SHRIMP Zircon U-Pb Ages of the Wajilitag Igneous Complex: Constraints on the Origin of A-type Granitoids in the Tarim Large Igneous Province, NW China

Objective Large igneous provinces(LIPs)are sites of spatially contiguous,rapidly emplaced magmatic rocks,which represent the physical and chemical transfer of material from the mantle to the crust.Exposed within some continental LIPs are felsic and mafic plutonic and volcanic rocks.Although their volumes are minor compared to the flood basalts,the plutonic rocks of continental LIPs

SHRIMP Zircon U-Pb Age of the Sidingheishan Mafic-Ultramafic Intrusion in the Southern Margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt,NW China and its Petrogenesis implication

Objective The Sidingheishan mafic-ultramafic intrusion is located in the eastern part of the North Tianshan Mountains.This work used zircon U-Pb age data,bulk rock major and trace elements,Sr-Nd-Pb isotope data to assess mantle source characteristics and crustal assimilation of the parental magma of the Sidingheishan intrusion.We have also discussed the tectonic evolution of the southern margin of the Central Asian Orogenic belt in the Late Paleozoic.

SHRIMP zircon U-Pb age and significance of Early Paleozoic volcanic rocks in East Kunlun orogenic belt, Qinghai Province, China

Early Paleozoic volcanic rocks in Nuomuhong area occurred as basalt slice and meta-volcanic slice. SHRIMP zircon U-Pb dating of the basalt slice and the meta-volcanic slice show that the age of the basalt slice is 419±5 Ma, and that of the meta-volcanic slice is 401± 6 Ma. These ages directly testify that there existed Early Paleozoic ocean-continent transform in East Kunlun, the basalt slice was formed in an extensional mid-ocean ridge setting and the meta-volcanic rock slice was formed in an extrusion subduction and collision setting. The inherited zircon age of 1734 Ma in volcanic rocks reflects that the base of East Kunlun may be Middle Proterozoic.

Discovery of the Dagele Eclogite in East Kunlun,Western China and Its Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb Ages:New Constrains on the Central Kunlun Suture Zone

Objective Eclogites are important indicators of ancient plate boundaries or paleosuture zones.Despite their great geological significance,very few investigations have been carried out in the Kunlun region.The Central East Kunlun fault zone was believed to be an Early Paleozoic suture zone,but there has been no reliable evidence for this,though studies on ophiolite,granite,and basic granulite indicate that the Early Paleozoic orogeny occurred in the East Kunlun.This work focused on the Dagele eclogites

The Age of the Original Silurian Badangshan Formation and its Ductile Deformation in the Northern Margin of North China Craton: New Evidence from Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb Ages

Objective Many previous researches have documented the tectonic evolution of the northern margin of North China Craton.However,whether the age of original Silurian Badangshan Formation in the study area belongs to the Archean,Silurian or Devonian remains controversial,and the ductile deformation time of this formation also lack

SHRIMP zircon U-Pb ages from coal beds across the Permian-Triassic boundary, eastern Yunnan, southwestern China

The first SHRIMP zircon U e Pb ages from coal beds close to the end-Permian mass extinction are reported from the C_1 coal seam in the Yantang Mine in Laibin Town, Xuanwei County, eastern Yunnan Province.Zircons were extracted from kaolinite claystone layers, defined as tonsteins(volcanic ash deposits), in the subseam B_1 and B_3 of the coal seam C_1.The U-Pb ages are 252.0 ± 2.3 Ma and 250.3 ± 2.1 Ma for the sub-seam B_1 and B_3, respectively. Within analytical uncertainties, these U-Pb ages include the time period of the onset of the mass extinction at 251.941 ± 0.037 Ma, which was obtained from the marine Meishan section in Zhejiang Province, ~1600 km away from the Yantang Mine. These new ages represent not only the first and closest ages to the PTB mass extinction in terrestrial coal beds, but also ages from the nearest site to the Emeishan volcanoes investigated so far. Therefore these new data provide the most accurate stratigraphic horizon of terrestrial facies of the end-Permian extinction in South China. The Emeishan volcanoes were likely the source of volcanic ash in the coal seams at the Xuanwei County and broader areas in South China. Furthermore, the minerals and geochemistry characteristics of the C_1 coal seam also implied the influences of contemporaneous volcanic activities.

Formation Age of the Sujiagou Komatiites in Western Shandong: Further Constraints from SHRIMP U-Pb Zircon Dating on Granitic Dykes

Komatiites are presented as direct evidence for higher mantle temperatures during the Archean. In the North China Craton, komatiites with spinifex structure have been identified only at one locality, i.e. the Sujiagou area, western Shandong. They were considered as formed during the early Neoarchean mainly based on their association with supracrustal rocks considered to be that age. This study carried out SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating on metamorphosed trondhjemitic and monzogranitic dykes intruding the Sujiagou komatiites, and they have magmatic zircon ages of 2592 ± 12 Ma and 2586 ± 13 Ma respectively. This provides direct evidence that the komatiites formed during the early Neoarchean.

New Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb Ages of the Langjiu Formation Volcanic Rocks in the Shiquanhe Area,Western Lhasa Terrane and their Implications

Objective The potassic and ultrapotassic rocks relating to the India-Eurasia collision and continual plate convergence are widely distributed in the Lhasa terrane.These rocks are very important to understand the deep processes of the India-Eurasia collision and the uplift and evolution of the Tibetan Plateau.Although high-potassic volcanic rocks are also exposed in the western Lhasa terrane,their

New Zircon U-Pb Age of the Super-Large Lijiagou Spodumene Deposit in Songpan Garze Fold Belt, Eastern Tibet： Implications for Early Jurassic Rare-Metal Polymetallic Event

The Songpan-Garze Fold Belt （SGFB）, located in theeastern part of the Tibet Plateau and west of the SichuanBasin, is an important pegmatite province in China. Somefamous pegmatite type deposits occur in the SGFB,including the Xuebaoding, Jiajika, Keeryin rare metaldeposits and Danba muscovite deposit （Li Jiankang et al.,2015）.

Zircon U-Pb Ages and Geochemistry of Permo-Carboniferous Mafic Intrusions in the Xilinhot Area, Inner Mongolia: Constraints on the Northward Subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean

The Central Asian Orogenic Belt(CAOB) resulted from accretion during the Paleozoic subduction of the PaleoAsian Ocean. The Xilinhot area in Inner Mongolia is located in the northern subduction zone of the central-eastern CAOB and outcropped a large number of late Paleozoic mafic intrusions. The characteristics of magma source and tectonic setting of the mafic intrusions and their response to the closure process of the Paleo-Asian Ocean are still controversial. This study presents LA-ICPMS zircon U-Pb ages and geochemical features of mafic intrusions in the Xilinhot area to constrain the northward subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean. The mafic intrusions consist of gabbro, hornblende gabbro, and diabase. Their intrusion times can be divided into three stages of 326-321 Ma, 276 Ma and 254 Ma by zircon U-Pb ages. The first two stages of the 326-276 Ma intrusions mostly originated from subduction-modified continental lithospheric mantle sources that underwent a variable degree partial melting(5-30%), recording the subduction of oceanic crust. The third stage of the 254 Ma mafic rocks also show arc-related features. The primary magma compositions calculated by PRIMELT2 modeling on three samples of ~326 Ma and two samples of ~254 Ma show that these mafic samples are characterized by a variable range in SiO2(47.51-51.47 wt%), Al2O3(11.46-15.55 wt%), ΣFeO(8.27-9.61 wt%), MgO(13.01-15.18 wt%) and CaO(9.13-11.67 wt%), consisting with the features between enriched mantle and lower continental crust. The source mantle melting of mafic intrusions occurred under temperatures of 1302-1351°C and pressures of 0.92-1.30 GPa. The magmatic processes occurred near the crust-mantle boundary at about 33-45 km underground. Combined with previous studies, it is concluded that Carboniferous to early Permian(~326-275 Ma) northward subduction of the Paleo-Asian oceanic crust led to the formation of the mafic magmatism in the Baolidao arc zone. The whole region had entered the collision environment at ~254 Ma, but with subduction-related environments locally. The final collision between the North China craton and the South Mongolian microcontinent may have lasted until ca. 230 Ma.

Protracted zircon growth in migmatites and In situ melt of Higher Himalayan Crystallines:U-Pb ages from Bhagirathi valley, NW Himalaya,India

The Higher Himalayan Crystallines(HHC), in western Garhwal, Uttarakhand are located in a regionalscale intracontinental ductile shear zone(15-20 km wide) bounded by the Main Central Thrust at the base, and the South Tibetan Detachment System at the top. The migmatite zone in the centre has the highest grade of metamorphism in the NW Himalayas and show evidence of flowage. Zircons extracted from samples of metasediment, migmatite, biotite granite and in situ partial melt(tourmaline-bearing leucogranite) along the Bhagirathi Valley, preserve U-Pb isotopic evidence of magmatic history, magma source and effects of the Himalayan orogeny in the region. Three distinct periods of zircon growth in the leucogranite record the episodic influx of magma between 46 Ma and 20 Ma indicating a time span of more than 25 Ma between the onset of fluid-fluxed partial melting in the mid-crustal intracontinental shear zone and the emplacement of the magma into the upper crust in a post-collisional extensional setting. Metamorphic zircon growth was initiated about 46 Ma, when the partial melts were generated as the migmatite zone was exhumed.

Zircon LA-ICP-MS U-Pb Age and Island-Arc Origin of the Bayanhua Gabbro in the Hegenshan Suture Zone, Inner Mongolia

Objective The Bayanhua Nb-enriched gabbro is newly discovered in the Diyanmiao-Meilaotewula SSZ-type ophiolitic mélange belt of the Hegenshan suture zone,Inner Mongolia.Nb-enriched arc gabbros are usually believed to result from partial melting of the mantle wedge peridotites metasomatized by slab melts derived from the subducting oceanic slab,which represent arc magmatic markers of

Zircon U-Pb age,trace element and Hf isotope composition of Sepon Au-Cu deposit, Laos:tectonic and metallogenic implications

The Truong Son Fold Belt,located at the northeastern margin of the Indochina Block,is considered to be tectonically linked to the subduction of the Paleotethys Ocean and subsequent collision.Sepon is one of the most important super large deposits of the Truong Son Fold Belt.Our LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating results show that granodiorite porphyry samples from the Sepon deposit have ages of 302.1-4-2.9 Ma, which is a crucial phase for magmatic-tectonical activities from the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian and has avital influence on the mineralization of copper and gold.Zircon from granodiorite porphyry yields εHf (t)values of 4.32 to 9.64,and TDM2 has an average age of 914 Ma,suggesting that the source of the granodiorite porphyry in the region were mainly mantle components but underwent mixing and contamination of crust materials.The Ce^4+/Ce^3+ value of zircon in the granodiorite porphyry varys greatly from 2.4 to 1438.29,which shows magma mixing might occur.Considering the characteristics of trace elements in the zircon and the whole rock geochemical characteristics of intrusion rocks as well as the characteristics of regional volcanic-sedimentary association,it is indicated that the tectonic setting may be the continental arc environment.The Sepon Au-Cu deposit is derived from emplacement of calc-alkaline intermediate-acid magma with coming from deep sources in the subduction process of the Paleotethys Ocean,forming porphyry Mo-Cu,skam Cu-Au mineralization and a hydrothermal sedimentary-hosted Au mineralization in the wall rocks.

Age and Origin of Paleogene Granitoids from Western Yunnan Province,China:Geochemistry,SHRIMP Zircon Ages,and Hf-in-Zircon Isotopic Compositions

We report geochemical data, SHRIMP zircon ages and Hf-in-zircon isotopic compositions for Cenozoic granitoids from major fault systems in the Tethyan belt in western Yunnan Province, southwestern China.Four magmatic pulses occurred in the Paleogene, namely at ca.57 Ma, ca.50 Ma, 45–40 Ma, and 38–34 Ma.Early magmatism of this episode(57–50 Ma) produced S-type granites whose zircons yielded εHf(t) values of-5.0 to-0.3.In contrast, late magmatism of this episode reflects heterogeneous sources.Zircons from a granite porphyry along the Ailaoshan-Red River fault system have slightly positive εHf(t) values suggesting derivation from relatively young crust and/or a juvenile source.However, zircons from a granite along the Gaoligong fault system have strongly negative εHf(t) values and suggest derivation from a Paleoproterozoic crustal source.The composition of the granitoids varies with age(from ca.57 Ma to ca.34 Ma) from peraluminous to metaluminous and also suggests a change from syn-collisional to late-orogenic tectonic setting.A new tectonic model, impacting lithospheric wedge(ILW) is shown for the origin of Paleogene granitoids in this paper.

New detrital zircon U-Pb ages from BIF-related metasediments in the Ntem Complex (Congo craton) of southern Cameroon, West Africa

Banded Iron Formations (BIFs) were formed by contemporaneous events of active sediments supply and the venting of a hydrothermal fluid source at the Mid-Ocean-Ridge. BIFs within the Ntem Complex at the northern edge of the Congo Craton are intercalated with metasandstones and siltstones. SHRIMP U-Pb analysis on detrital zircons obtained from these metasediments gave variable ages from over 3000 Ma to 1000 Ma with the maximum age of deposition clustered around 1200 Ma and the peak of deposition at 1800 Ma. This age range suggested that the sub-basin was opened sometime in the Archean and remained active up till the Neoproterozoic. Zircons with Archean ages have a provenance linked to the charnockitic suite and the high-K granites within the Ntem Complex. The Paleoproterozoic ages are attributed to clastic inputs from the neigbouring Nyong Series west of the Ntem Complex. Also the peak of deposition in the Proterozoic could probably be explained by the globally recognized intense crust-forming processes in the Early Proterozoic time. The provenance of the younger Neoproterozoic ages is tied to various lithologies within the northern mobile belts of the Adamawa-Yade massifs and correlates with Neoproterozoic sedimentation ages in the Yaoundé, Lom and Poli series. The Neoproterozoic ages obtained are comparable to those obtained from metasediments of the Amazonian Craton and provide evidence of Pre-Gondwana assemblage of the Congo and the S?o Francisco Cratons.

SHRIMP zircon U-Pb dating of the mafic and felsic intrusive rocks of the Saza area in the Lupa goldfields, southwestern Tanzania: Implication for gold mineralization

The Lupa Goldfield (LGF) is one of the eight structural terranes in the NW – SE striking Ubendian Belt of SW Tanzania. The LGF is comprised of granitic gneisses with bands of amphibolites which are intruded by mafic intrusions including gabbros, granodiorites, diorites;and various granites as well as metavol-canics. These rocks are cross-cut by narrow mafic dykes and aplites. SHRIMP zircon U-Pb data are presented for the granodiorite and a mafic dyke that cross-cut the granodiorites in the Saza area of the LGF, with the aim of constraining the mafic and felsic magmatism and their implication to gold mineralization. The zircon U-Pb data shows that the Saza granodiorites were emplaced at 1924 ± 13 Ma (MSWD = 2.6) whereas the cross-cutting mafic dyke yielded a zircon U-Pb age of 1758 ± 33 Ma (MSWD = 0.88). The dated granodiorite sample was in sheared contact with an altered mafic intrusive rock, most likely a diorite, along which an auriferous quartz vein occurs. The 1924 ± 13 Ma age of granodiorites is within error of the reported molybdenite Re-Os age of 1937 Ma determined for the gold mineralization event in Lupa Goldfields. Although auriferous quartz veins are younger than the granodiorites, the more or less similar ages between the emplacement of granodiorites and the mineralizing event indicate that the granodiorites might be the heat source (or driver) of hydrothermal fluids responsible for gold mineralization in the Lupa goldfields. This would further suggest that gold mineralization in the LGF is intrusion-related type. The mafic dykes represent the youngest rocks to have been emplaced in the area and hence the 1758 ± 33 Ma age of the mafic dykes conclude the magmatic evolution in the Lupa goldfields during the Palaeoproterozoic.

New Zircon U-Pb Age of the Babu Ophiolites in Southeast Yunnan,China and Constrains of Plate Subduction Time

Objective The Babu ophiolite in Malipo County of southeastern Yunnan is interpreted as remanant ocean crust and represents a possible branch of Paleo-Tethyan Ocean in South China.It consists mainly of mafic and ultramafic rocks.These rocks are very important to understand the evolution of the Paleo-Tethyan Ocean.However,the Babu ophiolite is still disputed and the mafic and ultramafic rocks have been inferred to be part of the Emeishan large igneous province(LIP)by some researchers.In this paper,we present zircon U-Pb data on the metabasalts in

Relationship between Granite and Eclogite on the Southern Margin of the Qilian Mountains: Evidence from Zircon SHRIMP Agesof the Aolaoshan Granite

Zircon SHRIMP ages of the Aolaoshan granite on the south margin of the Qilian Mts. Range from 445?15.3 to 496?7.6 Ma (averaging 473 Ma), belonging to the Early Ordovician. Geochemically, the granite is similar to I-type granite and, tectonically, was formed in an island-arc environment based on relevant diagrams for structural discriminations. Considering also the regional geology, the authors suggest that the granite is part of an ultrahigh-pressure belt on the south margin of the Qilian Mts. And that its formation bears a close relationship to this belt.

SHRIMP zircon age of the high aeromagnetic anomaly zone in central Tarim Basin and its geological implications

In order to get the correct isotopic age, SHRIMP U-Pb zircon date of Precambrian hornblende granite in Well TD2, located in the central aeromagnetic belt in the eastern of the Tarim basin, was carried out. The result showed a dependable age of 1908.2 ± 8.6 Ma, which demonstrated that the granite pluton is the result of the magmatic activity in early Palaeoproterozoic. It is indicated that the central aeromagnetic belt across Tarim basin, divided it into north and south block, is formed before Neoproterozoic by a large scale tectonothermal events based on the seismic and drilling date. The Tarim continent may have different age and type basements formed the united crystalline basement in Precambrian. This result has yielded new intraplate evidence to constrain the relation between the Tarim plate and the Colombia supercontinent.

Zircon U-Pb Ages of the Chagangnuer Mafic Intrusion in Central Inner Mongolia and their Tectonic Implications

The Central Asian Orogenic Belt(CAOB)is regarded as the world's largest and long-lived Phanerozoic accretionary orogen,which has recorded a long history of multiple subduction-accretion events during the Neoproterozoic to Mesozoic.The CAOB was formed by the progressive subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean(PAO).However,the final closure time of the PAO is still controversial,ranging from the Late Devonian to the Early-Middle Triassic(Zhang et al.,2018).