U‐Pb Ages and Hf Isotope of Zircons from a Carbonatite Dyke in the Bayan Obo Fe‐REE Deposit in Inner Mongolia: its Geological Significance

Detailed studies on U‐Pb ages and Hf isotope have been carried out in zircons from a carbonatite dyke associated with the Bayan Obo giant REE‐Nb‐Fe deposit, northern margin of the North China Craton (NCC), which provide insights into the plate tectonic in Paleoproterozoic. Analyses of small amounts of zircons extracted from a large sample of the Wu carbonatite dyke have yielded two ages of late Archaean and late Paleoproterozoic (with mean ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ages of 2521±25 Ma and 1921±14 Ma, respectively). Mineral inclusions in the zircon identified by Raman spectroscopy are all silicate minerals, and none of the zircon grains has the extremely high Th/U characteristic of carbonatite, which are consistent with crystallization of the zircon from silicate, and the zircon is suggested to be derived from trapped basement complex. Hf isotopes in the zircon from the studied carbonatite are different from grain to grain, suggesting the zircons were not all formed in one single process. Majority of ?_Hf(t) values are compatible with ancient crustal sources with limited juvenile component. The Hf data and their T_DM2 values also suggest a juvenile continental growth in Paleoproterozoic during the period of 1940–1957 Ma. Our data demonstrate the major crustal growth during the Paleoproterozoic in the northern margin of the NCC, coeval with the assembly of the supercontinent Columbia, and provide insights into the plate tectonic of the NCC in Paleoproterozoic.