Paleoproterozoic crustal evolution of the Hengshan–Wutai–Fuping region, North China Craton

An arguable point regarding the Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic crustal evolution of the North China Craton (NCC) is whether the tectonic setting in the central belt during the mid-Paleoproterozoic (2.35–2.0 Ga) was dominated by an extensional regime or an oceanic subduction–arc regime. A review of the mid-Paleoproterozoic magmatism and sedimentation for the Hengshan–Wutai–Fuping region suggests that a back-arc extension regime was dominant in this region. This conclusion is consistent with the observation that the 2.35–2.0 Ga magmatism shows a typical bimodal distribution where the mafic rocks mostly have arc affinities and the acidic rocks mainly comprise highly-fractioned calc-alkaline to alkaline (or A-type) granites, and that this magmatism was coeval with development of extensional basins characteristic of transgressive sequences with volcanic interlayers such as in the Hutuo Group. Although the final amalgamation of the NCC was believed to occur at ∼1.85 Ga, recent zircon U–Pb age dating for mica schist in the Wutai Group suggests a collisional event may have occurred at ∼1.95 Ga. The metamorphic ages of ∼1.85 Ga, obtained mostly from the high-grade rocks using the zircon U–Pb approach, most probably indicate uplifting and cooling of these high-grade terranes. This is because (i) phase modeling suggests that newly-grown zircon grains in high-grade rocks with a melt phase cannot date the age of peak pressure and temperature stages, but the age of melt crystallization in cooling stages; (ii) the metamorphic P–T paths with isobaric cooling under 6–7 kb for the Hengshan and Fuping granulites suggest their prolonged stay in the middle–lower crust; and (iii) the obtained metamorphic age data show a continuous distribution from 1.95 to 1.80 Ga. Thus, an alternative tectonic scenario for the Hengshan–Wutai–Fuping region involves: (i) formation of a proto-NCC at ∼2.5 Ga; (ii) back-arc extension during 2.35–2.0 Ga resulting in bimodal magmatism and sedimentation in rifting basins on an Archean basement; (iii) a crustal thickening event in the extended region resulting in a kyanite-type metamorphism at ∼1.95 Ga, and (iv) uplifting and cooling of the thickened crust from 1.93 to 1.80 Ga.