Mineral chemistry of peridotites from Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic Lithosphere, Constraints on mantle evolution beneath Eastern China

Major- and trace-element data on the constituent minerals of garnet peridotite xenoliths hosted in early Paleozoic (457–500 Ma) kimberlites and Neogene (16–18 Ma) volcanic rocks within the North China Craton are compared with those from the pre-pilot hole of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Project (CCSD-PP1) in the tectonically exhumed Triassic (220 Ma) Sulu ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terrane along its southern margin. P–T estimates for the Paleozoic and Neogene peridotite xenoliths reflect different model geotherms corresponding to surface heat flows of 40 mW/m2 (Paleozoic) and 80 mW/m2 (Neogene). Garnet peridotite xenoliths or xenocrysts from the Paleozoic kimberlites are strongly depleted, similar to peridotites from other areas of cratonic mantle, with magnesium olivine (mean Fo92.7), Cr-rich garnet and clinopyroxene with high La/Yb. Garnet (and spinel) peridotite xenoliths hosted in Neogene basalts are derived from fertile mantle; they have high Al2O