Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb age of garnet olivine pyroxenite at Hujialin in the Sulu terrane and its geological significance

Garnet olivine pyroxenite at Hujialin is situated in the Sulu ultrahigh pressure (UHP) metamorphic belt, Shandong Province. Most of the zircon separated from the rock is well crystallized, prismatic and granular with a length to width ratio of 1 : 1.3 - 1 : 2.5. CL and BSE images show the magmatic oscillatory zoning in the zircon. Th/U ratio ranges from 0.99 to 2.81. These suggest a magmatic origin for the zircon studied. SHRIMP dating yields Pb-206/U-238 ages of 207 - 223 Ma, with a weighted average of 216 +/- 3 Ma. This age corresponds to zircon growth during exhumation of UHP slab and thus the timing of amphibolite-facies retrogression. The garnet olivine pyroxenite was wrapped and brought to the crust by the UHP slab during exhumation, and then suffered from metasomatism by fluid from the UHP slab itself. The zircon U-Pb age records the timing of the crystallization of metasomatic melt. Therefore, fluid that was released during exhumation of deeply subducted continental slab may be the important source for zircon growth.