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Early Precambrian tectono-thermal events in Southern Jilin Province, China: implications for the evolution of Neoarchean to Paleoproterozoic crust in the northeastern North China Craton

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Abstract

The early Precambrian basement of the North China Craton, China, records a complex history during the Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic. Southern Jilin Province is one of the best regions to evaluate the early Precambrian crustal growth of the Eastern Block of the North China Craton. We herein present new zircon cathodoluminescence images, U–Pb dates, trace element and Lu–Hf isotope data for three late Neoarchean tonalitic–trondhjemitic–granodioritic (TTG) gneisses and one Paleoproterozoic mafic dyke from Tonghua region, southern Jilin Province. These results lent convincing support to the occurrence of multiple tectono-thermal events in southern Jilin Province during the Archean and Paleoproterozoic, and shed light on the formation and evolution of continental crust in the northeastern Eastern Block. Zircon LA–ICP–MS U–Pb isotopic analyses indicated three episodes of magmatism. Inherited (or captured) zircons with ages of ca. 2.6 Ga provided strong evidence for a pre-2.5 Ga magmatic event in this region. The second magmatic episode occurred at 2556–2522 Ma, as evidenced by extensive exposures of TTG gneisses. The third episode occurred at ca. 2200 Ma and is recorded by several mafic dykes that intruded the Archean TTG gneisses. Metamorphic zircons yielded consistent ages of 2493–2465 Ma, indicating a regional metamorphic event immediately after the late Neoarchean magmatism in southern Jilin Province. Zircon Hf isotope data of the TTG gneisses indicated that the main phase of crustal growth occurred in the late Neoarchean, with a minor input of Mesoarchean continental crustal materials. The combined geochronological, geochemical, and geological data suggested that the three episodes of crustal growth in the northeastern Eastern Block occurred at 2.8–2.7, 2.6–2.5, and 2.2 Ga.

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Acknowledgments

Our work was supported financially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Numbers: 41572169 and 41872189), the Science Foundation of China University of Petroleum, Beijing (Grant Number: 2462017YJRC032), and the Science Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Beijing (Grant Number: PRP/indep-4-1702). We express our gratitude to Dr. Yan Zhan from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Dr. Zhiwei Wang from Hebei GEO University for their discussions. We thank Journal Editor-in-Chief Dr. Maarten A.T.M. Broekmans, Associate Editor Dr. Qiang Wang, and three anonymous journal reviewers for their constructive comments and careful corrections that led to significant improvement to the manuscript.

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Li, Z., Meng, E., Wang, C. et al. Early Precambrian tectono-thermal events in Southern Jilin Province, China: implications for the evolution of Neoarchean to Paleoproterozoic crust in the northeastern North China Craton. Miner Petrol 113, 185–205 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-018-0649-9

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