Confirmation of the Major Grenville Event in the Qinling Complex of the Qinling Orogenic Belt, Central China

Abstract

The Qinling Complex from the Qinling orogenic belt was generally considered to be part of the Caledonian orogeny, however information of the Grenville event of the Qinling Complex has been poorly recognized. Two granite samples of greenschist-facies and two paragneiss samples of amphibolite- faices are identified from the Qinling Complex. The granites occur along the regional gneissosity of the Qinling Complex, thus it is suggested that their magmatic zircon ages (~970 Ma) mark the lower boundary of the main metamorphic age (amphibolite-granulite facies). In addition, some early-formed metamorphic zircons (~1 000 Ma) are distinguished in the granites, which may reflect the information about the source area of the granites. Therefore the major metamorphism of amphibolite-granulite facies in the Qinling Complex is constrained at Early Neoproterozoic (~1 000 Ma), not Early Paleozoic as conventionally considered. In the Early Paleozoic, the Qinling Complex was characterized by multiple extension- shear activities, overprint of greenschist-facies metamorphism and emplacement of extensive granites. These granites and related thermal events could reset the U-Pb isotopic system of the early-formed zircons, leading to the apparent zircon ages younger than their protolith age. As a result, the Qinling Complex is a modified Early Neoproterozoic orognenic belt or an independent block, which became a continental margin arc during the Early Paleozoic, being accompanied by metamorphism, deformation, and emplacement of continental arc granites. The Erlangping, Kuanping, and Taowan groups to the north of the Qinling Complex show more intensive deformation of the Caledonian, and their oblique subduction towards the Qinling Complex caused the formation of eclogites. Afterwards, the Qinling Complex was amalgamated with the Erlangping, Kuanping, and Taowan groups, which all experienced the same Caledonian orogeny, and possible later orogenies.