The petrogenesis and tectonic implications of the granitoid gneisses from Xingxingxia in the eastern segment of Central Tianshan Zhong-Mei Wang a,b,c,⇑ , Chun-Ming Han a,b,⇑ , Wen-Jiao Xiao a,b , Ben-Xun Su a , Patrick Asamoah Sakyi d , Dong-Fang Song a,b , Li-Na Lin a,b,c a State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China b Xinjiang Research Center for Mineral Resources, Urumqi 830011, China c University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China d Department of Earth Science, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG 58, Legon-Accra, Ghana article info Article history: Received 12 December 2013 Received in revised form 3 March 2014 Accepted 18 March 2014 Available online 26 March 2014 Keywords: Central Tianshan Tarim Craton Grenvillian Granitoid gneisses Zircon U–Pb dating and Hf isotopes abstract As part of Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), the Central Tianshan zone plays a crucial role in the recon- struction of the tectonic evolution of the CAOB. Furthermore, it is bordered by the Tarim Craton to the south, and the comparable evolutionary history between them enables the Central Tianshan zone to pro- vide essential information on the crustal evolution of the Tarim Craton. The eastern segment of the Central Tianshan tectonic zone is characterized by the presence of numerous Precambrian metamorphic rocks, among which the Xingxingxia Group is the most representative one. The granitoids gneisses, intruded into the Xingxingxia Group, consist of two major lithological assemblages: (1) biotite-monzonitic gneisses and (2) biotite-plagioclase gneisses. These metamorphosed granitoid rocks are characterized by enrichment in SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 and K 2 O and depletion in MgO and FeO T . The Rittmann index (r) spreads between 1.44 and 2.21 and ACNK (Al 2 O 3 /(CaO + Na 2 O+K 2 O)) ranges from 1.03 to 1.08, indicating that these granitoid gneis- ses are high-K calc-alkaline and peraluminous. Trace element data indicate that the studied samples are enriched in LREE with moderate REE fractionated patterns ((La/Yb) N = 10.5–75.3). The concentrations of HREE of the garnet-bearing gneisses are significantly higher than those of garnet-free gneisses. The former show pronounced negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu * = 0.32–0.57), while the latter are characterized by neg- ligible negative Eu anomalies to moderate positive Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu * = 0.80–1.35). In addition, the enrichment of LILE (Rb, Th, K, Pb) and depletion of HFSE (Ta, Nb, P, Ti) of the examined granitoid gneisses are similar to typical volcanic-arc granites. Zircons U–Pb dating on the biotite monzonitic gneiss yields a weighted mean 206 Pb/ 238 U age of 942.4 ± 5.1 Ma, suggesting their protoliths were formed in the early Neo- proterozoic, which is compatible with the time of the assembly of supercontinent Rodinia. The zircons have a large e Hf (t) variation from 5.6 to +3.2, suggesting that both old crust-derived magmas and mantle-derived juvenile materials contributed to the formation of their protoliths. Based on field observa- tion, and petrological, geochemical and geochronological investigations, we infer that the granitoid gneis- ses from Xingxingxia were probably formed on a continental arc that resulted from the interaction of Australia and the Tarim Craton during the assembly of the Rodinia supercontinent, and that the Central Tianshan zone was a part of the Tarim Craton during that time. Besides, the Grenvillian orogenic events may have developed better in the Tarim Craton than previously expected. Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The Tianshan, resulted from polyphase accretion and deforma- tion, is the longest mountain range in Central Asia. The Chinese Tianshan belt is divided into North Tianshan, Central Tianshan and South Tianshan by large-scaled faults. The Central Tianshan tectonic zone is a narrow domain between the early Paleozoic South Tianshan passive continental margin and the late Paleozoic North Tianshan arc zone (Liu et al., 2004), with the Precambrian rocks widely exposed and well preserved in the easternmost of the zone. However, most of the basement rocks are unconformably overlain by unmetamorphosed Paleozoic–Mesozoic sedimentary cover with only sporadic outcrops (Liu et al., 2004; Zhang et al., http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2014.03.015 1367-9120/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding authors at: State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China. Tel.: +86 10 82998520; fax: +86 10 62010846. E-mail addresses: wangzm@mail.iggcas.ac.cn (Z.-M. Wang), cm-han@mail. iggcas.ac.cn (C.-M. Han). Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 88 (2014) 277–292 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Asian Earth Sciences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jseaes