Late Paleozoic igneous rocks in the Xing’an Massif and its amalgamation with the Songnen Massif, NE China
Introduction
The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) is located between the Siberian, Tarim and North China cratons, and is one of the largest accretionary orogenic collages in the world (Fig. 1a; Jahn et al., 2000, Safonova, 2016, Safonova et al., 2009, Safonova and Santosh, 2014, Sengör, 1993, Windley et al., 2007, Xiao et al., 2015, Xiao and Santosh, 2014, Zhang et al., 2018c, Zhou et al., 2018. The CAOB underwent a complicated arc–continent collision (Wang et al., 2012, Zhou and Wilde, 2013, Miao et al., 2015, Liu et al., 2017, Zhou et al., 2018, Yang et al., 2019), and it contains many remnant microcontinents, forearc or backarc basins, magmatic arcs, and ophiolitic belts (Liu et al., 2017, Zhou et al., 2018, Xu et al., 2019). Tectonically, NE China is located in the eastern segment of the CAOB, and is composed of several microcontinental massifs (including the Erguna, Xing’an, Songnen, Jiamusi, and Khanka massifs; Fig. 1a; Liu et al., 2017, Xu et al., 2019). The Paleozoic tectonic evolution of NE China was dominated by the amalgamation of multiple microcontinental massifs and the closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean (Li, 2006, Cao et al., 2013, Wang et al., 2015, Wang et al., 2018, Liu et al., 2017, Zhou et al., 2018). Recently, although the sequence and mechanisms of massif amalgamation have made many progresses (Wang et al., 2012, Zhou et al., 2018, Xu et al., 2019), the debates still exist. For example, the amalgamation between the Xing’an and Songnen massifs has been assigned to Late Devonian (Su, 1996), the Late Devonian–early Carboniferous (Hong et al., 1994, Tang et al., 2011), the late early Carboniferous (Gao et al., 2013, Zhang et al., 2018c, Zhao et al., 2010a), and the late Permian to Early Triassic (Shi et al., 2004, Tong et al., 2010, Yang et al., 2019). These debates raised are mainly attributed to absence of a synthetic study on igneous rocks and sedimentary formations as well as metamorphism. Previous studies have reported geochronological and geochemical data from late Paleozoic igneous rocks in the Xing’an Massif (Wu et al., 2011; Yang et al., 2019, Zhang et al., 2018c). However, due to the diversity of the granitoids, the petrogenesis of the early Carboniferous to early Permian magmatism in the Xing’an Massif is controversial, and has been considered to form in a post-collisional extension environment (Xu et al., 2014, Xu et al., 2015), or an active continental margin setting (Dong et al., 2016, Yu et al., 2017, Yang et al., 2019). The spatial and temporal variations of the late Paleozoic igneous rocks in the Xing’an Massif and analysis of late Paleozoic sedimentary formations in the adjacent area can constrain the timing of the amalgamation of the Xing’an and Songnen massifs. Therefore, we present new zircon U–Pb ages, Hf isotopic, major element, and trace element data for the early Carboniferous–early Permian igneous rocks in the Xing’an Massif. Our results, complement previous geochronological and geochemical data as well as date from late Paleozoic sedimentary formations, and provide new insights into the amalgamation of the Xing’an and Songnen massifs.
Section snippets
Geological background and sample descriptions
The Xing’an Massif is located between the Erguna and Songnen massifs (Fig. 1b). The Derbugan Fault was thought to be the boundary between the Xing’an and Erguna massifs (HBGMR, 1993, IMBGMR (Inner Mongolian Bureau of Geology Mineral Resources), 1991); however, recent research indicates that it is a Mesozoic strike-slip fault (Liu et al., 2017) and the Tayuan–Xiguitu Suture is now thought to mark the boundary between these two massifs (Miao et al., 2015, Zhou et al., 2015, Feng et al., 2016, Liu
Analytical methods
Zircons were separated from samples using conventional heavy liquid and magnetic techniques and purified by handpicking under a binocular microscope at the Langfang Regional Geological Survey, Hebei Province, China. The zircon U–Pb dating, major and trace element, and in situ Hf isotopic analyses were undertaken at the State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences and Wuhan Sample Solution Analytical Technology Co., Ltd., Wuhan, China. The
Zircon U–Pb ages
We dated 14 samples using zircon U–Pb laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA–ICP–MS). The zircons are euhedral to subhedral and exhibit fine oscillatory growth zoning in cathodoluminescence (CL) images (Fig. 4). These properties, together with their Th/U ratios (0.17–1.34; except for two spots with ratios of 0.09 and 0.1; Supplementary Table 1), indicate a magmatic origin (Koschek, 1993).
Sixteen out of 18 zircon grains from monzogranite sample 17DX10-1 yield a
Late Paleozoic magmatism in the Xing’an Massif
The igneous rocks analyzed in this study were previously thought to be Paleozoic or Mesozoic in age based on lithostratigraphic relationships and regional comparisons (HBGMR, 1993, IMBGMR (Inner Mongolian Bureau of Geology Mineral Resources), 1991); however, these ages are uncertain due to a lack of precise geochronological analyses and overprinting by multiple tectono-magmatic events (Wang et al., 2006, Zhang et al., 2010a, Zhang et al., 2010b, Xu et al., 2013, Miao et al., 2014, Li et al.,
Conclusions
Our new zircon U–Pb ages, Hf isotopic data, and geochemical data lead to the following conclusions.
- 1.
Late Paleozoic magmatism in the Xing’an Massif can be subdivided into at least three stages: early Carboniferous (359–352 Ma), middle Carboniferous (327–320 Ma), and late Carboniferous–early Permian (307–295 Ma).
- 2.
The early Carboniferous magmatism occurred in an active continental margin setting related to the westward subduction of the Heihe–Nenjiang oceanic plate beneath the Xing’an Massif.
- 3.
The
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Yu Li: Conceptualization, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing - original draft. Wen-Liang Xu: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing - review & editing, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Jie Tang: Investigation, Data curation, Validation. Chen-Yang Sun: Investigation, Data curation, Validation. Xiao-Ming Zhang: Data curation. Shuai Xiong: Data curation.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the staff of the State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, and Wuhan SampleSolution Analytical Technology Co., Ltd., Wuhan, China, for their advice and assistance during U–Pb zircon dating, major and trace element analyses, and Hf isotope analyses. We appreciate three anonymous reviewers for providing constructive comments and suggestions leading to improvement of the manuscript. This work was financially
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2022, Geochimica et Cosmochimica ActaCitation Excerpt :The region records the impact of a number of tectonic regimes through the Phanerozoic, including Paleozoic orogenic processes related to the closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean between the Siberia and the North China cratons, and overprinting by the Mongol-Okhotsk and Circum-Pacific tectonic regimes during the Mesozoic (Xiao et al., 2003; Li, 2006; Wu et al., 2007, 2011; Zhang et al., 2009; T. Wang et al., 2012; Liu et al., 2017; Sun et al., 2017; Tang et al., 2018; Xu et al., 2019). Three suture zones separate the Erguna and Xing’an massifs from other microcontinents in the CAOB and are the Mongol-Okhotsk Suture Belt to the northwest, the Xiguitu-Xinlin Suture Belt between the two massifs, and the Heihe-Nenjiang-Xilinhot-Airgin Sum Suture Belt to the southeast (Fig. 1; Liu et al., 2017; Li et al., 2018b, 2020; Xu et al., 2019). The Erguna Massif is considered the eastern extension of the Central Mongolian microcontinent (Wu et al., 2011).