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Field observation, geochemical signatures and zircon Hf isotope data indicate that Cuomuqu ophiolite in the Bangonghu area was formed in a back-arc basin (BAB) above a supra-subduction zone (SSZ). Zircon U-Pb dating of the diabase from the Cuomuqu massif yielded an age of 164.3±1.9 Ma, thus indicating that the ophiolite complex was formed in the Middle Jurassic during back-arc extension of the mature Bangonghu-Nujiang Ocean. The zircon eHf(t) and TDMC values of the plagiogranite are similar to the eHf(t) and TDM of the diabase, respectively. The mode of occurrence of plagiogranites and their bulk-rock and Hf isotope characteristics indicate that they were derived from the mantle, associated with the surrounding gabbro and diabase, and were formed by partial melting of altered and hydrated mafic rocks under shear conditions during lateral drifting of the oceanic crust. The zircon U-Pb age of the plagiogranite is 156.4±1.4 Ma, and it is 7.9 Ma younger than the hosting diabase. In this study, zircon chronological and Hf isotopic data were tentatively analyzed to determine the genesis of plagiogranites in the Cuomuqu ophiolite complex.

The Jiang Tso ophiolite, situated in the middle segment of the Bangong- Nujiang Suture Zone, is a part of the easternmost Qieli Lake ophiolite subzone and is close to the south of Pung Lake ophiolite. The rock association of Jiang Tso ophiolite is relatively complete and is mainly composed of metamorphic peridotite, gabbro and diabase. Comparing with N-MORB, the ophiolite is high in Mg and low in Ti, K, Na, P, and is depleted in Nb, Ta, Hf, Th and enriched in Rb, Sr and Ba. Geochemical characteristics of the Jiang Tso ophiolite indicate it is of a supra-subduction zone type formed in the spreading ridge of back arc basin. The SHRIMP U-Pb dating of zircons from the gabbro yielded a weighted average age of 188.1±4.1 Ma (MSWD=1.4), indicating the Jiang Tso ophiolite was formed in the late stage of early Jurassic. The Sr, Nd isotopic compositions show that the Tethyan mantle domain is the depleted mantle (DM), with enriched mantle domain II (EM II). They have the same Sr, Nd isotopic composition with the India Ocean MORB type.

The subduction of the Bangonghu-Nujiang Meso-Tethys and the collision between the Lhasa and Qiangtang blocks were important events in the growth of the Tibetan crust. However, the timing of collision initiation and closure timing, as well as nature and structure of the Bangonghu ocean basin, are still poorly constrained. The Lagkor Tso ophiolite, located in the south of Gerze County, Tibet, is one of the most completed ophiolites preserved in the southern side of the Bangonghu-Nujiang suture zone. This study discussed the tectonic evolution of the Bangonghu-Nujiang suture zone as revealed by the Lagkor Tso ophiolite investigated by field investigations, petrology, geochemistry, geochronology and tectonic analysis methods. We present new LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb and 39Ar/40Ar ages for the Lagkor Tso ophiolite, in addition to geochemical and platinum-group element (PGE) data presented for the Lagkor Tso ophiolite in Tibet. It is suggested that the ancient Lagkor Tso oceanic basin split in Middle Jurassic (161.2 ± 2.7 Ma – 165.4 ± 3.5 Ma), and experienced a second tectonic emplacement during the Early Cretaceous (137.90 ± 6.39 Ma). The Lagkor Tso ophiolite likely developed in an independent suture zone. The Bangonghu-Nujiang ocean subducted southwards, and the dehydration of the subducting oceanic crust materials caused partial melting of the continental mantle wedge, which formed the second-order expanding center of the obduction dish. This led to inter-arc expansion, followed by the formation of inter-arc and back-arc basins with island arc features, which are represented by ophiolites around the Shiquanhe-Lagkor Tso-Yongzhu region. The tectonic environment presently can be considered to be similar to that of the current Western Pacific, in which a large number of island arc-ocean basin systems are developed.

This study reports compositional and whole-rock Sr-Nd isotope data as well as zircon U-Pb geochronological data on dolerite dikes from the Daba and Dongbo ultramafic massifs, southwest Yarlung-Zangbo Suture Zone (YZSZ), Tibet. The 120.6 ± 1.6 Ma dolerite dikes from the Daba peridotite exhibit normal mid-ocean ridge basalt (N-MORB)-type normalized mutli-element patterns [(La/Yb)N = 0.43-0.72] with noticeable negative Nb and Th anomalies. They have high initial 87Sr/8624 Sr ratios (87Sr/8625 Sr(i) = 0.70720-0.70788) and high εNd(t) values (+7.4 to +7.9). The 125.4 ± 1.8 Ma dolerite intrusions within the Dongbo peridotite show N-MORB‒type trace element profiles [(La/Yb)N = 0.65-0.84] characterized by apparent negative anomalies in Nb and Th, and mild negative anomalies in Ti (± Y). They also have high 87Sr/8629 Sr(i) ratios (0.70611-0.70679) and elevated εNd(t) values (+7.8 to +8.2). Semi-quantitative La/Yb vs. Dy/Yb modeling demonstrates that the parental magmas of the investigated dolerite dikes derived from more than 20% (cumulative) melting of a (broad) mantle source region that had a spinel-bearing N-MORB–like lherzolitic composition. Our geochemical and isotopic data indicate that the composition of the inferred mantle source was influenced by minor input of subducted crustal material. The petrogenesis of the Daba and Dongbo massifs could be linked to upwelling of an asthenospheric source that caused continental rift and subsequent seafloor spreading, followed by subduction initiation adjacent to a passive margin during the early Cretaceous (~130-120 Ma). Our study provides a more detailed, and perhaps more elegant, hypothesis for the tectono-magmatic evolution of the southwestern YZSZ "ophiolitic" peridotites after their accretion beneath a Neo-Tethyan marginal basin.