Late Paleoproterozoic collision-related granitic magmatism in the Cuoke Complex, SW China: New evidence for the early evolution of the Yangtze Block

Abstract

The Paleoproterozoic tectonic evolution of the southwestern Yangtze Block has been ambiguous due to the scarce preservation of geological records, confusing the history of the entire Yangtze Block in the Nuna supercontinent. We here report an integrated study involving petrology, whole-rock geochemistry, zircon U-Pb geochronology and Hf-Nd isotopes of the recently identified late Paleoproterozoic granitoids from the Cuoke Complex in the southwestern Yangtze Block. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating reveals three episodes of granitic magmatism at ca. 1.94 Ga, 1.89 Ga, and 1.85 Ga. Geochemically, the ca. 1.94 Ga albite granites (AGs) and ca. 1.89 Ga and 1.85 Ga monzogranites (MGs) exhibit features of I-type granite, while the ca. 1.85 Ga AGs display characteristics of A-type granite. The zircon εHf(t) values range from −13.0 to −8.1 for the 1.94–1.89 Ga granitoids and from −8.9 to −7.2 for the ca. 1.85 Ga granitoids, with two-stage model ages of 3.3–3.1 Ga and ca. 3.0 Ga, respectively, indicative of their derivation from remelting of Mesoarchean crustal materials. The relatively low heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) (e.g., Yb < 1.9 ppm) and Y (<18 ppm) contents, and moderately negative Eu anomalies of the ca. 1.94–1.89 Ga granitiods suggest they may have been produced in a late collisional or earliest post-collisional setting. The ca. 1.85 Ga AGs and MGs were probably formed in a post-collisional setting indicated by their high HREE (e.g., Yb > 1.9 ppm) and Y (>18 ppm) contents and strongly negative Eu anomalies. Combined with available data, we provisionally divided the tectonic evolution of the southwestern Yangtze Block into four stages: 1) ca. 2.01 Ga subduction, 2) ca. 1.97–1.95 Ga metamorphism associated with collision events, 3) ca. 1.94–1.89 Ga late collisional or earliest post-collisional stage, and 4) ca. 1.85 Ga post-collisional extensional stage. The subduction and collision of the southwestern Yangtze Block initiated slightly later than the northern part, but their near-synchronous tectonic process since ca. 1.97 Ga suggest they may have collaged together at that time. The ca. 1.94–1.89 Ga and ca. 1.85 Ga late collisional to post-collisional granitic magmatism likely recorded the convergence of discrete Archean rock provinces of the Yangtze Block during the Nuna supercontinent assembly.