Timing of late Neoarchean to late Paleoproterozoic events in the North China Craton: SHRIMP U–Pb dating and LA-ICP-MS Hf isotope analysis of zircons from magmatic and metamorphic rocks in the Santunying area, eastern Hebei

Abstract

Santunying is an important area for revealing nature of the late Neoarchean tectono-magmato-thermal events in the eastern Hebei part of the North China Craton. It is mainly composed of meta-intrusive rocks. Supracrustal rocks sporadically occur in the meta-intrusive rocks. The meta-intrusive rocks are subdivided into the Santunying tonalitic gneiss, Qiuhuayu tonalitic-trondhjemitic gneiss, Xiaoguanzhuang dioritic gneiss and Qingyangshu meta-gabbro. Respectively, SHRIMP U–Pb zircon dating on fourteen samples yielded weighted mean 207Pb/206Pb ages of 2525–2537, 2532–2546, 2530–2544 and ∼2531 Ma for magmatic zircons from them. Dioritic gneiss of the Xiaoguanzhuang gneiss contain abundant 2544–3487 Ma xenocrystic zircons. SHRIMP U–Pb dating on a garnet-biotite gneiss sample yielded a weighted mean 207Pb/206Pb age of 2537 Ma for detrital zircons. All rocks underwent strong metamorphism, deformation and anatexis, resulting in formation of leucosomes and residues, with some leucosomes concentrating to form large veins. They record a strong late Neoarchean event by metamorphic zircon ages of 2489–2519 Ma. Some rocks also record metamorphic zircon ages of 1772–1843 Ma. Magmatic zircons from the magmatic rocks show large variations in εHf(t) values ranging from −1.7 to +8.7. Combined with early studies, conclusions are: 1) Intrusive rocks with the involvement of mantle-derived materials have a narrow range of magmatic zircon ages from 2525 to 2546 Ma, and supracrustal rocks were formed during the same period. 2) Ancient crustal remnants (>2600 Ma) are present, consistent with the late Neoarchean arc magmatism involving older continental crust, similar to Phanerozoic Andean margins. 3) The Archean basement underwent a strong tectonothermal event at the end of the Neoarchean, with the metamorphic zircon ages being 10–30 million years younger than the timing of magmatism, a common feature of the North China Craton. 4) A late Paleoproterozoic tectonothermal event widely occurred in the western part of eastern Hebei, which is linked with regional ductile deformation.