| Summary: | Volcanic rocks are widely exposed within the Chiang Khong–Lampang–Tak igneous zone in NW Thailand. A representative rhyolite sample from the Chiang Khong area yielded a zircon U–Pb age of 230.7 ± 1.1 Ma (n = 20, MSWD = 0.98). The Chiang Khong rhyolites are characterized by low TiO2 (0.29–0.62 wt%) and MgO (0.04–0.82 wt%) with A/CNK values of 0.95–1.06 (one outlier at 1.47), and can be classified as highly fractionated I-type rhyolites. They are enriched in LILEs and LREEs, and depleted in HFSEs. Two representative samples have 87Sr/86Sr (i) ratios of 0.70497 and 0.70527, and the eNd (t) values fall at +1.1 and +1.3, respectively. eHf (t) and d18O in zircon are between +4.7 to +12.0 and 5.3 to 5.9 ‰, respectively. Our geochemical data suggest that the Chiang Khong rhyolites formed by partial melting of juvenile mafic lower crust in a post-collisional setting. Deep crustal anatexis was probably induced by upwelling asthenospheric mantle, shortly after slab detachment subsequent to closure of the Paleo-Tethys.
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