The Paiku composite leucogranitic pluton in the Malashan gneiss dome within the Tethyan Himalaya consists of tourmaline leucogranite,two-mica granite and garnet-bearing leucogranite.Zircon U-Pb dating yields that(1)tourmaline leucogranite formed at28.2±0.5 Ma and its source rock experienced simultaneous metamorphism and anatexis at 33.6±0.6 Ma;(2)two-mica granite formed at 19.8±0.5 Ma;(3)both types of leucogranite contain inherited zircon grains with an age peak at^480 Ma.These leucogranites show distinct geochemistry in major and trace elements as well as in Sr-Nd-Hf isotope compositions.As compared to the two-mica granites,the tourmaline ones have higher initial Sr and zircon Hf isotope compositions,indicating that they were derived from different source rocks combined with different melting reactions.Combined with available literature data,it is suggested that anatexis at^35 Ma along the Himalayan orogenic belt might have triggered the initial movement of the Southern Tibetan Detachment System(STDS),and led to the tectonic transition from compressive shortening to extension.Such a tectonic transition could be a dominant factor that initiates large scale decompressional melting of fertile high-grade metapelites along the Himalayan orogenic belt.Crustal anatexis at^28 Ma and^20 Ma represent large-scale melting reactions associated with the movement of the STDS.
GAO LiEZENG LingSenHOU KeJunGUO ChunLiTANG SuoHanXIE KeJiaHU GuYueWANG Li
Processes accompanied the breakup of continents spreading of ocean floor and continent-ocean transition could trigger large scale melting of the mantle beneath the continent as well as the ocean,and produce mafic magmas with distinct
ZENG Ling-sen1),GAO Li-e1),HE Ke-jun2),TANG Suo-han1),GUO Chun-li2) 1).State Key Laboratory of Continental Tectonics and Dynamics,Institute of Geology,Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences,Beijing 100037,China
Unusual polyphase inclusions of K-feldspar+quartz+titanite+solid salt and K-feldspar+albite+quartz+epidote with textures similar to the other K-feldspar+quartz inclusions were found in omphacite grains from the Sulu ultrahigh pressure (UHP) eclogites. One of these inclusions contain square to round solid salt inclusions of KCl-NaCl composition. Such a mineral assemblage within K-feldspar-bearing inclusions hosted by UHP metamorphic phases suggests that (1) potassium granitic melts enriched in Cl components were presented during UHP metamorphism or at the early stage of rapid exhumation of deeply subducted continental slab; (2) they were resulted from reactions between the incoming granitic melts and quartz (or coesite); and (3) solid salt inclusions of NaCl-KCl were derived from dehydration and desiccation of Cl-bearing melts. Our new observations further demonstrate that during the tectonic evolution of UHP rocks, fertile components within deeply subducted continental materials could undergo partial melting, leading to the formation of Cl-bearing potassium granitic melts and substantial migration of fluid-conservative elements (e.g. Ti, Hf) within the UHP slab.
Determination of the timing and geochemical nature of early metamorphic and anatectic events in the Himalayan orogen may provide key insights into the physical and chemical behavior of lower crustal materials during the early stage of tectonic evolution in large-scale collisional belts.The Yardoi gneiss dome is the easternmost dome of the North Himalayan Gneiss Domes(NHGD),and contains three types of amphibolites with distinct mineral assemblage,elemental and radiogenic isotope geochemistry,as well as various types of gneisses.SHRIMP zircon U/Pb analyses on the garnet amphibolite and garnet-bearing biotite granitic gneiss yield ages of nearly peak metamorphism at 45.0±1.0 Ma and 47.6±1.8 Ma,respectively,which are 2 to 4 Ma older than the age for partial melting in migmatitic garnet amphibolite(43.5±1.3 Ma).Available data have demonstrated that ultra-high pressure metamorphism in the Tethyan Himalaya occurred at ～55 Ma,and high amphibolite facies to granulite facies metamorphism at 45 to 47 Ma.In addition,partial melting at thickened crustal conditions occurred at 43.5±1.3 Ma,which led to the formation of high Sr/Y ratios two-mica granites.The high-grade metamorphic rocks in the NHGD may represent the subducted front of the Indian continental lithosphere.In large collisional belts,fertile components in crustal materials could melt and form granitic melts with relatively high Na/K and Sr/Y ratios under thickened crustal conditions,significantly different from those formed by decompressional melting during rapid exhumation.
