Abstract
The Bangong-Nujiang Suture Zone (BNSZ) in central Tibet hosts a series of dismembered Jurassic ophiolites that are widely considered as remnants of the vanished Meso-Tethys Ocean. In this study we present new compositional, isotopic, and geochronological data from anorthosites and gabbros of the Dongco and Lanong ophiolites in order to test several hypotheses about the nature of subduction in the Bangong-Nujiang Tethys Ocean (BNTO) during the Mesozoic era. Uranium–Pb dating of magmatic zircons separated from the Dongco anorthosites yielded an (average) age of 169.0 ± 3.7 Ma. Zircons separated from the Lanong anorthosites and gabbros yielded U–Pb ages of 166.8 ± 0.9 Ma and 167.3 ± 1.1 Ma, respectively. Zircons separated from the Dongco and Lanong anorthosites have positive εHf(t) values (5.62–15.94 and 10.37–14.95, respectively). The Dongco anorthosites have moderate initial 87Sr/86Sr (0.703477–0.704144) and high εNd(t) (+6.50 to +7.91). The Lanong anorthosites have high (87Sr/86Sr)i (0.706058–0.712952) and εNd(t) in the range of −1.56 to +2.02. Furthermore, the Lanong gabbros have high (87Sr/86Sr)i (0.705826–0.706613) and εNd(t) in the range of −0.79 to +4.20. Most gabbros from Dongco and a few gabbros from Lanong show normal mid-ocean ridge basalt (N-MORB)-like primitive mantle (PM)-normalized multi-element patterns. In contrast, most gabbros from Lanong show U-shaped chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) profiles. The investigated gabbros are characterized by wide ranges of δEu {(Eu)N/[(Sm)N*(Gd)N]1/2} values (0.83–2.53), indicating that some of them are cumulative rocks. The trace element contents of all anorthosite samples imply that their composition was controlled by cumulative processes. The geochemical and isotopic compositions of the non-cumulative gabbros from Dongco (δEu: 0.95–1.04) and Lanong (δEu: 0.83–1.03) indicate that their parental melts were derived from melting of heterogeneously depleted, juvenile mantle reservoirs. These rocks have arc-related affinities, indicating that their mantle sources were influenced by minor inputs of subducted lithospheric components. Our preferred hypothesis for the origin of the non-cumulative gabbros from Dongco is that they were formed in a transient back-arc basin (BAB) setting in the middle-western segment of the BNTO, whereas our preferred scenario about the origin of the non-cumulative gabbros from Lanong is that they were generated in a forearc setting in the middle part of the BNTO. We conclude that both geotectonic settings were developed in response to the northward subduction of the BNTO during the Middle Jurassic.
Highlights
Introduction and Rationale of the StudyThe interpretation of the on-land ophiolitic rock units as remnants of ancient oceanic crust and mantle has brought considerable interest to the investigation of ophiolitic assemblages in orogenic belts [1,2,3,4]
Zircons separated from the Dongco anorthosite (XDC08) were dated by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) (IMS1280-HR system, CAMECA, Gennevilliers, France) at the State Key Laboratory of Isotope Geochemistry, Guangzhou
Anorthosites and gabbros from the Dongco and Lanong ophiolites and standards were analyzed for their major-element oxide and trace element contents (Table S2)
Summary
The interpretation of the on-land ophiolitic rock units as remnants of ancient oceanic crust and mantle has brought considerable interest to the investigation of ophiolitic assemblages in orogenic belts [1,2,3,4] These “fossil” sections of oceanic lithosphere are indisputable recorders of first-order geological phenomena such as seafloor spreading, slab subduction, and oceanic lithosphere emplacement onto the continental margins [4,5,6,7]. The Alpine-Himalayan mountain belt is a world-class orogenic system that was formed due to the northward drifting of some Gondwana-derived plates and their collision with the southern margin of the Eurasian plate This process led to the terminal closure of the Tethys Ocean in the interval between the Late Triassic and the Late Cenozoic [14,15]. The investigation of the Alpine-Himalayan ophiolites has provided the geological community with numerous details about the dynamic break-up of the northern Gondwana and the accretion of the southern Eurasia [14,16]
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