| Abstract: | The discovery of retrograded eclogites and high-pressure basic granulites in the joining region of Hebei-Shanxi-Inner Mongolia (HSIM) abandon the old thoughts that Archean granulites in the North China craton are of middle or low pressure facies and promote the reconsideration of Early Precambrian cratonization tectonic process, and reveal the geological fact that the scale, rigid behavior and geological structure of Archean cratonic blocks have strong similarities to the present fundamental plate tectonics, which suggest new tectonic mechanism to understand the early continental evolution of the North China craton. (1) The retrograded eclogites and high-pressure granulites constitute a ENE-NE-striking structure-rock zone termed as the Sanggan structural belt. (2) The retrograded eclogites are closely associated with high-pressure granulites. We can call this belt a transitional eclogite-granulite facies metamorphic belt. Petrographically three metamorphic stages, at least, in the retrograded eclogite can be distinguished. ① The main mineral assemblage is composed of garnet+clinopyroxene+quartz+rutile. The mineral inclusions in garnet are fine-grained quartz, rutile and small inclusions of fine-grained second stage mineral aggregate. This aggregate consists of hypersthene+albite, and has the typical texture of small hypersthene core surrounded by albite micro-grained grains. ② The second mineral assemblage is represented by corona of garnet and symplectite of clinopyroxene. The corona of garnet is composed of hypersthene+plagioclase+clinopyroxene+a minor amount of quartz and magnetite. The symplectite of clinopyroxene is composed of hypersthene + albite+clinopyroxene. The secondary mineral assemblage along boundaries between quartz and garnet (or clinopyroxene) is fine-grained aggregate of hypersthene and clinopyroxene. ③ The third retrograded metamorphic minerals are mainly amphiboles replacing pyroxenes and plagioclases replacing garnets. The estimated metamorphic temperature and pressure of symplectitic minerals are 850-900 ℃ and 1.1-1.2 Gpa, and those of the third stage are 600-700 ℃ and 0.6-0.7 Gpa. They indicate a decompressional pTt path. (3) Geochemically, the compositions of the retrograded eclogites and high-pressure basic granulites are the same as those of tholeiite and olivine tholeiite, which are Fe-rich and show the differentiation tendency of tholeiitic cumulate rocks. Connecting with isotopic data, we can prove that the original rocks of retrograded eclogites and high-pressure basic granulites were formed by partial melting of depleted mantle (ε(Nd) =1.2-3.6) in the age of about 2 650-2 510 Ma. It might be formed in the lowermost crust by underplating and underwent high-pressure metamorphism afterwards. |
