Episodic growth of Precambrian lower crust beneath the North China Craton: A synthesis

A comprehensive review of U–Pb geochronology and Hf isotopes of zircons separated from granulite xenoliths entrained in Phanerozoic magmatic rocks and inherited xenocrysts from the associated lower crust rocks from various domains of the North China Craton (NCC) provides new insights into understanding the evolution of the lower crust in this part of the Precambrian nucleus of Asia. The oldest zircons recorded in granulite xenoliths show ages up to 3.6 Ga, slightly younger than the oldest zircons (3.8 Ga) from samples of the exposed Archean upper crust. However, the Hf isotope features indicate that the oldest lower crust might have been derived from a 4.0 to 4.1 Ga primordial crust as indicated by the data from an inherited zircon in the North Qinling Orogenic Belt at the southern part of the NCC. Our synthesis also suggests that ca. 2.5 Ga mark an important period for the evolution of the lower crust of the NCC and the cratonization of the Archean blocks in the NCC, at least for the Eastern Block, with a possible link to mantle plume activity. The occasional presence of zircons with 2.6–3.1 Ga ages in the lower crustal granulite xenoliths suggests a continuous reworking of the Paleoarchean lower crust during the Archean. The comprehensive data also show that 1.8–2.0 Ga period was the first significant event for the evolution of the lower crust after the cratonization of the Archean blocks of the NCC, which affected the whole lower crust of the Eastern NCC. Episodic growth or rejuvenation of the Precambrian lower crust beneath the NCC is also revealed by U–Pb and Hf isotope data, resulting from the corresponding addition of juvenile materials from mantle to lower crust, with a mixing of the old crust with juvenile magma. This compositional modification of the lower crust resembles the compositional transformation from the refractory lithospheric mantle to a fertile one through the refractory peridotite – infiltrated melt reaction as revealed in the lithospheric mantle beneath the NCC.

► In this paper, we found the oldest lower crust recorded in zircons is as old as 3.6 Ga.
► Old zircons from the lower crust dominantly formed in the Neoarchean.
► The event at ∼2.5 Ga was extremely important for the growth of the lower crust.
► The 1.8–2.0 Ga zircons attest to another major tectonothermal event.
► Episodic magma underplating considerably modified the isotopic composition of the ancient lower crust.