Petrogenesis of Late Cretaceous Jiangla’angzong I-Type Granite in Central Lhasa Terrane, Tibet, China: Constraints from Whole-Rock Geochemistry, Zircon U-Pb Geochronology, and Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf Isotopes

The Jiangla'angzong granite in the northern part of the Central Lhasa Terrane is composed of syenogranite and adamellite. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb analyses suggest that syenogranite has a weighted mean ~(206) Pb/~(238) U age of 86±1 Ma(mean square weighted deviation=0.37), which is in accordance with the muscovite Ar-Ar age(85±1 Ma) of Cu-Au ore-bearing skarns and the zircon U-Pb age(84±1 Ma) of adamellite. This suggests that the Jiangla'angzong magmatism and Cu–Au mineralization events took place during the Late Cretaceous. The granite contains hornblende, biotite, and pyroxene, and does not contain Al-bearing minerals, such as muscovite, cordierite, and garnet. It has high contents of SiO_2(65.10–70.91 wt%), K_2O(3.44–5.17 wt%), and total K_2O+Na_2O(7.13–8.15 wt%), and moderate contents of A_(12)O_3(14.14–16.45 wt%) and CaO(2.33–4.11 wt%), with a Reitman index(σ43) of 2.18 to 2.33, and A/CNK values of 0.88 to 1.02. The P_2O_5 contents show a negative correlation with SiO_2, whereas Pb contents show a positive correlation with SiO_2. Th and Y contents are relatively low and show a negative correlation with the Rb contents. These characteristics suggest that the Jiangla'angzong granite is a high K calc–alkaline metaluminous I–type granite. It is enriched in light rare earth elements(LREE) and large ion lithofile elements(LILE), and depleted in heavy rare earth elements(HREE) and high field strength elements(HFSE), with LREE/HREE ratios of 11.7 to 18.1. The granite has negative Eu anomalies of 0.58 to 0.94 without obvious Ce anomalies(δCe=1.00–1.04). The relatively low initial 87 Sr/86 Sr ratios of 0.7106 to 0.7179, positive εHf(t) values of 1.0 to 4.1, and two-stage Hf model ages(TDM2) ranging from 889 Ma to 1082 Ma, These geochemical features indicate that the granite derived from a juvenile crust. The(~(143) Nd/~(144) Nd)_t values from the Jiangla'angzong granite range from 0.5121 to 0.5123, its εNd(t) values range from-10.17 to-6.10, its(~(206) Pb/~(204) Pb)_t values range from 18.683 to 18.746, its(~(207) Pb/~(204) Pb)_t values range from 15.695 to 15.700, and its(~(208) Pb/~(204) Pb)_t values range from 39.012 to 39.071. These data indicate that the granite was formed by melting of the upper crust with the addition of some mantle materials. We propose that the Jiangla'angzong granite was formed during the postcollision extension of the Qiangtang and Lhasa terranes.     

Highstands in the interior of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau since the last interglacial: evidence from grain‐size analysis of lacustrine core sediments in Zabuye Salt Lake

Highstands in the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 based on ¹⁴C dating in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP) are widely documented. Recent records from shoreline sediments dated using U‐series and/or optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), however, reveal that the highstands originally dated in MIS 3 should now be considered to fall in MIS 5. This paper provides new evidence from the interior of the QTP, based on the grain‐size from a continuous lake core in the Zabuye Salt Lake, to verify the MIS 5 highstand in the QTP. Grain‐size analysis of the core sediments also distinguishes two other highstands in MIS 3 and MIS 2, respectively. The MIS 5 highstand is considered as the maximum lake level since the Last Interglacial, as cored sediments contain very low values of Median Diameter (Md) during MIS 5. Compared with the discontinuous records from lake shorelines sediments, the grain‐size records from the continuous lake centre core sediments provide a more complete dataset to infer lake level variations, and make it possible to make wider palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental interpretation. In the interior of the QTP, highstands might have continued into cold climate periods due to the reduced evaporation rates in the latter. The influence of the moisture‐bearing southerly‐shifted Westerly wind pathway may also have contributed to the highstands in the glacial period. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Proximal provenance of the western Songpan–Ganzi turbidite complex (Late Triassic, eastern Tibetan plateau): Implications for the tectonic amalgamation of China

The Late Triassic Songpan–Ganzi turbidite complex on the eastern Tibetan plateau, which covers an area of ~ 2.2 × 10⁵ km², is one of the largest flysch turbiditic basins on Earth. It is juxtaposed with major Chinese continental blocks across several outstanding Tethyan sutures, and is critical to elucidating the tectonic amalgamation of China. However, the provenance of the turbidites remains the subject of intense debate. Detrital modes and heavy-mineral spectra of sandstone samples from three turbidite profiles in the western Songpan–Ganzi complex were determined in an attempt to elucidate their provenance and the type of tectonic setting in which they were deposited. Upper Triassic turbidites in the western Songpan–Ganzi complex have an overwhelming derivation from an orogen source, as shown by the average framework compositions of the sandstones (Q₅₇F₂₁L₂₂, Qm₅₂F₂₁Lt₂₇, Qp₂₃Lvm₀Lsm₇₇). The compositional and textural immaturity of the sandstones suggests limited transport and nearby sources. Both light and heavy mineral and lithic fractions indicate dominant metamorphic source rocks and subordinate ophiolitic and sedimentary source rocks. The occurrence of C-type garnet, omphacite, rutile, and Si-rutile, and the high-silica content of phengites reveal that the source rocks underwent ultrahigh-pressure conditions. Therefore, we advocate that the western Songpan–Ganzi Late Triassic turbidites were derived from nearby central Qiangtang Triassic collisional orogen sources, rather than distant Dabie–Qinling sources eroded after North China–South China collision, as previously proposed. The analogy of the Songpan–Ganzi turbidites to the Bengal–Indus fans is not favored. The central Qiangtang metamorphic belt is unlikely to have occurred as an early Mesozoic mélange underthrust from the Jinsa suture, and is more likely to have been an in situ Triassic ultrahigh-pressure orogen. Our provenance interpretation implies that the Paleotethys, represented by the present Jinsa and Kunlun sutures, was not yet closed when central Qiangtang was being exhumed to supply the sediments of the Songpan–Ganzi basin. This challenges the conventional model for sequential amalgamation of China during the Phanerozoic.     

Conodont biostratigraphy across the Permian–Triassic boundary at the Dawen section, Great Bank of Guizhou, Guizhou Province, South China: Implications for the Late Permian extinction and correlation with Meishan

Several continuous Permian–Triassic boundary (PTB) sections are well exposed in the interior of the Great Bank of Guizhou (GBG) on the east limb of the Bianyang syncline, Luodian County, Guizhou Province, South China. Fourteen conodont taxa are identified, including Clarkina kazi, Clarkina lehrmanni n. sp., Clarkina taylorae, Clarkina zhejiangensis, Hindeodus eurypyge, Hindeodus inflatus, Hindeodus sxlatidentatus, Hindeodus parvus erectus, Hindeodus parvus parvus, Hindeodus postparvus, Hindeodus praeparvus, Hindeodus typicalis, Isarcicella staeschei, and Merrillina ultima based on a detailed study of the Permian-Triassic interval at the Dawen section. The first occurrence (FO) of H. parvus parvus in the lower Daye Formation, at about 7.45 m above the contact surface between the Upper Permian skeletal packstone and a calcimicrobial framestone unit, is correlated with the Permian–Triassic boundary; the occurrence of H. eurypyge, H. praeparvus and M. ultima immediately below and H. postparvus above the interval supports this interpretation. A morphometric analysis of 31 Hindeodus specimens helped distinguish H. parvus erectus from H. parvus parvus and H. postparvus. Correlation with the Meishan section (PTB GSSP) using both conodont biostratigraphy and carbon isotopes, indicates that the major extinction at the two localities is simultaneous and coincides with the top of the skeletal packstone at Dawen. The contact between the skeletal packstone and the calcimicrobialite is very irregular and has previously been interpreted as a dissolution surface and correlated with a surface in the lower part of bed 27 at Meishan. Our results confirm this interpretation and reveal that the dissolution event postdated the extinction.