Middle Triassic volcanic rocks in the Northern Qiangtang (Central Tibet): Geochronology, petrogenesis, and tectonic implications

• Middle Triassic magmatism occurred in the Yanshiping area, Tibet.
• The NEBs were derived from metasomatised mantle wedge.
• The arc basalts originated from mixed mantle wedge and depleted asthenosphere.
• Subduction-related processes made an important contribution to crustal growth.
• Magmatism was related to subduction of the Paleo-Tethys or Bangong-Nujiang Ocean.

Although voluminous magmatism occurred during the Triassic in the Qiangtang terrane, the petrogenesis of the volcanic rocks and the associated tectonic scenarios remain mysterious. This study focuses on new identified primitive volcanic rocks from the Yanshiping area, Northern Qiangtang subterrane. The whole-rock major-trace elemental, Sr–Nd isotopic data, and zircon U–Pb age of volcanic rocks are reported in this paper in order to understand their petrogenesis and tectonic setting. The studied volcanic rocks can be grouped into two types, i.e., Nb-enriched basalts and basaltic andesites (NEBs) in the low sequence and arc basalts in the upper sequence. Zircon U–Pb dating using LA–ICP-MS techniques yields the concordant age with a weighted mean 206Pb/238U age of ca. 242–241 Ma for the NEBs and ca. 240 Ma for the arc basalts. The distinct geochemical and isotopic characteristics of whole-rock and varying Th–U–REE components of zircon grains from the volcanic rocks suggest that the NEBs were derived from partial melting of relatively enriched mantle wedge that have been metasomatised by slab-related melts and that the arc basalts originated from partial melting of mixing of mantle wedge and depleted asthenospheric mantle in response to the slab breakoff. Our new geochemical and geochronological results, in combination with regional studies, imply that the Middle Triassic magmatism was generated in the tectonic setting of northward subduction of the Paleo-Tethys or Bangong-Nujiang Ocean. Subduction-related processes that include melting of the slab and the slab breakoff during the Permian-Middle Triassic made an important contribution to crustal growth in the Qiangtang terrane, whereas vertical crustal growth associated with collision-related setting during the Late Triassic is nonsignificant.