Nd isotopic and geochemical constraints on the provenance and tectonic setting of the low-grade meta-sedimentary rocks from the Trans-North China Orogen, North China Craton

Abstract

In the Trans-North China Orogen (TNCO) of the North China Craton, low-grade supracrustal successions extensively occur in the Wutai, Lüliang, Zanhuang, Zhongtiao and Dengfeng Complexes from north to south. Meta-sedimentary samples from the Wutai and Zhongtiao Complexes were collected for geochemical and Nd isotopic studies and several samples from the Zanhuang and Dengfeng Complexes were also analyzed for Nd isotopic studies for comparative purpose. Most of the meta-siltstones and meta-sandstones from the Wutai and Zhongtiao Complexes are characterized by depletions in mobile elements like CaO, Sr and Na2O, high Chemical Index of Weathering (CIW) values and strong positive correlation between Al2O3 and TiO2, indicating intense weathering conditions. Significant post-depositional K-metasomatism is indicated in the A–CN–K diagrams for most of the analyzed samples and the relatively high pre-metasomatized Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) values (43–87) also imply a high degree of source weathering. Depleted transitional trace elements (Ni, Cr, Co and Sc), fractionated light rare earth elements patterns, mild negative Eu anomalies in the majority of these meta-sedimentary samples point toward felsic source rocks, including the ∼2.5Ga granitics, TTG gneisses and the Paleoproterozoic granitics in the TNCO. Minor contribution from mafic rocks is evidenced from relative high contents of MgO, Fe2O3T, Sc and lower La/YbN ratios in some older sequence-set samples from the Zhongtiao Complex. Our geochemical and Nd isotopic data, combined with previous studies in the lithostratigraphic sequence, provenance and depositional age, suggest that the older and younger sequence-sets of the low-grade supracrustal successions in the TNCO were deposited in the different depositional environments. The older sequence-set was deposited in a back-arc basin between the “Andean-type” continental margin arc and the Eastern Block after ∼2.1Ga, whereas the younger sequence-set formed in a foreland basin between ∼1.88 and ∼1.80Ga, which is consistent with the model that the collision between the Eastern and Western Blocks to form the Trans-North China Orogen occurred at ∼1.85Ga.