Petrogenesis of the Neoproterozoic Xinlin ophiolite, northern Great Xing’an Range, northeastern China: Implications for the evolution of the northeastern branch of the Paleo-Asian Ocean
Introduction
The XMOB is sandwiched between the Siberian and North China cratons (SC and NCC), formed as a result of the closure of the PAO (Levashova et al., 2011, Wan et al., 2018). An archipelago of scattered Precambrian microcontinents (the Erguna, Xing’an, Songnen, and Jiamusi blocks; hereinafter respectively referred to as EB, XB, SB, and JB) existed in the PAO during the Neoproterozoic–Paleozoic. These blocks amalgamated to form a composite terrane, prior to their accretion onto the two cratons (Liu et al., 2017). Three PAO branches have been identified using ophiolite and metamorphic complexes within this composite terrane. From north to south, these are the Xinlin–Xiguitu, Hegenshan–Heihe, and Mudanjiang branches. The diachronous closure of the intervening oceanic branches and collisions between the microcontinents were major geological features in the amalgamation of the composite terrane. Understanding the evolution of these oceanic branches has always been the topic of geodynamic reconstructions of the XMOB.
The Hegenshan–Heihe branch is the main oceanic strand between the SB and XB, and can be clearly defined using the well-preserved geological record (e.g., ophiolitic and magmatic rocks). Ophiolites presented in Erenhot (354–345 Ma; Zhang et al., 2015), Hegenshan (359–341 Ma; Huang et al., 2016), and Xiaobaliang (354–333 Ma; Jian et al., 2012) record the early development of the oceanic basin. The transition from late Carboniferous subduction-related calc-alkaline magmatism to early Permian extension-related bimodal and A-type magmatism marks the terminal stage of the ocean basin (Gou et al., 2019).
The Mudanjiang branch separated the SB and JB. The Mashan complex and early Paleozoic igneous rocks along the Mudanjiang suture indicate diachronous ocean basin closure (Wang, 2017). In the north of the suture, the Mashan complex records ca. 500 Ma high-pressure granulite facies metamorphism (Wilde et al., 2003), accompanied by coeval intrusion of monzogranite with adakitic affinities, and then followed by the emplacement of ca. 490 Ma A-type granites generated by decompression melting related to post-collisional extension. In the south, oceanic–continental subduction continued until the Silurian (Wang, 2017). According to studies of the Heilongjiang complex, some authors have recently suggested that the suture reactivated and ruptured during the late Paleozoic (Dong et al., 2017, Dong et al., 2018), and closed again during the Jurassic (Wu et al., 2007, Wu et al., 2011).
The Xinlin–Xiguitu branch separated the EB and XB, and has not been as well defined as the Hegenshan–Heihe and Mudanjiang branches, especially during the ocean basin stages of its evolution. The Derbugan fault has long been treated as the suture between the two blocks; however, this fault has recently been shown to be a ductile shear zone and cannot, therefore, be the suture (Zhang et al., 2013). The Xinlin–Xiguitu fault was then proposed as the suture between the two blocks, due to the occurrence of ophiolites and blueschists (Fig. 1; Ge et al., 2005). The Jifeng and Gaxian ophiolites in the Ewenki Autonomous Banner, the central part of the suture, have already been researched recently. Feng et al. (2016) presented U–Pb geochronological data for gabbroic intrusions in the Jifeng ophiolite, and suggested that a subducted oceanic slab-derived source generated the Jifeng ophiolite during the Neoproterozoic (ca. 647 Ma). In addition, She et al. (2012) obtained a zircon U–Pb age of 628.4 ± 9.7 Ma from the Gaxian pyroxenite. The Xinlin ophiolite was the first ophiolite identified in the north of the suture; however, no accurate geochronological data currently exists for the ophiolite. Previous studies focused mainly on the identification of ophiolite sequences, with limited attention to the geochronology, geochemistry, and petrogenesis. We carried out a detailed geochronological and geochemical study of this ophiolite and nearby younger granites, and integrated the results with previous findings to reconstruct the evolution of the Xinlin–Xiguitu Ocean, a northern branch of the PAO.
Section snippets
Geology and petrology of the Xinlin ophiolite
The Xinlin–Xiguitu suture extends for nearly 700 km (Fig. 1). Several ophiolites are distributed along the suture, and represent relics of Xinlin–Xiguitu oceanic lithosphere. The Xinlin ophiolite lies in the north of the suture. The ultramafic and mafic bodies in Xinlin town were discovered in 1969–1972 by the Fifth Geological Brigade of the Heilongjiang Province, and were classified as an ophiolite based on field mapping carried out in 1985 by the Second Geological Brigade (hereinafter
Zircon U–Pb dating
Zircon U–Pb dating was conducted using laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA–ICP–MS) at the Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Evaluation in Northeast Asia, Ministry of Natural Resources, Changchun, China, using an Agilent 7900 ICP–MS and a GeoLas 200 M 193 nm ArF excimer laser ablation system. The LA–ICP–MS analyses were performed with a beam diameter of 30 μm. Harvard 91,500 zircon was used for isotopic fractionation correction, and the NIST-610 glass was used to
Zircon U–Pb ages
One ophiolitic gabbro pegmatite (18X11) and three monzogranites (18X06-1, 18X15-1, and 16X09-1) that intruded the ophiolite were dated (Supplementary Table 1). The zircons display oscillatory growth zoning, suggesting a magmatic origin (Fig. 4). Zircons from the gabbro plot in the typical MORB and oceanic crust fields on U versus Yb and U/Yb versus Y diagrams. Most of the zircon grains from the monzogranites are geochemically similar to continental zircon, with high U/Yb ratios (Fig. 5).
Formation and accretion of the Xinlin ophiolite
The timing of the evolution of the Xinlin ophiolite has been the subject of many studies. The Second Brigade (1985) reported the first radiometric age (K–Ar; 386.4 Ma) for gabbro from the Xinlin ophiolite. This ophiolite is surrounded by younger volcanic strata of the Jixianggou Formation of the Wolegen Group. Sun et al. (2014) reported a zircon U–Pb age of 430.7 ± 4.1 Ma for the Jixianggou Formation (Fig. 2a), and concluded that the ophiolites are pre-Silurian in age and the younger whole-rock
Conclusions
- (1)
The Xinlin ophiolite lies between the EB and XB, and was formed at 669 Ma. A monzogranite intruded the ophiolite at 574–571 Ma.
- (2)
The Xinlin ophiolite was produced in a MOR setting, and was subsequently accreted onto the Erguna continental margin before amalgamation with the XB.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Jun Gou: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Writing - original draft. Deyou Sun: Investigation, Writing - review & editing, Supervision. Changzhou Deng: Investigation. Zhao Feng: Data curation. Zongyuan Tang: Investigation.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41502045).
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