Petrology, Metamorphic P-T Paths and Zircon U-Pb Ages for Paleoproterozoic Mafic Granulites from Xuanhua, North China Craton

Abstract

The studied mafic granulites are located at Xiwangshan, Xuanhua region in the north of the Trans-North China Orogen (TNCO), occurring as lens within tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) gneisses in the eastern part of the Xiwangshan area. The rocks contain the representative granulite-facies minerals such as garnet, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, plagioclase, amphibolite, rutile and quartz, and also well-developed melt pseudomorph and antiperthite. Although the prograde metamorphic stage (M1) cannot be retrieved due to rare preservation of pre-peak-stage mineral associations, three distinct mineral assemblages that formed in different metamorphic stages can be identified, based on petrography and mineralogy characteristics. The peak stage (M2) is characterized by Grt2+Cpx2+Amp2+Pl2+Rt+melt pseudomorphs, and a post-peak decompression stage (M3) contains a mineral assemblage of Grt3+Opx3+ Cpx3+Amp3+Pl3, while a later-retrogression stage (M4) is featured by coronas of Amp4+Pl4 surrounding garnet. By calculating metamorphic P-T conditions using THERMOCALC, stage M2 was constrained to be 13.2–14.8 kbar and 1 050–1 080 °C, and M3 recorded P-T conditions of 5.7–7.3 kbar and 825–875 °C, while M4 yielded P of ~5 kbar and T of ~660 °C, consistent with amphibolite facies metamorphism. Taking into account of all these petrological data, we propose that the mafic granulite experienced a high-pressure (HP) and ultra-high temperature (UHT) granulite-facies metamorphism during the peak metamorphism, which was accompanied with a clockwise P-T path. U-Pb dating of metamorphic zircons in the granulites yields two groups of ages at 1 853±14 and 1 744±44 Ma, respectively. We suggest that the older age corresponded to the HP-UHT metamorphism, while the younger age represented an retrograde metamorphic event during cooling.