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• The investigation of a mafic granulite from Kuluketage area shows a clockwise P-T path with UHT metamorphism at peak stage. • Zircon U-Pb geochronological study reveals four age peaks at ∼ 2.45, ∼ 2.3, ∼ 1.91, and ∼ 1.85–1.78 Ga. • The Post-collisional extension and asthenosphere upwelling from ∼ 1.91–1.85 Ga may contribute to the UHT metamorphism. Mafic granulites provide key insights for understanding the composition and evolution of the lower crust but are rarely reported in northern Tarim. In the present study, a systematic petrographic, phase equilibrium modeling and zircon U-Pb geochronological study of a Paleoproterozoic mafic granulite (garnet two-pyroxene granulite) from the Kuluketage area, northern Tarim were conducted. Phase equilibrium modeling demonstrates a decompression–heating clockwise P-T path involving the prograde metamorphic stage (M1) at ∼ 950 °C / 12 kbar, the peak metamorphic stage (M2) at ∼ 1020 °C / 10 kbar, and the retrograde stage (M3) at ∼ 880 °C / 7 kbar. The decompression heating P-T path generally occurs in the post-collisional lithospheric extension setting which may contribute the UHT metamorphism of the M2 stage. Zircon U-Pb geochronological study reveals four age peaks at ∼ 2.45, ∼ 2.3, ∼ 1.91, and ∼ 1.85–1.78 Ga. We interpret the ∼ 2.45 Ga magmatic event as an older captured zircon age corresponding to a widely reported magmatic event of ∼ 2.4–2.5 Ga in Kuluketage. The slightly younger ∼ 2.3 Ga magmatic event may correspond to the crystallization age of the mafic granulite's protolith, however, rarely reported in northern Tarim. The metamorphic age of ∼ 1.91 Ga represents a collisional-related high-pressure metamorphic age corresponding to the M1 stage and the age peaks of ∼ 1.85–1.78 Ga may represent post-peak cooling events corresponding to the M2-M3 stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A phase equilibrium model study of garnet mica schists in the northern Tarim reveals two clockwise P-T paths. • The Barrovian metamorphic series developed in the northern Tarim, represented by the Upper Xingditage Group (high T/P) and the Lower Xingditage Group (low T/P). • The northern Tarim became a part of the Columbia supercontinent at ∼ 1.91 Ga. • The northern Tarim has an affinity with southwest Siberia during the assembly of the Columbia supercontinent. The Tarim Craton has been considered a part of the Columbia supercontinent. However, the paleogeographic location of the Tarim Craton remains ambiguous or has not been considered in the reconstruction model. This problem is partly due to the dispute over the collisional time between northern Tarim and major Columbia blocks. The Xingditage Group in the Kuluketage area records important information on the Paleoproterozoic evolution of northern Tarim during the Columbia supercontinent convergence, in which the garnet mica schist unit is key to constraining the collision time. We carried out petrographic, phase equilibrium modeling, and zircon U-Pb chronological studies for two garnet mica schist samples (LJS-1 and LJS-2) from the Lower Xingditage Group. This study attempted to constrain the collision time of the northern Tarim in the late Paleoproterozoic from the metamorphic evolution perspective. Petrography shows that both samples are rutile-kyanite-garnet mica schist. The phase equilibrium modeling reveals two clockwise P-T paths. For the sample LJS-1, the peak stage was constrained at ∼ 780 °C/12 kbar and subsequently decompressed to ∼ 760 °C/4 kbar. For sample LJS-2, the peak pressure is relatively higher, reaching ∼ 790 °C/16 kbar, followed by decompression to ∼ 796 °C/3 kbar. Both P-T paths have a near isothermal decompression path, indicating a rapid exhumation process. Zircons in this study record a metamorphic age of 1907 ± 8 Ma, which can represent the collision age of northern Tarim in the late Paleoproterozoic. We propose that the northern Tarim experienced a long-lived orogenic event in the late Paleoproterozoic, and the northern Tarim became a part of the Columbia supercontinent at ∼ 1.91 Ga. In comparison with orogenic belt evolution, an affinity with southwest Siberia was established for northern Tarim during the assembly of the Columbia supercontinent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]