Granitoid gneisses are widespread in Precambrian metamorphic blocks of eastern segment of the Central Tianshan Tectonic Zone, and they have intrusive contact relationships with their metamorphic sedimentary country rocks of Proterozoic Xingxingxia and Kawabulag groups. Zircon U-Pb ages from a granodioritic gneiss (IW11-1) and a parametamorphic schist (W05-9) are determined at the Weiya area. Euhedral prismatic zircons from the granodioritic gneiss (IW11-1) provide U-Pb isotopic discordia intercept ages of 1218±17 Ma and 426±26 Ma, respectively, and euhedral prismatic zircons from the parametamorphic schist (W05-9) display U-Pb isotopic discordia intercept ages of 1216±74 Ma and 290±15 Ma, respectively. A whole-rock Sm-Nd isotopic isochron is determined in augen granitoid gneiss samples at the Gang- gou-Kumishi area and we obtain the isochron age of 1142±120 Ma, and its ε Nd (t) = -4.3. These geochronological data suggest that these Precambrian metamorphic basement blocks within eastern segment of the Central Tianshan Tectonic Zone can be produced during 1140—1220 Ma, and occur a nearly homochronous metamorphism. Integrated to these geochronological data, Nd depleted mantle model ages (T DM ) and epsilon Nd(t) values of these granitoid gneiss samples indicate that they can derive from mixing in various scales both magmas from mantle and crust sources at a late Mesoproterozoic active continental margin tectonic environment. Similarity in geochronology, Sm-Nd isotopic geochemistry between Weiya-Xingxingxia, Pargangtag and Ganggou-Kumishi areas suggests that they could be a bigger uniform metamorphic basement block, which could be formed by the assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia and be separated by late geological processes.
LIU Shuwen,GUO Zhaojie,ZHANG Zhicheng,LI Qiugen & ZHENG Haifei The Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crustal Evolution,Ministry of Education,China
LA-ICPMS U-Pb zircon dating of the Sanpinggou, Gangou and Fengzishan granitoids in the Douling Group of the Eastern Qinling yields ages of 760-685 Ma, which represents a strong tectono-magmatic event in the southern Qinling during the late Neoproterozoic. Geochemical data show that these intrusions have wide compositions ranging from minor gabbros through diorites to granodiorites. They are relatively enriched in LILE, poor in HFSE and strongly depleted in Nb and Ta, displaying affinities of I-type granites formed in an active continental margin with oceanic subduction. In contrast to granitoids, gabbros and enclaves in the granitoids have higher REE abundances, relatively flat REE patterns, lower LILE, slightly higher HFSE and more depletion in Nb and Ta. All these suggest that the gabbros were formed by partial melting of the upper mantle above the subduction zone and the granitoids by the partial melting of the lower crust. Combined with regional geological data, the subduction-related granitoids in the Douling Group, together with the Tuwushan A-type granite with an age of 725 Ma and contemporaneous basic dikes in the Wudang Block, provide evidence for local subduction of oceanic basins between different blocks during the rifling in the Southern Qinling in the Neoproterozoic. Thus, the coexistences of various magmatic rocks formed in different tectonic environments indicate a complicated tectonic evolution and variety of tectonic frameworks in the Qinling area in the Neoproterozoic.
Metapelites from the Mesoproterozoic Xingxingxia group in the Eastern Segment of the Central Tianshan, Northwestern China, were analyzed for major and trace elements, includ-ing rare earth elements. Compared with post-Archean shales, the metapelites are enriched in Sr, Hf and Zr. The other elements are similar to the compositions of the Phanerozoic North American Shale Composite and the Post-Archean Australian average Shale (PAAS). The characteristics of Al2O3/TiO2, Cr/Zr, Cr/Th, Th/Sc and high Zr concentration suggest that these pelites could be derived from a significant proportion of felsic and a few proportion of participation of mafic mate-rials in nature. These rocks display highly fractionated REE patterns, and average (La/Yb)n = 18.6. Several samples have slightly negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.7―0.84) in comparison with PAAS (Eu/Eu* = 0.65), indicating contribution from young immature materials. The low K2O/Al2O3 values of these metapelites suggest that their source materials could contain minimal alkali feldspar. In the A-CN-K triangular diagram, the sample data array intersects the feldspar join, indicating that the source had a plagioclase: K-feldspar ratio of approximately 5:1, repre-senting weathered products from components that could approximately correspond to granodio-rites and tonalites. The low Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) and high Index of Compositional Variability (ICV) values suggest low degrees of weathering of the source and low compositional maturity of the sediments, respectively. The geochemical characteristics of the metapelites from the Xingxingxia group also demonstrate that these sediments were deposited in a back-arc background within a continental-arc system.
LI Qiugen LIU Shuwen HAN Baofu WANG Yueran DANG Qingning
