SHRIMP zircon U-Pb dating and Hf isotope analyses of the Muniushan Monzogranite, Guocheng, Jiaobei Terrane, China: Implications for the tectonic evolution of the Jiao-Liao-Ji Belt, North China Craton

- The Muniushan monzogranite formed at ca. 2.1 Ga and underwent metamorphism at ca. 1.85 Ga.
- Widespread extensions occurred during ca. 2.2-2.0 Ga along the Jiao-Liao-Ji Belt.
- There is an age mirroring between the lower crust granulite xenoliths and evolution of the Jiao-Liao-Ji Belt.
- The North China Craton lower crust is preferred under the Jiaobei and Sulu region.

The Paleoproterozoic granitoid rocks in the Jiaobei Terrane, which lies in the southern part of the Jiao-Liao-Ji Belt (JLJB) in China, provide valuable information on the tectonic and evolutionary history of the North China Craton (NCC). SHRIMP U-Pb dating of zircons from the Muniushan Monzogranite in the Guocheng gold deposit area, as well as in situ Hf isotope analyses of the zircons, were used to constrain the ages of emplacement and metamorphism, and to understand the petrogenesis of the granite. The geochronological data show emplacement ages of ca. 2.1 Ga and metamorphic ages of ca. 1.85 Ga. The magmatic cores of the zircons have εHf(t) values of −0.51 to 4.00 (average 1.98) and depleted mantle two-stage model ages (TDM2) of 2444-2703 Ma (average 2563 Ma). The rocks show the same trends of crustal evolution as ca. 2.5 Ga tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) rocks in the Jiaobei Terrane, indicating that they were formed by the remelting of those TTG rocks. The Muniushan Monzogranite is part of a linear belt of ca. 2.2-2.0 Ga Paleoproterozoic granitoids within the JLJB. The granitoids are A-types, and are accompanied by coeval mafic intrusions and bimodal volcanic rocks, thus indicating widespread extension along the JLJB in the period 2.2-2.0 Ga. The ca. 1.85 Ga metamorphism was related to the collision of the Longgang and Nangrim blocks. The Paleoproterozoic evolution of the NCC constrains the crustal architecture and the source of Mesozoic granitoids in the Jiaobei-Sulu region. Inherited zircons of Paleoproterozoic age are widespread in the Mesozoic granitoids. In addition, Paleoproterozoic ages have been reported from lower crustal granulite xenoliths in the Sulu Orogen, and the southeastern margin of the NCC mirrors the evolution of the JLJB. It is probable, therefore, that NCC lower crust underlies the Sulu Orogen, and that the NCC was the main source for the Mesozoic granitoids in the Jiaobei-Sulu region. This view is consistent with the appearance of inherited zircons of Archean and Paleoproterozoic age on both sides of the orogen, normal δ18O values of magmatic zircons, and Paleoproterozoic to Archean two-stage Hf model ages for the granitoids.