article i nfo The Lhasa Terrane in southern Tibet has long been accepted as the last geological block accreted to Eurasia before its collision with the northward drifting Indian continent in the Cenozoic, but its lithospheric architecture, drift and growth histories and the nature of its northern suture with Eurasia via the Qiangtang Terrane remain enigmatic. Using zircon in situ U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotopic and bulk-rock geochemical data of Mesozoic-Early Tertiary magmatic rocks sampled along four north-south traverses across the Lhasa Terrane, we show that the Lhasa Terrane has ancient basement rocks of Proterozoic and Archean ages (up to 2870 Ma) in its centre with younger and juvenile crust (Phanerozoic) accreted towards its both northern and southern edges. This finding proves that the central Lhasa subterrane was once a microcontinent. This continent has survived from its long journey across the Paleo-Tethyan Ocean basins and has grown at the edges through magmatism resulting from oceanic lithosphere subduction towards beneath it during its journey and subsequent collisions with the Qiangtang Terrane to the north and with the Indian continent to the south. Zircon Hf isotope data indicate significant mantle source contributions to the generation of these granitoid rocks (e.g., ~50-90%, 0-70%, and 30-100% to the Mesozoic magmatism in the southern, central, and northern Lhasa subterranes, respectively). We suggest that much of the Mesozoic magmatism in the Lhasa Terrane may be associated with the southward Bangong-Nujiang Tethyan seafloor subduction beneath the Lhasa Terrane, which likely began in the Middle Permian (or earlier) and ceased in the late Early Cretaceous, and that the significant changes of zircon eHf(t) at ~113 and ~52 Ma record tectonomagmatic activities as a result of slab break-off and related mantle melting events following the Qiangtang-Lhasa amalgamation and India-Lhasa amalgamation, respectively. These results manifest the efficacy of zircons as a chronometer (U-Pb dating) and a geochemical tracer (Hf isotopes) in understanding the origin and histories of lithospheric plates and in revealing the tectonic evolution of old orogenies in the context of plate tectonics.

The Lhasa Terrane: Record of a microcontinent and its histories of drift and growth

The ore deposits of the Mesozoic age in South China can be divided into three groups, each with different metal associations and spatial distributions and each related to major magmatic events. The first event occurred in the Late Triassic (230–210 Ma), the second in the Mid–Late Jurassic (170–150 Ma), and the third in the Early–Mid Cretaceous (120–80 Ma). The Late Triassic magmatic event and associated mineralization is characterized by peraluminous granite-related W–Sn–Nb–Ta mineral deposits. The Triassic ore deposits are considerably disturbed or overprinted by the later Jurassic and Cretaceous tectono-thermal episodes. The Mid–Late Jurassic magmatic and mineralization events consist of 170–160 Ma porphyry–skarn Cu and Pb–Zn–Ag vein deposits associated with I-type granites and 160–150 Ma metaluminous granite-related polymetallic W–Sn deposits. The Late Jurassic metaluminous granite-related W–Sn deposits occur in a NE-trending cluster in the interior of South China, such as in the Nanling area. In the Early–Mid Cretaceous, from about 120 to 80 Ma, but peaking at 100–90 Ma, subvolcanic-related Fe deposits developed and I-type calc-alkaline granitic intrusions formed porphyry Cu–Mo and porphyry-epithermal Cu–Au–Ag mineral systems, whereas S-type peraluminous and/or metaluminous granitic intrusions formed polymetallic Sn deposits. These Cretaceous mineral deposits cluster in distinct areas and are controlled by pull-apart basins along the South China continental margin. Based on mineral assemblage, age, and space–time distribution of these mineral systems, integrated with regional geological data and field observations, we suggest that the three magmatic–mineralization episodes are the result of distinct geodynamic regimes. The Triassic peraluminous granites and associated W–Sn–Nb–Ta mineralization formed during post-collisional processes involving the South China Block, the North China Craton, and the Indo-China Block, mostly along the Dabie-Sulu and Songma sutures. Jurassic events were initially related to the shallow oblique subduction of the Izanagi plate beneath the Eurasian continent at about 175 Ma, but I-type granitoids with porphyry Cu and vein-type Pb–Zn–Ag deposits only began to form as a result of the breakup of the subducted plate at 170–160 Ma, along the NNE-trending Qinzhou-Hangzhou belt (also referred to as Qin-Hang or Shi-Hang belt), which is the Neoproterozoic suture that amalgamates the Yangtze Craton and Cathaysia Block. A large subduction slab window is assumed to have formed in the Nanling and adjacent areas in the interior of South China, triggering the uprise of asthenospheric mantle into the upper crust and leading to the emplacement of metaluminous granitic magma and associated polymetallic W–Sn mineralization. A relatively tectonically quiet period followed between 150 and 135 Ma in South China. From 135 Ma onward, the angle of convergence of the Izanagi plate changed from oblique to parallel to the coastline, resulting in continental extensional tectonics and reactivation of regional-scale NE-trending faults, such as the Tan-Lu fault. This widespread extension also promoted the development of NE-trending pull-apart basins and metamorphic core complexes, accompanied by volcanism and the formation of epithermal Cu–Au deposits, granite-related polymetallic Sn–(W) deposits and hydrothermal U deposits between 120 and 80 Ma (with a peak activity at 100–90 Ma).

Major types and time–space distribution of Mesozoic ore deposits in South China and their geodynamic settings

Principles of Isotope Geology

http://www.mantleplumes.org/WebDocuments/Zheng08PR.pdf

Rift melting of juvenile arc-derived crust: Geochemical evidence from Neoproterozoic volcanic and granitic rocks in the Jiangnan Orogen, South China

Abstract In NE China, voluminous granitoids were emplaced in late Paleozoic and Mesozoic times. We report here Sr–Nd–O isotopic and elemental abundance data for two highly evolved granitic plutons, Woduhe and Baerzhe, from the Great Xing'an Mountains. They show a rather “juvenile” Sr–Nd isotopic signature and a spectacular tetrad effect in their REE distribution patterns as well as non-CHARAC (charge-and-radius-controlled) trace element behavior. The emplacement ages are constrained at 130±4 Ma for the Woduhe and 122±5 Ma for the Baerzhe granites by Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd isotope analyses. Both granites are also characterized by low but imprecise initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of about 0.703. The Nd–Sr isotope data argue for their generation by melting of dominantly juvenile mantle component with subordinate recycled ancient crust. This is largely compatible with the general scenario for much of the Phanerozoic granitoids emplaced in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. The parental magmas for both the Woduhe and Baerzhe granites have undergone extensive magmatic differentiation, during which intense interaction of the residual melts with aqueous hydrothermal fluids (probably rich in F and Cl) resulted in the non-CHARAC trace element behavior and the tetrad effect of REE distribution. Both the Woduhe and Baerzhe granites show the characteristic trace element patterns of rare-metal granites, but their absolute abundances differ by as much as two orders of magnitude. The oxygen isotope compositions of the two granites have been severely disturbed. Significant 18O depletion in feldspar, but not so much in quartz, suggests that the hydrothermal alteration took place in a temperature condition of 300–500 °C. This subsolidus hydrothermal alteration is decoupled from the late-stage magma–fluid interaction at higher temperatures. Despite the two distinct and intense events of “water–rock” interaction, the Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd geochronological systems seem to have maintained closed, hence, suggesting that the two events occurred shortly after the plutonic emplacements.

Highly evolved juvenile granites with tetrad ree patterns: the woduhe and baerzhe granites from the great xing'an mountains in ne china

Porphyry deposits and oxidized magmas

The formation of the Dabaoshan porphyry molybdenum deposit induced by slab rollback

A-type granite belts of two chemical subgroups in central eastern China: Indication of ridge subduction

Cassiterite U-Pb geochronology constrains magmatic-hydrothermal evolution in complex evolved granite systems: The classic Erzgebirge tin province (Saxony and Bohemia)

Congying Li

Papers

Porphyry deposits and oxidized magmas

The formation of the Dabaoshan porphyry molybdenum deposit induced by slab rollback

A-type granite belts of two chemical subgroups in central eastern China: Indication of ridge subduction

Cassiterite U-Pb geochronology constrains magmatic-hydrothermal evolution in complex evolved granite systems: The classic Erzgebirge tin province (Saxony and Bohemia)

Combined zircon and cassiterite U-Pb dating of the Piaotang granite-related tungsten-tin deposit, southern Jiangxi tungsten district, China