The discovery of Palaeoproterozoic volcanic rocks in the Bulunkuoler Group from the Tianshuihai Massif in Xinjiang of Northwest China and its geological significance

In the Dabudaer region of the Tianshuihai Massif （Xinjiang, Northwest China）, metavolcanic rocks within the mainly meta- sedimentary Bulunkuoler Group are basalt, basaltic andesite, and rhyolite. In situ zircon U-Pb LA-ICP-MS dating on rhyolite magmatic zircons yielded an age of 2481±14 Ma, interpreted as the eruption age of the Bulunkuoler Group volcanic rocks. The basalt and basaltic andesite are low-A1 tholeiite series and the rhyolite is low-Al calc-alkaline series. All of rocks are charac- terized by enrichment of LREE and LILE （Rb, Th and Ba）, depletion of P, Nb, Ta and Ti, and absence of Eu anomalies. The Cnd（t） of basalts ranges from 3.14 to 4.88 indicating a depleted mantle source. The trace element signatures show that these magmas experienced intense crustal contamination during their ascent. Direct evidence for crustal contamination is the xenocrystic zircons in the ryholite, with ages back to ca. 3300 Ma. The primitive-mantle normalized and Zr/Y-Zr diagrams for the basic volcanic rocks show that they formed in an intra-continental tectonic setting. Combined with the previous studies and compared with North China Craton Neoarchean basic volcanic rocks, it is supposed that the Bulunkuoler Group volcanic rocks reflect the Palaeoproterozoic mantle magma underplating and interaction with felsic crust.

Geochronological evidence of Indosinian(high-pressure) metamorphic event and its tectonic significance in Taxkorgan area of the Western Kunlun Mountains,NW China

The CL images,LA-ICP-MS in situ trace elements analysis,and U-Pb dating for zircons indicate that the metamorphic ages of the sillimanite-garnet-biotite gneiss and the garnet-amphibole gneiss from eastern Taxkorgan of the Western Kunlun Mountains are 220±2 and 220±3 Ma respectively,and their protolith ages are younger than 253±2 and 480±8 Ma respectively.Two samples were collected at the same outcrops with HP mafic granulite and HP pelitic granulite.Mineral assemblage of the sillimanite-garnet-biotite gneiss(Grt+Sill+Per+Q) is consistent with that of HP pelitic granulite at early high amphibolite-granulite facies stage.Mineral assemblage of the garnet-amphibole gneiss(Grt+Amp+Pl+Q) is consistent with retro-metamorphic assemblage of HP mafic granulite at amphibolite facies stage.The dating results suggest that these HP granulites underwent peak metamorphism at 220±2 to 253±2 Ma.Thus,the Kangxiwar tectonic zone was probably formed by subduction and collision of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean during Indosinian.Protolith ages of the two samples,together with previously published U-Pb zircon dating age,suggest that the sillimanite-garnet schist-quartzite unit is a late Paleozoic unit,not a part of the Paleoproterozoic Bulunkuole Group.