- journal_title：Journal of the Geological Society
- Contributor：Chao Yuan ; Min Sun ; Yigang Xu ; Guochun Zhao ; Wenjiao Xiao ; Xiaoping Long ; Jiyuan Yin
- Publisher：Geological Society of London
- Date：2011-
- Format：text/html
- Language：en
- Identifier：10.1144/0016-76492010-058
- journal_abbrev：Journal of the Geological Society
- issn：0016-7649
- volume：168
- issue：4
- firstpage：995
- section：Research Article
Although subduction–accretion is proposed as a major regime in making new continental crust, how the lithospheric mantle forms remains unclear. Formed after the closure of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean, the Ashele basalt shows normal mid-ocean ridge basalt (N-MORB)-like characteristics with light REE-depleted patterns and extremely low contents of high field strength elements. The low Zr/Y and Nb/Y ratios of the basalt are significantly different from those of asthenosphere-derived melts, and the excess Eu and Sr suggest that the basalt was probably derived from accreted oceanic lithospheric mantle. The presence of the N-MORB-like terrestrial basalt implies that subduction–accretion is an effective mechanism in building the refractory lithospheric mantle of Phanerozoic continents.