Longmu Co-Shuanghu plate suture and evolution records of paleo-Tethyan oceanic in Qiangtang area, Qinghai-Tibet plateau

Abstract

Three Late Triassic plate sutures, namely, the Longmu Co-Shuanghu suture, Kunlun-Qinling suture and Xijinwulan-Jinshajiang suture, have been recognized on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Data show that the last two sutures have no essential elements of the northern boundary of Gondwana. This paper briefly introduces the facts of the existence of the paleo-Tethys Ocean in the Longmu Co-Shuanghu suture, i.e., the ages and natures of Early Paleozoic ophiolites, Permian ophiolites, Devonian-Permian radiolarian cherts, accretionary relics of different natures, two types of tectonic melange zones and ophiolites. The starting time of paleo-Tethys Ocean in Qiangtang may be traced back to the Early Paleozoic and the records about the oceanic basin evolution lasted from the Late Devonian to Late Triassic. It is thought that the Longmu Co-Shuanghu suture was the site for the extinction of the paleo-Tethys Ocean on Qinghai-Tibet plateau and an important window for the reconstruction and inversion of the early-stage formation and evolution of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, as well as the northern boundary of Gondwana wich the geoscience community has paid attention to in the past few decades.