Expanse of greater india in the cretaceous

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Meng ◽  
Stuart Gilder ◽  
Yalin Li ◽  
Chengshan Wang
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Indian Plate ◽  
Paleomagnetic Data ◽  
Fundamental Parameter ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
Indian Lithosphere ◽  
Tethyan Himalaya

<p>Knowing the original size of Greater India is a fundamental parameter to quantify the amount of continental lithosphere that was subducted to help form the Tibetan Plateau and to constrain the tectonic evolution of the India-Asia collision. Here, we report Early Cretaceous paleomagnetic data from the central and eastern Tethyan Himalaya that yield paleolatitudes consistent with previous Early Cretaceous paleogeographic reconstructions. These data suggest Greater India extended at least 2,675 ± 720 and 1,950 ± 970 km farther north from the present northern margin of India at 83.6°E and 92.4°E, respectively. The paleomagnetic data from Upper Cretaceous rocks of the western Tethyan Himalaya that are consistent with a model that Greater India extended ~2700 km farther north from its present northern margin at the longitude of 79.6°E before collision with Asia. Our result further suggests that the Indian plate, together with Greater India, acted as a single entity since at least the Early Cretaceous. An area of lithosphere ≥4.7 × 10<sup>6</sup> km<sup>2</sup> was consumed through subduction, thereby placing a strict limit on the minimum amount of Indian lithosphere consumed since the breakup of Gondwanaland. The pre-collision geometry of Greater India’s leading margin helped shape the India-Asia plate boundary. The proposed configuration produced right lateral shear east of the indenter, thereby accounting for the clockwise vertical axis block rotations observed there.</p>

Mineralogical characteristics and geological significance of Albian (Early Cretaceous) glauconite in Zanda, southwestern Tibet, China

Clay Minerals ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang Li ◽  
Yuanfeng Cai ◽  
Xiumian Hu ◽  
Zhicheng Huang ◽  
Jiangang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Indian Plate ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
Mineralogical Characteristics ◽  
Antarctic Continent ◽  
Rising Sea Levels ◽  
Highly Evolved

AbstractEarly Cretaceous glauconite from the Xiala section, southwestern Tibet, China, was investigated by petrographic microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). The investigations revealed that the glauconite in both sandstones and limestone is highly evolved. The glauconite in sandstone is autochthonous, but in limestone it may be derived from the underlying glauconitic sandstone. Based on analyses of the depositional environments and comparisons of glauconite-bearing strata in Zanda with sequences in adjacent areas, we conclude that the glauconitization at Zanda was probably associated with rising sea levels during the Late Albian, which represent the final separation of the Indian continent from the Australian-Antarctic continent. After the separation of the Indian continent from the Australian-Antarctic continent, cooling of the Indian continent resulted in subsidence and northward subduction of the Indian plate. A gradually rising sea level in Zanda, located along the northern margin of the Indian continent, was the cause of the low sedimentation rate. Continued transgression resulted in the occurrence of the highly evolved glauconite in this area.

Geochemical and Sr-Nd isotopic characteristics of the lamprophyre in the Tethyan Himalaya, South Tibet

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi-Chao Liu ◽  
Jian-Gang Wang ◽  
Xiao-Chi Liu
Keyword(s):  
Rare Earth ◽  
Rare Earth Elements ◽  
Lithospheric Mantle ◽  
Indian Plate ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Tethyan Himalaya

<p>A lamprophyre dyke has been found in Ramba area within the Tethyan Himalaya. It intruded into the Late Triassic low-grade metasedimentary rocks (Langjiexue Group) and show typical porphyritic textures, with phlogopite as the dominant phenocrysts. In this study, we performed phlogopite 40Ar/39Ar dating and whole-rock major and trace element as well as Sr and Nd isotope geochemical analyses on the lamprophyre. The <sup>40</sup>Ar/<sup>39</sup>Ar plateau ages (13.1 ± 0.2 Ma and 13.5 ± 0.2 Ma) of the phlogopites from two samples are both in excellent agreement with the inverse isochron ages of 13.1 ±0.3 Ma and 13.6 ± 0.3 Ma, recording the times at which the lamprophyre dyke has cooled below ~300 °C. The lamprophyre has low contents of SiO<sub>2</sub> (51.43–55.15 wt%) and Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> (11.10–11.85 wt%), high Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3T</sub> (8.57–9.27 wt%) and MgO (9.14–9.49 wt %) contents with Mg<sup>#</sup> of 66–69, higher content of K<sub>2</sub>O (3.26–5.57 wt%) relative to Na<sub>2</sub>O (0.50–1.39 wt%) with K<sub>2</sub>O/Na<sub>2</sub>O of 2.3–11.1. Furthermore, the lamprophyre has high abundances of large ion lithophile elements (e.g., Rb, Ba, Sr), shows depletions in high field strength elements (e.g., Nb, Ta, Ti), and displays enrichment in light rare-earth elements over heavy rare earth elements with (La/Yb)<sub>N</sub> of 42.3~47.0. Besides, the lamprophyre is characterized by high initial <sup>87</sup>Sr/<sup>86</sup>Sr ratios of 0.7196~0.7204 and negative ε<sub>Nd</sub>(t) values of -10.7~-10.8. Geochemical data suggest that the Ramba lamprophyre was likely generated by partial melting of a metasomatized, phlogopite-bearing harzburgite lithospheric mantle source, followed by crystal fractionation and varying degree of crustal assimilation. The studied lamprophyre provides a window into the composition of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) in the northern margin of the Indian plate. We suggest that the northern Indian plate might be involved in the Andean-type orogeny from the subduction of the Proto-Tethys Ocean during Cambrian to Early Ordovician.</p>

Adjoint Tomography of the Lithospheric Structure beneath Northeastern Tibet

2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 3304-3312
Author(s):  
Xingpeng Dong ◽  
Dinghui Yang ◽  
Hejun Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Indian Plate ◽  
Tectonic Deformation ◽  
Lithospheric Structure ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Northeastern Tibet ◽  
Adjoint Tomography ◽  
Indian Lithosphere

Abstract Northeastern Tibet is still in the primary stage of tectonic deformation and is the key area for studying the lateral expansion of the Tibetan plateau. In particular, the existence of lower crustal flow, southward subduction of the Asian lithosphere, and northward subduction of the Indian lithosphere beneath northeastern Tibet remains controversial. To provide insights into these issues, a high-resolution 3D radially anisotropic model of the lithospheric structure of northeastern Tibet is developed based on adjoint tomography. The Tibetan plateau is characterized as a low S-wave velocity lithosphere, in contrast with the relatively high S-wave velocities of the stable Asian blocks. Our tomographic result indicates that the low-velocity zone (LVZ) within the deep crust extends northeastward from Songpan–Ganzi to Qilian, which is interpreted as a channel flow within the crust. The upper mantle of Alxa and Qinling–Qilian are dominated by a rather homogeneous LVZ, which is inconsistent with the hypothesis that the Asian lithospheric mantle is being subducted southward beneath northeastern Tibet. Furthermore, high-velocity regions are observed in the southern Songpan–Ganzi region at depths ranging from 100 to 200 km, indicating that the northward-subducting Indian plate has probably reached the Xianshuihe fault.

scholarly journals Distribution of Active Faults and Lithospheric Discontinuities in the Himalayan-Tibetan Orogenic Zone Identified by Multiscale Gravity Analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaolong Wu ◽  
Jifeng Wu ◽  
Yang Xiang ◽  
Khan Muhammad Sohail
Keyword(s):  
Active Faults ◽  
Indian Plate ◽  
Normal Faults ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Tectonic Zone ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
Deep Crust ◽  
Eastern Tibet ◽  
Tectonic Boundary ◽  
Derivatives Of

Abstract To reveal the spatial distribution of major active faults and structural discontinuities in the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen, this paper presents wavelet multiscale analysis of the Bouguer gravity field and solves the total horizontal derivatives of each wavelet detail. The results show that, in general, the crustal discontinuities on the Pamir Plateau and in the Himalayan tectonic zone are significant. On the northern margin of Tibet, active faults are mostly visible only in the deep crust. In eastern Tibet, crustal discontinuities decrease as depth increases. The Himalayan crust is undergoing E-W extension, and material discontinuities are significant along N-S-trending normal faults. The Sangri-Nacuo fault is the tectonic boundary between the Himalayan tectonic zone and the eastern Himalayan syntaxis and cuts off the entire lithosphere of Tibet. The spatial structural distributions of the western and eastern Himalayan syntaxes are very different. The former is relatively intact and extends deeper in the lithosphere, while the latter is more complex and shallower than the Mohorovicic discontinuity, and its overlying crust has deformed intensely from the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates. Further, the structural distribution in the upper mantle reveals that the wedging Indian plate in the western Himalayan syntaxis almost reaches the SW margin of the Tarim basin and forms a closed structure in western Tibet, which could help to explain the eastward extrusion of the Tibetan Plateau.

scholarly journals Burial and Exhumation History of the Lujing Uranium Ore Field, Zhuguangshan Complex, South China: Evidence from Low-Temperature Thermochronology

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 116
Author(s):  
Yue Sun ◽  
Barry P. Kohn ◽  
Samuel C. Boone ◽  
Dongsheng Wang ◽  
Kaixing Wang
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
South China ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Thermal Evolution ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Uranium Ore ◽  
Production Area

The Zhuguangshan complex hosts the main uranium production area in South China. We report (U-Th)/He and fission track thermochronological data from Triassic–Jurassic mineralized and non-mineralized granites and overlying Cambrian and Cretaceous sandstone units from the Lujing uranium ore field (LUOF) to constrain the upper crustal tectono-thermal evolution of the central Zhuguangshan complex. Two Cambrian sandstones yield reproducible zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) ages of 133–106 Ma and low effective uranium (eU) content (270–776 ppm). One Upper Cretaceous sandstone and seven Mesozoic granites are characterized by significant variability in ZHe ages (154–83 Ma and 167–36 Ma, respectively), which show a negative relationship with eU content (244–1098 ppm and 402–4615 ppm), suggesting that the observed age dispersion can be attributed to the effect of radiation damage accumulation on 4He diffusion. Correspondence between ZHe ages from sandstones and granites indicates that surrounding sedimentary rocks and igneous intrusions supplied sediment to the Cretaceous–Paleogene Fengzhou Basin lying adjacent to the LUOF. The concordance of apatite fission track (AFT) central ages (61–54 Ma) and unimodal distributions of confined track lengths of five samples from different rock units suggest that both sandstone and granite samples experienced a similar cooling history throughout the entire apatite partial annealing zone (~110–60 °C). Apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He (AHe) ages from six non-mineralized samples range from 67 to 19 Ma, with no apparent correlation to eU content (2–78 ppm). Thermal history modeling of data suggests that the LUOF experienced relatively rapid Early Cretaceous cooling. In most samples, this was followed by the latest Early Cretaceous–Late Cretaceous reheating and subsequent latest Late Cretaceous–Recent cooling to surface temperatures. This history is considered as a response to the transmission of far-field stresses, involving alternating periods of regional compression and extension, related to paleo-Pacific plate subduction and subsequent rollback followed by Late Paleogene–Recent India–Asia collision and associated uplift and eastward extrusion of the Tibetan Plateau. Thermal history models are consistent with the Fengzhou Basin having been significantly more extensive in the Late Cretaceous–Early Paleogene, covering much of the LUOF. Uranium ore bodies which may have formed prior to the Late Cretaceous may have been eroded by as much as ~1.2 to 4.8 km during the latest Late Cretaceous–Recent denudation.

Mesozoic Tectonic Setting of SE Sundaland After Magmatism and Suture Evidences in JS-1 Ridge Area

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Early Jurassic ◽  
The South ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
Plate Convergence ◽  
Ridge Area ◽  
Cretaceous Subduction

Mesozoic plate convergence in SE Sundaland has been a source of debate for decades. A determination of plate convergence boundaries and timing have been explained in many publications, but not all boundaries were associated with magmatism. Through integration of both plate configurations and magmatic deposits, the basement can be accurately characterized over time and areal extents. This paper will discuss Cretaceous subductions and magmatic arc trends in SE Sundaland area with additional evidence found in JS-1 Ridge. At least three subduction trends are captured during the Mesozoic in the study area: 1) Early Jurassic – Early Cretaceous trend of Meratus, 2) Early Cretaceous trend of Bantimala and 3) Late Cretaceous trend in the southernmost study area. The Early Jurassic – Early Cretaceous subduction occurred along the South and East boundary of Sundaland (SW Borneo terrane) and passes through the Meratus area. The Early Cretaceous subduction occurred along South and East boundary of Sundaland (SW Borneo and Paternoster terranes) and pass through the Bantimala area. The Late Cretaceous subduction occurred along South and East boundary of Sundaland (SW Borneo, Paternoster and SE Java – South Sulawesi terranes), but is slightly shifted to the South approaching the Oligocene – Recent subduction zone. Magmatic arc trends can also be generally grouped into three periods, with each period corresponds to the subduction processes at the time. The first magmatic arc (Early Jurassic – Early Cretaceous) is present in core of SW Borneo terrane and partly produces the Schwaner Magmatism. The second Cretaceous magmatic arc (Early Cretaceous) trend is present in the SW Borneo terrane but is slightly shifted southeastward It is responsible for magmatism in North Java offshore, northern JS-1 Ridge and Meratus areas. The third magmatic arc trend is formed by Late Cretaceous volcanic rocks in Luk Ulo, the southern JS-1 Ridge and the eastern Makassar Strait areas. These all occur during the same time within the Cretaceous magmatic arc. Though a mélange rock sample has not been found in JS-1 Ridge area, there is evidence of an accretionary prism in the area as evidenced by the geometry observed on a new 3D seismic dataset. Based on the structural trend of Meratus (NNE-SSW) coupled with the regional plate boundary understanding, this suggests that both Meratus & JS-1 Ridge are part of the same suture zone between SW Borneo and Paternoster terranes. The gradual age transition observed in the JS-1 Ridge area suggests a southward shift of the magmatic arc during Early Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous times.

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