U-Pb baddeleyite ages, distribution and geochemistry of 925Â Ma mafic dykes and 900Â Ma sills in the North China craton: Evidence for a Neoproterozoic mantle plume

► 925 Ma baddeleyite U-Pb ages are obtained for Dashigou dykes in the North China craton. ► The Dashigou dyke swarm has a radiating geometry. ► The 925-900 Ma dykes and sills are cogenetic and possibly plume-associated. ► The subcontinental lithospheric mantle was multiply modified during the Proterozoic. ► An early Neoproterozoic North China-São Francisco-Congo connection is proposed.