Zircon U–Pb–Hf isotopes, bulk-rock geochemistry and petrogenesis of Middle to Late Triassic I-type granitoids in the Xing’an Block, northeast China: Implications for early Mesozoic tectonic evolution of the central Great Xing’an Range

• A Middle–Late Triassic magmatism occurred in the central Great Xing’an Range.
• The granitoids generated from juvenile arc-type materials in different conditions.
• They formed in an extensional setting associated with post-orogeny and back-arc.

We report zircon U–Pb age data, Hf isotopes, and bulk-rock geochemical data for the Middle to Late Triassic granitoids in the Taerqi-Chabaqi-Kutihe region within the Xing’an Block of the central Great Xing’an Range, northeast China. Euhedral to subhedral zircon grains were extracted from the nine representative granitoids. These zircons exhibit oscillatory zoning typical of a magmatic origin. The zircon U–Pb determinations on the monzogranite, syenogranite and quartz diorite samples yielded ages between 244 Ma and 206 Ma, which essentially suggests that the magmatism in the Xing’an Block occurred during the Middle to Late Triassic period. Geochemically, these granitoids have SiO2 = 62.97–76.31 wt%, A/CNK = 1.03–1.51, and K2O/Na2O = 0.40–2.39, we infer that they belong to high-K calc-alkaline series and are peraluminous I-type granites in nature. The major and trace element systematics indicate that these granitoids have different origins. Among them, the 244 Ma syenogranite of Taerqi and the 230–206 Ma monzogranite and syenogranite of Kutihe were probably generated from partial melting of pre-existing juvenile arc-type rocks in a relatively shallow crustal level. The 210 Ma quartz diorite of Chabaqi likely originated from the hybridization between a depleted mantle component and the juvenile subducted oceanic crustal materials that were buried to depths of the middle to lower continental crust. The 212 Ma monzogranite and syenogranite of Kutihe were probably generated from the partial melting of miscellaneous lower crustal materials at high pressure conditions. By combining these new data with regional geological data, we conclude that the early Mesozoic evolution of the central Great Xing’an Range was governed by two superimposed tectonic regimes, i.e., (1) post-orogenic extension due to slab break-off after the closure of the Paleo-Asian oceanic basin along the Hegenshan-Heihe suture belt, and (2) back-arc extension associated with the southward subduction of Mongol-Okhotsk oceanic plate.

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