Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Archive
    • Special Volumes and Special Issue
  • Subscriptions
    • Subscribers
    • FAQ
    • Terms & Conditions for use of AJS Online
  • Instructions to Authors
    • Focus and paper options
    • Submit your manuscript
  • Site Features
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
    • Usage Statistics
    • RSS
  • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • The Journal

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
American Journal of Science
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
American Journal of Science

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Archive
    • Special Volumes and Special Issue
  • Subscriptions
    • Subscribers
    • FAQ
    • Terms & Conditions for use of AJS Online
  • Instructions to Authors
    • Focus and paper options
    • Submit your manuscript
  • Site Features
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
    • Usage Statistics
    • RSS
  • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • The Journal
  • Follow ajs on Twitter
  • Visit ajs on Facebook
  • Follow ajs on Instagram
Research ArticleARTICLES

Age and growth of the Archean Kongling terrain, South China, with emphasis on 3.3 ga granitoid gneisses

Shan Gao, Jie Yang, Lian Zhou, Ming Li, Zhaochu Hu, Jingliang Guo, Honglin Yuan, Hujun Gong, Gaoqiang Xiao and Junqi Wei
American Journal of Science February 2011, 311 (2) 153-182; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2475/02.2011.03
Shan Gao
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jie Yang
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Lian Zhou
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ming Li
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Zhaochu Hu
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jingliang Guo
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Honglin Yuan
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Hujun Gong
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Gaoqiang Xiao
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Junqi Wei
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

The North China craton and the Yangtze craton (South China) both contain Archean rocks in eastern China. Unlike the North China craton, where Archean rocks are widespread, in the Yangtze craton the exposed Archean rocks are only known in the Kongling terrain (360 km2). Zircon U-Pb ages and Lu-Hf isotopic compositions of three granodioritic-trondhjemitic gneisses and three metasedimentary rocks from the Kongling terrain were analyzed by LA-ICP-MS and LA-MC-ICP-MS. Igneous zircons in one trondhjemitic gneiss in the north of the Kongling terrain have an age of 3302±7 (1σ) Ma. Evidence from cathodoluminescence imaging, variations in Th/U and degree of U-Pb age discordance suggest that apparently younger zircons in the same population are variably disturbed 3302 Ma grains. Thus, this trondhjemitic gneiss is the oldest known rock in South China and predates the earlier reported ∼2900 Ma granitoid magmatism by 400 Ma. Zircon cores from one granodioritic gneiss in the north of the Kongling terrain also give a concordant age group at 3200 to 3300 Ma. Regardless as inherited or not, these cores crystallized from a magma indistinguishable in age with the trondhjemite. Concordant U-Pb ages for igneous zircons in one granodioritic gneiss in the south of the Kongling terrain yielded a weighted average 206Pb/207Pb age of 2981±13 Ma (2σ, MSWD=9.7, n=21). The zircon age and initial Hf isotopic compositions are similar to those of widespread granitoid gneisses from the north of the Kongling terrain (2903-2947 Ma), and indicate that the south and north of the Kongling terrain are correlative. The results also reinforce that magmatism of the whole Kongling terrain mainly occurred at 2900 Ma.

Available Hf isotopic data from the Kongling terrain show that juvenile crustal additions occurred mainly between 3150 and 3800 Ma with a significant peak at 3300 to 3500 Ma. The ∼3300 Ma zircons from the trondhjemitic gneiss have Hf crust formation ages of 3450 to 3730 Ma, some of which have nearly chondritic εHf (t). The whole-rock depleted mantle Nd model age of this rock is 3400 Ma, close to its age of magmatism and consistent with the Hf model age. Its εNd value at 3300 Ma is nearly chondritic (1.26). These lines of evidence suggest that the 3300 Ma trondhjemite represent juvenile crust additions to the pre-existing continental crust.

  • Archean
  • TTG
  • crustal growth
  • Yangtze craton
  • South China
View Full Text

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

American Journal of Science
Vol. 311, Issue 2
February 2011
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Ed Board (PDF)
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on American Journal of Science.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Age and growth of the Archean Kongling terrain, South China, with emphasis on 3.3 ga granitoid gneisses
(Your Name) has sent you a message from American Journal of Science
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the American Journal of Science web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
12 + 5 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
Age and growth of the Archean Kongling terrain, South China, with emphasis on 3.3 ga granitoid gneisses
Shan Gao, Jie Yang, Lian Zhou, Ming Li, Zhaochu Hu, Jingliang Guo, Honglin Yuan, Hujun Gong, Gaoqiang Xiao, Junqi Wei
American Journal of Science Feb 2011, 311 (2) 153-182; DOI: 10.2475/02.2011.03

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Age and growth of the Archean Kongling terrain, South China, with emphasis on 3.3 ga granitoid gneisses
Shan Gao, Jie Yang, Lian Zhou, Ming Li, Zhaochu Hu, Jingliang Guo, Honglin Yuan, Hujun Gong, Gaoqiang Xiao, Junqi Wei
American Journal of Science Feb 2011, 311 (2) 153-182; DOI: 10.2475/02.2011.03
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • INTRODUCTION
    • GEOLOGICAL SETTING AND SAMPLES
    • ANALYTICAL METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • CONCLUSIONS
    • APPENDIX
    • Acknowledgments
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Neoproterozoic backarc basin on the southeastern margin of the Yangtze block during Rodinia assembly: New evidence from provenance of detrital zircons and geochemistry of mafic rocks
  • The origin of the c. 1.7 Ga gabbroic intrusion in the Hekou area, SW China: constraints from SIMS U-Pb zircon geochronology and elemental and Nd isotopic geochemistry
  • From Rodinia to Gondwanaland: A tale of detrital zircon provenance analyses from the southern Nanhua Basin, South China
  • Petrological and Geochemical Constraints On Provenance, Paleoweathering, and Tectonic Setting of the Neoproterozoic Sedimentary Basin In the Eastern Jiangnan Orogen, South China
  • An Early Mesozoic transcontinental palaeoriver in South China: evidence from detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and Hf isotopes
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Timing and Nd-Hf isotopic mapping of early Mesozoic granitoids in the Qinling Orogen, central China: Implication for architecture, nature and processes of the orogen
  • India in the Nuna to Gondwana supercontinent cycles: Clues from the north Indian and Marwar Blocks
  • Unravelling the P-T-t history of three high-grade metamorphic events in the Epupa Complex, NW Namibia: Implications for the Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic evolution of the Congo Craton
Show more Articles

Similar Articles

Navigate

  • Current Issue
  • Archive

More Information

  • RSS

Other Services

  • About Us

© 2023 American Journal of Science

Powered by HighWire