P–T–t paths and tectonic history of an early Precambrian granulite facies terrane, Jining district, south‐east Inner Mongolia, China

The widespread khondalite series of south‐east Inner Mongolia consists largely of biotite–sillimanite–garnet gneiss and quartzo‐feldspathic gneiss with some marble and mafic granulite layers. It has experienced two metamorphic events at c. 2500 and 1900–2000 Ma. A pre‐peak stage of the first metamorphism at T = 600–700°C and P > 6–7 kbar is recognized by the relict amphibolite facies assemblage Ky–Grt–Bt–Pl–Qtz and ‘protected’inclusions of biotite, hornblende, sodic plagioclase and quartz in garnet or orthopyroxene. The peak stage, with T = c. 800 ± 50°C and P 8–10 kbar, is characterized by the widespread granulite facies assemblages Sil–Grt–Bt–Kfs–Pl–Qtz in gneiss and Opx–Cpx–Pl ± Hbl ± Grt in granulite. The P–T–t path suggests that the supracrustal sequence was buried in the lower crust by tectonic thickening during D1–D2. The beginning of the second metamorphism is characterized by further temperature rise to 700°C or more at lower pressure. This stage is manifested by the appearance of cordierite after garnet, fibrolite (Sil2) after biotite in gneiss and transformation of Hbl1 into Opx2 and Cpx2 in granulite. Coronas of symplectitic Opx2 + Pl2 surrounding Grt1 and Cpx1 in mafic granulite are interpreted as products of near‐isothermal decompression. The P–T–t path may be related tectonically to waning extension of the crust by the end of the early Proterozoic.