Early Cretaceous hydrous mafic magmatism in the eastern Lhasa terrane, Tibet: Petrogenesis and constraints on the early history of the eastern Jiali (Parlung) fault

Mafic igneous rocks are volumetrically limited in collisional orogens but are significant for revealing specific geological processes. The mafic intrusive rocks in the eastern Lhasa batholiths along the Parlung fault (the easternmost branch of the Jiali fault zone), southern Tibet, are commonly regarded as the easternmost mafic components of an inferred Shiquanhe-Nam Tso-Jiali-Parlung suture zone, which is assumed to mark a back-arc oceanic basin related to the southward subduction of the Bangong-Nujiang Meso-Tethyan Ocean. However, the petrogenesis and tectonic setting of the mafic intrusive rocks have been poorly constrained. In this paper, we present petrological, geochemical and geochronological data for this mafic suite and evaluate the tectonic implications. The mafic intrusive rocks can be approximately divided into pyroxene-amphibole cumulate and medium-grained and pegmatitic hornblende gabbros that are characterized by the occurrence of very calcic plagioclase (An = 80-92) and abundant amphibole crystals, indicating an H2O-enriched magmatic signature. Their whole-rock compositions, which include negative Nb and Ta anomalies, also suggest a subduction-modified setting. Zircon Lu-Hf isotope data show that their magmas were formed by magmatic mixing between melts derived from enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle and liquids derived from upwelling asthenosphere. Zircon U-Pb dating results reveal crystallization ages of -114-110 Ma for this mafic suite, corresponding to the late stage of regional granitic magmatism (-135-110 Ma) that was related to the Lhasa-Qiangtang collision after the closure of the Bangong-Nujiang Meso-Tethyan Ocean. Given that coeval mafic and felsic rocks are distinctly controlled by the Parlung fault, we suggest that asthenospheric upwelling due to the break-off of the subducted Bangong-Nujiang oceanic slab not only induced partial melting of the enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle but also resulted in regional rifting/extension and the initial development of the eastern Jiali (Parlung) fault.

Automated summary

This study presents petrological, geochemical, and geochronological data for the mafic intrusive rocks in the eastern Lhasa batholiths along the Parlung fault in southern Tibet. The results suggest that these intrusive rocks were formed by partial melting of the enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle due to the upwelling of asthenosphere after the break-off of the Bangong-Nujiang oceanic slab.