Reappraising the Provenance of Early Neoproterozoic Strata in the Southern–Southeastern North China Craton and Its Implication for Paleogeographic Reconstruction

Abstract

The early Neoproterozoic sediments in the southern–southeastern (S-SE) North China Craton (NCC) are critical in paleogeographic reconstruction. We present new detrital zircon U–Pb–Hf data of five sandstone samples from the Sangwon Supergroup in SE-NCC and the Wufoshan Group in S-NCC. We integrate published zircon U–Pb data to appraise their provenance. The new dataset constrains the maximum depositional age of the Sangwon Supergroup to be ca. 1.0 Ga. The similar provenance transition and the comparable sequence stratigraphy imply that the Wufoshan Group could be an extension of the Xuhuai–Dalian–Pyongnam basins in the SE NCC with a maximum depositional age of ca. 1.0 Ga. The zircon age spectra of the successions show four major populations at ca. 2.5 Ga, ca. 2.0–1.8 Ga, ca. 1.6–1.4 Ga, ca. 1.3–1.0 Ga, with rare >2.5 Ga grains. The Archean–Paleoproterozoic grains could be derived from the NCC, which is confirmed by their εHf(t) values. After a review of the possible paleocontinental reconstructions, we suggest that the ca. 1.6–1.0 Ga grains with different εHf(t) values (mostly positive) were from the southwestern Congo craton, supporting a NCC–SW Congo/SE NCC-S São Francisco connection at ca. 0.9 Ga.