Search

The distribution of Oligo−Miocene magmatic rocks from southern Tibet in space and time yields critical information on the geometry and deformation of the subducted Indian lithosphere which impacts on plateau growth following the India and Eurasia collision. A growing body of geophysical evidence has shown that the subducted Indian lithosphere beneath the Tibetan Plateau has been torn apart. However, the spatiotemporal distribution and cause of the tearing remain enigmatic. Timing of the post-collisional magmatic rocks in southern Tibet exhibits four patterns of decreasing ages; magmatism began earlier in the west and east Himalayan syntaxis and evolved to two age undulations in the central southern Tibet. Seismic images show that regions of slab window (both 90°E and 84°E) and flattened subducted lithosphere (both 86°E and 81°E) are present at depth of 135 km. Correspondingly, increasing mineral crystallization temperatures (absolute value of 50 °C) were recorded in the Oligo−Miocene ultrapotassic-potassic rocks at 90°E and 84°E, while opposing trends were shown by coeval ultrapotassic-potassic rocks at 86°E and 81°E. Besides, the melting depth of the Oligo−Miocene ultrapotassic-potassic primitive melts decreases from nearly 100 km to 70 km between 81°E and 90°E, probably indicating progressive rising of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. Such variations were possibly the results of the focused flow and upwelling of asthenosphere, which advanced rapidly but diachronously through weakened and torn sectors within the overlying Indian slab. The upwellings probably induced diachronously upward bending of the residual Indian slab and its flattening, which accelerated the tearing of the Indian lithosphere during continental subduction.

The transition of the geochemical signature in mafic rocks along the eastern Bangong–Nujiang suture in Tibet contains important information about geodynamic processes in the upper mantle. This study recognized two episodes of Early Jurassic gabbros from the Kaqiong terrane, a microblock within the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone. Early gabbros (ca. 197–191 Ma) appear as lenses in the basement complex and were overprinted by amphibolite/granulite-facies metamorphism at ca. 180 Ma. Later undeformed hornblende gabbros (ca. 177–175 Ma) occur as dikes intruding into the basement complex. The early metagabbros are characterized by arc-like geochemical features and enriched Nd-Hf isotopic compositions (whole rock ∑Nd(t) = –0.7 to +0.3; zircon ∑Hf(t) = –5.7 to –2.2), which suggests formation by partial melting of an enriched lithospheric mantle source. In contrast, the later hornblende gabbros have depleted Nd-Hf isotopic compositions (whole rock ∑Nd(t) = +6.1 to +7.1; zircon ∑Hf(t) = +10.7 to +16.8) and normal mid–oceanic–ridge basalt (N–MORB)-type rare earth element (REE) features. They also show variable enrichments of fluid mobile elements (e.g., Rb, U, Pb), indicative of the input of slab-derived fluids in their mantle source. Thus, the hornblende gabbros were most likely originated from the asthenospheric mantle metasomatized by subducted oceanic slab-derived fluids. The transition in geochemical and isotopic compositions of these mantle-derived magmas reveals a long-lasting lithosphere extension and thinning along the southern margin of the Qiangtang terrane in the Early Jurassic. Combined with geological observations, we propose that this transition has resulted from the southward rollback of the subducting Bangong–Nujiang Tethyan oceanic slab. The slab rollback could have initiated the overriding plate extension and the asthenosphere upwelling. Wider implications of this study are that an onset of slab rollback could be an important trigger for the transition of magmatic geochemistry in subduction zones.