Mesozoic monazite in Neoproterozoic metasediments: Evidence for low-grade metamorphism of Sinian sediments during Triassic continental collision, Liaodong Peninsula, NE China

Abstract

Sericite phyllite from the Sinian Shisanlitai Formation, Dalian area, Liaodong Peninsula, NE China, contains an assemblage of newly-formed lower-greenschist facies minerals (sericite, chlorite, Fe minerals and Ti minerals) plus aggregates of fine-grained monazite. The texture of the monazite, its mineral inclusions, and its close association with Fe oxide minerals show that it is not detrital or diagenetic, but a product of the low-grade metamorphism. SHRIMP U-Th-Pb dating of the monazite at 217 ± 15 Ma shows that the metamorphism, and associated regional deformation and fluid flow, occurred in the Late Triassic, coeval with the waning stages of the Dabie-Sulu orogeny. The Dabie-Sulu tectonothermal event has produced both deformation and metamorphism in rocks of the eastern North China Block at least up to ∼200 km north of the main continent-continent collision zone.