Diverse models have been proposed for the role of the Tarim Craton within the Paleoproterozoic Columbia supercontinent assembly. Here we report a suite of-1.71 Ga Nb-enriched meta-gabbro lenses in the eastern Quanji Massif, within the Tarim Craton in NW China. The meta-gabbroic rocks have Nb contents of 11.5-16.4 ppm with Nb/La ratios varying from 0.84 to 1.02((Nb/La)_N = 0.81-0.98) and Nb/U ratios from 38.0 to 47.2. They show low SiO_2(45.1-48.5 wt.%) and MgO(5.96-6.81 wt.%) and Mg#(Mg# = Mg/(Mg + Fe) = 43.5-47.7), high FeO^t(13.0-15.7 wt.%) and moderate Ti02(1.70-2.51 wt.%).with tholeiitic affinities. These rocks possess low fractionated REE patterns without obvious Eu anomalies(Eu/Eu~* = 0.87-1.02). Their primitive mantle-normalized elements patterns display significant Zr-Hf troughs, positive Nb anomalies, weak negative Ti and P anomalies, and high contents of Rb and Ba,resembling Nb-enriched basalts generated in arc-related tectonic settings. Their arc-like geochemical signatures together with whole rock εNd(t) values of 0.4-2.1 and corresponding old T_(DM)(2.22-2.37 Ga)as well as(^(143)Nd/^(144)Nd)_t and(^(87)Sr/^(86)Sr)t(t = 1712 Ma) values of 0.5104-0.5105 and 0.7030-0.7058,respectively, suggest that their precursor magma originated from mantle wedge peridotite metasomatised by subduction-derived melts. The results from our study reveal subduction along the eastern periphery of the Tarim Craton and marginal outgrowth continuing to ~1.7 Ga within the Columbia supercontinent.
Fan-Xi LiaoNeng-Song ChenM.SantoshQin-Yan WangSong-Lin GongChuan HeHassan Abdelsalam Mustafa
The metamorphosed Early Paleoproterozoic granitoids in the Quanji massif, Northwest- ern China provide constraints for relationship between the Tarim Craton and North China Craton. Among granitoids batholiths, rocks of the Mohe quartz-diorite show typically adakitic geochemical characteristics, with medium K2O/Na2O ratios （0.56-1.17） and high Sr （519-619 ppm） low Y （9.37-20.40 ppm） and Yb （0.97-1.77 ppm） concentrations. The rocks have εNd（t） values between ＋2.4 and ＋4.4 and depleted mantle Nd model ages of 2.43-2.59 Ga. The magmatic zircons have positive εHf（t） values ranging from ＋0.40 to ＋7.60 and depleted mantle Hf model ages of 2.43-2.70 Ga, with major peaks at -2.54 and -2.65 Ga. The geochemical and Nd-Hf isotopic characteristics indicate that the Mohe quartz-dioritic rocks might be formed by partial melting of high-pressure metamorphosed juve- nile crustal rocks in post-orogenic extensional regime in the Early Paleoproterozoic. It suggests that important crustal growth occurred in the Quanji massif and the Tarim Craton at -2.4 and 2.5-2.7 Ga. The Quanji massif and Tarim Craton might share a similar crustal evolution history with the North China Craton in the Neoarchean.
Songlin GongNengsong ChenHongyan GengMin SunLu ZhangQinyan Wang
