Ultrahigh-temperature crustal anatexis and final cratonization in Eastern Hebei, North China Craton: Insights from ca. 2.46 Ga Taipingzhai enderbites

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Abstract Charnockitic rocks are a suite of granulite-facies plutonic rocks that include dominantly granitic–tonalitic and partly dioritic rocks. The Na-rich endmembers of the charnockite series, including dioritic to tonalitic rocks, are also termed enderbites. Charnockitic rocks are the main component of the cratonic-type lower continental crust in Precambrian cratons worldwide. These rocks are generally considered to be products of the anatexis of the lower crust under high- to ultrahigh-temperature conditions and play a key role in stratification between upper and lower crustal layers as well as the cratonic stabilization (cratonization) of Precambrian continents, although further study is required to gather detailed information about these rocks. In this study, a group of igneous enderbites (dioritic–tonalitic charnockites) from Eastern Hebei, North China Craton, is investigated. Zircon U-Pb dating reveals that the enderbites formed at ca. 2.46 Ga, which is coeval with the regional granulite-facies metamorphic overprinting. The enderbites are primarily composed of clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, plagioclase, and quartz, with minor amphibole, biotite, K-feldspar, and Fe-Ti oxides. The rocks are characterized by high Fe2O3T + MgO (9.80–15.9 wt%), Cr (71.0–292 ppm), and Ni (41.2–107 ppm) contents, as well as low Al2O3 (13.9–16.6 wt%) and K2O (1.07–2.43 wt%) contents, with high Na2O/K2O ratios (1.51–4.43) and low Sr/Y (24.5–49.5) ratios. Moreover, these rocks are enriched in light rare earth elements (LREEs), (La/Yb)N = 8.06–17.8, and yield weak Eu anomalies, (Eu/Eu* = 0.80–1.18), with negative Th, U, Ta, Nb, and Ti anomalies. Various mineral thermobarometers, oxybarometers, and hydrometers are used to constrain the crystallized P-T-ƒO2-H2O conditions of the enderbites. These rocks crystallized at high temperature (860–1000 °C), crystallization pressure (8.0 ± 1.0 kbar), and H2O-poor (1.5–2.4 wt%) conditions, with oxygen fugacities (ΔQFM) of 0.0–3.0, which suggests “hot” (high-temperature) and “dry” (water-poor) crystallization conditions. The enderbites also have heterogeneous in situ zircon Hf-O isotopic compositions: εHf(t) = 2.4–7.5; δ18O = 5.78‰–7.74‰. These new data, combined with trace element characteristics, suggest that the enderbites were derived from the partial melting of metabasites, and that assimilation and fractional crystallization controlled the compositional variation in the enderbites. Further thermodynamic and geochemical modeling suggests that the anatexis of Mg-Fe–rich metabasite under ultrahigh-temperature (>1000 °C) and H2O-poor (1.0–1.5 wt%) conditions at a low crustal depth (~9.0 kbar) could yield a melt composition comparable to that of the observed enderbites. Postcollisional lithospheric extension and mafic magma underplating prompted the partial melting of lower crustal metabasite at ultrahigh temperatures and normal lower crustal depths, resulting in the formation of enderbites. This study demonstrates that the enderbites could be formed by ultrahigh-temperature anatexis of metabasite with amphibole dehydration melting (Pl + Amp → Opx + Cpx + melt) and offers robust evidence of the genetic links between the ultrahigh-temperature anatexis of basic rocks and the generation of enderbites. In addition, the occurrence of ca. 2.46 Ga enderbites may mark the final cratonization of the North China Craton, and the ca. 2.50–2.45 Ga tectono-thermal event was an ultrahigh-temperature metamorphic-anatexis process rather than simple regional granulite metamorphic overprinting. Therefore, the generation and emplacement of enderbites involved not only a magmatic process but also an element redistribution process in the lower crust, which has important implications for stabilization of the North China Craton at ca. 2.5 Ga.