In situ zircon U–Pb and Hf isotopes and tectonic implications of late Palaeoproterozoic host rocks from the Shuangfengling gold deposit, northern Tarim Block, NW China

Abstract

The Tarim Block contains important information of the Precambrian crustal evolution of the Earth. In this paper, we present detailed petrographic and in situ zircon U–Pb and Hf isotopes data for the Palaeoproterozoic host rocks (gneiss and gneissic granite) of the Shuangfengling gold deposit in the Quruqtagh terrane in order to constrain their ages and magma sources and discuss their tectonic environments. Zircon laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry data indicated that the host rocks (gneiss and gneissic granite) of the Shuangfengling gold deposit were formed at 1948 ± 17 and 1944 ± 13 Ma, respectively, and all underwent a metamorphism immediately after magma emplacement. The Hf isotopic signatures, negative εHf(t) values and older Archean two‐stage Hf model ages, of the studied rocks suggested that the magmas of these rocks were derived by crustal reworking in a manner similar to the magmatism related to a collisional orogeny. This study further confirms the existence of this Palaeoproterozoic magmatic and metamorphic event in the Tarim Block. The Tarim Block was part of the Columbia supercontinent.