Architecture and evolution of the lithospheric roots beneath circum-cratonic orogenic belts–The Xing'an Mongolia Orogenic Belt and its relationship with adjacent North China and Siberian cratonic roots

Abstract

The accretionary mobile belts surrounding ancient cratonic cores are an important facet of the growth and preservation of continental landmasses. Peridotites from Nuominhe in the Xing'an Mongolia Orogenic Belt (XMOB) provide an additional opportunity to examine the age, structure and evolution of mantle lithosphere separating two of the largest existing ancient continental nuclei: the North China Craton and the Siberian Craton. This suite of mantle rocks comprises fertile to refractory garnet- and spinel-facies harzburgites and lherzolites. Their lithophile element systematics show that the peridotites were metasomatized to variable extent by silicate‑carbonate melts. Despite this, the highly siderophile element and Os isotope systematics appear to have been largely undisturbed. The Nuominhe peridotites have Re-depletion Os model ages (TRD) that range from 0.5 Ga to 2.4 Ga, with three peaks/major ranges at ~2.0–2.4 Ga, ~1.4–1.5 Ga and ~ 0.8 Ga, of which the latter two are closely similar to those data from other XMOB localities reported in the literature. The only section of the mantle that appears to have ages which correlate with crust formation is the suite with Neoproterozoic (~0.8 Ga) depletion ages, while the older mantle domains document older episodes of mantle depletion. Given the lack of correlation between equilibrium temperatures and bulk composition or TRD ages, the Nuominhe peridotites were inter-mixed in the mantle column, most likely as a result of incorporation of recycled older continental mantle fragments into juvenile Neoproterozoic mantle during the orogenic processes responsible for new lithosphere formation. Geothermobarometry of the Nuominhe peridotites indicates a conductive geotherm of ~60 mWm−2 and therefore a lithosphere thickness of ~125 km, which is thicker than most Phanerozoic continental terranes, and even thicker than Proterozoic regions that comprise the larger cratonic unit of the Siberian craton. This thick Proterozoic lithosphere sandwiched between the converging North China and Siberian cratons was evidently partly constructed from recycled refractory continental mantle fragments, perhaps extant in the convecting mantle, or in-part derived from the surrounding cratons, leading to a composite nature of the mantle in this re-healed continental suture. Re-accretion of recycled refractory old continental mantle fragments plays a significant role in affecting mantle composition and controlling the thickness of circum-cratonic landmasses between cratonic blocks.