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Reconciliation of discrepant U–Pb, Lu–Hf, Sm–Nd, Ar–Ar and U–Th/He dates in an amphibolite from the Cathaysia Block in Southern China

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Abstract

We present a combined garnet Lu–Hf and Sm–Nd, zircon and monazite U–Pb, hornblende Ar–Ar, and zircon U–Th/He geochronology study on a garnet-bearing amphibolite from the Cathaysia Block in Southern China. Pseudosection modeling and garnet–clinopyroxene thermometry indicate that the amphibolite attained peak metamorphic conditions of approximately 0.9 GPa and 780 °C. The Lu–Hf garnet date of 402.7 ± 1.0 Ma and Sm–Nd date of 331.6 ± 3.6 Ma define a ~ 70 Myr difference for the same garnet fractions. Reconciling the large discrepancies between these three geochronological systems with the observed major element diffusion profiles in garnet requires that REEs and Hf were fully re-equilibrated at peak temperatures and that subsequent rapid cooling prevented any disruption of the Lu–Hf or Sm–Nd systems throughout cooling from high temperatures. The Sm–Nd garnet age was partially reset during a thermal pulse associated with intrusion of leucocratic veins, which is inferred to have occurred at ca. 226 Ma based on the coinciding hornblende Ar–Ar (222.3 ± 0.9 Ma) and monazite U–Pb (226.2 ± 2.3 Ma) dates. The T–t path of a reheating event at 226 Ma necessary to produce both the major divalent cation diffusion profiles in garnet and partial resetting of the Sm–Nd garnet age, such that it records an apparent age of ~ 332 Ma, requires an effective diffusion radius of 45–60 μm in garnet during reheating, which is in agreement with the observation of pervasive chlorite-filled fractures within single garnet grains. Diffusion kinetics of Lu and Hf in garnet are sufficiently slow that this reheating episode would not impact the Lu–Hf system, and the 402.7 ± 1.0 Ma garnet age likely reflects the onset of rapid cooling from peak P–T conditions. The zircon U–Pb date of 434.8 ± 2.7 Ma predates the Lu–Hf garnet date by approximately 30 Myr and is interpreted to reflect zircon crystallization during prograde metamorphism. The ~ 226 Ma reheating event is contemporaneous with the intrusion and crystallization of the widespread Triassic A-type granites and alkaline syenites across the Cathaysia Block, indicating an extensional environment. We interpret the zircon U–Th/He date of 143.1 ± 4.2 Ma as reflecting a third thermal pulse based on the concurrence with the early Cretaceous volcanic rocks and granitoids, which overlies the amphibolite.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Chao Zhang and Kai-yang Du at WSU for their assistance with isotope geochemistry and mass spectrometry. We thank Peter Reiners and Yuan Chang for help in determining the U–Th/He age. Qiu-li Li is thanked for his prompt help in SIMS analysis. The manuscript was substantially improved by constructive reviews from Klaus Mezger, Fernando Corfu, Jiba Ganguly and an anonymous reviewer. This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41573046) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Hao Cheng

  2. Institute of Earth Sciences, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Elias M. Bloch

  3. Institute of Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany

    Evangelos Moulas

  4. School of the Environment, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA

    Jeffrey D. Vervoort

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  1. Hao Cheng
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Cheng, H., Bloch, E.M., Moulas, E. et al. Reconciliation of discrepant U–Pb, Lu–Hf, Sm–Nd, Ar–Ar and U–Th/He dates in an amphibolite from the Cathaysia Block in Southern China. Contrib Mineral Petrol 175, 4 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-019-1644-9

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