Late Triassic orogenic assembly of the Tibetan Plateau: constraints from magmatism and metamorphism in the east Lhasa terrane

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanfei Chen ◽  
Zeming Zhang ◽  
Richard M Palin ◽  
Zuolin Tian ◽  
Hua Xiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crustal Thickening ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Plate Convergence ◽  
Lhasa Terrane ◽  
The North ◽  
Tectonic History ◽  
Peak Metamorphism ◽  
Tethys Ocean ◽  
Lower Crustal

Abstract The early Mesozoic evolution of the Lhasa terrane, which represents a major component of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen, remains highly controversial. In particular, geological units and events documented either side of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis (EHS) are poorly correlated. Here, we report new petrological, geochemical and geochronological data for co-genetic peraluminous S-type granites and metamorphic rocks (gneiss and schist) from the Motuo–Bomi–Chayu region of the eastern Lhasa terrane, located on the eastern flank of the EHS. Zircon U–Pb dating indicates that these units record both Late Triassic magmatic (216–206 Ma) and metamorphic (209–198 Ma) episodes. The granites were derived from a Paleoproterozoic crustal source with negative zircon εHf(t) values (–5.5 to –16.6) and TDM2 model ages of 1.51–1.99 Ga, and are interpreted to have formed by crustal anatexis of nearby metasediments during collisional orogeny and crustal thickening. The gneisses and schists experienced similar upper amphibolite-facies peak metamorphism and associated partial melting, followed by decompressional cooling and retrograde metamorphism. These rocks were buried to lower-crustal depths and then exhumated to the surface in a collisional orogenic setting during plate convergence. From comparison of these data to other metamorphic belts with similar grades and ages, and association of coeval granitic magmatism widespread in the central-east Lhasa terrane, we propose that the studied co-genetic magmatism and metamorphism in the Motuo–Bomi–Chayu region records Late Triassic accretion of the North Lhasa and South Lhasa terranes, which represents the first evidence of the Paleo-Tethys ocean (PTO) closure in this part of Asia. These data provide new constraints on the spatial and temporal evolution of the Paleo-Tethyan Wilson Cycle and provide a ‘missing link’ to correlate the geology and tectonic history of the Lhasa terrane continental crust on either side of the EHS.

Metamorphic rocks of the 1985 Tibet Geotraverse, Lhasa to Golmud

1988 ◽  
Vol 327 (1594) ◽  
pp. 203-213 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Regional Metamorphism ◽  
Metamorphic Grade ◽  
Metamorphic Rocks ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Crustal Anatexis ◽  
Prograde Metamorphism ◽  
Lhasa Terrane ◽  
The North ◽  
Peak Metamorphism

Two examples of uplifted basement have been studied in the Lhasa Terrane of the Tibetan Plateau. The Nyainqentanglha orthogneisses are bounded by staurolite-garnet schists to the north which record prograde metamorphism at 5 .0 ± 1.3 kbar, 610 ± 70 °C. Garnet sillimanite xenoliths within the orthogneiss suggest that peak temperatures reached at least 700 ± 70 °C at 5.1 ± 2 .5 kbar. These P / T fields reflect high T /low P metamorphism during Eocene subduction, and indicate that the syntectonic Nyainqentanglha orthogneiss was emplaced at depths greater than 10 km. Sillimanite-bearing assemblages from the Amdo gneisses in the northern Lhasa Terrane provide evidence of crustal anatexis at temperatures > 680 °C. This event is poorly constrained in time but is probably Cambrian or earlier. Within the Kunlun Terrane, biotite and garnet isograds north of the Xidatan Fault indicate an increase in metamorphic grade from north to south, reaching peak metamorphism at 470 ± 30 °C, 4 .3 ± 1.5 kbar synchronous with the emplacement of the Triassic batholith. Regional metamorphism was followed by uplift of at least 2 km before emplacement of post-tectonic, early Jurassic granites.

The tectonic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau

1988 ◽  
Vol 327 (1594) ◽  
pp. 379-413 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals The Timing of Metamorphism, Magmatism, and Cooling in the Zanskar, Garhwal, and Nepal Himalaya

1995 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. P. Searle
Keyword(s):  
Hanging Wall ◽  
Crustal Thickening ◽  
Indian Plate ◽  
Eastern Himalaya ◽  
Normal Faults ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Main Central Thrust ◽  
Southern Tibet ◽  
Peak Metamorphism ◽  
Exhumation Rates

Following India-Asia collision, which is estimated at ca. 54-50 Ma in the Ladakh-southern Tibet area, crustal thickening and timing of peak metamorphism may have been diachronous both along the Himalaya (pre-40 Ma north Pakistan; pre-31 Ma Zanskar; pre-20 Ma east Kashmir, west Garhwal; 11-4 Ma Nanga Parbat) and cross the strike of the High Himalaya, propagating S (in Zanskar SW) with time. Thrusting along the base of the High Himalayan slab (Main Central Thrust active 21-19 Ma) was synchronous with N-S (in Zanskar NE-SW) extension along the top of the slab (South Tibet Detachment Zone). Kyanite and sillimanite gneisses in the footwall formed at pressure of 8-10 kbars and depths of burial of 28-35 km, 30- 21 Ma ago, whereas anchimetamorphic sediments along the hanging wall have never been buried below ca. 5-6 km. Peak temperatures may have reached 750 on the prograde part of the P-T path. Thermobarometers can be used to constrain depths of burial assuming a continental geothermal gradient of 28-30 °C/km and a lithostatic gradient of around 3.5-3.7 km/kbar (or 0.285 kbars/km). Timing of peak metamorphism cannot yet be constrained accurately. However, we can infer cooling histories derived from thermochronometers using radiogenic isotopic systems, and thereby exhumation rates. This paper reviews all the reliable geochronological data and infers cooling histories for the Himalayan zone in Zanskar, Garhwal, and Nepal. Exhumation rates have been far greater in the High Himalayan Zone (1.4-2.1 mm/year) and southern Karakoram (1.2-1.6 mm/year) than along the zone of collision (Indus suture) or along the north Indian plate margin. The High Himalayan leucogranites span 26-14 Ma in the central Himalaya, and anatexis occurred at 21-19 Ma in Zanskar, approximately 30 Ma after the collision. The cooling histories show that significant crustal thickening, widespread metamorphism, erosion and exhumation (and therefore, possibly significant topographic elevation) occurred during the early Miocene along the central and eastern Himalaya, before the strengthening of the Indian monsoon at ca. 8 Ma, before the major change in climate and vegetation, and before the onset of E-W extension on the Tibetan plateau. Exhumation, therefore, was primarily controlled by active thrusts and normal faults, not by external factors such as climate change.

scholarly journals Devonian to Triassic tectonic evolution and basin transition in the East Kunlun−Qaidam area, northern Tibetan Plateau: Constraints from stratigraphy and detrital zircon U−Pb geochronology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiaopeng Sun ◽  
Yunpeng Dong ◽  
Licheng Ma ◽  
Shiyue Chen ◽  
Wan Jiang
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
The South ◽  
Northern Tibet ◽  
The North ◽  
Northern Tibetan Plateau ◽  
East Kunlun ◽  
North Qaidam ◽  
Tethys Ocean

The late Paleozoic to Triassic was an important interval for the East Kunlun−Qaidam area, northern Tibet, as it witnessed prolonged subduction of the South Kunlun Ocean, a major branch of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean whose closure led to the formation of Pangea. However, the geologic history of this stage is poorly constrained due to the paucity of tectonothermal signatures preserved during a magmatic lull. This article presents a set of new provenance data incorporating stratigraphic correlation, sandstone petrology, and zircon U−Pb dating to depict changes in provenance that record multiple stages of topographic and tectonic transition in the East Kunlun−Qaidam area over time in response to the evolution of the South Kunlun Ocean. Devonian intra-arc rifting is recorded by bimodal volcanism and rapid alluvial-lacustrine sedimentation in the North Qaidam Ultra High/High Pressure Belt, whose sources include the Olongbuluke Terrane and southern North Qaidam Ultra High/High Pressure Belt. Southward transgression submerged the East Kunlun−Qaidam area during the Carboniferous prior to the rapid uplift of the Kunlun arc, which changed the provenance during the Early Permian. This shift in provenance for the western Olongbuluke Terrane and thick carbonate deposition throughout the North Qaidam Ultra High/High Pressure Belt in the late Early Carboniferous indicate that the North Qaidam Ultra High/High Pressure Belt should have been inundated, terminating an ∼95 m.y. erosion history. The closure of the South Kunlun Ocean in the late Triassic generated a retroarc foreland along the Zongwulong Tectonic Belt, which is represented by the development of a deep-water, northward-tapering flysch deposystem that was supplied by the widely elevated Kunlun−Qaidam−Olongbuluke Terrane highland. This new scenario allows us to evaluate current models concerning the assembly of northern Tibet and the tectonic evolution of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean.

Newly identified Jurassic–Cretaceous migmatites in the Liaodong Peninsula: unravelling a Mesozoic anatectic event related to the lithospheric thinning of the North China Craton

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Jin Liu ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Chang-Qing Yin ◽  
Chang-Quan Cheng ◽  
Jia-Hui Qian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North China Craton ◽  
North China ◽  
Thermal Anomaly ◽  
Thin Layers ◽  
Crustal Thickening ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Lithospheric Thinning ◽  
The North ◽  
Liaodong Peninsula

Abstract A suite of Jurassic–Cretaceous migmatites was newly identified in the Liaodong Peninsula of the eastern North China Craton (NCC). Anatexis is commonly associated with crustal thickening. However, the newly identified migmatites were formed during strong lithospheric thinning accompanied by voluminous magmatism and intense deformation. Field investigations show that the migmatites are spatially associated with low-angle detachment faults. Numerous leucosomes occur either as isolated lenses or thin layers (dykes), parallel to or cross-cutting the foliation. Peritectic minerals such as titanite and sillimanite are distributed mainly along the boundaries of reactant minerals or are accumulated along the foliation. Most zircons show distinct core–rim structures, and the rims have low Th/U ratios (0.01–0.24). Zircon U–Pb dating results indicate that the protoliths of the migmatites were either the Late Triassic (224–221 Ma) diorites or metasedimentary rocks deposited sometime after c. 1857 Ma. The zircon overgrowth rims record crystallization ages of 173–161 Ma and 125 Ma, which represent the formation time of leucosomes. These ages are consistent with those reported magmatic events in the Liaodong Peninsula and surrounding areas. The leucosomes indicate a strong anatectic event during the Jurassic–Cretaceous period. Partial melting occurred through the breakdown of muscovite and biotite with the presence of water-rich fluid under a thermal anomaly regime. The possible mechanism that caused the 173–161 Ma and 125 Ma anatectic events was intimately related to the regional crustal extension during the lithospheric thinning of the NCC. Meanwhile, the newly generated melts further weakened the rigidity of the crust and enhanced the extension.

Mesozoic thermal history and timing of structural events for the Yukon-Tanana Upland, east-central Alaska: 40Ar/39Ar data from metamorphic and plutonic rocks

2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 1013-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Dusel-Bacon ◽  
Marvin A Lanphere ◽  
Warren D Sharp ◽  
Paul W Layer ◽  
Vicki L Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Final Stage ◽  
Complex Interaction ◽  
Early Jurassic ◽  
Crustal Thickening ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
East Central ◽  
The North ◽  
Plutonic Rocks ◽  
Lake George

We present new 40Ar/39Ar ages for hornblende, muscovite, and biotite from metamorphic and plutonic rocks from the Yukon–Tanana Upland, Alaska. Integration of our data with published 40Ar/39Ar, kinematic, and metamorphic pressure (P) and temperature (T) data confirms and refines the complex interaction of metamorphism and tectonism proposed for the region. The oldest metamorphic episode(s) postdates Middle Permian magmatism and predates the intrusion of Late Triassic (215–212 Ma) granitoids into the Fortymile River assemblage (Taylor Mountain assemblage of previous papers). In the eastern Eagle quadrangle, rapid and widespread Early Jurassic cooling is indicated by ~188–186 Ma 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages for hornblende from plutons that intrude the Fortymile River assemblage, and for metamorphic minerals from the Fortymile River assemblage and the structurally underlying Nasina assemblage. We interpret these Early Jurassic ages to represent cooling resulting from northwest-directed contraction that emplaced the Fortymile River assemblage onto the Nasina assemblage to the north as well as the Lake George assemblage to the south. This cooling was the final stage of a continuum of subduction-related contraction that produced crustal thickening, intermediate- to high-P metamorphism within both the Fortymile River assemblage and the structurally underlying Lake George assemblage, and Late Triassic and Early Jurassic plutonism in the Fortymile River and Nasina assemblages. Although a few metamorphic samples from the Lake George assemblage yield Jurassic 40Ar/39Ar cooling ages, most yield Early Cretaceous 40Ar/39Ar ages: hornblende ~135–115 Ma, and muscovite and biotite ~110–108 Ma. We interpret the Early Cretaceous metamorphic cooling, in most areas, to have resulted from regional extension and exhumation of the lower plate, previously tectonically thickened during Early Jurassic and older convergence.

Nd–Sr isotopic constraints on the interactions of the Intermontane Superterrane with the western edge of North America in the southern Canadian Cordillera

1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (10) ◽  
pp. 1740-1758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dipak K. Ghosh
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Crustal Contamination ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Canadian Cordillera ◽  
Isotopic Compositions ◽  
The North ◽  
Tectonic History ◽  
Early Tertiary

Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of the late Paleozoic metavolcanics and Late Triassic to early Tertiary granitoids from four magmatic episodes in the southern Canadian Cordillera from the Kootenay Arc to the Fraser Fault have been used to (i) identify the sources of these rocks, (ii) constrain the compressive tectonic history from Middle Jurassic to Paleocene, and (iii) constrain the western boundary of the basement in this region. The 215–190 Ma old primitive granitoids (εNd = +3.1 to 8.7; 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7028 − 0.7043) of the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic magmatic episode were emplaced in the Paleozoic oceanic crust of Quesnellia (εNd = +2.9 to +9.3) prior to its obduction over the basement. In contrast, during the younger magmatic episodes (Middle–Late Jurassic, Cretaceous, and early Tertiary), the granitoids from western Quesnellia show primitive isotopic compositions, and those from eastern Quesnellia show eastward-increasing crust-contaminated compositions. The contaminated characters of the Middle–Late Jurassic (180–150 Ma) granitoids from eastern Quesnellia (εNd = +2.8 to −9.1; 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7041 − 0.7083) suggest that by 180 Ma, the eastern part of Quesnellia obducted over the North American cratonic basement by an amount of about 100 km (Eocene extension corrected) measured from westward shifts of the Nd and Sr isopleths. The eastward-increasing crustal-contamination patterns in the Cretaceous (120–80 Ma) and the Paleocene igneous rocks also show westward shifts of these isopleths by 20 and 70 km, respectively. Thus, we observe that a total 190 km of obduction took place, this amount is similar to the amount of shortening measured in the Rocky Mountains Fold and Thrust Belt, and the western boundary of the North American basement presently lies at least 25–75 km east of the Fraser Fault.

scholarly journals Multiple sources and magmatic evolution of the Late Triassic Daocheng batholith in the Yidun Terrane: Implications for evolution of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean in the eastern Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengsheng Dong ◽  
Guochen Dong ◽  
M. Santosh ◽  
Xuanxue Mo ◽  
Peng Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Chemical Diffusion ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Eastern Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Nd Isotopes ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Tethys Ocean ◽  
T Values ◽  
Lower Crustal

Granitoids with diverse composition and tectonic settings provide important tools for exploring crustal evolution and regional geodynamic history. Here we present an integrated study using petrological, mineralogical, zircon U-Pb geochronological, whole-rock geochemical, and isotopic data on the Late Triassic Daocheng batholith in the Yidun Terrane with a view to understanding the petrogenesis of a compositionally diverse batholith and its implications for the evolution of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. The different lithological units of the batholith, including granodiorite, monzogranite, and quartz diorite, with abundant mafic microgranular enclaves in the granodiorite (MME I) and monzogranite (MME II), show identical crystallization ages of 218−215 Ma. The mineral assemblage and chemical composition of the granodiorite are identical to those of tonalitic-granodioritic melts generated under water-unsaturated conditions. The insignificant Eu anomalies and low magmatic temperatures indicate hydrous melting in the source. The relatively narrow range of whole-rock chemical and Sr-Nd isotopes, as well as the zircon trace element and Hf isotopic compositions of the granodiorite, suggest a homogeneous crustal source for the magma. Our modeling suggests that the rock was produced by 20−50% of lower crustal melting. The Daocheng monzogranites display more evolved compositions and larger variations in Sr-Nd-Hf isotopes than the granodiorite, which are attributed to assimilation and the fractional crystallization process. This is evidenced by the presence of metasedimentary enclave and inherited zircon grains with Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic ages, a non-cotectic trend in composition, and the trend shown by the modeling of initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios and Sr. The quartz diorites and MMEs showing composition similar to that of andesitic primary magma have high zircon εHf(t) values and are characterized by enrichment in LILEs and depletion of HFSEs. They were derived from the partial melting of lithospheric mantle that had been metasomatized by slab melts and fluids. The MMEs in both rocks display typical igneous texture and higher rare earth element (REE) and incompatible element concentrations than their host granites. The presence of fine-grained margins, acicular apatite, and plagioclase megacrysts suggests a magma mingling process. The overgrowth of amphibole around the pyroxene, quartz ocelli rimmed by biotite, and oscillatory zones of plagioclase are all indicative of chemical diffusion. Their enriched Sr-Nd isotopes imply isotopic equilibrium with the host granites. Based on a comparison with the coeval subduction-related magmatism, we propose that subduction and subsequent rollback of the Paleo-Tethys (Garzê-Litang Ocean) oceanic slab was the possible mechanism that triggered the diverse Triassic magmatism within the eastern Tibetan Plateau.

New fission-track results from the northern Chiapas Massif area, SE Mexico: trying to reconstruct its complex thermo-tectonic history

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanis Abdullin ◽  
Luigi Solari ◽  
Carlos Ortega-Obregón ◽  
Jesús Solé
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Source Area ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Tectonic Event ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
The North ◽  
Tectonic History

The Chiapas Massif Complex, which represents the crystalline basement of the southern Maya block within the North American plate, records numerous thermo-tectonic and magmatic events that occurred in southern Mexico at least since the late Mesoproterozoic. The present study was performed across the northern Chiapas Massif region to reconstruct its complex thermo-tectonic history from Mesozoic to present times. Basement samples and sandstones of the San Ricardo Formation derived from the Chiapas Massif Complex source area were analyzed by in situ apatite fission-track dating. The new fission-track results obtained in this study, together with previously published data, indicate that the Chiapas Massif Complex, or rather the whole Maya terrane, have experienced a complex long-term geodynamic evolution with at least five post-Permian tectonic and magmatic events: (1) a Late Triassic cooling event, likely related to the initial breakup of Pangea; (2) Early Jurassic volcanism that can be linked to the Nazas volcanic arc; (3) a Middle Jurassic tectonic event that was triggered by continental rifting at the beginning of the opening of the Gulf of Mexico; (4) a Late Cretaceous to Paleocene orogeny that may actually represent the southernmost continuation of the Laramide sensu lato which affected central and northern Mexico; and (5) the middle–late Miocene Chiapanecan event that is tectonically controlled by the interaction of the North American, Caribbean, and Cocos plates. This interpretation could be useful towards a better understanding of the geological history of southern North America. Some recommendations on sampling and analytical strategies are also given for consideration in further thermochronological studies in Chiapas.

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