Birth and demise of the Bangong–Nujiang Tethyan Ocean: A review from the Gerze area of Central Tibet: Comment

Abstract

We disagree the basic aspects regarding the evolution of the Bangong–Nujiang Meso-Tethyan Ocean (BNMTO) proposed by Li et al. (2019) (Earth-Science Reviews 198, doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.102907). Extensive Mid-Cretaceous ophiolite fragments and marine sedimentary rocks along the suture zone, along with Mid-Cretaceous magmatic arc (as late as 94 Ma) in the southern Qiangtang margin, indicates the BNMTO did not close until the Late Cretaceous, consistent with paleomagnetic data. Mid-Cretaceous OIB-type mafic rocks, covered by radiolarian-bearing cherts and being cold-emplaced ophiolitic fragments, together with Mid-Cretaceous magmatism of distinct arc affinity along the southern Qiangtang margin, indicate no magmatic evidence for divergent double subduction of the BNMTO. We also stress oceanic plateaus could have played a key role in the subduction evolution of the BNMTO.