Middle Triassic arc magmatism in the southern Lhasa terrane: Geochronology, petrogenesis and tectonic setting

Before opening of the Japan Sea, the Japanese islands were attached to the eastern margin of the Asian continent. The Southern Kitakami Belt is regarded as a micro-continent in an accretional complex of the islands, that accreted before the Early Cretaceous. But its tectonic setting and location between the belt and the Asian continent is still an unresolved argument.Permo-Triassic sequences in the Southern Kitakami Belt are composed of shallow to off-shore deposits. These deposits are composed of clastics, carbonates with volcaniclastics. But there was no volcanic activity in the belt in the Middle to Late Permian. From the viewpoint of the sedimentary character and history, the Middle Permian to Middle Triassic sequences differ from their previous and their following successions in the belt. And the sedimentary basin of Middle Permian to Middle Triassic was bounded by transform faults. Magmatic arc was replaced by passive margin as hinterland of the Southern Kitakami Belt during the Middle Permian to Middle Triassic. It means that the sedimentary basin moved from the margin of Yangtze Platform to Sino-Korean Platform at that time.

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Two phases of post-onset collision adakitic magmatism in the southern Lhasa subterrane, Tibet, and their tectonic implications

Geological Society of America Bulletin ◽

10.1130/b35326.1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 132 (7-8) ◽

pp. 1587-1602

Author(s):

Tian-Yu Lu ◽

Zhen-Yu He ◽

Reiner Klemd

Keyword(s):

Rare Earth ◽

Lower Crust ◽

Tectonic Setting ◽

Geochemical Data ◽

Magma Source ◽

New Mineral ◽

Element Abundances ◽

Lhasa Terrane ◽

Adakitic Rocks ◽

Two Phases

Abstract Abundant Neogene adakitic magmatism occurred in the southern Lhasa subterrane after the onset of the India–Asia collision while convergence continued. However, the tectonic setting and magmatic evolution of the adakitic rocks are still under discussion. This study includes new mineral chemical and whole-rock geochemical data as well as zircon U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotopes of adakitic intrusive rocks from the Gyaca and Nyemo locations in the southern Lhasa subterrane. Laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA–ICP–MS) zircon U-Pb dating yielded crystallization ages of ca. 30 Ma for the Gyaca and Nyemo monzogranite and ca. 15 Ma for the Nyemo granodiorite. Both have common chemical signatures such as low MgO and heavy rare earth element contents as well as low compatible element abundances, indicating that these rocks result from partial melting of thickened lower crust with residual eclogite and garnet amphibolite. Furthermore, these rocks are characterized by variable positive zircon εHf(t) values, suggesting a juvenile magma source with variable ancient crustal contributions. Taking previous data into account, the adakitic magmatism concurs with an early late Eocene to Oligocene (ca. 38–25 Ma) and a late Miocene (ca. 20–10 Ma) phase. The adakitic rocks of the two phases are characterized by different fractionation evolutions of light and medium rare earth elements. We propose that the early-phase adakitic rocks were generated by the anatexis of Lhasa terrane lower crust owing to crustal shortening and thickening subsequent to the onset of the India–Asia collision and the upwelling of hot asthenosphere beneath the Lhasa terrane caused by the break-off of the Neo-Tethyan oceanic slab. The latest phase of adakitic rocks, however, relates to upwelling asthenosphere following the delamination and/or break-off of the subducting Indian continental slab.

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Generation of the 105–100 Ma Dagze volcanic rocks in the north Lhasa Terrane by lower crustal melting at different temperature and depth: Implications for tectonic transition

Geological Society of America Bulletin ◽

10.1130/b35306.1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 132 (5-6) ◽

pp. 1257-1272 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Yun-Chuan Zeng ◽

Ji-Feng Xu ◽

Feng Huang ◽

Ming-Jian Li ◽

Qin Chen

Keyword(s):

Early Cretaceous ◽

Lower Crust ◽

Tectonic Setting ◽

Volcanic Rocks ◽

Geochemical Data ◽

Lhasa Terrane ◽

The North ◽

Tectonic Transition ◽

Group I ◽

Group Ii

Abstract Successively erupted intermediate-felsic rocks with variations in their geochemical compositions indicate physical changes in lower-crust conditions, and the variations can provide important insights into the regional tectonic setting. What triggered the late Early Cretaceous tectonic transition of the central-north Lhasa Terrane remains controversial, hindering the understanding of the mechanisms behind the formation of the central Tibetan Plateau. The sodic Dagze volcanic rocks in the north Lhasa Terrane are characterized by high contents of SiO2 and Na2O, low contents of MgO, Fe2O3, and K2O, and low values of Mg#. However, the trace element compositions of the whole-rocks and their zircons allow the rocks to be divided into two groups. The Group I rocks (ca. 105 Ma) have higher contents of Sr and Ba, higher Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios, and lower contents of Y, Yb, Ti, and Zr than Group II rocks (ca. 100 Ma). Besides, the zircons from Group I rocks have higher values of Yb/Gd and U/Yb, lower values of Th/U, and lower Ti contents than the zircons from Group II rocks. However, the rocks of both groups have identical depleted whole-rock Sr-Nd and zircon Hf isotope values. The geochemical data indicate that rocks of both groups were generated by partial melting of a juvenile lower crust, but the differences in the two groups reflect a transition from deep-cold melting to relatively shallower-hotter melting in the period from ca. 105 to 100 Ma. This transition was synchronous with the rapid cooling of granitoids, topographic uplift, and the shutdown of magmatism in the central-north Lhasa Terrane, and followed by sedimentation and the resumption of magmatism in the south Lhasa Terrane. The above observations collectively indicate that the central-north Lhasa Terrane was under an extensional setting in late Early Cretaceous, and we tentatively suggest that it was in response to lithospheric drip during roll-back of the northward-subducting Neo-Tethyan oceanic plate.

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