Ages of Zircons from Basalt of Erdaogou Formation and Diabase Dyke Swarms in Northern Liaoning

Abstract

The drainage area of Fanhe River around the Tieling City in the northern part of Liaodong Peninsula, is located in the north of the Tancheng-Lujiang fault zone, and belongs to the northeastern end of North China Block in the Sino-Korean plate. In this area, there is huge-thick basalt (Erdaogou Formation) and diabase dyke swarms, which are thought to be Mesoproterozoic basic magmatism. By means of zircon dating with sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP), the eruption time of the Erdaogou Formation basalt is considered to be 36.4 ± 1.8 Ma, the Eocene Epoch. The emplacement time of the diabase swarms is considered to be 93.5 ± 1.4 Ma, the Late Cretaceous. The basic dyke swarms and basalts in the northern Liaoning were determined as Mesozoic and Cenozoic, respectively. This shows that the northern boundary that divides North China Block and Jiao-Liao-Korean Block within Sino-Korean Plate (i.e. the northern part of the Tancheng-Lujiang fault zone), was in a stretch-tensile tectonic environment in EW direction in Late Cretaceous. In addition, this tectonic environment resulted in the intrusion of the diabase swarms. In Paleogene Period, the stretching direction was changed to near SN, and the formation of the stretching tectonics led to the eruption of the huge-thick Erdaogou Formation basalt. The new SHRIMP zircon U-Pb ages in this article does not support the traditional opinion that the Erdaogou Formation basalt was formed in Mesoproterozoic.