The complexities of zircon crystllazition and overprinting during metamorphism and anatexis: An example from the late Archean TTG terrane of western Shandong Province, China

There are different viewpoints on metamorphic and anatectic zircons recording ages of 2.45-2.48 Ga or even younger in some areas of the North China Craton where both late Neoarchean and late Paleoproterozoic tectono-thermal events are well developed. These are: 1) partial resetting of the U-Pb isotopic system in the late Neoarchean zircons, 2) metamorphism lasting from the late Neoarchean to the earliest Paleoproterozoic, and 3) earliest Paleoproterozoic metamorphism as separate different event. Western Shandong Province is an area where the late Neoarchean tectono-thermal event is widely developed but the late Paleoproterozoic event has not been identified. This provides an opportunity to understand the geological processes around the Archean-Proterozoic boundary. Based on a field study, we carried out SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating on seventeen samples of ∼2.5 Ga old metamorphic and anatectic rocks, including tonalite, trondhjemite, granodiorite, gabbro, quartz diorite, granite and paragneiss with primary emplacement or depositional ages of 2.52-2.68 Ga. Anatectic zircons show some textural and compositional features: a) Homogenous or blurred oscillatory zoning, b) high U contents and low in Th/U ratios (commonly <0.3), c) rare idiomorphic morphologies, and d) commonly containing inherited (xenocrystic) cores. We conclude that the strong late Neoarchean event is widespread in western Shandong and is limited between ∼2.50 and 2.54 Ga. In contrast, apparent 2.45-2.48 Ga metamorphic zircon ages in some other areas of the North China Craton may be the result of overprinting and partial recrystallization of Neoarchean metamorphic zircons during the late Paleoproterozoic event. The Archaean rocks of western Shandong can be divided into three belts, namely Belts A, B and C from the northeast to the southwest. The difference between Belts A and B in ∼2.5 Ga metamorphic and anatectic intensity may indicate that the former was elevated to a higher crustal level compared with the latter at the end of the Neoarchean.