Panzhihua-Xichang (Panxi) micro-palaeoland is the oldest terrane on the western margin of the Yangtze Block. Some intermediate-basic granulites are considered to be the crys-talline basement of lower crust in the terrane. Granulite-facies metamorphism of the granulites was developed in the period from 1186 Ma to 1128 Ma. The origin of granulites was related to the collision orogenic process occurring when the micro-palaeolands merged to form the Rodinia Supercontinent. Amphibolite-facies retrogressive metamorphism of granulites took place in the period from 877 Ma to 825 Ma. This period was consistent with the breakup time of the Rodinia Supercontinent. 40Ar/39Ar ages and fission track (FT) ages of granulites in the Panxi mi-cro-palaeoland show that the vertical movement history of crustal rocks was a slow uplift process of the rigid terrane in the time from Neoproterozoic to Mesozoic. The subduction of India Plate towards Euroasia Plate resulted in the rapid uplift of the Qinghai-Tibetan Block in Cenozoic. Meanwhile, the Qinghai-Tibetan Block moved towards east. Consequently the Panxi terrane was uplifted rapidly. As a result of the collision orogeny between the Qinghai-Tibetan Block and the Panxi terrane, the granulite-facies crystalline basement in this region was exhumed and exposed to the surface.
XU Shijin1, LIU Wenzhong1, WANG Rucheng1, YU Hangbo1, LI Daming2, WAN Jinglin2 & FANG Zhong1 1. Department of Earth Sciences and State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
He and Ar isotopic compositions of megacrystal minerals from mantle xenoliths were measured by the technique of vacuum crushing extraction. The used samples were clinopyroxene, garnet and ilmenite in Cenozoic alkaline basalts, which were from Nushan in Anhui Province and Yingfengling in Guangdong Province, respectively, and represented materials from the upper mantle in the continental margin of SE China. The results show 3He/4He ratios of 7.99 Ra to 8.58 Ra, consistent with the characteristic ratios of the MORB-type mantle. 40Ar/39Ar ratios vary from 313 to 909, suggesting a binary mixing between the MORB-type mantle and air argons. This may reflect the incorporation of the air argon absorbed in oceanic sediments into the mantle beneath the continental margin by subduction of oceanic plate. This study presents the first report that ilmenite megacrysts contain abundant fluid inclusions and noble gases in the mantle xenoliths.
