Three stages of arc migration in the Carboniferous-Triassic in northern Qiangtang, central Tibet, China: Ridge subduction and asynchronous slab rollback of the Jinsha Paleotethys

Carboniferous-Triassic magmatism in northern Qiangtang, central Tibet, China, played a key role in the evolution of the Tibetan Plateau yet remains a subject of intense debate. New geochronological and geochemical data from adakitic, Nb-enriched, and normal arc magmatic rocks, integrated with results from previous studies, enable us to determine the Carboniferous-Triassic (312−205 Ma), arc-related, plutonic-volcanic rocks in northern Qiangtang. Spatial-temporal relationships reveal three periods of younging including southward (312−252 Ma), rapid northward (249−237 Ma), and normal northward (234−205 Ma) migrations that correspond to distinct slab geodynamic processes including continentward slab shallowing, rapid trenchward slab rollback, and normal trenchward rollback of the Jinsha Paleotethys rather than the Longmuco-Shuanghu Paleotethys, respectively. Moreover, varying degrees of coexistence of adakites/High-Mg andesites (HMAs)/Nb-enriched basalt-andesites (NEBs) and intraplate basalts in the above-mentioned stages is consistent with the magmatic effects of slab window triggered by ridge subduction, which probably started since the Late Carboniferous and continued into the Late Triassic. The Carboniferous-Triassic multiple magmatic migrations and ridge-subduction scenarios provide new insight into the geodynamic processes of the Jinsha Paleotethys and the growth mechanism of the Tibetan Plateau.

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Supplemental Material: Three stages of arc migration in the Carboniferous-Triassic in northern Qiangtang, central Tibet, China: Ridge subduction and asynchronous slab rollback of the Jinsha Paleotethys

10.1130/gsab.s.13724017 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yin Liu ◽

W.J. Xiao ◽

et al.

Keyword(s):

Geochemical Data ◽

Data Set ◽

Ridge Subduction ◽

Data Table ◽

Magmatic Rocks ◽

Slab Rollback ◽

Three Stages ◽

Zircon Morphology ◽

Central Tibet ◽

Qiangtang Terrane

Sampling details (Table S1), zircon geochronological data (Table S2), geochemical data (Table S3), and a summary of zircon morphology and geochronology (Table S4) for Carboniferous-Triassic samples from the northern Qiangtang terrane. Geochemical data set of Carboniferous-Triassic magmatic rocks from the northern Qiangtang terrane (Table S5).

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Supplemental Material: Three stages of arc migration in the Carboniferous-Triassic in northern Qiangtang, central Tibet, China: Ridge subduction and asynchronous slab rollback of the Jinsha Paleotethys

10.1130/gsab.s.13724017.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yin Liu ◽

W.J. Xiao ◽

et al.

Keyword(s):

Geochemical Data ◽

Data Set ◽

Ridge Subduction ◽

Data Table ◽

Magmatic Rocks ◽

Slab Rollback ◽

Three Stages ◽

Zircon Morphology ◽

Central Tibet ◽

Qiangtang Terrane

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Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks in Yunzhug area, central Tibet, China, associated with arc–continent collision in the Tibetan Plateau?

Lithos ◽

10.1016/j.lithos.2020.105827 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 105827

Author(s):

Sheng-Sheng Chen ◽

Wei-Ming Fan ◽

Ren-Deng Shi ◽

Ji-Feng Xu ◽

Ke Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Early Cretaceous ◽

Volcanic Rocks ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Central Tibet

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Linking deeply-sourced volatile emissions to plateau growth dynamics in southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-24415-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Maoliang Zhang ◽

Zhengfu Guo ◽

Sheng Xu ◽

Peter H. Barry ◽

Yuji Sano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Growth Dynamics ◽

High Elevation ◽

Fault System ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Southeastern Tibetan Plateau ◽

Surface Uplift ◽

Multi Stage ◽

Geodynamic Processes ◽

Underlying Mechanisms

AbstractThe episodic growth of high-elevation orogenic plateaux is controlled by a series of geodynamic processes. However, determining the underlying mechanisms that drive plateau growth dynamics over geological history and constraining the depths at which growth originates, remains challenging. Here we present He-CO2-N2 systematics of hydrothermal fluids that reveal the existence of a lithospheric-scale fault system in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, whereby multi-stage plateau growth occurred in the geological past and continues to the present. He isotopes provide unambiguous evidence for the involvement of mantle-scale dynamics in lateral expansion and localized surface uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. The excellent correlation between 3He/4He values and strain rates, along the strike of Indian indentation into Asia, suggests non-uniform distribution of stresses between the plateau boundary and interior, which modulate southeastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau within the context of India-Asia convergence. Our results demonstrate that deeply-sourced volatile geochemistry can be used to constrain deep dynamic processes involved in orogenic plateau growth.

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Origin of Boron and Brine Evolution in Saline Springs in the Nangqen Basin, Southern Tibetan Plateau

Geofluids ◽

10.1155/2018/1985784 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2018 ◽

pp. 1-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ji-long Han ◽

Feng-qing Han ◽

Syed-Asim Hussain ◽

Wen-yu Liu ◽

Xiu-qing Nian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Volcanic Rocks ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Molar Ratios ◽

Marine Carbonate ◽

O Isotopes ◽

Saline Springs ◽

Crustal Origin ◽

D Values ◽

Saline Spring

The Nangqen Basin is a typical shearing-extensional basin situated in the hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau. It contains abundant saline spring resources and abnormal trace element enrichments. The hydrochemical molar ratios (Na/Cl, B/Cl, and Br/Cl), H-O isotopes, and B isotopes of the saline spring were systematically measured to describe the evolution of brines and the origin of the boron. The sodium chloride coefficient of the water samples in this area is around 1.0 or slightly greater, which is characteristic of leached brines; the highest B/Cl value is 4.25 (greater than that of seawater). The Na/Cl, B/Cl, and Br/Cl values of the springs are clear indicators of a crustal origin. Theδ18O values of the spring waters range from −12.88‰to −16.05‰, and theδD values range from −100.91‰to −132.98‰. Meanwhile the B content and B isotopes in the saline springs are in the ranges of 1.00 to 575.56 ppm and +3.55‰to +29.59‰, respectively. It has been proven that the saline springs in the Nangqen Basin are a type of leached brine, suggesting that the saline springs have a terrestrial origin. Theδ11B-B characteristics of the springs are similar to those observed in the Tibetan geothermal area, indicating that these two places have the same B source. Moreover, they have a crustal origin (marine carbonate rocks and volcanic rocks) instead of a deep mantle source.

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Neoproterozoic Amdo and Jiayuqiao microblocks in the Tibetan Plateau: Implications for Rodinia reconstruction

Geological Society of America Bulletin ◽

10.1130/b35632.1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yiming Liu ◽

Yuhua Wang ◽

Sanzhong Li ◽

M. Santosh ◽

Runhua Guo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

South China ◽

Tectonic Setting ◽

Parental Magma ◽

Tibet Plateau ◽

Geochemical Data ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

South China Craton ◽

Neoproterozoic Magmatism ◽

T Values

The Tibetan Plateau is composed of several microblocks, the tectonic affinity and paleogeographic correlations of which remain enigmatic. We investigated the Amdo and Jiayuqiao microblocks in central Tibet Plateau with a view to understand their tectonic setting and paleogeographic position within the Neoproterozoic supercontinent Rodinia. We present zircon U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotope, and whole-rock geochemical data on Neoproterozoic granitic gneisses from these microblocks. Zircon grains from the Jiayuqiao granitic gneiss yielded an age of 857 ± 9 Ma with variable εHf(t) values (−8.9 to 4.0). The Amdo granitic gneisses yielded ages of 893 ± 5 Ma, 807 ± 5 Ma, and 767 ± 11 Ma, with εHf(t) values in the range of −4.9 to 3.5. Geochemically, the granitoids belong to high-K calc-alkaline series, with the protolith derived from partial melting of ancient crustal components. The ascending parental magma of the Amdo granitoids experienced significant mantle contamination as compared to the less contaminated magmas that generated the Jiayuqiao intrusions. In contrast to the Lhasa, Himalaya, South China, and Tarim blocks, we suggest that the Amdo and Jiayuqiao microblocks probably formed a unified block during the Neoproterozoic and were located adjacent to the southwestern part of South China craton. The Neoproterozoic magmatism was probably associated with the subduction of the peripheral ocean under the South China craton and the delamination of lithospheric mantle beneath the Jiangnan orogen.

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Passive-margin magmatism caused by enhanced slab-pull forces in central Tibet

Geology ◽

10.1130/g47957.1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Wei Dan ◽

Qiang Wang ◽

William M. White ◽

Xian-Hua Li ◽

Xiu-Zheng Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Passive Margin ◽

Lower Plate ◽

Isotopic Signatures ◽

Ridge Subduction ◽

Slab Rollback ◽

Element Enrichment ◽

Central Tibet ◽

Back Arc ◽

Ocean Ridge ◽

Qiangtang Terrane

We report on a ca. 239 Ma mafic dike swarm intruded in the Southern Qiangtang terrane, central Tibet, that was generated on the passive continental margin of a subducting lower plate. The dikes are tholeiitic basalts and exhibit light rare earth element enrichment, modest negative anomalies in Nb and Ta, and enriched isotopic signatures. The dikes are coeval with a back-arc basin formed in the upper plate as a result of the rollback of the Paleo-Tethys oceanic slab. Thus, after ocean-ridge subduction, enhanced slab-pull forces related to slab rollback on one side of the ocean induced extension and magmatism in the passive margin on the opposite side. We argue that enhanced slab-pull forces are a previously unrecognized mechanism for the generation of lower-plate passive-margin magmatism.

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The tectonic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences ◽

10.1098/rsta.1988.0135 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 327 (1594) ◽

pp. 379-413 ◽

Cited By ~ 811

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Late Jurassic ◽

Middle Eocene ◽

Late Triassic ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Peninsular India ◽

Lhasa Terrane ◽

Lateral Extrusion ◽

Palaeomagnetic Data ◽

Normal Thickness

The Tibetan Plateau, between the Kunlun Shan and the Himalayas, consists of terranes accreted successively to Eurasia. The northernmost, the Songban Ganzi Terrane, was accreted to the Kunlun (Tarim-North China Terrane) along the Kunlun-Qinling Suture during the late Permian. The Qiangtang Terrane accreted to the Songban-Ganzi along the Jinsha Suture during the late Triassic or earliest Jurassic, the Lhasa Terrane to the Qiangtang along the Banggong Suture during the late Jurassic and, finally, Peninsular India to the Lhasa Terrane along the Zangbo Suture during the Middle Eocene. The Kunlun Shan, Qiangtang and Lhasa Terranes are all underlain by Precambrian continental crust at least a billion years old. The Qiangtang and Lhasa Terranes came from Gondwanaland. Substantial southward ophiolite obduction occurred across the Lhasa Terrane from the Banggong Suture in the late Jurassic and from the Zangbo Suture in the latest Cretaceous-earliest Palaeocene. Palaeomagnetic data suggest successive wide Palaeotethyan oceans during the late Palaeozoic and early Mesozoic and a Neotethys which was at least 6000 km wide during the mid-Cretaceous. Thickening of the Tibetan crust to almost double the normal thickness occurred by northward-migrating north-south shortening and vertical stretching during the mid-Eocene to earliest Miocene indentation of Asia by India; Neogene strata are almost flat-lying and rest unconformably upon Palaeogene or older strata. Since the early Miocene, the northward motion of India has been accommodated principally by north south shortening both north and south of Tibet. From early Pliocene to the Present, the Tibetan Plateau has risen by about two kilometres and has suffered east-west extension. Little, if any, of the India Eurasia convergence has been accommodated by eastward lateral extrusion.

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Geochemistry of Cenozoic volcanic rocks in Tengchong, SW China: relationship with the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau

Island Arc ◽

10.1111/j.1440-1738.2012.00819.x ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

pp. 255-269 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Yutao Zhang ◽

Jiaqi Liu ◽

Fanchao Meng

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Volcanic Rocks ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Sw China

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Early Eocene rapid exhumation record in the region of Nima, central Tibet, as determined by low-temperature thermochronology

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-5082 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Weiwei Xue ◽

Yani Najman ◽

Xiumian Hu ◽

Cristina Persano ◽

Finlay M. Stuart ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Earth Sciences ◽

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Low Temperature ◽

Hanging Wall ◽

Published Data ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

History Of ◽

Central Tibet ◽

Inversion Modelling ◽

Early Paleogene

Knowledge of the geological history of the Tibetan plateau is critical to understanding crustal deformation process, and the plateau&#8217;s influence on climate. However, the timing of Tibetan plateau development remains controversial. The Nima Basin along the Jurassic-Cretaceous Bangong Suture in central Tibet provides well-dated records of exhumation in this area. Here, we present detrital zircon U-Pb, apatite U-Th/He (AHe) and apatite fission track data (AFT) from upper Cretaceous and Oligocene red sandstones and conglomerates in the Nima Basin, as well as from the Xiabie granite in the hanging wall of the basin-bounding Muggar Thrust. 4 granite conglomerate clasts from the above yield zircon U-Pb ages ranging between 114-122 Ma, which likely come from the Xiabie granite. 7 granitoid/sandstone conglomerate clasts yield AHe ages ranging from 21-58 Ma, while AFT ages range from 34-83 Ma. Thermal history inversion modelling for five of the above samples show a consistent rapid cooling from 100 &#8451; to 30 &#8451; between 50-40 Ma, the cooling rate decreased significantly after 40 Ma. Implications of these data, integrated in the context of previously published data for the wider region (e.g. Rohrmann et al. 2012; Haider et al., 2013; Li et al., 2019) will be discussed.&#160;ReferenceRohrmann, A et al., 2012, Thermochronologic evidence for plateau formation in central Tibet by 45 Ma: Geology, v. 40, p. 187-190.Haider, V. L et al., 2013, Cretaceous to Cenozoic evolution of the northern Lhasa Terrane and the Early Paleogene development of peneplains at Nam Co, Tibetan Plateau: Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, v. 70-71, p. 79-98.Li, H. A et al., 2019, The formation and expansion of the eastern Proto-Tibetan Plateau: Insights from low-temperature thermochronology: Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, v. 183, 103975.

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