Os isotopic studies suggest that the lithospheric mantle of the North China Craton is of Archean age prior to its thinning. The key reason why such a low density and highly refractory Archean lithospheric mantle would be thinned is changes in composition, thermal regime, and physical properties of the lithospheric mantle due to interaction of peridotites with melts of different origins. Inward subduction of circum craton plates and collision with the North China Craton provided not only the driving force for the destruction of the craton, but also continuous melts derived from partial melting of subducted continental or oceanic crustal materials that resulted in the compositional change of the lithospheric mantle. Regional thermal anomaly at ca. 120 Ma led to the melting of highly modified lithospheric mantle. At the same time or subsequently lithospheric exten- sion and asthenospheric upwelling further reinforced the melting and thinning of the lithospheric mantle. Therefore, the destruction and thinning of the North China Craton is a combined result of peridotite-melt interaction (addition of volatile), enhanced regional thermal anomaly (temperature increase) and lithospheric extension (decompression). Such a complex geological process finally produced a "mixed" lithospheric mantle of highly chemical heterogeneity during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. It also resulted in significant difference in the composition of mantle peridotitic xenoliths between different regions and times.
