Review of global 2.1–1.8 Ga orogens: implications for a pre-Rodinia supercontinent

Mesoproterozoic high Fe–Ti mafic magmatism in western Shandong, North China Craton: Petrogenesis and implications for the final breakup of the Columbia supercontinent

“…This rift-related magmatic zone extends from Zhaertai in the west, through Bayan Obo and Huade, to Weichang in the east; a total distance of 1500 km (e.g., Zhao et al, 2011;Yang et al, 2011). In addition, other Mesoproterozoic magmatic events that have been reported in the NCC include ∼1.56 Ga tuffs in the Gaoyuzhuang Formation of the Changcheng System near Beijing (Li et al, 2010a) and 1.37-1.32 Ga tuffs and mafic sills in the center of the NCC (Gao et al, 2007Li et al, 2009 recorded in the Tumen Group in the Shandong Peninsula and by the Sangwon System detrital zircons in the Phyongnam Basin of North Korea (Hu et al, 2012), lends further support to the argument that the NCC underwent strong extension during the period 1.6-1.2 Ga; the time interval of the final breakup of Columbia (Zhao et al, 2002a(Zhao et al, ,b, 2003bHou et al, 2008a,b). In other words, continental rifting was active from 1.6 Ga to at least 1.2 Ga in the NCC.…”

“…From a global perspective, the strongest magmatic event relevant to the final break-up of the Columbia supercontinent between 1.3 and 1.2 Ga was the emplacement of the ∼1272 Ma Mackenzie mafic dyke swarm and the eruption of the coeval flood basalts (e.g., Coppermine River basalts) in North America (Le Cheminant and Heaman, 1989). Similar-aged events are also widely recorded along both the margins and interiors of other cratons (Rogers and Santosh, 2002;Zhao et al, 2002aZhao et al, ,b, 2004Zhao et al, , 2011Hou et al, 2008a,b), including Greenland, Siberia, Antarctica, Baltica, Africa and Australia (e.g., Ernst et al, 2008 and references therein). Two distinct episodes of slightly younger rift magmatism are also identified along both the margins and interiors of these cratons, such as the ∼1.25 Ga and ∼1.21 Ga magmatic events as summarized in Table 4.…”

“…The Paleo-Mesoproterozoic (1.8-1.2 Ga) is regarded as a period of assembly, growth and breakup of the Columbia (Nuna) supercontinent (e.g., Zhao et al, 2002aZhao et al, ,b, 2003bZhao et al, , 2004Ernst et al, 2008). The Söderlund et al (2004b) assembly of the Columbia supercontinent is recorded in the NCC by the 2.0-1.8 Ga collisional orogenic belts, including the Trans-North China Orogen (Zhao et al, 2003bZhang et al, 2009aZhang et al, ,b, 2012Zhao, 2009;Li et al, 2010b) and the Khondalite Belt (Zhao et al, 2003cXia et al, 2006aXia et al, ,b, 2008Yin et al, 2009Yin et al, , 2011.…”

“…Two distinct episodes of slightly younger rift magmatism are also identified along both the margins and interiors of these cratons, such as the ∼1.25 Ga and ∼1.21 Ga magmatic events as summarized in Table 4. Although it is generally accepted that a mantle plume is the most feasible explanation for the generation of the ∼1.27 Ga magmatism (Le Cheminant and Heaman, 1989;Ernst and Baragar, 1992;Baragar et al, 1996;Ernst and Buchan, 2001;Ernst et al, 2008) and for the final break-up of the Columbia supercontinent (Zhao et al, 2002a(Zhao et al, ,b, 2004Hou et al, 2008a,b), a protracted 60 Ma long period that includes the youngest magmatic pulse at ∼1.21 Ga is not in agreement with short-lived and voluminous magmatism that characterizes plume-related large igneous provinces. Therefore, they may not be related to the same plume event.…”

“…It is also one of the oldest cratons in the world, with crustal rocks as old as 3.8 Ga (Liu et al, 1992;Wu et al, 2008;Zhao and Zhai, 2013;Zheng et al, 2013). Its final cratonization took place in the Paleoproterozoic at around 1.85-1.80 Ga (e.g., Zhao, 2001;Zhao et al, 2001Zhao et al, , 2002aZhao et al, ,b, 2008aZhao et al, ,b, 2010Wilde and Zhao, 2005;Kröner et al, 2006;Liu et al, 2006Liu et al, , 2011aLiu et al, ,b, 2012aZhang et al, 2006Zhang et al, , 2007Zhang et al, , 2009aXiao et al, 2011). In recent years, numerous high Fe-Ti basic intrusive rocks have been documented in the NCC, such as the ∼1.77 Ga mafic dykes (Peng et al, 2004;Wang et al, 2004Wang et al, , 2008 and the Damiao complex (Zhao et al, 2009 and references therein) in the Trans-North China Orogen, and the ∼1.93 Ga Xuwujia gabbronorites (Peng et al, 2010) and ∼1.31 Ga diabase sills in the Western Block.…”