Studies on zircon ages, petrology, major and trace element geochemistry, and Sr–Nd–Hf–Pb isotopic geochemistry of intermediate volcanic rocks from the Southern Yidun arc, Sanjiang-Tethyan Orogenic Belt, SW China have been undertaken in this paper. They are used to discuss the petrogenesis of these rocks and to constrain the tectonic setting and evolution of the Yidun arc. These intermediate volcanic rocks were erupted at ca. 220 Ma (U–Pb zircon ages). Trachyandesite is the dominant lithology among these volcanic rocks, and is mainly composed of hornblende and plagioclase, with minor clinopyroxene and biotite. A hornblende geobarometer suggests that the stagnation of magma in the lower crust, where plagioclase crystallization was suppressed while hornblende crystallized, giving rise to high Sr/Y ratios that are one of the distinguishing features of adakites, after the primary magma originated from the lithospheric mantle wedge. Steeply right-inclined Rare Earth Element (REE) pattern combined with high La/Yb ratios suggests adakitic affinity of these volcanic rocks, implying that slab-melt from the subducting oceanic crust is a necessary component in the primary magma. Besides, trace element geochemistry and isotopic geochemistry also indicate that partial melting of pelagic sediments in the subduction zone and noticeable contamination with the lower crust were involved in the evolution of parental magma of these volcanic rocks. Based on previous work on the Northern Yidun arc and this study, we propose that the subduction was initiated in the Northern Yidun arc and extended to the southern part and that the Northern Yidun arc is an island arc while the Southern Yidun arc represents a continental arc, probably caused by the existence of the Zhongza Massif, that was invoked to be derived from Yangtze Block, as a possible basement of the Southern Yidun arc.

Studies on zircon ages, petrology, major and trace element geochemistry, and Sr–Nd–Hf–Pb isotopic geochemistry of intermediate volcanic rocks from the Southern Yidun arc, Sanjiang-Tethyan Orogenic Belt, SW China have been undertaken in this paper. They are used to discuss the petrogenesis of these rocks and to constrain the tectonic setting and evolution of the Yidun arc. These intermediate volcanic rocks were erupted at ca. 220 Ma (U–Pb zircon ages). Trachyandesite is the dominant lithology among these volcanic rocks, and is mainly composed of hornblende and plagioclase, with minor clinopyroxene and biotite. A hornblende geobarometer suggests that the stagnation of magma in the lower crust, where plagioclase crystallization was suppressed while hornblende crystallized, giving rise to high Sr/Y ratios that are one of the distinguishing features of adakites, after the primary magma originated from the lithospheric mantle wedge. Steeply right-inclined Rare Earth Element (REE) pattern combined with high La/Yb ratios suggests adakitic affinity of these volcanic rocks, implying that slab-melt from the subducting oceanic crust is a necessary component in the primary magma. Besides, trace element geochemistry and isotopic geochemistry also indicate that partial melting of pelagic sediments in the subduction zone and noticeable contamination with the lower crust were involved in the evolution of parental magma of these volcanic rocks. Based on previous work on the Northern Yidun arc and this study, we propose that the subduction was initiated in the Northern Yidun arc and extended to the southern part and that the Northern Yidun arc is an island arc while the Southern Yidun arc represents a continental arc, probably caused by the existence of the Zhongza Massif, that was invoked to be derived from Yangtze Block, as a possible basement of the Southern Yidun arc.