Mechanism of crustal thickening and exhumation of southern Lhasa terrane during the Late Cretaceous: Evidence from high-pressure metamorphic rocks of the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis

The mechanism of Late Cretaceous crustal thickening and exhumation of the southern Lhasa terrane is critical for understanding the tectonic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau. High-pressure metamorphic rocks from the lower crust are good candidates for address-ing this issue. In this study, we focus on Late Cretaceous, high-pressure, garnet-bearing amphibolites from the Nyingchi Complex of the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis and present an integrated study of geochronology, petrography, mineral chemistry, and ther-modynamic modeling. Petrographic data de-termine three metamorphic stages (M1-M3). The M1 stage is characterized by a peak min-eral assemblage of garnet + hornblende + albite + rutile + muscovite + quartz, which is followed by a post-peak (M2) as-semblage of garnet + hornblende + plagio-clase + epidote + biotite + rutile + quartz. The late retrograde stage (M3) is defined by hornblende + plagioclase symplectites sur-rounding garnet porphyroblasts. Mineral chemistry, with thermodynamic modeling, constrains the P-T conditions of the M1- M3 stages to 14-19 kbar/660-720 degrees C, 8-10 kbar/650-660 degrees C, and <7 kbar/<600 degrees C, respectively. Metamorphic zircons yield a concordant age at 90 Ma, which indicates the formation of garnet-bearing amphibolites. These results indicate a P-T-t path involving near-isothermal decompression for garnet -bearing amphibolites, which suggests that the Nyingchi Complex underwent peak-pressure metamorphism (M1) at 90 Ma, followed by rapid exhumation to the depth of 32-26 km along the subduction channel. Moreover, the garnet-bearing amphibolites are considered to be the product of high-pressure metamor-phism of mafic crust at the base of the Gang-dese belt. Hence, the crust of the Gangdese belt experienced significant crustal thicken-ing of up to 60 km at 90 Ma.

Automated summary

This study presents an integrated study of Late Cretaceous, high-pressure, garnet-bearing amphibolites from the Nyingchi Complex of the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis. The results indicate a three-stage metamorphic process and a near-isothermal decompression path for garnet-bearing amphibolites, with the formation of garnet-bearing amphibolites occurring at 90 Ma. These findings provide important insights into the tectonic evolution and crustal thickening of the Gangdese belt.