structural and geochronological constraints on the early mesozoic north longmen shan thrust belt foreland fold thrust propagation of the sw qinling orogenic belt northeastern tibetan plateau

intra and extrabasinal controls on fluvial deposition in the miocene indo gangetic foreland basin northern pakistan the miocene siwalik group upsection the chinji nagri and dhok pathan formations in northern pakistan records evolving fluvial systems within the himalayan foreland basin sedimentological variations are evaluated with respect to local regional and global controls on fluvial deposition and basin filling thick 5 m to tens of metres sandstones are composed of channel bar and fill deposits of low sinuosity meandering and braided rivers which formed large low gradient sediment fans or megafans river flow was dominantly toward the south east the proportion of thick sandstones varies in all siwalik sections on three scales and reflects similar variations in palaeochannel size and grain size 1 small scale variations are generally tens of metres thick and reflect the alternation of thick sandstones channel belt deposits and mudstone dominated strata overbank deposits through the section 2 medium scale variations are roughly one hundred to a few hundreds of metres thick and primarily correspond to changes in channel deposit thickness but also to the degree of superposition of channel deposits and or to changes in the number of channel belt deposits per unit of section and 3 large scale variations formation scale are greater than one km thick and primarily correspond to changes in channel deposit thickness time scales of small medium and large scale variations appear to be on the order of 104 105 and 106 years respectively the chinji nagri transition is characterized by increases in channel deposit proportion sandstone thickness palaeochannel size and discharge mean grain size of sandstones and sediment accumulation rates and a decrease in avulsion period the nagri dhok pathan transition is characterized by decreases in channel deposit proportion sandstone thickness palaeochannel size and discharge mean grain size of sandstones and avulsion period and a further increase in sediment accumulation rates formation boundaries across the potwar plateau decrease in age toward the west the chinji nagri transition ranges in age from 10 9 12 7 ma and the nagri dhok pathan transition ranges in age from 9 3 10 1 ma small scale variations are attributable to repeated river avulsions triggered by autocyclic processes and or mountain front tectonism e g faulting earthquakes medium scale variations are attributable to local changes in the position of large sediment fans also triggered by autocyclic processes and or mountain front tectonism the chinji nagri transition records the diversion or establishment possibly due to river piracy of a larger river system in the area river diversion or piracy probably took place within the mountain belt and is attributable to increasing and spatially variable mountain belt uplift rates and possibly the development of associated mountain front deformational structures the nagri dhok pathan transition records the diversion of the larger river system out of the area and the establishment of a smaller river system this diversion is attributable to progressively increasing rates of mountain belt uplift and basin subsidence the regional palaeoclimate throughout the time interval studied was apparently constant and eustatic sea level changes apparently had no effect on deposition in the area

the distribution of the mid to lower crustal low velocity zone beneath the northeastern tibetan plateau revealed from ambient noise tomography we collected continuous seismic data recorded between 2007 and 2010 by 208 broadband stations from the chinese provincial digital seismic networks a seismic collaborative experiment of northern tibet and the northeastern tibet seismic experiment cross correlations of vertical component records are computed to extract the rayleigh wave empirical green s functions group and phase velocities are then constructed from the empirical green s functions in 8 to 50 s period at periods 25 s more than 10 lower velocities are imaged beneath the qaidam basin and high velocities are observed beneath the nonbasin regions at periods 30 s up to 10 lower velocities are imaged in the qiangtang and songpan ganze terranes from these group and phase velocity maps a three dimensional 3 d vsv model of the crust is derived the model shows that the qiangtang and songpan ganze terranes have a very thick crust with a prominent low velocity zone lvz in the middle crust the lvz thins out in the vicinity of the eastern kunlun mountains providing a new constraint on the mode of deformation across the tibetan plateau the northwestern qilian orogen where receiver functions reveal a moho deeper than the surrounding areas also features a relatively weak midcrustal lvz which we interpret as an intracrustal response associated with the shortening between the north china craton and the tibetan plateau

geochronological and geochemical constraints on mesozoic suturing in east central tibet 1 this paper reports isotopic major and minor element geochemistry of igneous and metamorphic rocks from the kokoxili and yushu regions of central and eastern tibet the first region lies along the kunlun suture which separates the bayan har songpan ganze songpan terrane from the tarim and qaidam blocks two kokoxili granitoids yield u pb zircon dates of 217 10 and 207 3 ma late triassic which represent the time of emplacement and rb sr isochron dates of 195 3 and 190 3 ma early jurassic which are interpreted as cooling ages the geochemical signatures of these granitoids suggest that they are related to subduction continuing into the late triassic in the yushu area three samples help constrain the age of the jinsha suture which separates the songpan terranes from the qiangtang blocks a leucocratic granite and an orthogneiss in the suture zone yield u pb zircon dates of 206 7 and 204 1 ma respectively and a paragneiss south of it a u pb monazite date of 244 4 ma the existence of coeval magmatism in both the jinsha and kunlun sutures suggests that the two subduction zones were simultaneously active combining isotopic dating with structural evidence on subduction polarity and paleomagnetic reconstructions we propose that the kunlun and qinling block boundaries which were distinct in the permian subsequently formed a continuous late triassic northward subducting plate margin our data suggest that the jinsha suture correlates with the benzilan and nan uttaradit sutures which together belong to a major late triassic subduction zone

crustal structure across northeastern tibet from wide angle seismic profiling constraints on the caledonian qilian orogeny and its reactivation abstract the northeastern tibetan plateau results from the superposition of the caledonian qilian orogenic belt and cenozoic reactivation following continental collision between the indian and asian plates in order to identify the constraints on the qilian orogenic mechanism and the expansion of the plateau we carried out a 430 km long wide angle seismic experiment between jingtai and hezuo we herein present the crustal p wave velocity structure model resulting from the interpretation of this wide angle seismic dataset the principal characteristics of the crustal velocity model include 1 thinning of the crust from south to north within a range of about 48 54 km with some undulation of the moho beneath the northern qilian block 2 the thickness of the sedimentary layer and its average p wave velocity exhibit the obvious tectonic division of the qaidam kunlun west qinling belt the central and northern qilian and the alax blocks 3 the lower crustal layer has a p wave velocity of 6 6 6 8 km s beneath the qaidam kunlun west qinling belt northern qilian orogenic belt and alax block but has a very low value of 6 4 6 5 km s beneath the central qilian block and 4 the central qilian block shares a similar crustal p wave velocity depth relationship with the sierra nevada arc or the accretionary crust the qaidam kunlun west qinling and the northern qilian orogenic belts have a crustal p wave velocity depth relationship characteristic of the crust of the global average continent the particular vp depth relationship beneath the central qilian orogenic belt may result from a caledonian accretionary orogeny or from the delamination of the ecologized lower crust during the arc continental collisional orogeny the lower velocity layer lvl exists at the bottom of the upper crust to the north of the middle of the central qilian block we infer that this lvl plays an important role as an intracrustal decollement to expand the plateau

tibetan tectonic evolution inferred from spatial and temporal variations in post collisional magmatism cenozoic magmatism on the tibetan plateau shows systematic variations in space and time that must be considered in models concerning tibetan tectonic evolution after the india asia collision which started in the early tertiary and terminated the gangdese arc magmatism in the lhasa terrane made of the southern tibetan plateau widespread potassium rich lavas and subordinate sodium rich basalts were generated from f50 to 30 ma in the qiangtang terrane of northern tibet subsequent post collisional magmatism migrated southwards producing ultrapotassic and adakitic lavas coevally between f26 and 10 ma in the lhasa terrane then potassic volcanism was renewed to the north and has become extensive and semicontinuous since f13 ma in the western qiangtang and songpan ganze terranes such spatial temporal variations enable us to elaborate a geodynamic evolution model which depicts when and how the indian continental lithospheric mantle started thrusting under asia by involving rollback and breakoff of the subducted neo tethyan slab followed by removal of the thickened lhasa lithospheric root we propose that only after the lithospheric removal which occurred at f26 ma could the indian mantle lithosphere have commenced its northward underthrusting and henceforth served as a pivotal control to the himalayan tibetan orogenesis consequently the tibetan plateau is suggested to have risen diachronously from south to north whereas the southern part of the plateau may have been created and maintained since the late oligocene the northern plateau would have not attained its present day elevation and size until the mid miocene when the lower part of the western qiangtang and songpan ganze lithospheres began to founder owing to the push of the underthrust indian mantle lithosphere d 2004 elsevier b v all rights reserved

geochemistry of crustally derived leucocratic igneous rocks from the ulugh muztagh area northern tibet and their implications for the formation of the tibetan plateau this is the published version copyright 2012 american geophysical union all rights reserved

mantle dynamics uplift of the tibetan plateau and the indian monsoon convective removal of lower lithosphere beneath the tibetan plateau can account for a rapid increase in the mean elevation of the tibetan plateau of 1000 m or more in a few million years such uplift seems to be required by abrupt tectonic and environmental changes in asia and the indian ocean in late cenozoic time the composition of basaltic volcanism in northern tibet which apparently began at about 13 ma implies melting of lithosphere not asthenosphere the most plausible mechanism for rapid heat transfer to the midlithosphere is by convective removal of deeper lithosphere and its replacement by hotter asthenosphere the initiation of normal faulting in tibet at about 8 3 ma suggests that the plateau underwent an appreciable increase in elevation at that time an increase due solely to the isostatic response to crustal thickening caused by india s penetration into eurasia should have been slow and could not have triggered normal faulting another process such as removal of relatively cold dense lower lithosphere must have caused a supplemental uplift of the surface folding and faulting of the indo australian plate south of india the most prominent oceanic intraplate deformation on earth began between about 7 5 and 8 ma and indicates an increased north south compressional stress within the indo australian plate a tibetan uplift of only 1000 m if the result of removal of lower lithosphere should have increased the compressional stress that the plateau applies to india and that resists india s northward movement from an amount too small to fold oceanic lithosphere to one sufficient to do so the climate of the equatorial indian ocean and southern asia changed at about 6 9 ma monsoonal winds apparently strengthened northern pakistan became more arid but weathering of rock in the eastern himalaya apparently increased because of its high altitude and lateral extent the tibetan plateau provides a heat source at midlatitudes that should oppose classical symmetric hadley circulation between the equator and temperate latitudes and that should help to drive an essentially opposite circulation characteristic of summer monsoons for the simple case of axisymmetric heating no dependence on longitude of an atmosphere without dissipation theoretical analyses by hou lindzen and plumb show that an axisymmetric heat source displaced from the equator can drive a much stronger meridianal monsoonlike circulation than such a source centered on the equator but only if heating exceeds a threshold whose level increases with the latitude of the heat source because heating of the atmosphere over tibet should increase monotonically with elevation of the plateau a modest uplift 1000 2500 m of tibet already of substantial extent and height might have been sufficient to exceed a threshold necessary for a strong monsoon the virtual simultaneity of these phenomena suggests that uplift was rapid approximately 1000 m to 2500 m in a few million years moreover nearly simultaneously with the late miocene strengthening of the monsoon the calcite compensation depth in the oceans dropped plants using the relatively efficient c4 pathway for photosynthesis evolved rapidly and atmospheric co2 seems to have decreased suggesting causal relationships and positive feedbacks among these phenomena both a supplemental uplift of the himalaya the southern edge of tibet and a strengthened monsoon may have accelerated erosion and weathering of silicate rock in the himalaya that in turn enhanced extraction of co2 from the atmosphere thus these correlations offer some support for links between plateau uplift a downdrawing of co2 from the atmosphere and global climate change as proposed by raymo ruddiman and froehlich mantle dynamics beneath mountain belts not only may profoundly affect tectonic processes near and far from the belts but might also play an important role in altering regional and global climates

mesozoic and cenozoic tectonics of the northern edge of the tibetan plateau fission track constraints abstract fission track analysis on zircons and apatites yields new information about the timing of deformation of the northern tibetan plateau ages on zircons ranging from 221 22 to 96 4 ma are indicative of a general late triassic early jurassic cooling probably driven by the collision between the qiantang and kunlun blocks mid jurassic slow cooling is recorded also in the apatites in regions not affected by later cenozoic deformation this jurassic denudation was followed by a period of sedimentation during the cretaceous except along the altyn tagh fault atf zone and in some restricted areas of the western and eastern qilian shan this long and relatively quiet period ended at about 40 10 ma along the major altyn tagh and kunlun strike slip fault zones which were activated by the india asia collision this first movement along lithospheric faults resulted in the eastward extrusion of the tibet plateau which was followed in late oligocene miocene times by a major compression event initiating the formation of the high relief of north tibet a final compressional event took place at 9 5 ma and is well correlated with high sedimentation rates in the basins of this region this compression induced continental subduction in the kunlun ranges the altun shan belt and possibly the qilian shan belt

structural and geochronological constraints on the mesozoic cenozoic tectonic evolution of the longmen shan thrust belt eastern tibetan plateau 1 the longmen shan thrust belt in the eastern margin of the tibetan plateau underwent deformation of d1 associated with the late triassic collision between the north and south china blocks followed by deformation of d2 and d3 related to the eastward growth of the tibetan plateau the d1 is marked by moderately tight folds f1 spaced cleavage s1 mineral lineation l1 multistage reactivated faults and top to the south thrusting this deformation initiated before 237 ma and ended at 208 ma the 193 159 ma d2 deformation is top to the southeast directed and normal ductile in nature and was associated with the formation of half graben basins the mesozoic deformation of the longmen shan belt was related to the subduction of the paleo tethys oceanic lithosphere followed by the south china block underneath the songpan ganze terrane the d1 was produced in the pro side of the overriding songpan ganze plate most probably driven by slab corner flow above the retreating south china block the d2 and extensional songpan ganze turbidite basin were produced by roll back and migration of the overriding plate above the retreating subduction zone this model for the deformation from d1 to d2 is similar to a mediterranean style model the d3 is characterized by se ward thrusting with stepwise migration of rapid denudation and dextral strike slip faulting during the late cretaceous to present therefore the longmen shan thrust belt involved mesozoic compressional and extensional events that were overprinted by the late cretaceous to cenozoic compressional event

experimental study of the coarse surface development effect on the bimodal bed load transport under unsteady flow conditions abstractgravel bed rivers display a surface layer that is coarser than the substrate lining below this armored surface the armored layer that is developed under certain flow conditions may be attributed as water worked sediment bed both the threshold of incipient motion and the bed load transport are affected by the presence of this layer in this study the coarse surface development and its effect on the sediment transport were investigated experimentally in a rectangular flume four antecedent flow rates were combined with an input hydrograph without sediment feeding the reference shear stress of individual fractions and the grain size distribution were determined after the development of the coarse surface due to the antecedent flow then a triangular shaped hydrograph was generated for both the intact surface and the coarse surface cases it was seen that the maximum bed load transport values obtained in unsteady flow experiments were highly dependent on the coarse surface formed by the anteceden

the four plutonic belts of the transhimalaya himalaya a chemical mineralogical isotopic and chronological synthesis along a tibet nepal section

mesozoic faults in the ne tarim western china and the implications on collisions in the southern eurasian margin abstract paleozoic and cenozoic deformation events responding to the continental growth in the southern eurasian margin since the paleozoic have been well documented in surface and subsurface geology in contrast mesozoic deformation remains poorly known based on interpretation of numerous seismic profiles carried out for oil and gas exploration a mesozoic transpressional linked fault system has been identified in the ne tarim which is composed of 1 the nw se trending longkou ying s ying n and tienan strike slip faults to the west 2 the ne sw trending and nw dipping ying e 1 and ying e 2 thrust faults as well as their branches to the southeast and 3 to the north the weimak fault which can be divided into nw se trending dextral strike slip segments and ne sw trending se verging segments the unconformity and growth strata related to activity of these faults occurred from the jurassic to the cretaceous this transpressional linked fault system in the ne tarim block is a kind of intracontinental deformation attributed to the collisions of the qiangtang and lhasa blocks to the southern eurasian margin from the jurassic through the cretaceous

cenozoic basin evolution of the central tibetan plateau as constrained by u pb detrital zircon geochronology sandstone petrology and fission track thermochronology abstract we conduct sandstone composition analysis u pb detrital zircon dating and apatite fission track thermochronology to determine how basin development was associated with the cenozoic deformation across central tibet our results are consistent with a two stage basin development model first a single fluvial lacustrine system formed i e paleo qaidam basin in between two thrust belts i e the fenghuoshan and qilian shan thrust belts in the paleogene which was later partitioned into two sub basins in the neogene by the kunlun transpressional system and its associated uplift the southern sub basin i e hoh xil basin strata have detrital zircon age populations at 210 300 ma and 390 480 ma for the eocene strata and at 220 310 ma and 400 500 ma for the early miocene strata petrologic analysis indicates that the late cretaceous eocene strata were recycled from the underlying jurassic rocks the northern sub basin i e qaidam basin strata yield detrital zircon age clusters at 210 290 ma and 370 480 ma in the eocene 220 280 ma and 350 500 ma in the oligocene 250 290 ma and 395 510 ma in the miocene and 225 290 ma and 375 480 ma in the pliocene proterozoic ages of the detrital zircon are most useful for determining provenance the pre neogene hoh xil and qaidam strata all contain the distinctive age peaks of 1800 ma and 2500 ma from the songpan ganzi terrane south of the kunlun fault whereas detrital zircon of this age is absent in the neogene qaidam strata suggesting the emergence of a topographic barrier between the two basins this inference is consistent with our fission track thermochronological data from the eastern kunlun range that suggest rapid cooling within the range did not start until after 30 20 ma our new data support the paleo qaidam hypothesis that requires the hoh xil and qaidam basins were parts of a single paleogene basin bounded by the qilian shan and fenghuoshan thrust belts

u th pb systematics and ages of himalayan leucogranites south tibet abstract the age and origin of five leucogranites from the high and tethys himalaya and two country rock gneisses were investigated by u pb dating of zircon fractions and single grains and fractions of monazite additionally th u concentrations in whole rock powders and isotopic compositions of pb in leached k feldspars were determined monazites yield ages of 16 8 0 6 m y for the nialam migmatite granite 15 1 0 5 m y for the lhagoi kangri granite 14 3 0 6 m y for a granite from mt everest and 9 8 0 7 m y and 9 2 0 9 m y for two varieties of the maja granite these data together with monazite ages of 21 9 0 2 and 24 0 0 4 m y determined earlier on the makalu granite 1 substantiate a period of intracontinental granite emplacements from 24 to 9 m y ago i e from uppermost oligocene to late miocene times such a period of plutonic activity is consistent with the view that all these granites result from intracrustal melting following the collision of india with eurasia furthermore the individual ages together with structural relationships between granites and country rocks suggest that granite formation and tectono metamorphism occurred as alternating and strongly related processes with a periodicity of 7 to 9 m y inherited lead components present in all granite zircons point to large proportions of precambrian material in the magma source regions up to 2200 m y old th u systematics between monazite and country rocks indicate that u has been leached from most of the granites after crystallisation of monazite zircon dating of the kangmar granite gneiss which occurs in a window through the tethys himalayan sediments shows that this pluton transformed to a gneiss during the alpine orogeny crystallised in lowermost palaeozoic times 562 4 m y ago

evaluating the timing of former glacier expansions in the tian shan a key step towards robust spatial correlations the timing of past glaciation across the tian shan provides a proxy for past climate change in this critical area correlating glacial stages across the region is difficult but cosmogenic exposure

constraints on the seismic wave velocity structure beneath the tibetan plateau and their tectonic implications we combine observations of group and phase velocity dispersion of rayleigh waves of the waveform of a long period pl phase of pn and sn velocities from unreversed refraction profiles using earthquakes and of teleseismic s p travel time residuals to place bounds on the seismic wave velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle under tibet from surface wave measurements alone the tibetan crustal thickness can be from 55 to 85 km with corresponding uppermost mantle shear wave velocities of about 4 4 to 4 9 km s respectively the pn and sn velocities were determined to be 8 12 0 06 and 4 8 0 1 km s respectively using travel time data at lhasa from earthquakes in and on the margins of tibet combining these results the crustal thickness is most likely to be between 65 80 km with an average shear wave velocity in the upper crust less than 3 5 km s a synthesis of one pl waveform does not provide an additional constraint on the velocity structure but is compatible with the range of models given above in contrast to observations obtained for eight earthquakes in the himalaya measurements of both teleseismic s and p wave arrival times for nine earthquakes within tibet show unusually large intervals between p and s compared with the jeffreys bullen tables thus the pn and sn velocities apparently do not reflect high velocities in the mantle to a great depth beneath tibet from the dependence of the seismic velocities of olivine on pressure and temperature and from the similarity of the measured pn and sn velocities beneath tibet and beneath shields and platforms the velocities at the moho beneath tibet are compatible with the temperature being 250 300 higher than beneath shields and platforms i e 750 c if the temperature beneath the platforms is close to 500 c such a temperature could reach or exceed the solidus of the lower crust simple one dimensional heat conduction calculations suggest that the volcanic activity could be explained by the recovery of the geotherm maintained by a mantle heat flux of about 0 9 hfu at the base of the crust if the distribution of radioactive heat production elements were not concentrated at the top of the crust radioactive heating could also contribute significantly to the recovery of the geotherm and thus lower the required mantle heat flow thus the idea of a thickened crust in response to horizontal shortening is compatible both with these data and with these calculations appendices are available with entire article on microfiche order from the american geophysical union 2000 florida avenue n w washington d c 20009 document j81 004 1 00 payment must accompany order

cenozoic deformation history of the qaidam basin nw china results from cross section restoration and implications for qinghai tibet plateau tectonics abstract the deformation and uplifting history of the qinghai tibet plateau is a controversial issue and so far there has been insufficient evidence for interpretation investigations of the cenozoic deformation in the northeastern edge of this plateau may provide some relevant information in this paper the cenozoic deformation history of the qaidam basin has been studied based on results from the balanced cross section restoration of six geological sections they indicate that 1 the qaidam basin has been undergoing continuous shortening since the beginning of cenozoic with two relatively fast shortening phases the first during 42 8 40 5 ma and the second during 2 8 ma present 2 the shortening rate of the qaidam basin reached its maximum value since 2 8 ma and approximately 32 of the average total cenozoic shortening took place in this period and 3 the shortening of all sections reached approximately 50 of their respective total shortening by miocene the cenozoic deformation history of the qaidam basin shows good synchroneity with uplifting history of the qinghai tibet plateau it is therefore proposed that the deformation and uplifting in the south and north edges of the qinghai tibet plateau was almost synchronous with the altyn tagh fault formed at the beginning of india asia collision accordingly it is postulated that since the india asia collision at the beginning of cenozoic the indian plate moved northward continuously with two relatively fast phases the first during 42 8 40 5 ma and the second during 2 8 ma present approximately 50 of the total cenozoic northward displacement of the indian plate of the total amount of crustal shortening and uplifting of the qinghai tibet plateau and of the total cenozoic strike slip displacement of the altyn tagh fault were probably reached by the early miocene moreover another 30 40 might have taken place during 2 8 ma present the periods during 42 8 40 5 ma and during 2 8 ma present may also be the two fast phases for crustal shortening and uplifting of the qinghai tibet plateau and strike slip displacement of the altyn tagh fault

tectonic evolution of the early mesozoic blueschist bearing qiangtang metamorphic belt central tibet this is the published version copyright 2003 american geophysical union all rights reserved

the thermal significance of potassium feldspar k ar ages inferred from age spectrum results 40ar39ar age spectrum analyses of three microcline separates from the separation point batholith northwest nelson new zealand which cooled slowly 5 c ma 1 through the temperature zone of partial radiogenic 40ar accumulation are characterized by a linear age increase over the first 65 percent of gas release with the lowest ages 80 ma corresponding to the time that the samples cooled below about 100 c the last 35 percent of 39ar released from the microclines yields plateau ages 103 99 and 93 ma which reflect the different bulk mineral ages and correspond to cooling temperatures between about 130 to 160 c theoretical calculations confirm the likelihood of diffusion gradients in feldspars cooling at rates 5 c ma 1 diffusion parameters calculated from the 39ar release yield an activation energy e 28 8 1 9 kcal mol 1 and a frequency factor grain size parameter d0l2 5 6 3 9 14sec 1 this arrhenius relationship corresponds to a closure temperature of 132 13 c which is very similar to the independently estimated temperature from the observed diffusion compensation correlation this d0l2 implies an average diffusion half width of about 3 m similar to the half width of the perthite lamellae in the feldspars the range in microcline k ar ages from the separation point batholith is the result of relatively small temperature differences within the pluton during cooling comparison of the diffusion laws determined for microcline with those for anorthoclases and other homogeneous k feldspars e 40 to 52 kcal mol 1 reveals that ar diffusion is more highly temperature dependent in the disordered structural state than in the ordered structural state previously published u shaped age spectra are probably the result of the superimposition of excess 40ar upon diffusion profiles of the kind described here

timing and magnitude of displacement on the altyn tagh fault constraints from stratigraphic correlation of adjoining tarim and qaidam basins nw china the altyn tagh fault plays an important role in growth of the north western tibetan plateau but the timing of its inception and magnitude of left lateral displacement are not well constrained this study provides new independent constraints by correlating stratigraphic development and spatial distribution of the neighbouring tarim and qaidam basins it is shown that the tarim and qaidam basins experienced quite similar stratigraphic and sedimentary evolution from late sinian to early palaeogene times this fact indicates that the tarim and qaidam basins were a single block at least until oligocene time which was then offset by the altyn tagh fault early palaeozoic and late triassic suture zones within the east and west kunlun and pinch outs of mesozoic strata are chosen as piercing lines restoration of these lines gives total offset estimates of 350 400 km across the south western and central segments of the altyn tagh fault

ophiolites of the kunlun mountains china and their tectonic implications abstract three ophiolite belts ranging in age from cambrian to triassic provide valuable data on the tectonic evolution of the kunlun mountains which lie along the northern margin of the tibetan plateau all of the ophiolites contain dismembered but nearly complete assemblages of peridotite mafic and ultramafic cumulates pillow and massive lavas and radiolarian cherts 1 the oldest belt contains ophiolites of cambrian age but the initial spreading of the ocean basin most likely began in the late proterozoic these ophiolites outcrop in the central part of the eastern kunlun extend for at least a few hundred kilometers and are believed to reflect a small ocean basin closure of this ocean led the accretion of south kunlun block to the north kunlun block and tarim craton ophiolitic lavas in this belt have island are affinities 2 a second belt of early carboniferous ophiolites extends nearly 600 km along the northern margin of the western kunlun lavas in this belt are basalt basaltic andesite and andesite all of which have compositions characteristic of volcanic arcs this ocean basin possibly developed on the basis of the early paleozoic oceanic basin closure of this ocean basin by southward subduction in the early permian produced a suite of calc alkaline volcanic rocks in what is now the central part of the western kunlun 3 the third belt extends nearly 1200 km along the southern margin of the eastern kunlun and contains numerous ophiolites of early permian to middle triassic age these ophiolites are highly tectonized containing volcanic rocks with the geochemical characteristics of mid ocean ridges oceanic islands and volcanic arcs this belt is tentatively interpreted as the suture zone between gondwana and eurasia

paleocene early eocene uplift of the altyn tagh mountain evidence from detrital zircon fission track analysis and seismic sections in the northwestern qaidam basin

oblique stepwise rise and growth of the tibet plateau two end member models of how the high elevations in tibet formed are i continuous thickening and widespread viscous flow of the crust and mantle of the entire plateau and ii time dependent localized shear between coherent lithospheric blocks recent studies of cenozoic deformation magmatism and seismic structure lend support to the latter since india collided with asia 55 million years ago the rise of the high tibetan plateau likely occurred in three main steps by successive growth and uplift of 300 to 500 kilometer wide crustal thrust wedges the crust thickened while the mantle decoupled beneath gently dipping shear zones did not sediment infilling bathtub like of dammed intermontane basins formed flat high plains at each step the existence of magmatic belts younging northward implies that slabs of asian mantle subducted one after another under ranges north of the himalayas subduction was oblique and accompanied by extrusion along the left lateral strike slip faults that slice tibet s east side these mechanisms akin to plate tectonics hidden by thickening crust with slip partitioning account for the dominant growth of the tibet plateau toward the east and northeast

the longmenshan tectonic complex and adjacent tectonic units in the eastern margin of the tibetan plateau a review abstract the longmenshan tectonic complex lstc along the eastern margin of the tibetan plateau the site of devastating earthquakes such as the magnitude 8 0 wenchuan earthquake on 12 may 2008 preserves an exceptionally complete history of the tectonic evolution of the yangtze block and its relations to adjacent tectonic units due to sequential tectonic superposition and tectonic reactivation the tectonic nature of the lstc and in particularly the older history has been profoundly debated and many different tectonic models have been proposed herein we summarize the current understandings of the major tectonic events that have shaped this important tectonic complex highlighting problems left to be solved by future work including 1 the nature and constraints for at least 6 regional tectonic events i e building of the metamorphic basement art the columbia nuna supercontinent pt1t the rodinia supercontinent pt3t the paleozoic passive continental margin pzt the paleotethys orogeny mzt and the neotethys orogeny kzt 2 metamorphic basement exposures and their tectonic implications including rock types and geochronological constraints for the archean paleoproterozoic and neoproterozoic basements 3 nature of the present lstc and its affinity with adjacent tectonic units 4 consideration of the ne striking longmenshan thrust belt and arcuate shape yanyuan muli thrust belt as parts of a single tectonic feature 5 mountain basin coupled systems recording past tectonic eposides we draw the following conclusions and tectonic models based on published research combined with our own recent studies 1 the well preserved archean yudongzi gneiss group in the lstc has a genetic affinity with the kongling group and thus belongs to the yangtze block 2 the paleoproterozoic hejiayan group juxtaposed adjacent to the archean yudongzi group may represent a 2000 1800 ma orogenic belt which corresponds to the supercontinent nuna columbia amalgamation event 3 a neoproterozoic trench arc basin system which is reconstructed based on identification of a neoproterozoic ophiolite complex arc type magmatic rock assemblages and volcaniclastic basinal deposits along the western margin of the yangtze block and the lstc may represent the record of eastward subduction of the neoproterozoic mozambique oceanic lithosphere beneath the yangtze block during the assembly of the rodinia supercontinent 4 a complete bidirectional wilson cycle was reconstructed by the formation of the late permian to the middle late triassic back arc ganze litang rift and ocean following the early paleozoic mianlue continental rift and ocean and subsequent closure of the ocean basin by simultaneous bidirectional northward and southwestward subduction and later collision this relatively uncommon bidirectional wilson cycle might be attributed to the formation of the three armed rift system in the eastern paleotethys associated with the late permian eemeishan large igneous province in the lstc 5 a three stage tectonic sequence of in sequence imbricate thrust in the lstc during india eurasian collisional orogeny at 55 15 ma extrusion from 15 to 5 ma and the plateau uplift since 5 ma resulting from lower crustal channel flow is proposed for the formation of the present lstc

geologic evolution of northern tibet results of an expedition to ulugh muztagh a reconnaissance expedition across the northern margin of the tibetan plateau revealed evidence of a late cenozoic northward progression of the locus of crustal shortening and therefore of a northward growth of the area encompassed by the plateau active reverse faults crop out at the foot of the altyn tagh on the northern edge of the plateau and at the bases of several ranges within the altyn tagh and kunlun where the elevations of the neighboring basins are less than 4000 meters farther south where elevations are higher there was no evidence of recent faulting but late cenozoic rock in the ayak kum kol basin has been strongly folded south of this basin ulugh muztagh apparently the highest mountain in the eastern kunlun is underlain by late miocene tourmaline bearing and two mica granite these rocks suggest that thickening of continental crust had begun in this area by late miocene time overlying quartz sanidine welded tuffs of pliocene age imply that uplift and erosion occurred between miocene and pliocene time but with little subsequent erosion in addition we found an east west trending belt of mafic and ultramafic rock that probably marks a suture of a crustal fragment with southern asia in triassic or more recent time

tibet uplift and erosion abstract the 5 km high tibetan plateau is an outstanding topographic feature on the earth today its horziontal extent elevation and location cause significant effects on modern atmospheric circulation and climate so the history of uplift of the surface of tibet is linked to cenozoic climate changes at local regional and perhaps global scales geological and geophysical studies of the plateau are contributing data on the present and past deformation of the tibetan lithosphere that has formed the plateau primarily during the cenozoic the principal of isostasy then can be used to estimate the elevation history of the surface for a given deformation history different parts of tibet probably had different uplift histories but presently available data are not sufficient for distinguishing many contrasts in one scenario cretaceous and early cenozoic north south distributed shortening of tibetan crust and mantle lithosphere probably caused significant uplift of the surface relative to sea level to perhaps half of the present elevation by the early miocene thinning of the high density mantle portion of the lithosphere during the miocene may then have allowed the thick tibetan crust to rise close to its present elevation perhaps higher before 8 ma since then slow east west extension of tibet probably reduced the crustal thickness slightly and may have caused the elevation of the plateau to decrease during the late cenozoic erosion of tibet unlike narrow mountain belts has been unable to match the uplift of a broad plateau orographic precipitation and efficient river networks concentrate erosion on the edges while the interior is protected from significant erosion despite its lofty elevation the southern edge of the plateau the himalaya has suffered a minimum of 25 km of denudation since the miocene while central tibet shows little or no sign of major erosion since that time the gangdese arc in southern tibet was rapidly eroded during the mid miocene when 4 km of rock apparently were removed from the surface as shown by mineral cooling ages this pulse of erosion was probably caused by a combination of local thrust system movement and changes in base level and precipitation due to relative elevation changes between the gangdese and the himalaya to the south the modern long wavelength flatness of tibet is unlikely to have been caused by erosion and indicates viscous flow at some level of the lithosphere has been acting to level the plateau surface

crust and upper mantle tomography in tibet using surface waves we have obtained maps of lateral variations of structure in the crust and lithosphere in tibet and surrounding regions by inversion of single station measurements of fundamental mode rayleigh wave phase velocities in the period range 25 100 sec for earthquakes located in central asia and observed at teleseismic digital stations in eurasia phase velocity maps are obtained using a tomographic method without a priori constraints on region boundaries the lateral variations of s velocity reveal a symmetric pattern on each side of crustal low velocity zone centered on the chang tang region north central tibet this zone is bounded by rather steep velocity gradients to the south and east about 250 and 400 km north and west of the frontal thrusts of the himalayas and lungmen shan respectively the northern boundary of the zone crosses the northern limit of the tibet plateau altyn tagh and kunlun extending into the southwest tarim and qaidam basins the low crustal velocities are consistent with a thick hot crust in the central part of tibet consistent with quaternary volcanism in chang tang the steep gradients towards higher velocities in the south and in the north are compatible with the documented continental subduction in the south and suggest that a similar situation might exist in the north

northeastward growth and uplift of the tibetan plateau magnetostratigraphic insights from the guide basin 1 most of the evidence for the uplift of the tibetan plateau comes from its southern and central parts although the northern rim has been less studied it may greatly contribute to the understanding of the mechanism and timing of the uplift recent studies on the northeastern part of the plateau suggest that the uplift can largely be explained by cenozoic thrusting and folding linked to the movement of the altyn tagh and kunlun faults and that diffuse shortening might be a realistic way to explain the thickening of the continental interior nevertheless the age of sediments that record the tectonic processes is poorly known the terrigenous formations in the guide gonghe basin ne tibet show several phases of deformation and include thick deposits of conglomerates interbedded with sandstones and siltstones that are thought to be the result of an increased sediment flux dating of these gravel deposits with magnetostratigraphic and faunal studies has permitted the precise timing of the basin infilling and its tectonic evolution to be established our results indicate that the onset of conglomerate accumulation occurs in the pliocene an observation that is in agreement with those of the linxia basin just east of the plateau if the high sedimentation rates 22 cm kyr in the guide basin are mostly due to tectonism then significant uplift occurred as late as pliocene

a tibetan model for the early tertiary western united states a comparative study of the geology of the early tertiary western united states and the modern tibetan and turkish iranian plateaux indicates that these three regions situated in the hinterland of major orogenic belts share a common taphrogenic evolutionary path both the tibetan and turkish iranian plateaux have high mean elevations above sea level 5 km and 2 0 2 5 km respectively have experienced fast uplift and widespread unroofing during the last 10 8 ma and are undergoing extension nearly perpendicular to the plate convergence direction successive accretionary and collisional events accompanied by significant shortening and underplating during the formation of these plateaux resulted in the generation of overthickened continental crust 50 km that is currently in the process of extending a two stage magmatism characterized by widespread calc alkaline volcanism followed and or overlapped by bimodal basaltic to rhyolitic volcanism occurs synchronously with crustal extension and thinning the plateaux in general have an internal closed drainage system and are drained by antecedent rivers near their edges the early tertiary western us cordillera displayed similar geological and geomorphic features to those observed in the tibetan and turkish iranian plateaux in the aftermath of a prolonged mesozoic orogeny and underwent an orogenic collapse starting around mid tertiary time a n trending crustal welt with a maximum thickness of 60 km and an elevation around 3 km formed a highland with alpine flora in the hinterland of the cordilleran orogenic belt and separated internal drainage basins and saline lakes on the east from major flood plains of antecedent river systems on the west this highland subsequently became the locus of crustal extension metamorphic core complex formation and wide spread calcalkaline volcanism 9ignimbrite flare up9 this early stage of orogenic collapse was followed by the basin and range extension characterized by block faulting and bimodal volcanism starting around 18 16 ma the basin and range extension and associated subsidence resulted in development of the great basin with a mean elevation of 1 5 km above sea level and a crustal thickness of 30 km similarities in the post orogenic evolutionary paths of these three regions indicate that continental lithosphere reacts to overthickening in a consistent way through large scale crustal remobilization and extensional collapse regardless of the mode and nature of its orogenic build up

crustal structure of the paleozoic kunlun orogeny from an active source seismic profile between moba and guide in east tibet china abstract we herein present a new seismic refraction wide angle reflection profile that crosses the songpan ganzi terrane the animaqing suture zone and the eastern kunlun mountains comprised of the south kunlun and middle kunlun blocks separated by the middle kunlun fault the profile is 380 km long and extends from moba to guide in eastern tibet the crustal thickness is about 62 km under the songpan ganzi terrane 62 64 km under the south kunlun and 60 km under the middle kunlun block the songpan ganzi flysch seems to be present up to a depth of 15 km south of the animaqing suture zone and up to a depth of 10 km in the middle kunlun block with thicknesses elsewhere that depend on assumptions about the likely lithologies the profile exhibits clear lateral variations both in the upper and lower crust which are indicative of different crustal blocks juxtaposed by the kunlun fault system whether or not the songpan ganzi flysch was originally deposited on oceanic crust at the longitude of our profile 100 e it is now underlain by continental crust and the presence of continental crust beneath the songpan ganzi terrane and of a continental arc under the south kunlun block suggest paleozoic continent continent arc collision in the eastern kunlun mountains comparison of crustal velocity columns from all wide angle seismic profiles across the eastern kunlun mountains indicates a remarkable west to east change in the moho topography across the kunlun fault system 15 20 km moho step at 95 e but only 2 5 km along our profile at 100 e lower crustal thickness of the kunlun terranes is rather uniform about 35 km from 80 95 e which suggests that similar thrust thickening processes have played a role where the qaidam basin abuts the kunlun fault but thins to 20 25 km at 100 e east of the qaidam basin the increased crustal thickness from 93 to 98 e compared to that at 100 e may be due to the differences in the thickness of the crust of the two plates before their collision and or largely achieved by thickening of the lower crust perhaps indicating a crustal flow mechanism operating more strongly in the western region

a prolonged cenozoic erosional period in east kunlun western china constraints of detrital apatite u th he ages on the onset of mountain building along the northern margin of the tibetan plateau abstract the timing of the development of the highland topography along the northern margin of the tibetan plateau is the key to understanding the manner of tibetan growth and the far field effects of the collision between india and eurasia although various studies have investigated the exhumation and uplift of the basement rocks thermochronological studies on the detritus from a continuous depositional sequence inan intermontane basin are lacking but might shed light on this issue in this study a set of detrital apatites from an upper eocene to pliocene depositional sequence in the kumukol basin the largest intermontane basin in the east kunlun were dated by using the u th he technique the detrital apatites had consistent ages of 40 ma for all deposit formations from bottom to top which were older than the depositional ages the ages and their consistency suggested that these detrital apatites were not reset and that the ages represented the original ages in the provenance region these detrital apatite ages from the upper eocene to pliocene formations strongly suggested that the high mountains surrounding the kumukol basin formed at or before 40 ma and have remained high since then the process of mountain building resulted in a prolonged period of erosion from 40 to 2 6 ma the coupling of mountain and basin at 40 ma was widespread along the east kunlun our present results constrain the time of onset of the mountain building along the northern margin of the tibetan plateau which may represent a rapid response to the india eurasian collision

relief history and denudation evolution of the northern tibet margin constraints from 40ar 39ar and u th he dating and implications for far field effect of rising plateau abstract how does the rising tibetan plateau affect its peripheral region the current understanding of the mechanism of orogenic plateau development is incomplete and thus no consensus yet exists in this regard however our new 40ar 39ar and u th he dataset presented in this study may shed some light on this issue 40ar 39ar dating on two vertical transects from the massif between nuomuhong and golmud indicates that the eastern kunlun range was built up and exhumated during the later triassic initially and a minimum overburden of 11 7 14 0 km has been eroded since 220 ma u th he age elevation relationships aers indicate a rapid exhumation event at 40 ma following a long period of slow exhumation phase from late mesozoic to early eocene time in this study two scenarios one assuming a single stage and the other assuming multiple stages of evolution history are modeled modeling of a multiple stage scenario is reasonable and is able to reflect the actual situation which reveals the entire denudation and relief history of the northern tibet from late mesozoic to the present time after prolonged denudation before 50 ma a low topography 0 17 times the relief of the present developed by 50 ma with an erosion rate of 0 013 0 013 0 025 mm yr the highest relief 1 82 times the relief of the present of the cenozoic time came into being at 40 ma with an erosion rate of 0 052 0 025 mm yr which was possibly a result of the collision between india and eurasia subsequently the relief steadily decreased to the present level due to continued denudation this suggests that deformation propagation from the continued convergence boundary between india and eurasia was insignificant after the construction of the highest relief this observation is broadly consistent with published accounts on the stratigraphic cooling and faulting histories of the northern tibet margin

cenozoic volcanism in tibet evidence for a transition from oceanic to continental subduction geochronological k ar or ar ar major and trace element sr nd pb isotopic and mineral chemical data are presented for newly discovered cenozoic volcanic rocks in the western qiangtang and central lhasa terranes of tibet alkali basalts of 65 45ma occur in the western qiangtang terrane and represent primitive mantle melts as indicated by high mgnumbers 100 mg mg fe 54 65 cr 204 839 ppm and ni 94 218 ppm contents and relatively low ratios of sr sr 0 7046 0 7061 pb pb 18 21 18 89 pb pb 15 49 15 61 and pb pb 38 42 38 89 and high ratios of nd nd 0 5124 0 5127 in contrast younger volcanic rocks in the western qiangtang terrane 30ma and the central lhasa terrane 23 13 and 8ma are potassic to ultrapotassic and interpreted to have been derived from an enriched mantle source they are characterized by very high contents of incompatible trace elements negative ta nb and ti anomalies and radiogenic pb isotopic compositions pb pb 18 43 19 10 pb pb 15 64 15 83 pb pb 39 14 39 67 sr sr 0 7088 0 7092 and nd nd 0 5122 ratios of the western qiangtang terrane potassic lavas are similar to those of 45 29ma potassic volcanic rocks in the north central qiangtang terrane whereas sr sr 0 7167 0 7243 and nd nd 0 5119 ratios of central lhasa terrane lavas are similar to those of 25 16ma ultrapotassic volcanic rocks in the western lhasa terrane the 65 45ma alkali basalts in the western qiangtang terrane along with widespread calc alkaline volcanic rocks of this age in the lhasa terrane may be related to roll back of a previously shallow north dipping slab of tethyan oceanic lithosphere beneath tibet subduction as opposed to convective thinning of continental lithosphere is favored to explain potassic volcanism in tibet because of its occurrence in distinct east west trending belts 45 29ma in the qiangtang terrane 25 17ma in the northern lhasa terrane 16 8ma in the southern lhasa terrane and temporal and spatial relationships with major thrust systems

geochemical investigations of the origin of the manaslu leucogranite himalaya nepal the himalayan orogeny is characterized by an intraplate subduction zone the thrusting of the tibetan slab over the foreland is probably responsible for the origin of the manaslu type leucogranites this geochemical study tries to examine the crustal origin of the granite to verify whether the paragneisses of the tibetan slab are the most probable parent material and to determine the subsequent petrogenetic processes the rb sr systematics suggest that 1 1 the scatter of data points in the 87sr86srvs 87rb86sr diagram may be due to the heterogeneity of the initial 87sr86sr ratios 2 2 the initial isotopic ratios are very high 0 730 0 760 and are in agreement with those of the gneisses of the tibetan slab at the time of the melting pb isotopic ratios are homogeneous they are also consistent with a crustal prehistory the ree and th contents are unexpectedly low in comparison with the much higher contents of the parent material monazite left in the residue of melting or more probably extracted in an early stage of the magmatic history may explain the observed ree and th abundances alternatively field observations show that the emplacement of the granite has been accompanied by a very strong hydrothermal activity in consequence the low ree and th contents of the granite could also be due to the loss by solution during prolonged fluid circulation throughout the granitic melt and the sr and pb isotope distribution to the effect of late to post magmatic fluids the isotopic character of which was determined by the underlying tibetan slab

active tectonic studies in the united states 1987 1990 the techniques and instrumentation used in active tectonic studies are discussed and recent results are reviewed it is suggested that a critical mass of data on several particular regions has been accumulated making possible critical debates and attempts to assess earthquake hazards particular attention is given to studies of the pacific northwest region basin and range deformation studies and distributed deformation and hidden earthquake sources also included is a comprehensive bibliography for the period

velocities and propagation characteristics of pn and sn beneath the himalayan arc and tibetan plateau possible evidence for underthrusting of indian continental lithosphere beneath tibet new seismological observations on velocities and propagation characteristics of pn and sn waves beneath tibet can be interpreted although not uniquely to indicate the shallow angle underthrusting of the greater indian continental lithosphere beneath the tibetan plateau this is inferred from available geological and geophysical data and is now supported by new seismological observations the most significant observation is that high frequency sn waves shear waves that travel in the mantle lithosphere propagate efficiently in the uppermost mantle beneath the tibetan plateau except beneath the north central part of tibet the chang thang terrane furthermore sn propagates efficiently across the stable block of the tarim basin along the tien shan and himalayan mountains and across the indian shield apparent velocities of pn and sn waves that traverse the uppermost mantle beneath the tibetan plateau are 8 42 and 4 73 km s respectively these velocities are very similar to those beneath the himalayan mountains and the indian shield the efficient propagation and the velocities of pn and sn waves beneath tibet are also similar to those commonly observed beneath shield and stable continental regions these results are consistent with the underthrusting model and do not favor the class of alternative models in which the tibetan plateau is formed by shortening and thickening of hot crustal and uppermost mantle material in response to the convergence of india and asia

crustal structure in tibet high seismic velocity in the lower crust a least squares procedure is used to extract pure path tibetan group velocities in the period range 8 100 s from fundamental mode rayleigh and love waves recorded along 50 mixed paths the crustal model derived from these dispersion data reveals that the lower half of the very thick 74 10 km tibetan crust has a shear velocity similar to those found in the lower crust beneath stable continental and shield regions a second interesting feature of the model is the presence of a prominent low velocity channel at midcrustal depth the uniqueness of the tibetan crustal structure places the plateau region in a class by itself among tectonic provinces characterized by high heat flow and or wide spread recent volcanism setting stringent constraints on tectonic models of the tibetan plateau

the high k2o volcanism of northwestern tibet geochemistry and tectonic implications cenozoic volcanic rocks sampled during the 1989 sino french kunlun geotraverse have been analyzed to constrain the origin of widespread tertiary to neogene tibetan basic magmatism samples ranging from phonotephrites to trachyandesites are high k lavas k na always greater than 1 which exhibit typical calc alkaline characteristics although they are highly enriched in mobile trace elements and ree 600 times chondrites for la isotopic compositions exhibit radiogenic sr and pb 87sr 86sr 0 708 208pb 204pb 39 39 4 207pb 204pb 15 6 15 7 206pb 204pb 18 7 and unradiogenic nd 143nd 144nd 0 5123 0 5124 constancy of sr and nd isotopic values contrasts with variations in pb isotopes and highlights the problem of crustal contamination afc and simple mixing models are compatible with isotopic variations but were probably buffered by elemental concentration in sr and nd while pb isotopic values for the most primitive magmas are probably uncontaminated isotopic features are therefore proposed to be representative of a mantle source in which heterogeneity could be highlighted in the pb isotopic values such a source highly enriched in trace elements and radiogenic sr and pb is proposed to lay in the subcontinental mantle isolated from the overall convection movements the calc alkaline characteristics can date from the succession of enrichment phases linked to the numerous subduction events that have affected this part of asia while the isotopic characteristics are proposed to be the result of the aging of the concomitant lile enrichments the broad geographical geochemical and timing aspects of recent basic cenozoic magmatism are discussed in the light of our new data and we suggest that two mechanisms are acting together 1 a limited delamination of the base of the lithosphere or a thermal reequilibration of isotherms subsequent to thickening and 2 intracontinental subduction under the kunlun such mechanisms appear the most probable as they respect at the same time recent geophysical data and other geochemical studies

geology of the ulugh muztagh area northern tibet abstract within the ulugh muztagh area north central tibet an east west trending ophiolitic melange marks a suture that apparently was formed during a late triassic or slightly younger collision between a continental fragment to the south and the rest of asia the southern continental fragment carries a thick sequence of upper triassic sandstone but the contact between the sandstone and the ophiolitic melange is covered by a younger redbed sequence of unknown age a suite of 2 mica tourmaline bearing leucogranite plutons and dikes intruded the triassic sandstone at shallow crustal levels 10 5 to 8 4 ma these rocks range from granite to tonalite in composition are geochemically very similar to slightly older high himalayan leucogranite and are interpreted to have been derived by the partial melting of crustal material we interpret this to mean that crustal thickening began in this part of the tibetan plateau at least by 10 5 ma welded rhyolitic tuff rests on a conglomerate that consists of abundant debris from the ulugh muztagh intrusive rocks and has yielded ar ar ages of about 4 ma the tuffs are geochemically identical to the intrusive rocks suggesting that crustal thickening may have continued to 4 ma crustal thickening probably occurred by distributed crustal shortening similar to shortening now occurring north of ulugh muztagh along the northern margin of the tibetan plateau

structural and geochronological constraints on the tectono thermal evolution of the danba domal terrane eastern margin of the tibetan plateau the songpan ganze terrane of the tibetan plateau is underlain by neoproterozoic crystalline basement rocks of the yangtze block these basement rocks are exposed as a series of extensional tectonic domes that form a nearly north south trending extensional belt more than 1000 km long in the eastern margin of the tibetan plateau in the danba area detachment faults separate the basement core complexes e g the gezong and gongcai complexes from the paleozoic strata which have been thinned or removed completely the cover sequences have undergone upper greenschist to lower amphibolite facies metamorphism to form the danba schist and are overlain by the triassic xikang group a thick flysch sequence both the basement rocks and the paleozoic rocks have undergone multiple stages of deformation and thus provide an excellent opportunity to study the tectono thermal evolution of the eastern margin of the tibetan plateau two stages of deformation corresponding to three generations of foliation s1 view the mathml source and view the mathml source have been recognized on the basis of structural and microscopic observations we selected amphibole and biotite separates associated with distinct generations of foliation for 40ar 39ar dating using laser microprobe incremental heating technique to place numerical constraints on the major tectono thermal events within the danba area the geochronogical results reveal an earliest metamorphic event at 258 6 0 5 ma s1 biotite and 263 6 0 8 ma s1 amphibole coinciding temporally with the mantle plume that produced the voluminous emeishan flood basalts the second event was a progressive extensional deformation first occurred at 159 166 ma view the mathml source amphibole responsible for the earlier tectonic doming of the crystalline basement and then the final tectono thermal overprint recorded by view the mathml source foliation and view the mathml source metamorphism locally in the core complexes at 47 58 ma for the gezong complex and 64 81 ma for the gongcai complex this major post orogenic extensional event is believed to be a consequence of collision between the north china and south china blocks the apparent discrepancy of the 40ar 39ar ages observed between localities suggests a slow cooling process associated with progressive uplift