Tectono-thermal events in East Kunlun, Northern Tibetan Plateau: Evidence from zircon U–Pb geochronology

Late Silurian to Late Triassic seamount/oceanic plateau series accretion in Jinshajiang subduction mélange, Central Tibet, SW China

“…Numerous early Devonian to Silurian magmatic and metamorphic rocks are reported in the Kunlun and Kudi areas, to the north of the Songpan–Ganzi complex (e.g., Chen, He, Sun, Wang, & Zhang, ; Dong et al, ; Hao, Liu, & Sang, ; He & Dong, ; He et al, ; W. Li, Neubauer, et al, ; R. B. Li, Pei, et al, ; B. Liu et al, ; Xiao et al, ; Yuan et al, ). To date, there is no evidence that indicates southward subduction of the Jinshajiang Ocean during the Early‐Middle Devonian.…”

“…The Tibetan Plateau is generally considered to be a collage of several terranes, such as from north to south the Qaidam, Songpan–Ganzi, Qiangtang, Lhasa, and Himalayan (Figure ), which were rifted from Gondwanaland and subsequently accreted to the Asian continent by collisions between these terranes (e.g., Dong et al, ; He & Dong, ; He et al, ; Pan et al, ; Yin & Harrison, ). The identification of numerous suture zones in the Tibetan Plateau has caused considerable controversy, especially regarding their polarities of subduction and final closure timing, as well as the way of orogeny (e.g., Ding et al, ; Kapp et al, ; Pullen, Kapp, Gehrels, Vervoort, & Ding, ; Roger et al, ; Sigoyer, Vanderhaeghe, Duchêne, & Billerot, ; T. N. Yang, Hou, Wang, Zhang, & Wang, ; Yin & Harrison, ).…”

“…The Jinshajiang Suture, located in northern Tibet between the Qiangtang terrane to the south and the Songpan–Ganzi complex to the north (Figure ), is widely accepted to mark the collision between the Qiangtang terrane and the southern Eurasia represented by the Qaidam‐Qilian‐Alxa composite terrane as a result of closure of the Carboniferous–Permian Palaeotethys (Dong et al, ; He et al, ; He & Dong, ; Jian et al, ; Jian, Liu, & Sun, ; X. F. Wang, Metcalfe, Jian, He, & Wang, ; Zi, Cawood, Fan, Wang, & Tohver, ). However, the initial opening and closure of the Jinshajiang Ocean have been controversial, either as in the Carboniferous (e.g., Fan, Wang, Zhang, Zhang, & Zhang, ; B. Liu et al, ; Metcalfe, ; Reid, Wilson, & Liu, ; X. F. Wang et al, ; T. N. Yang et al, ; Zhao et al, ) or in the earlier Middle Devonian (Jian et al, ), Early Silurian–Early Devonian (Jian et al, ), and even the Late Ordovician–Late Silurian (426.8–450.7 Ma; Jian & Liu, ).…”

“…However, the initial opening and closure of the Jinshajiang Ocean have been controversial, either as in the Carboniferous (e.g., Fan, Wang, Zhang, Zhang, & Zhang, ; B. Liu et al, ; Metcalfe, ; Reid, Wilson, & Liu, ; X. F. Wang et al, ; T. N. Yang et al, ; Zhao et al, ) or in the earlier Middle Devonian (Jian et al, ), Early Silurian–Early Devonian (Jian et al, ), and even the Late Ordovician–Late Silurian (426.8–450.7 Ma; Jian & Liu, ). The tectonic settings and the way of the closure of the Jinshajiang Ocean have also been long debated (Dong et al, ; Fan et al, ; He et al, ; He & Dong, ; Metcalfe, ).…”

Magmatic events recorded in granitic gneisses from the Hatu area, eastern East Kunlun Orogen: Response to the assembly of Rodinia

“…Various studies have revealed the Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic magmatic activity in the EKO, which was suggested to be related to the assembly or/and breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia. (Tan, Bai, Chang, Tong, & Bao, ; Lu et al, ; Chen, Li, Wang, et al, ; Chen, Li, Zhang, et al, ; Chen et al, ; Zhang, Wang, Xu, & Yan, ; Meng et al, ; Gan, ; He, Dong, Liu, et al, ; He, Dong, Zhang, et al, ; Wei, Zhang, Gan, & Chen, ). Previous studies entailed detailed research on the Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic granitoids in Qimantag of the western EKO (Meng et al, ; Gan, ; He, Dong, Liu, et al, ; He, Dong, Zhang, et al, ; Wei et al, ), but the Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic granitoids in the eastern EKO have not been well studied yet (Lu et al, ; Chen, Li, Zhang, et al, ; Chen, Lu, Li, et al, ; Chen et al, ).…”