Neoproterozoic ages of the Kuluketage diabase dyke swarm in Tarim, NW China, and its relationship to the breakup of Rodinia

• Published in: Geological magazine 2009-01, Vol.146 (1), p.150-154
• Main Authors: ZHANG, ZHIYONG, ZHU, WENBIN, SHU, LIANGSHU, SU, JINBAO, ZHENG, BIHAI
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: absolute age; Ar/Ar; Asia; China; continental drift; correlation; dates; diabase; dike swarms; dikes; dyke swarm; Far East; Geochronology; Geology; igneous rocks; intrusions; ion probe data; Kuluketage Complex; Kuokesu China; Magma; mass spectra; mineral composition; Neoproterozoic; nesosilicates; orthosilicates; paleogeography; Paleozoic; Permian; petrography; plutonic rocks; Precambrian; Proterozoic; Rodinia; Seismology; SHRIMP data; silicates; spectra; Tarim; Tarim Platform; U/Pb; U/Th/Pb; upper Precambrian; Volcanoes; Xingdi Fault; zircon; zircon group
• ISSN: 0016-7568; 1469-5081
• DOI: 10.1017/S0016756808005839

The widely exposed Kuluketage diabase dyke swarm, Tarim Block, NW China, has been considered to have been emplaced in Permian times. New precise zircon U–Pb SHRIMP ages for two samples from the dyke swarm yield Neoproterozoic ages of 823.8±8.7 Ma and 776.8±8.9 Ma. Correlated with peaks of magmatism in South China and Australia at c. 825 Ma and c. 780 Ma, these two new ages provide significant information for palaeocontinental reconstructions. The prolonged duration of the magmatic events, combined with regional stratigraphic relationships, imply that the Tarim Block may have been affected by a mantle plume during the breakup of Rodinia.