The composition and sources of magmas of Changbaishan Tianchi volcano (China-North Korea)

Abstract

The Changbaishan Tianchi volcano is the greatest stratovolcano within the bounds of the Late Cenozoic intraplate volcanic province of East Asia. Changbaishan Tianchi volcanic cone consists mostly of trachytes and pantellerites. It was found that the lavas composing the shield platform of Changbaishan Tianchi volcano are weakly differentiated basic rocks whose geochemical characteristics are generally similar. All the alkaline salic rocks composing the cone of the volcano are characterized by conformable normalized trace element patterns. The concentrations of rare-earth elements in these rocks are high and amount up to 1000 ppm. The character of the distribution of trace elements in the basic rocks of Changbaishan Tianchi volcano is close to that in the OIB-type basalts. Within the series from basalts to pantellerites, the rocks are enriched in REE and zirconium, but depleted in barium, strontium, and europium. According to the obtained geochemical data, it was shown that the rock series of Changbaishan Tianchi volcano, varying from basalts to trachytes and pantellerites comprises compositions geochemically interrelated by the processes of crystal fractionation. The parental magma for the rocks of the volcano was derived from plume sources of the same type as those of OIB and sources of the Late Cenozoic intraplate province of East Asia. © 2014 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.