UHP metamorphism and exhumation of the Dabie Orogen, China: Evidence from SHRIMP dating of zircon and monazite from a UHP granitic gneiss cobble from the Hefei Basin

A SHRIMP U-Pb study of zircons separated from an ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) granitic gneiss cobble (sample DS12) from the Upper Jurassic Fenghuangtai Formation of the Hefei Basin, north of the Dabie Orogen, has identified three different domains: (1) cores, some of which show straight boundaries and strong oscillatory zoning, with Th/U ratios of 0.12-0.70 and an imprecise upper intercept age of 777 +/- 220 Ma (MSWD = 2.4); (2) mantles, variable in shape and cathodoluminescence (CL) intensity and containing many UHP mineral inclusions, including coesite and omphacite, and with Th/U ratios of 0.02-0.26 and a weighted mean Pb-206/U-238 age of 244 +/- 5 Ma (MSWD = 4.7); and (3) rims, which are more homogeneous and luminescent in CL than the mantles and contain fewer UHP mineral inclusions, with Th/U ratios of 0.01-0.05 and a weighted mean Pb-206/U-238 age of 226 +/- 2 Ma (MSWD = 0.65). Monazites from the same sample do not contain coesite and omphacite inclusions, but they do show sector zones and are composed of two contrasting domains. The light domains in backscattered electron (BSE) images have a Th/U ratio of 7.3-18.9 and a weighted mean Pb-206/U-238 age of 221 +/- 2 Ma (MSWD = 0.94). The dark domains in BSE have a these ratio of 2.8-7.2 and have a weighted mean Pb-206/U-238 age of 218 +/- 2 Ma (MSWD = 0.96). Based on these data and a review of the literature, it can be concluded that (1) the protolith of gneiss sample DS12 is a granitoid of Neoproterozoic age; (2) the ages of 244 and 226 Ma for the mantle and rim domains of the zircons are time records of two discrete stages in the UHP evolution of Dabieshan; (3) the ages of 221 and 218 Ma for the light and dark gray domains, respectively, of the monazites record the times of two stages of retrogressive metamorphism during exhumation of the UHP granitic gneiss to a higher crustal level; (4) the exhumation rate of the gneiss is estimated to be > 6 km/Ma; and (5) the UHP metamorphic blocks of the Dabie Orogen provided significant detritus to the Hefei Basin in the Jurassic. Copyright (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd.