Comparison of Three Large Igneous Provinces (Emeishan, Siberia, Deccan) in Asia

The Emeishan (～260Ma), Siberian (～250Ma) and Deccan (～66Ma) continental flood basalts are three important Phanerozoic large igneous provinces in the word.Our summation reveals that at least four criteria, which are normally used to identify ancient mantle plumes, are met for these three large igneous provinces:(1) surface uplift prior to magmatism;(2) Accompanied with continental rifting and breakup events;(3) Closely linked with the extinction events;(4) chemical characteristics of plume derived basalts.Although these three large igneous provinces are equally derived from primitive plume sources, there are fundamental differences in geochemical signatures among Emeishan, Siberian and Deccan provinces, reflecting the interaction between the mantle plumes and different upper-mantle reservoirs: (1) the parental magmas of the Emeishan and Siberian continental flood basalts have undergone, during ascent, interaction with a source geochemically identical to ancient cratonic lithospheric mantle (EM1-type source)(2) whereas the crustally (or lithosphericly) uncontaminated primitive basalts from the Deccan province display Sr-Nd isotopic variations between plume and EM2geochemical signatures.These differences may control the mineralization potential of the three large igneous provinces.Emeishan and Siberian provinces host world-class magmatic ore deposits whereas no significant deposits have been found from the Deccan.