Geochronology of Yanshanian Magmatism and Metamorphism in the Hinterland of the Dabie Mountains and Their Geologic Implications

A strong tectono-magmatic thermal event has been revealed by field observations of granitic, migmatiticand metamorphic rocks in the hinterland of the Dabie Mountains. K-Ar, Ar-Ar and Rb-Sr determinationsshow that the event took place 133-117 Ma ago (Yanshanian). Contemporaneously, a southwestwardthrust-type ductile shearing at multiple levels occurred in the lower crust or at even deeper levels, suggestingthat the Dabie Mountains region was still under the influence ot strong continent-continent overlappingtectonism of the Yangtze block under the Sino-Korean block at depth. Metamorphic rocks of amphibolitefacies, migmatites and deep structural deformations resulting from this tectonothermal event are now exposedto the surface. The present features of the Dabie Mountains thus have appeared only since ca. 100 Ma B.P. Theblock composed of the Dabie Group is not an uplift or shield which would have undergone a long-continuederosion.

High-temperature granulites and supercontinents

The formation of continents involves a combination of magmatic and metamorphic processes. These processes become indistinguishable at the crust-mantle interface, where the pressure-temperature（P-T）conditions of（ultra） high-temperature granulites and magmatic rocks are similar. Continents grow laterally, by magmatic activity above oceanic subduction zones（high-pressure metamorphic setting）, and vertically by accumulation of mantle-derived magmas at the base of the crust（high-temperature metamorphic setting）. Both events are separated from each other in time; the vertical accretion postdating lateral growth by several tens of millions of years. Fluid inclusion data indicate that during the high-temperature metamorphic episode the granulite lower crust is invaded by large amounts of low H2O-activity fluids including high-density CO2 and concentrated saline solutions（brines）. These fluids are expelled from the lower crust to higher crustal levels at the end of the high-grade metamorphic event. The final amalgamation of supercontinents corresponds to episodes of ultra-high temperature metamorphism involving large-scale accumulation of these low-water activity fluids in the lower crust.This accumulation causes tectonic instability, which together with the heat input from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, leads to the disruption of supercontinents. Thus, the fragmentation of a supercontinent is already programmed at the time of its amalgamation.

Tectonothermal Records in Migmatite-Like Rocks of the Guandi Complex in Zhoukoudian, Beijing: Implications for Late Neoarchean to Proterozoic Tectonics of the North China Craton

Migmatite-like rocks transformed from strongly metamorphosed and deformed enclave- bearing felsic plutons usually make people confuse with the true migmatites and mistake in interpreta- tion of their petrogenesis and tectonic implications. Here we report a suite of rocks that have long been called as migmatites from the Guandi complex in Zhoukoudian region, southwest of Beijing. The rocks are dominated by felsic gneisses with garnet-free amphibolites. Field occurrence, petrography and geochemistry indicate that the felsic gneisses and amphibolites were metamorphosed from protoliths of intermediate-acid and basic igneous rocks, respectively. New LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating and geothermobarometry study further reveal that precursor magmas of the two types of rocks were emplaced at 2.54-2.56 Ga and the rocks subsequently underwent medium P/T-type metamorphism with upper amphibolite facies conditions of 0.55-0.90 GPa and 670-730℃ at -2.48-2.50 Ga. Geochemically, precursor magmas of the amphibolites were suggested to be derived from an enriched lithospheric mantle source in continental arc setting, and those of the felsic gneisses are characterized by tonalitic to trondhjemitic magmas that are usually considered to be generated by partial melting of hydrated, thickened metamorphosed mafic crust with garnet as residues, suggesting that the rock associations are not of true migmatites but migmatite-like rocks. Our study reveal that protoliths of the migmatite-like rocks from the Guandi complex, were likely formed via magmatism in a continental arc setting, followed by accretion and collision of the continental arc as well as the intro-oceanic arc terranes to the Eastern Block of the North China Craton in the transition from the Late Neoarchean to Early Paleoprnterozuic.