Xie Hangqiang

Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb dating of meta-diorite from the basement of the Songliao Basin and its geological significance

The basement of the Songliao Basin mainly contains low-grade metamorphic rocks and granites. It has been long disputed whether the basin has Precambrian metamorphic basement. This is a report of zircon SHRIMP U-Pb dating results of a meta-diorite sample, which was taken from the Si-5 drilling hole in the southern portion of the Songliao Basin. The SHRIMP analyses indicate that the meta-diorite with a weighted mean 207Pb/206Pb age of 1839±7 Ma (2σ, n = 8) was emplaced during Paleo-Proterozoic time. Additionally, the meta-diorite has old Nd model ages (TDM1: 2999Ma; TDM2: 2849Ma). These data suggest that the southern part of the Songliao Basin do possess Precambrian basement.

Eastern Ancient Terrane of the North China Craton

Based on the spatial distribution of ancient rocks and zircons, three ancient terranee older than ca. 2.6 Ga have recently been identified in the North China Craton, namely the Eastern, Southern, and Central Ancient Terranee. The Eastern Ancient Terrane is the best studied and understood of the three ancient terranes. It has a long geological history back to ca. 3.8 Ga ago and includes the areas of Anshan-Benxi, eastern Hebei, eastern Shandong and western Shandong. In Anshan-Benxi, several different types of 3.8 Ga rocks were discovered together with 3.1–3.7 Ga rocks, whereas 2.9–3.0 Ga K-rich granites and 2.5 Ga syenogranite occur on larger scales. In eastern Hebei, 3.0–3.4 Ga rocks and older detrital and xenocrystic zircons were identified. In eastern Shandong, there are a large volumes of 2.7 Ga and 2.9 Ga rocks. In western Shandong, early Neoarchean (2.6–2.7 Ga) intrusive and supracrustal rocks are widely distributed. Whole-rock Nd and zircon Hf isotope data suggest that both mantle additions and crustal recycling played important roles within the Eastern Ancient Terrane during almost every tectono-magmatic event. Most BIFs in the North China Craton are late Neoarchean in age and are distributed on continental crust along the western margin of the Eastern Ancient Terrane, probably suggesting that a stable environment was one of the key factors for the formation of large-scale BIFs.