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.

Zircon SHRIMP U–Pb geochronology,geochemistry,and geological significance of dacite in the Zhesang gold district,southeast Yunnan Province,China

The Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic tectonic framework of the Nanpanjiang Basin has much been disputed.Herein,the middle-acid volcanic rock,dacite,exposed to the Zhesang gold district,southeast Yunnan Province,has been analyzed.The results show that the dacite belongs to a calc-alkaline series,SiO_(2)contents range from 62.79 to 76.66 wt%.Zircon SHRIMP U–Pb dating of dacite demonstrates that they were formed in the Early Triassic(247.8±1.7 Ma,MSWD=1.2).All samples exhibit enrichment in LILE(e.g.Rb,K,Th,and U),and depletion in HFSE(e.g.Nb,Ta,and Ti),which has the geochemical affinity of I-type granite.La–La/Sm and La–La/Yb discrimination diagrams show that the partial melting,mainly of the mafic lower crust,of rocks,plays a major role in the formation process.The dacite has low initial ^(87)Sr/^(86)Sr ratios(0.706954 to 0.708589)and negative ε_(Nd)(t)values(-11.77 to-10.88).Zircons in dacite have ε_(Hf)(t)values of-16.2 to-8.3,and the two-stage Hf model ages are 1799–2301 Ma,mostly concentrated between 1800 and 1900 Ma,indicating that the magma source area is the reconstructed ancient lower crust mixed with some mantle materials,and crystal fractionation process underwent in the late stage of magma migration.This study reveals that the arc-volcanic rocks of the Early Triassic in the southern margin of the Nanpanjiang Basin were formed by the subduction of the Late Paleozoic ocean basin within the border region between China and Vietnam.

Petrology and SHRIMP zircon geochronology of granulites from Vesleknausen, Lützow-Holm Complex, East Antarctica: Neoarchean magmatism and Neoproterozoic high-grade metamorphism

We report new petrological data and geochronological measurements of granulites from Vesleknausen in the highest-grade section of the L＆#252;tzow-Holm Complex, part of the Gondwana-assembling collisional orogen in East Antarctica. The locality is dominated by felsic to intermediate orthogneiss （charnockite and minor biotite gneiss）, mafic orthogneiss, and hornblende-pyroxene granulite, with deformed and undeformed dykes of metagranite and felsic pegmatite. Pseudosection analysis of charnockite in the system NCKFMASHTO, supported by geothermometry of mafic orthogneiss, was used to infer peak metamorphic temperatures of 750e850 ？C, approximately 150 ？C lower than those estimated for met-asedimentary gneisses from Rundv？gshetta, 6 km to the northeast. SHRIMP U-Pb analysis of zircons from feldspar-pyroxene gneiss, which corresponds to a partially molten patch around mafic orthogneiss, yielded a Concordia upper intercept ages of 2507.9 ？ 7.4 Ma, corresponding to the time of formation of the magmatic protolith to the orthogneiss. Partial melting during peak metamorphism probably took place between 591 and 548 Ma, as recorded in rims overgrew around magmatic zircon. Our results suggest that Rundv？gshetta-Vesleknausen-Strandnibba region in southwestern L＆#252;tzow-Holm Bay, where orthogneisses are dominant, consists of a single crustal block, possibly formed by ca. 2.5 Ga arc mag-matism. The Neoarchean magmatic terrane was tectonically mingled with other fragments （such as metasedimentary units in northern L＆#252;tzow-Holm Bay） by subduction/collision events during the as-sembly of Gondwana supercontinent, and subsequently underwent w850 ？C granulite-facies meta-morphosed during Neoproterozoic to Cambrian final collisional event.

Devonian alkaline magmatism in the northern North China Craton:Geochemistry,SHRIMP zircon U-Pb geochronology and Sr-Nd-Hf isotopes

The Wulanhada pluton is among the rare suite of Devonian alkaline plutons occurring along the northern margin of the North China Craton（NCC）.The intrusion is mainly composed of quartz-monzonite.Here we report zircon SHRIMP U-Pb data from this intrusion which shows emplacement age of ca.381.5 Ma.The rock is metaluminous with high（Na2O ＋ K2O） values ranging from 8.46 to 9.66 wt.%.The REE patterns of the rocks do not show any Eu anomaly whereas the primitive-mantle-normalized spider diagram shows strong positive Sr and Ba anomalies.The Wulanhada rocks exhibit high initial values of（87Sr/86Sr）t = 0.70762-0.70809,low εNd（t） =-12.76 to-12.15 values and negative values of εHf（t） =-23.49 to-17.02 with small variations in（176Hf/177Hf）,（0.281873-0.282049）.These geochemical features and quantitative isotopic modeling results suggest that the rocks might have been formed through the partial melting of Neoarchean basic rocks in the lower crust of the NCC.The Wulanhada rocks,together with the Devonian alkaline rocks and mafic-ultramafic complex from neighboring regions,constitute a post-collisional magmatic belt along the northern NCC.

SHRIMP U-Pb zircon geochronology of granites from Sansom Island, Prydz Bay, East Antarctica

Sansom Island consists of two low nunataks in Sandefjord Bay, a marginal gulf of Prydz Bay, East Antarctica. These nunataks are composed of two kinds of undeformed biotite granites, and these granites have been dated by ion-microprobe U-Pb zircon geochronology. The zircons from these two samples yield SHRIMP zircon U-Pb concordant ages of 516±5 Ma and 495.8±4.2 Ma, respectively. The results indicate that these granites were emplaced in two pulses in the Cambrian, and further demonstrates the Pan-African event that has overprinted this area. The age of ca. 516 Ma suggests that the undeformed Sansom Island Granite had a different geological history from the Landing Bluff Granite, which contains deformed granite xenoliths dated at ca. 503 Ma, and probably indicates regional variations in the age and intensity of deformation.

Geochronology and Significance of Granites Associated with Gold Deposits in the Jidong Area, China

The Jidong area is located on the north margin of the North China craton. It is a nucleus composed of the oldest rocks in China. Precambrian metarnorphic rocks with various Phanerozoic granitoids invaded are widespread. Gold deposits here have close spatial relations to granitoids. Some deposits occur within them and others in the outer zone of the contact belt of the intrusion, extending thousands of metres. There have been controversial views in regard to the relations of the deposits to the intrusions although traditional techniques have been used to date the intrusions. In order to solve such a problem, the SHRIMP technique was adopted to date the U-Pb ages of zircon collected from the Yuerya intrusion which hosts the large-sized Yuerya Au deposit and Qingshankou intrusion 2 km away from the Jinchangyu (larger-sized) Au deposit. Analysis shows that the ages of 175±1 Ma and 174±3 Ma for Yuerya intrusion and the age of 199±2 Ma for Qingshankou granite indicate the Early Yanshanian stage of the Mesozoic. The Yuerya intrusion also contains inherited zircon aged at about 2500 Ma, indicating that part of its source materials are Archaean metamorphic rocks. In addition to the SHRIMP data of this study, a great deal of data related to the alteration of Au deposits indicate the formation of the deposits at the Yanshanian stage of the Mesozoic, so the ore formation of Au deposits is inferred to relate to granitic intrusion.

Combined U-Pb SHRIMP and Hf isotope study of the Late Paleozoic Yaminue Complex,Rio Negro Province,Argentina:Implications for the origin and evolution of the Patagonia composite terrane

We have carried out zircon U-Pb SHRIMP dating and Hf isotope determinations on a biotite paraschist and on a tonalitic orthogneiss of the Yaminué Complex, and re-evaluate this complex in the broader context of the tectonic evolution of the Patagonia composite terrane. In the metasedimentary unit （msuYC）, the youngest detrital zircon dated at 318 ± 5 Ma （Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary） indicates a Pennsylvanian （or younger） depositional age. The three main age populations peak at 474, 454 and 374 Ma. Preliminary Hf isotope data for two detrital zircons （447 and 655 Ma） yielded ε（Hf） values of -0.32 and 0.48, indicating that their primary sources contained small amounts of recycled crustal components （of Calymmian age; TDM 1.56 Ga）. Zircons from the orthogneiss （miuYC; intrusive into msuYC） show a crystallization age of 261.3 - 2.7 Ma （Capitanian; late middle Permian） which is broadly coeval with deformation, and Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic inheritance. Meaningful core-rim relationship between Neoarchean zircon cores and late Permian rims is well defined, indicating the occurrence of Archean crust in this sector of Patagonia. Hf TDM of Permian zircons is mainly Meso-Paleoarchean （2.97-3.35 Ga）, with highly negative e（Hf） values （ca, -33）. Hf TDM of inherited Neoarchean zircon cores is also Meso-Paleoarchean （3.14-3.45 Ga） but more juvenile （ε（Hf） = -0.3）. Hf isotopes reinforce the presence of unexposed ancient crust in this area. Combining geological and isotope data, as well as geophysical models, we identify the Yaminué Complex within the La Esperanza-Yaminué crustal block flanked by two other, distinct crustal blocks： the Eastern block which forms part of the Patagonia terrane sensu stricto, located in the eastern Patagonian region, and the Western block forming part of the Southern Patagonia terrane. Their origins and timing of amalgamation to form the Patagonia composite terrane are also discussed.

SHRIMP Zircon U-Pb Chronology and Geochemistry of the Henglingguan and Beiyu Granitoids in the Zhongtiao Mountains,Shanxi Province

Henglingguan and Beiyu metamorphic granitoids, distributed in the northwest of the Zhongtiaoshan Precambrian complex, comprise trondhjemites and calc-alkaline monzogranites, displaying intrusive contacts with the Archean Zhaizi TTG gneisses. And the Beiyu metamorphic granitoids consist mainly of trondhjemites, distributed at the core of the Hujiayu anticline fold. New SHRIMP zircon U-Pb dating data show that the weighted mean ^207pb/^206pb ages are 2435.9 Ma and 2477 Ma for the Henglingguan metamorphic calc-alkaline monzogranites and Beiyu metamorphic trondhjemites, respectively, and reveal -2600 Ma inherited core in magmatic zircons. Whole-rock geochemical data indicate that all the Henglingguan and Beiyu metamorphic trondhjemites and calc- alkaline monzogranites belong to the metaluminous medium- and high-potassium calc-alkaline series. These rocks are characterized by relatively high total alkali contents (Na2O+K2O, up to 9.08%), depleted Nb, Ta, P and Ti, and right-declined REE patterns with moderate to high LREEs/HREEs fractionation (the mean ratio of (La/Yb)n = 25). The Henglingguan and Beiyu metamorphic trondhjemites display negative Rb, Th and K anomalies in the multi-dement spider diagrams normalized by primitive mantle. Sm-Nd isotopic data reveal that these granitoids have initial εNd(t) =-1.2 to +2.4 and Nd depleted mantle model ages of TMD = 2622 Ma-2939 Ma. All these geochemical features indicate that these granitoids were formed in an continent-marginal arc, and the trondhjemites mainly originated from partial melting of juvenile basaltic materials and, howbeit, the Henglingguan metamorphic calc-alkaline monzogranites derived from recycling of materials in the ancient crust under a continent-marginal arc. The granitic magma underwent contamination and fractional crystallization during their formation.

Guandishan Granitoids of the Paleoproterozoic Lüliang Metamorphic Complex in the Trans-North China Orogen:SHRIMP Zircon Ages,Petrogenesis and Tectonic Implications

The Paleoproterozoic Liiliang Metamorphic Complex （PLMC） is situated in the middle segment of the western margin of the Trans-North China Orogen （TNCO）, North China Craton （NCC）. As the most important lithological assemblages in the southern part of the PLMC, Guandishan granitoids consist of early gneissic tonalities, granodiorites and gneissic monzogranites, and younger gneissic to massive monzogranites. Petrochemical features reveal that the early gneissic tonalities and granodiorites belong to the medium-K calc-alkaline series; the early gneissic monzogranites are transitional from high-K calc-alkaline to the shoshonite series; the younger gneissic to massive monzogranites belong to the high-k calc-alkaline series, and all rocks are characterized by right- declined REE patterns and negative Nb, Ta, Sr, P, and Ti anomalies in the primitive mantle normalized spidergrams. SHRIMP zircon U-Pb isotopic dating reveals that the early gneissic tonalities and granodiorites formed at -2.17 Ga, the early gneissic monzogranites at -2.06 Ga, and the younger gneissic to massive monzogranites at -1.84 Ga. Sm-Nd isotopic data show that the early gneissic tonalities and granodiorites have eNd（t） values of ＋0.48 to -3.19 with Nd-depleted mantle model ages （TDM） of 2.76--2.47 Ga, and early gneissic monzogranites have eNd（t） values of -0.53 to -2.51 with TDM of 2.61--2.43 Ga, and the younger gneissic monzogranites have eNd（t） values of -6.41 to -2.78 with a TDM of 2.69--2.52 Ga.These geochemical and isotopic data indicate that the early gneissic tonalities, granodiorites, and monzogranites were derived from the partial melting of metamorphosed basaltic and pelitic rocks, respectively, in a continental arc setting. The younger gneissic to massive monzogranites were derived by partial melting of metamorphosed greywackes within the continental crust. Combined with previously regional data, we suggest that the Paleoproterozoic granitoid magmatism in the Guandishan granitoids of the PLMC may provide the best geological signature for the complete spectrum of Paleoproterozoic geodynamic processes in the Trans-North China Orogen from oceanic subduction, through collisional orogenesis, to post-orogenic extension and uplift.

Qingbaikouan and Crygenian in South China:Constraints by SHRIMP Zircon U-Pb dating

The Qingbaikouan System is the lowest unit of the Neoproterozoic Erathem in Chinese stratigraphic succession,and it now provides a precise geochronological framework and geological time scale for mapping and stratal correlation in China.However,a sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe （SHRIMP） U-Pb zircon age date （1368±12 Ma） obtained from a bentonite in the Qingbaikouan Xiamaling Formation indicates that it belongs to the Mesoproterozoic Erathem instead.This change is a milestone in understanding the Precambrian Stratigraphic Time Scale in China,and it has had great influence on Precambrian correlations in Asia.Otherwise,a large amount of geochronological work has been done in the ＂Jiangnan Orogen Belt＂ of South China,and new isotopic data have redefined the traditional recognition of metamorphosed Mesoproterozoic strata from the Sibao orogeny to the Neoproterozoic Erathem.Based on SHRIMP zircon U-Pb age data,the authors regard the Sibao orogeny （equal to the Wuling orogeny） as a movement at ca 820 Ma,meaning that the Sibao orogeny was not equivalent to the Grenvillian orogeny.Finally,we report here the first SHRIMP U-Pb age of the boundary between the top of the Qingbaikouan Gongdong Formation （786.8±5.6 Ma） and the bottom of the Chang＇an （diamictite） Formation （778.4±5.2 Ma）,which is the age of the lowest diamictite of the Nanhuan System in China.

Zircon U-Pb SHRIMP Ages from the Late Paleozoic Turpan-Hami Basin,NW China

Permian volcanic rocks are widely distributed in the Turpan-Hami Basin, which is part of the Central Asian orogenic belt. Here we present SHRIMP zircon data for the rhyolite in Well Baocan 1, one of the deepest wells in the basin. The 283.9±2.7 Ma reported in our study provides the best precise age determination for the Yierxitu Formation, the oldest Permian layer of Hami Depression, one of the three substructural units of the Turpan-Hami Basin, and a potential hydrocarbon reservoir in this basin. Our data refines earlier imprecise 39^Ar-40^Ar ages and shows that the volcanic rocks both inside the Turpan-Hami Basin and along its margin are almost coeval. We delineate a collisional orogenesis, and the new age of 283.9±2.7 Ma may limit the latest time of the collision orogenesis.