First record and timing of UHP metamorphism from zircon in the Xitieshan terrane: Implications for the evolution of the entire North Qaidam metamorphic belt
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Xiaochi Liu
,
Yuanbao Wu
Abstract
The Xitieshan terrane is one of four metamorphic terranes in the North Qaidam metamorphic belt, which is an early Paleozoic high-pressure to ultrahigh-pressure (HP-UHP) metamorphic belt in NW China. However, conclusive evidence and precise timing of UHP metamorphism in the Xitieshan terrane have not been well documented. In this study, we report an integrated study of zircon grains from an amphibolite in the Xitieshan terrane in terms of mineral inclusions, trace elements, and U-Pb age systematics. The first record of coesite is reported as an inclusion in a metamorphic zircon, which provides unambiguous evidence for the UHP metamorphism of the Xitieshan terrane. The metamorphic zircon domains have weak or no zoning, very low Th/U ratios, insignificant Eu anomalies, and flat HREE patterns. Zircon grains contain inclusions of garnet, omphacite and rutile, in addition to the coesite inclusion. These inclusions indicate that the metamorphic zircon grains formed under UHP metamorphic conditions. The metamorphic zircon grains were dated by the SIMS and LA-ICPMS methods and yield weighted mean ages of 432 ± 14 and 441 ± 9 Ma, respectively. Combined with previous results, the HP-UHP metamorphism of the Xitieshan terrane may have lasted 460-440 Ma with the peak UHP metamorphism at 441 ± 9 Ma. A compilation of the reported geochronological data reveals that all four terranes of the North Qaidam metamorphic belt might have experienced coeval UHP metamorphism during the early Paleozoic (420-450 Ma), and thus may have suffered a coherent subduction, UHP metamorphism, and exhumation cycle.
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
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- The 3.65 Å phase, MgSi(OH)6: Structural insights from DFT-calculations and T-dependent IR spectroscopy
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- Minerals in cement chemistry: A single-crystal neutron diffraction and Raman spectroscopic study of thaumasite, Ca3Si(OH)6(CO3)(SO4)·12H2O
- A new high-pressure phase transition in natural Fe-bearing orthoenstatite
- Aluminum solubility in TiO2 rutile at high pressure and experimental evidence for a CaCl2-structured polymorph
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- Lead in zircon at the atomic scale
- Characterization of fluor-chlorapatites by electron probe microanalysis with a focus on time-dependent intensity variation of halogens
- An inversion-based self-calibration for SIMS measurements: Application to H, F, and Cl in apatite
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- Transport properties and equation of state of 1-bar eutectic melt in the system CaAl2Si2O8-CaMgSi2O6 by molecular dynamics simulation
- High-pressure behavior of zoisite
- A first-principle investigation of antigorite up to 30 GPa: Structural behavior under compression
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- A new cubic perovskite in PbGeO3 at high pressures
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- Leucostaurite, Pb2[B5O9]Cl·0.5H2O, from the Atacama Desert: The first Pb-dominant member of the hilgardite group, and micro-determination of boron in minerals by PIGE
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