SHRIMP Geochronology of Volcanics of the Zhangjiakou and Yixian Formations, Northern Hebei Province, with a Discussion on the Age of the Xing'anling Group of the Great Hinggan Mountains and Volcanic Strata of the Southeastern Coastal Area of China

A zircon U-Pb geochronological study on the volcanic rocks reveals that both of the Zhangjiakou and Yixian Formations, northern Hebei Province, are of the Early Cretaceous, with ages of 135-130 Ma and 129-120 Ma, respectively. It is pointed out that the ages of sedimentary basins and volcanism in the northern Hebei -western Liaoning area become younger from west to east, i. e. the volcanism of the Luanping Basin commenced at c. 135 Ma, the Luotuo Mount area of the Chengde Basin c. 130 Ma, and western Liaoning c. 128 Ma. With a correlation of geochronological stratigraphy and biostratigraphy, we deduce that the Xing'anling Group, which comprises the Great Hinggan Mountains volcanic rock belt in eastern China, is predominantly of the early-middle Early Cretaceous, while the Jiande and Shimaoshan Groups and their equivalents, which form the volcanic rock belt in the southeastern coast area of China, are of the mid-late Early Cretaceous, and both the Jehol and Jiande Biotas are of the Early Cretaceous, not Late Jurassic or Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous. Combining the characteristics of the volcanic rocks and, in a large area, hiatus in the strata of the Late Jurassic or Late Jurassic-early Early Cretaceous between the formations mentioned above and the underlying sequences, we can make the conclusion that, in the Late Jurassic-early Early Cretaceous, the eastern China region was of high relief or plateau, where widespread post-orogenic volcanic series of the Early Cretaceous obviously became younger from inland in the west to continental margin in the east. This is not the result of an oceanward accretion of the subduction belt between the Paleo-Pacific ocean plate and the Asian continent, but rather reflects the extension feature, i.e. after the closure of the Paleo-Pacific ocean, the Paleo-Pacific ancient continent collided with the Asian continent and reached the peak of orogenesis, and then the compression waned and resulted in the retreating of the post-orogenic extension from outer orogenic zone to inner part (or collision zone). The determination of the eruption age of the volcanics of the Zhangjiakou Formation definitely constrains the switch period, which began in the Indosinian and finished in the Yanshanian, that is, 140-135 Ma. The switch is concretely the change from the approximate E-W Paleo-Asian tectonic system to the NE to NNE Pacific system, and the period is also the apex of a continent-continent collision and orogenesis of subduction, being consumed and eventually disappearing of the Paleo-Pacific ancient continent, and all the processes commenced in the Indosinian. While the following post-orogenic large-scale eruption in the Early Cretaceous marks the final completeness of the Paleo-Pacific structure dynamics system.

SHRIMP Age and Geochemistry of the Bikou Volcanic Terrane:Implications for Neoproterozoic Tectonics on the Northern Margin of the Yangtze Craton

The Bikou volcanic terrane is predominated by subalkaline tholeiitic lavas. Rock samples display lower initial ratios of Sr and Nd, 0.701248-0.704413 and 0.511080-0.512341 respectively. 207Pb and 208Pb are significantly enriched in the lavas. Most samples have positive εNd, which indicates that the magma was derived from EM-type mantle source, while a few samples with negative εNd indicate that there was contamination in the magma evolution. Magma differentiation is demonstrated by variations of LREE and LILE from depletion to enrichment. Additionally, normalized REE patterns and trace elements showed that lavas from the Bikou volcanic terrane have similar characteristics to those of basalts in arc settings caused by subduction and collision. Analyses showed that the Bikou volcanic terrane is a volcanic arc. New evidence proved that the Hengdan Group, north of the Bikou arc, is a turbidite terrane filling a forearc basin. Consequently, the Bikou volcanic terrane and the Hengdan turbidite terrane construct an arc-basin system. New SHRIMP ages showed that this arc-basin system developed on the northern margin of the Yangtze craton in the Neoproterozoic (846-776 Ma), and this arc-basin system is in agreement with the tectonic processes of Rodinia in the Neoproterzoic.

SHRIMP zircon U-Pb ages of Kalatongke No.1 and Huangshandong Cu-Ni-bearing mafic-ultramafic complexes,North Xinjiang,and geological implications

The SHRIMP zircon U-Pb dating was carried out and yielded 287±5 Ma (MSWD = 0.34) and 274±3 Ma (MSWD = 1.35) for the Kalatongke No. 1 and Huangshan- dong Cu-Ni-bearing mafic-ultramafic complexes. These ages are much more precise than pre-existing rock-mineral Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd and Re-Os isochron ages for the two complexes and constrain the timing of not only the complexes but also the magmatic Cu-Ni sulfide deposits more reliably. It is neces- sary to carefully reevaluate the previous chronological data for the complexes. The Cu-Ni-bearing mafic-ultramafic com- plexes have the ages similar to those of postcollisional A-type granites in the same area, implying that they could be related to the delamination of lithospheric mantle and upwelling and partial melting of asthenospheric mantle in postcollisional setting. Therefore, the Cu-Ni-bearing mafic-ultramafic com- plexes are a direct indicator of vertical growth of the conti- nental crustal in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt.

Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb dating for the Cangshuipu volcanic rocks and its implications for the lower boundary age of the Nanhua strata in South China

The continental volcanic rocks and volcaniclastic sedimentary conglomerates of the Cangshuipu Formation occur well in Yiyang of Hunan Province, consisting of a wedge-shaped succession of Neoproterozoic strata that overlie with high-angle unconformity the flysch turbidites of the Lengjiaxi Group in the Upper Mesoproterozoic Eonothem. SHRIMP zircon U-Pb dating gives a weighted mean age of 814 ( 12 Ma for the dacitic volcanic agglomerates from the lowest part of the volcanic rocks in the Cangshuipu Formation. This age is younger than previously reported values of 921-933 Ma for the volcanic rocks from the Cangshuipu Formation. Our new dating represents the lower boundary age of the Neoproterozoic System in the studied area. The younger age for the Cangshuipu volcanic rocks is supported by the following observations: (1) Lower Neoproterozoic strata (814-1000 Ma) are missing in the studied area; (2) the Nanhua rift system was initiated at about 820 Ma; and (3) an age of ~820 Ma may be taken as the lower boundary timing of the Nanhua System (even Neoproterozoic) in South China.

Zircon U-Pb SHRIMP ages of eclogites from the North Qilian Mountains in NW China and their tectonic implication

Cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging and ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Pb dating were carried out for zircons from eclogites in the North Qilian Mountains. The results show weighted mean ages of 463 6 Ma and 468 13 Ma for two samples, respectively. These ages are the earliest record of Caledonian high-pressure metamorphism in the North Qilian Mountains, and they may represent the timing of eclogite-facies metamorphism when the oceanic crust was subducted to mantle depths in this orogenic belt.