Zircon U–Pb geochronology of the Zanhuang metamorphic complex: reappraisal of the Palaeoproterozoic amalgamation of the Trans-North China Orogen

• Published in: Geological magazine Vol. 150; no. 4; pp. 756 - 764
• Main Authors: XIAO, LING-LING, WANG, GUO-DONG, WANG, HAO, JIANG, ZONG-SHENG, DIWU, CHUN-RONG, WU, CHUN-MING
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.07.2013
• Subjects: absolute age; amalgamation; amphibolite facies; Asia; China; cratons; dates; facies; Far East; Geochronology; Geological time; Geophysics; ICP mass spectra; mass spectra; metamorphic core complexes; Metamorphic rocks; Metamorphism; nesosilicates; North China Platform; orogenic belts; orthosilicates; P-T conditions; P-T-t paths; Paleoproterozoic; Petrology; plate convergence; plate tectonics; Precambrian; Proterozoic; silicates; solid Earth (tectonophysics); spectra; Trans-North China Orogen; U/Pb; upper Precambrian; Zanhuang Complex; zircon; zircon group; China; SIMS dating; LA-ICP-MS dating; zircon; North China Craton; Zanhuang metamorphic complex
• ISSN: 0016-7568; 1469-5081
• DOI: 10.1017/S001675681300006X

Amphibolites and metapelites exposed in the Zanhuang metamorphic complex situated in the south-middle section of the Trans-North China Orogen (TNCO) underwent upper-amphibolite-facies metamorphism and record clockwise P–T paths including retrograde isothermal decompression. High-resolution zircon U–Pb geochronological analyses indicate that the metamorphic peak occurred during ~ 1840–1860 Ma, which is in accordance with the ubiquitous metamorphic ages of ~ 1850 Ma retrieved by miscellaneous geochronologic methods throughout the metamorphic terranes of the northern TNCO, confirming that the south-middle section of the TNCO was involved in the amalgamation of the Eastern and Western Blocks of the North China Craton during the Palaeoproterozoic.