Vice Professor ZHANG Xiaohui and his team present new zircon U–Pb age, whole-rock geochemistry and Sr–Nd isotopes, and in situ zircon Hf isotopic compositions for the Late Permian mafic and felsic intrusions from northwestern Liaoning along the eastern segment of the northern North China craton (NCC), with the aims of constraining their petrogenesis, probing their tectonic environment and providing a case study of continental crustal evolution through the characterization of coeval mafic and felsic magmas.

These features suggest that their generation most likely involves metasomatism of mantle peridotites by sediment-derived liquids related to subduction and a later partial melting. The temporal coincidence of the present appinite–granite complex with regional transcurrent fault activity leads to the further suggestion that such mafic–felsic magmatic suites could provide spatial markers for monitoring important post-orogenic structural and geodynamic processes.

Fig. 1 (a) Simplified map showing major tectonic units of the North China Craton. (b) Map showing the main faults in the northern North China Craton. (c) Geological sketch map of northwestern Liaoning. (d) Geological sketch map of the Tiejianggeleng and Shichang plutons, with the sample locations shown.(Image by ZHANG)

Fig. 2 Plots of (a) εNd(t) vs.87Sr/86Sri, (b) zircon εHf(t) vs. U–Pb age from 0 to 3000 Ma and (c) zircon εHf(t) vs. U–Pb age from 100 to 500 Ma for the Late Permian appinite-granite suite from northwestern Liaoning. (Image by ZHANG)

Zhang et al. Late Permian appinite-granite complex from northwestern Liaoning, North China craton: Petrogenesis and tectonic implications.Lithos. 2012, 155: 201-217 (Download Here)