Granitoid intrusives such as Saishitenshan, Tuanyushan, Aolaohe and Sanchagou occur widely in the western segment of North Qaidam. All these bodies trend NW, roughly parallel to the regional structure. Zircon SHRIMP dating for these granites show that they range in age from Ordovician to Permian; 465.4±3.5 Ma for Saishitenshan, 469.7±4.6 Ma and 443.5±3.6 Ma for Tuanyushan, 372.1±2.6 Ma for Aolaohe, and 271.2±1.5 Ma and 259.9±1.2 Ma for Sanchagou. Both the Tuanyshan and Aolaohe plutons record two distinct intrusive events. Geochemically, the early Paleozoic granites have an island arc or active continental margin affinity, and their protolith may have been Mesoproterozoic oceanic crust derived from depleted mantle. The protolith of the late Paleozoic granites may have been Mesoproterozoic lower crust from the root of an island arc with the magmas reflecting a mixture of mantle and crustal material.
Joseph L.WOODENPaul T.ROBINSONFrank K.MAZDABChris MATTINSON
Zircon SHRIMP dating of granites from Dulan,east segment of North Qaidam UHP belt shows that they are 406.6±3.5 Ma for Yematan-E,407.3±4.3 and 397±6 Ma for Balijiehatan-W,404.5±4.0 and 397.0±3.7 Ma for Shuiwenzhan-N,380.5±5.0 Ma for Shuiwenzhan-S,382.5±3.6 and 372.5±2.8 Ma for Chachagongma.These granites from Dulan represent the products of the third and fourth periods of Paleozoic magmatism in North Qaidam.Geochemically,the granitoids with metalumious to weak peratuminous are quartz diorite,granodiorite,and granite in composition and mainly belong to calc-alkaline series,a few samples to calc or alkali-calc series.The third period of granites is a rock association of granodiorite+granite,with initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios from 0.7082 to 0.7110 and T2DM model ages from 1.41–1.90 Ga;and the fourth period of granites is a rock association of quartz diorite+granodiorite+granite,with initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios from 0.7072 to 0.7091 and T2DM model ages from 1.07–1.38 Ga.Therefore,the third period of granites has higher initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios and T2DM model ages.On the contrary,the fourth period of granites has Nd(t)values from 0.6 to-3.0,higher than that of the third granite with Nd(t)values-3.2 to-9.3.Thus,the data comparison indicates that the third granites may derive from Paleo-proterzoic continental crust with mantle material whereas the fourth granites may derive from the Meso-proterzoic basalt crust with continental material.Combined with regional geology,we thought that the third granites were formed relative to plate exhumation and the fourth granites to delamination of the lithospheric mantle.
WU CaiLaiGAO YuanHongLI ZhaoLiLEI MinQIN HaiPengLI MinZeLIU ChunHuaRonald B FROSTPaul T ROBINSONJoseph L WOODEN
