Metamorphism and P-T Evolution of High-Pressure Granulites from the Fuping Complex, North China Craton

Abstract

Granulite facies rocks provide important keys to evaluating collisional metamorphism in orogenic belts. The mafic granulites of Baoding in the Fuping Complex of the North China Craton occur within the Trans-North China Orogen (TNCO), a major Paleoproterozoic collisional orogen. Here, we present results from detailed investigations on newly discovered garnet pyroxenite, garnet two-pyroxene granulite, and garnet-bearing-plagioclase amphibolite using petrographic, mineralogical, geochemical, and zircon U-Pb dating methods. Our results show that the Fuping Complex metamorphic evolution in this study evolved in four stages: prograde (M1), high-pressure granulite facies (M2), granulite facies (M3), and retrograde (M4) stages. The mineral assemblage of the prograde stage (M1) consists of Amp + Pl + Q within garnet cores. The mineral assemblage of high-pressure granulite facies at the peak stage (M2) consists of Gt + Cpx + Pl + Q ± Amp, forming the garnet pyroxenite. The granulite facies stage M3 is characterized by the occurrence of orthopyroxene, with a mineral assemblage of Gt + Cpx + Opx + Amp+ Pl + Q. The early retrograde stage M4-1 includes clinopyroxenes scattered inside amphiboles, following the breakdown of garnet and clinopyroxene. The mineral assemblage of this stage comprises Amp + Pl + Q + Ilm ± Cpx. Later, in the late retrograde stage M4-2, the composition of amphiboles changed to actinolite, and epidote and chlorite started to appear in the matrix. Traditional geothermobarometry yielded P-T conditions of 700~706 °C and 6.0~6.2 kbar for prograde stage M1, 854~920 °C and 13.0~13.8 kbar for high-pressure granulite facies stage M2, 912~939 °C and 8.1~9.9 kbar for M3, 661~784 °C and 3.1~4.4 kbar for M4-1, and 637~638 °C, 1.1~1.3 kbar for M4-2, along a clockwise P-T path with a nearly isothermal decompression (ITD) and slight heating. Zircon LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating constrains the timing of the high-pressure granulite facies metamorphic event to be between 1.83 and 1.86 Ga. Geochemical features suggest that the protoliths of the high-pressure granulites may have formed in an island arc environment within a convergent margin setting. Together with results from previous studies, our data suggest that the ~1.85 Ga metamorphic age recorded in the Fuping Complex represents a regional metamorphism in the TNCO, associated with the subduction–collision and assembly of the Eastern and Western Blocks of the NCC.