Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb dating of the Neogene coral reefs, Xisha Islands, South China Sea: implications for tectonic evolution

Hong Xu; Zhao-peng Ji; Shan-ying Li; Yan-qiou Yang; Shou-jie Liu; Hai-yang Zhang; Shu-shen Lu; Tong-qiang Shi; Meng Tao; Na Qin; Wei-wei Zhang; Da-peng Su; Long-wei Qiu

doi:10.31035/cg2018007

2018 Vol. 1, No. 1

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Article navigation > China Geology > 2018 > 1(1): 49-60

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Hong Xu, Zhao-peng Ji, Shan-ying Li, Yan-qiou Yang, Shou-jie Liu, Hai-yang Zhang, Shu-shen Lu, Tong-qiang Shi, Meng Tao, Na Qin, Wei-wei Zhang, Da-peng Su, Long-wei Qiu, 2018. Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb dating of the Neogene coral reefs, Xisha Islands, South China Sea: implications for tectonic evolution, China Geology, 1, 49-60. doi: 10.31035/cg2018007

Citation:

Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb dating of the Neogene coral reefs, Xisha Islands, South China Sea: implications for tectonic evolution

a.
Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, China Geological Survey, Qingdao 266071, China
b.
Key Laboratory of Marine Sedimentology and Environmental Geology, First Institute of Oceanography, Qingdao 266061, China
c.
Laboratory for Marine Mineral Resources, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology,Qingdao 266071, China
d.
College of Earth Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China
e.
School of Geosciences, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
f.
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Depositional Mineralization and Sedimentary Minerals, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China
g.
Beijing SHRIMP Center, Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China

Fund Project: The research was financially supported by the Technology Basic Resources Investigation Program of China (No.2017FY201407); China Geological Survey and Major Oil and Gas Technology Projects (GZH201200510; 2011ZX05025-002-04)

More Information

Corresponding authors: qdxhong@163.com; qiulwsd@163.com

Received Date: 07 December 2017

Revised Date: 05 February 2018

Accepted Date: 22 February 2018

Available Online: 06 March 2018

Publish Date: 25 March 2018

Abstract

Abstract

The Xisha Block is a minor one in the South China Sea and an important tectonic unit in the northwestern part of the region. Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb ages for three volcanic intrusive core samples from Xike-1, an exploratory well penetrating the bioherms of the Xisha Islands. The core samples are from the Miocene reef carbonate bedrock and are recognized as dark-gray biotite-hornblende gabbro, gray fine-grained biotite diorite, and gray fine-grained granite, respectively. Zircon cathodoluminescence (CL) images and trace Th, U and Pb compositions of the zircons show that these rocks are of volcanic intrusive origin. Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb dating yielded six groups of ages, ranging from 2451-1857 Ma to early Cretaceous, which indicate that the formation and evolution of the Xisha Block was affected by the evolution and closure of Neotethys Ocean, probably within its eastern extension into South China Sea. Both old, deep-sourced material, including fragments from Rodina supercontinent, and recent mantle-derived magma products contributed to the emergence and formation of the Xisha block. The SHRIMP U-Pb results also proved that this process differed from that of the Kontum massif, the Hainan Block, and the South China Block, but is similar to that of the Nansha and Zhongsha blocks. The process was associated with the effects of Yanshanian magmatism induced by subduction mechanisms of the Paleo-Pacific Plate or the reworking of the multiple magmatisms since the Early to mid-Yanshanian, possibly jointly experienced by the Xisha-Zhongsha-Nansha Block.
- Geochronology /
- Volcanic intrusive rocks /
- Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb dating /
- Rodina supercontinent /
- Xisha Block /
- South China Sea

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References

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