Multiple sources for the origin of the early Cretaceous Xinxian granitic batholith and its tectonic implications for the western Dabie orogen, eastern China.

This paper investigates the petrogenesis of the Xinxian granitic batholith and its tectonic implications for the Dabie orogen. Two Xinxian granites yield Early Cretaceous U/Pb ages of 122.7 ± 1.3 Ma and 123.6 ± 2.2 Ma. The granites are metaluminous differentiated I-type granites, with A/NKC ranging from 0.90 to 0.96. The chondrite-normalised REE patterns display significant LREE/HREE enrichments with moderate negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu = 0.30 ~ 0.85). The granites show enrichments in large-ion lithophile elements (LILEs, e.g. Rb, K, Th and U) and depletions in Sr, Ba and high field strength elements (HFSEs, e.g. Nb, Ta and Ti). Inherited zircons of different age (Neoproterozoic, one Early Proterozoic, one Archean and two Triassic inherited metamorphic zircons) are identified. The Early Cretaceous magmatic zircons contain enriched Hf isotopes with ε ( t) values ranging from −26.9 to −18.7 (average = −22.5), more enriched than their probable alleged source, i.e. the Dabie Complex, represented by the Neoproterozoic and Triassic inherited zircons. Thus, the Archean and Early Proterozoic crustal materials may represent an enriched end member source for the parental magma of the Xinxian granites. Provenance analysis of the magmatic zircons in the North China and Yangtze blocks demonstrates that the Early Proterozoic inherited zircon in Xinxian has North China affinity. Thus, we proposed a multiple-sourced petrogenetic model for the Xinxian granitic batholith, which suggests that the batholith was formed by the remelting of a mixed crustal assemblage, including the Archean and Early Proterozoic crust of the North China Block, the Neoproterozoic crust of the Yangtze Block, as well as some Triassic collision-related ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphic rocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]