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Geochronology, Trace Elements and Hf Isotopic Geochemistry of Zircons from Swat Orthogneisses, Northern Pakistan

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Geochronology, Trace Elements and Hf Isotopic Geochemistry of Zircons from Swat Orthogneisses, Northern Pakistan Open Geosciences 2020; 12: 148–162 Research Article Lawangin Sheikh, Wasiq Lutfi, Zhidan Zhao*, and Muhammad Awais Geochronology, trace elements and Hf isotopic geochemistry of zircons from Swat orthogneisses, Northern Pakistan https://doi.org/10.1515/geo-2020-0109 the continental crust with the minute input of the received September 24, 2019; accepted March 27, 2020 juvenile mantle. Abstract: In this study, zircon grains are applied for Keywords: Late Paleozoic, zircon trace elements, Hf U–Pb dating, Hf isotopes and trace elements to reveal isotopes, anorogenic, Northern Pakistan the origin of magmatism and tectonic evolution of Late Paleozoic rocks of the Indian plate, Northern Pakistan. Most of the zircons are characterized by oscillatory zoning, depletion of light rare earth elements (LREE) and 1 Introduction enrichment of heavy rare earth elements (HREE) with Ce ( ) and Eu anomalies. The yielded ages for these rocks are Traditionally, the importance of zircon ZrSiO4 is known 256 ± 1.9 Ma and are plotted in the zones defined for the for its geochronological dating, but zircon trace element fi continental setting with few deviated toward the mid- geochemistry is an emerging eld to interpret tectonic [ – ] oceanic ridge and the oceanic arc setting. Deviated settings 1 3 . Titanium present in the zircon can help zircons are recognized as inherited zircons by displaying calculate the temperature of the rocks, and the Hf fi a high concentration of normalized primitive La and Pr isotopic study can play a signi cant role to unravel [ – ] values, while others are plotted in the continental zones. crustal recycling 4 7 . LREE depletion and HREE Rare earth elements (REE) and trace elements including enrichment with Eu and Ce anomalies are used to Th, Hf, U, Nb, Sc and Ti discriminate Swat orthogneisses know the magmatic and metamorphic origins of the [ ] into the within plate setting and the inherited zircons are rocks from the zircon study 8,9 . Zircon occurs in plotted in the orogenic or the arc-related setting. The several igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks as [ ] LREE discriminated these zircons into a magmatic zone an accessory mineral 5 . It is due to its high durability with inherited zircons deviated toward the hydrothermal and stability to harsh physical and chemical weathering zone. The temperature calculated for these rocks based as well as due to its dominant role in the growth with on the Ti content in zircon ranges from 679 to 942°C. The granitoid petrology that it is regarded as the most common mineral used in igneous, metamorphic and εHf(t) ranging from −11.1 to +1.4 reveals that the origin is sedimentary petrology [10,11]. Trace element geochem- istry in zircon is an emerging field to interpret the origin * Corresponding author: Zhidan Zhao, State Key Laboratory of and the tectonic setting of igneous rocks [2,12,13], and Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, and School of Earth this technique is applied for the first time on the Swat Science and Resources, China University of Geosciences, orthogneisses, Northern Pakistan. The REEs like Ce and - Beijing 100083, China, e mail: [email protected], HREE present in zircons display unique enrichment tel: +86-10-82322952 normalized trends, which are used to find the protolith Lawangin Sheikh: State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and [ ] Mineral Resources, and School of Earth Science and Resources, of the rock 3,14 . As hafnium is most compatible with China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China; zircon, the ages determined by the U–Pb dating are also Department of Geology, University of Swabi, Anbar, Swabi, Khyber used for the Lu–Hf isotope system, which is the best Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan choice for determining the evolution of igneous and fi Wasiq Lut : State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and metamorphic rocks in collisional zones [15]. Lu is least Mineral Resources, and School of Earth Science and Resources, - China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China compatible with the zircon, while hafnium and zirco Muhammad Awais: Department of Geology, University of Swabi, nium are geochemically similar, and 1–4% of hafnium is Anbar, Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan present in the zircon, which is geotectonically very Open Access. © 2020 Lawangin Sheikh et al., published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Public License. Geochronology, trace elements and Hf isotopic geochemistry of zircons 149 important. The zircon is a very resistant mineral to harsh middle and Karakoram plate rocks in the north [30,31]. chemical and physical weathering, and during physical The main mantle thrust (MMT) separates the Indian plate weathering, the zircon moves to the sand portion along rocks (Figure 1) from the Kohistan island arc in the north with hafnium, while the Lu is discarded into the clay [32–34]. The Kohistan Island in the north is bounded by portion, which is the basis for finding the geochemical the main Karakoram thrust or the northern suture zone. settings [5,16]. Although the importance of Hf as a The part of the Indian plate in Pakistan is further divided geochemical tracer was recognized in the early 1980s, Hf into three tectonic bodies by the main central thrust separation was very difficult, and later the MC-ICP-MS (MCT), main boundary thrust and salt range thrust. The technique was adopted to determine the accurate ratios zone between the MCT and the MMT (Figure 1) is a part of Hf isotopes in the zircon, which is a revolution to of greater Himalaya [35–38]. The Indian plate rocks in study the mantle crust processes in detail as a the south are metamorphosed as a result of initial geochemical tracer in subduction settings [17,18]. The subduction phases and later on collision with the Hf isotopic record in the zircons is the best decipher for Kohistan-Ladakh island arc in Cretaceous to Cenozoic source rocks as well as plays important roles in the Himalayan orogeny [37]. The Greater Himalayan zone magma mixing, assimilation and petrogenesis [9,19–22]. consists of pelitic-psammitic schists, gneisses, amphibo- It is noted that the geochemical behavior of Zr and Hf lites, meta-carbonates and intrusion of plutonic bodies during magma crystallization is the same, and all the ranging in age from Archean to recent (ca. 1,847–47 Ma) zircons have 0.4–4 wt% Hf, which is a part of the zircon [28,39,40]. The Himalayan orogeny has great effects in lattice [5]. The Lu is not compatible with zircon, and the context of sedimentation, metamorphism and plu- hence, the initial Lu/Hf ratio is much less (<0.001) tonism on the Indian plate rocks, which are formed as compared to the continental crust with the high Lu/Hf early as the Archean era. Granitic rocks are the most ratio. The crust/mantle differentiation in the context of abundant intrusive bodies ranging in size from plutons 176Hf/177Hf is different, and this specific characteristic of to smaller size sills and dykes in northern Pakistan [41]. Hf is used as the trace for differentiation [5,23]. The The granitic rocks from northern Pakistan were grouped technique to determine the Hf isotopic ratio from the based on their radiometric ages, but the data available same spot that is used for finding the age is a new for these extensive rock bodies are limited [35,42]. Swat development in the petrochronology [24–26]. The pre- orthogneisses were metamorphosed to greenschist and vious ages determined for Swat orthogneiss were 268 ± amphibolite facies during Eocene–Oligocene [43,44]. 7 Ma, 265 ± 2, 278 ± 4byU–Pb and Rb/Sr techniques These orthogneisses are divided into seven groups [27,28]. Crustal and mantle processes are particularly starting from Early Proterozoic (ca. >2,175 Ma) to Late studied in detail by using the evolution of hafnium in Quaternary (ca. 10 Ma). This study focuses on Late zircon [29]. The morphology and the chemistry of trace Paleozoic (ca. 350–268 Ma) orthogneisses by interpreting elements of the zircon combined with the Hf isotope the trace elements from zircon grains. Swat orthog- composition help interpret petrogenetic information [11]. neisses were explored by using whole-rock major and In this article, Swat orthogneisses (Figure 1) of zircons trace element geochemistry, as well as geochronological are analyzed for Hf isotopes, U–Pb dating and trace studies were reported from this terrane, but zircon trace elements to find the origin and the evolution of magma. element geochemistry is limited [3,5,14]. The felsic The zircon morphology, trace elements in zircon and Hf plutonic activity is the main cause of crustal differentia- isotopes from the zircon were determined by using tion, but to correlate felsic magma with the crust cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging, laser ablation development, knowledge of magmatic evolution is inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) required, which is difficult from the whole rock and laser ablation multicollector inductively coupled composition. Hf isotopes extracted from the zircons are plasma mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICPMS). the best tracers for finding the magma evolution in continental granitoids, continental arcs and subduction zones [19,45]. Hf isotopes in the zircons are selected as it is highly compatible with the zircon. The precise ages 2 Geological setting determined by the U–Pb system in zircon can accurately provide the isotopic evolution of Hf. Both Hf and Lu are Northern Pakistan is tectonically divided into three incompatible elements, but Hf segregated more strongly terranes from the south to the north, i.e., Indian plate into the melts than Lu during magma differentiation rocks in the south, Kohistan–Ladakh Island arc in the stages. The concentration of 176Hf/177Hf is increased in 150 Lawangin Sheikh et al. Figure 1: Geological map of the study area [after Refs.
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