Zircon U-Pb ages and geochemistry of newly discovered Neoproterozoic orthogneisses in the Mishan region, NE China: Constraints on the high-grade metamorphism and tectonic affinity of the Jiamusi-Khanka Block

•The ca. 895 Ma magmatic ages are first reported for the Jiamusi-Khanka Block.•The ca. 563 Ma metamorphic ages are ~ 60 Ma earlier than previously recognized.•This paper provides further constrains on the possible linkage between the Jiamusi-Khanka Block and East Gondwana.

The Jiamusi-Khanka Block, located in the easternmost segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), is one of the least understood blocks in northeastern China. The age of its basement, the timing of the high-grade metamorphism, and the tectonic affinity of this block have all been subjects of controversy. Here we describe newly discovered Neoproterozoic orthogneisses from the Mishan region in the central Jiamusi-Khanka Block. SIMS and LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating of the magmatic cores of zircons from three of these high-grade orthogneisses yielded weighted mean ages that range from 898 ± 4 to 891 ± 13 Ma, indicating that early Neoproterozoic magmatism did occur in the Jiamusi-Khanka Block. Twenty-two analyses of metamorphic zircons (rims as well as some grains) gave two groups of concordant ages, one at ca. 563 Ma, interpreted as the timing of the high-grade metamorphism, and the other around 518-496 Ma, interpreted as representing a subsequent retrograde metamorphism. The orthogneisses represent metamorphosed peraluminous syn-collisional syenogranites with SiO2 = 71.29-78.08 wt%, A/CNK = 1.06-1.99, and Na2O/K2O = 0.03-1.49, and they belong chemically to the high-potassium calc-alkaline series. They have low Sr (32-134 ppm) contents and Sr/Y ratios (1.6-16.9), and display strongly fractionated to nearly flat REE patterns with negative Eu anomalies (δEu = 0.22-0.95) and depletions in Nb-Ta. These geochemical characteristics suggest that the syenogranitic rocks were derived under low pressures from a crustal source with a high proportion of sedimentary rocks, perhaps in a subduction-related setting that was undergoing transition from compression to extension. In the context of the reconstruction of Gondwana, the ca. 898-891 Ma magmatic activity and the ca. 563 Ma high-grade metamorphism in the Mishan region provide constraints on the possible linkages between the Jiamusi-Khanka Block and East Gondwana during the Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic.