Abstract:
Permian magmatism occurred widely in the Tarim basin and adjacent areas of NW China, resulting in the emplacement of
numerous carbonatite plutons and alkaline rock intrusions, which are likely to have been derived from mantle sources. In
addition, at least one large igneous province (LIP) can be recognized in NW China; namely, the ca. 270–290 Ma Tarim LIP,
and it can be inferred that the peak age of magma activity is~280 Ma. Therefore, the mantle plume is limited spatially within
southern Tianshan and the Tarim Basin and temporally in the Early Permian. Age and feld evidence suggest a spatial and
temporal relationship between the carbonatites and alkaline rocks within the Tarim LIP, and their genesis is related to the
Tarim mantle plume. In this paper, we direct our attention to the mineral assemblages that are related to carbonatites and
alkaline rocks which host REE deposits (Wajilitag, Boziguoer) in the northern Tarim Craton. Alkaline rocks typically are
related to rifts and/or extensional tectonics, and we suggest that these magmatic and metallogenic events occurred during
an extensional regime, possibly related to the Tarim mantle plume event that affected much of South Tianshan during the
Permian.
