The ultrahigh-temperature(UHT) pelitic granulites from the Khondalite Belt, North China Craton(NCC), contain ilmenite in the matrix, which has been partially replaced by rutile. Based on this observation and the growth of biotite by garnet-consuming reaction, the UHT rocks are inferred to have recorded three metamorphic stages: the peak metamorphic stage(M1) and two retrograde metamorphic stages(M2 and M3). The M1 stage is represented by the assemblage of perthite+sillimanite+ ilmenite in the matrix, and quartz inclusions bearing(in the cores) garnet porphyroblasts. The M2 stage is defined by rutile-replacing ilmenite and growth of garnet mantles and rims containing acicular sillimanite inclusions, with the garnet+ perthite+ sillimanite+rutile+ ilmenite+ quartz assemblage. The M3 stage is recorded by the growth of biotite in the matrix, with the garnet+ biotite+ perthite+ sillimanite+rutile+ilmenite+quartz assemblage. Based on phase equilibrium modeling, an isobaric cooling path is reconstructed, which is consistent with the idea that mantle-derived magma provided the heat for the UHT metamorphism in the Khondalite Belt, NCC.
Clastic sediments and sedimentary rocks are widely used for understanding the formation and evolution of the continental crust.The Tietonggou Formation outcrops in the Xiaoqinling region at the southern margin of the North China Craton(NCC)and has unconformable contacts with the underlying Taihua Complex and overlying Paleoproterozoic Xiong’er Group.It mainly consists of quartzite and its protoliths are mature terrigenous clastic rocks.On the basis of the ages of the youngest detrital zircons from the quartzites and the ages of the Xiong’er Group,the depositional ages of the protoliths of the Tietonggou Formation were well constrained to 1.91–1.80 Ga.The U-Pb isotopic data of detrital zircons from the Formation show a major age peak at^2.1 Ga,which is consistent with 2.2–2.0 Ga magmatism in the Trans-North China Orogen of the NCC.Taking into account the texctural and compositional maturity of the Tietonggou Formation quartzite,the^2.1 Ga lithologic units in the Trans-North China Orogen are interpreted as the major source of the Tietonggou Formation.The majority of these^2.1 Ga detrital zircons mostly have highδ18O values(>6.5‰)and negativeεHf(t)values(–7.8–0.0),with corresponding Hf model ages significantly older than their crystallization ages,indicating that these zircons formed from the partial melting of ancient continental crust.The majority of the2.8–2.7 Ga and^2.5 Ga detrital zircons from the Tietonggou Formation had positiveεHf(t)values,and mantle-likeδ18O values,suggesting that the NCC has experienced two stages of significant crustal growth in the Neoarchaean at 2.7 and 2.5 Ga,respectively.The Hf isotopic data of detrital zircons from Paleoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks in the Trans-North China Orogen varied mainly toward the reduction of the radiogenic Hf isotope and gradually show a similar trend of the isotope trajectories of crustal evolution.This reveals that the NCC probably has not developed a long-lived subduction to complete the final assembly of the NCC.Alternatively,the
Archean greenstone belts are supracrustal sequences, the lower part of which is usually composed of voluminous ultramafic-mafic volcanics. Intermediate and acid volcanic rocks increase in abundance towards the upper domains. Greenstone belts constitute ~30% of the total volume of Archean cratons, and preserve significant information on the surface environment and magmatism in the early earth, which are useful in unraveling the nature of crustal formation and evolution. The western Shandong Province(WSP) is located at the eastern part of the North China Craton(NCC), where greenstone sequences formed at ~2.7 and ~2.5 Ga were well preserved. The early Neoarchean supracrustal rocks include komatiite-basalt sequence, some meta-sediments of the lower part of the Taishan Group and the Mengjiatun Formation. The volcanism had been correlated to mantle plume, which resulted in vertical crustal accretion. The late Neoarchean supracrustal rocks were composed of metamorphosed felsic volcano-sedimentary sequences and BIFs of the upper part of the Taishan Group and the Jining Group. The geochemical features of the meta-volcanics show calc-alkaline affinities, similar to modern arc-related magmatism, suggesting that the continental crust in the western Shandong Province witnessed horizontal plate movements at ~2.5 Ga. The metasediments and leucosomes in the Qixingtai area display regional upper amphibolite facies metamorphism and anatexis at 2.53–2.50 Ga, coeval with formation of large volumes of crustally-derived granites. These tectono-thermal events suggest that a unified continental crust was formed in the western Shandong Province at the end of Neoarchean.
