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We report the first finding of Ediacaran mafic magmatism in northern Victoria Land of the Ross orogen, Antarctica, based on ca. 600–590 Ma magmatic zircon cores in Cambrian eclogites. The mafic magmatism could be either linked to ca. 615–590 Ma incipient convergent margin magmatism in central segment of the Ross orogen, or ca. 600–580 Ma continental rift‐related volcanism widespread in eastern Australia. The latter is preferred based on the trace‐element compositions distinctive from those of arc‐related basalts and the depleted mantle‐like Hf isotopic compositions of zircon. Our results suggest dual rifting episodes during both the Ediacaran and Cryogenian (ca. 670–650 Ma) in the East Antarctic margin, correlative with those in eastern Australia. A spatial distribution of coeval rifting and subduction along the Ediacaran margin of East Antarctica is readily accounted for by rift inheritance; the upper‐ and lower‐plate geometry resulting from detachment and transform faulting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neoproterozoic rift-related rocks of the North China Craton (NCC), including the Korean Peninsula, provide crucial information for global supercontinent reconstruction during the Rodinia breakup and Gondwana assembly. Here, we report not only zircon and baddeleyite U-Pb ages but also zircon Hf isotopic and bulk rock compositions of amphibolites in the Ogcheon Metamorphic Belt (OMB), Korea. Zircon occurs as either primary phase or secondary one replacing igneous baddeleyite. Primary zircons analyzed from three amphibolites yielded the weighted mean 206Pb/238U ages of 755 ± 5 Ma (n = 19), 772 ± 3 Ma (n = 9), and 779 ± 13 Ma (n = 12), respectively; this result is corroborated by the baddeleyite age of ∼760–745 Ma. Secondary zircons define discordia lines with lower intercepts corresponding to the Jurassic or Cretaceous age of granites emplaced adjacent to the amphibolite. In conjunction with the occurrence of coeval (ca. 762–745 Ma) metatrachytes, our result suggests that late Tonian bimodal magmatism has lasted for ∼30 m.yr. in the OMB. Moreover, positive ε Hf (t) values (4.9–21.4) of zircon in amphibolites indicate a depleted mantle source of mafic magma, whereas trace element compositions attest to an intraplate setting for the crystallization. A compilation of Nb-Th and Zr–Zr/Y data suggests that the intraplate setting is also pertinent to ca. 950–750 Ma mafic rocks from the Gyeonggi Marginal Belt, Korea, as well as the NCC. Such a tectonomagmatic correlation is corroborated by detrital zircon age spectra of metasedimentary rocks in the OMB equivalent to those of early Tonian rocks in the NCC. In marked contrast to tectonic scenarios conjecturing a linkage between the OMB and the Nanhua rift, South China Craton (SCC), we conclude that the Ogcheon Belt provides rare geologic-geochronologic evidence for late Tonian breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent at the eastern NCC margin. [Display omitted] • Three amphibolites in the Ogcheon Belt, Korea, precisely dated at ca. 780–750 Ma. • Late Tonian bimodal magmatism in an intraplate rift-related setting • Prolonged intraplate magmatism at ca. 950–750 Ma in the Gyeonggi Marginal Belt. • The Korean Peninsula linked to the North China Craton during the Rodinia breakup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We analyzed detrital zircons in four metasandstones and two metadiamictites of the central Ogcheon Metamorphic Belt (OMB) in order to provide geochronologic constraints on the time of deposition and protolith age distributions. SHRIMP U-Pb ages of the newly analyzed zircons range from Archean to Early Paleozoic, and their age patterns permit the definition of four lithotectonic slices: upper and lower Pibanryeong units consisting primarily of quartzite and metasandstone; an upper Poeun unit of black slate containing Early Permian plant fossils; and a lower Poeun unit made up of metasandstone and metadiamictite. A quartzite of the upper Pibanryeong unit yielded two major zircon age populations at 965±11Ma and 447±5Ma, whereas two lower Pibanryeong metasandstones show major age concentrations at ∼2.5Ga, 1.0–0.9Ga, and 545–535Ma. The youngest components of these units suggest maximum ages of sedimentation as Late Ordovician and Early Cambrian, respectively. These upper and lower Pibanryeong zircon age distribution patterns are consistent with those of Ordovician and Devonian sedimentary strata, respectively from the South China Craton (SCC). On the other hand, three samples of the lower Poeun unit yielded two distinct age populations at ∼1.87Ga and 755±7Ma. In addition, a metadiamictite contains abundant Mesoproterozoic zircons with two broad peaks centered at ∼1.3 and 1.6Ga. Protolith ages and distribution patterns are profoundly different between the Pibanryeong and Poeun lithotectonic packages, suggesting the presence of a major thrust fault juxtaposing allochthons that are also characterized by large P–T contrasts. Our detrital zircon results for the Pibanryeong unit are compatible with derivation from the SCC, in apparent contrast with the Poeun occurrence of Early Permian plant fossils most likely correlative with the North China Craton (NCC). Taken together, the suturing of Paleozoic metasedimentary terranes in the OMB is a product of Permo–Triassic orogeny reflecting collision of the North and South China cratons. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]