Abstract:
The Neoarchean granitoid rocks in the Linghai area of western Liaoning, located within northern North China Craton, have undergone significant anatexis, making this region crucial window for deciphering the formation and evolution processes of Earth's early continental crust. Integrated macroscopic and microscopic structural analyses, geochemical investigations, and EBSD fabric measurements have demonstrated that the Linghai area of western Liaoning (2.53-2.50 Ga) experienced extensive crustal anatexis within a continental arc environment. The ~2.52 Ga TTG gneiss displays distinctive peraluminous calc-alkaline granites, petrogenetically linked to partial melting of garnet amphibolite in the thickened crust at the root of a magmatic arc, representing partial melting of the lower crust. In contrast, the ~2.50 Ga K-rich granites belong to the S-type granites of the peraluminous shoshonite series, derived from anatexis of metapelitic rocks in the upper crust levels. These granites represent melt accumulation zones during the late Neoarchean crustal reworking process, exhibiting textural and compositional characteristics of in-situ hybrid granites. From the TTG gneisses to the K-rich granites, the degree of differentiation and maturity of the anatectic magmas gradually increases, with continuous differentiation and enrichment of the plutonic melts, and a transition from Na- and Ca-rich to K-rich crust. The widespread anatexis occurred under high-temperature (700°C) and medium-pressure (0.4-1.0 GPa) conditions, with feldspar primarily controlled by dislocation creep. Integrating regional research findings, the continental lithospheric collision and shortening at ~2.52 Ga led to partial melting of deep crustal materials. The melts effectively altered the physical properties of the deep rocks, prompting a transition in crustal deformation from shortening and thickening to extension and thinning, thus triggering the onset of extension. At ~2.50 Ga, the region was dominated by intense extension, accompanied by rapid exhumation of deep crustal materials. This led to large-scale decompression partial melting of metapelitic rocks, generating extensive K-rich granites in the region.