Late Cretaceous transition from subduction to collision along the Bangong-Nujiang Tethys: New volcanic constraints from central Tibet

This study deals with arc-type and subsequent bimodal volcanic rocks interbedded with (late) Cretaceous sedimentary formations near Gaize, central Tibet that shed new light on the Tethyan evolution along the Bangong-Nujiang suture. Unit I consists of trachyandesites interbedded with fine-grained sandstone, slate, and limestone. Zircon dating on a trachyandesite sample yields a 206Pb/238U age of 99 ± 1 Ma. The trachyandesites are characterized by strong enrichment in LILE but depletion in HFSE, low zircon saturation temperatures (TZr = 642-727 °C), and high oxygen fugacity (∆ FMQ = − 0.67-0.73), indicating their arc affinities. Unit II comprises a bimodal basalt-rhyolite suite interbedded with coarse-grained sandstone and conglomerate. Zircon dating on two rhyolitic samples yield 206Pb/238U ages of 97.1-87.0 Ma. In contrast with Unit I trachyandesites, Unit II basalts and rhyolites exhibit OIB-like trace element patterns, high temperatures (T = 1298-1379 °C for basalts, TZr = 855-930 °C for rhyolites), and low oxygen fugacity (∆ FMQ = − 3.37 ~ − 0.43), suggesting that Unit II bimodal volcanic rocks probably formed in an extensional setting. The Sr-Nd isotopes of both Unit I (87Sr/86Sri = 0.7052-0.7074, εNd(t) = − 2.21-1.02) and Unit II (87Sr/86Sri = 0.7057-0.7098, εNd(t) = − 3.22-0.88) rocks are similar to mantle-wedge-derived volcanic rocks within the southern Qiangtang block. The parental magma of Unit I trachyandesites was formed by fluid induced melting of the mantle wedge above the subducted Bangong-Nujiang Tethyan slab, and contaminated by crustal materials during MASH process within a deep crustal hot zone; and Unit II bimodal volcanic rocks were derived by melting of upwelling asthenosphere and a mildly metasomatized mantle wedge during the Lhasa-Qiangtang collision. We propose that the transition from the Bangong-Nujiang Tethyan subduction to the Lhasa-Qiangtang collision occurred during the Late Cretaceous in central Tibet.