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Metamorphic Characteristics and Tectonic Implications of the Kadui Blueschist in the Central Yarlung Zangbo Suture Zone, Southern Tibet

  • Metamorphism, Magmatism and Tectonic Evolution of the Himalayan Orogen and Tianshan Orogen
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Abstract

The Kadui blueschist is located in the central section of Yarlung Zangbo suture zone (YZSZ), southern Tibet, and has been subjected to the subduction of the Neo-Tethyan Ocean below the Asian Plate and provides important clues for better understanding the evolution of the India-Asia convergence zone. In this paper, the systematical petrographic and mineral chemical studies were carried out on the Kadui blueschist, which reveal a mineral assemblage of sodic amphibole, chlorite, epidote, albite and quartz with accessory minerals of titanite, calcite and zircon. Electron microprobe analyses demonstrate that amphibole shows zoned from actinolite core to ferrowinchite/riebeckite rim composition indicating that the sodic amphibole has formed during a prograde metamorphic event. The protolith of the blueschist is an intermediate-basic pyroclastic rock. The calculated pseudosection indicates a clockwise P-T path and constrains peak metamorphic conditions of about 5.9 kbar at 345 °C. This condition is transitional between pumpellyite-actinolite, greenschist and blueschist facies with a burial depth of 20–22 km and a thermal gradient of 15–16 °C/km. This thermal gradient belongs to high pressure intermediate P/T facies series and is possibly related to a warm subduction setting of young oceanic slabs. Our new findings indicate that the Kadui blueschist in the central part of YZSZ experienced a rapid subduction and exhumation process as a response to a northward subduction of the Neo-Tethyan oceanic lithosphere during the initial India-Asia collision stage.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is dedicated to Professor Zhendong You for his many and manifold contributions to metamorphic geology on the occasion of his 90th birthday. This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41572044) and the SDUST Research Fund (No. 2015TDJH101). We thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive and helpful comments and suggestions to improve the paper. Sincere thanks also go to the journal editor Dr. Yanru Song for her careful editorial handling. We also greatly appreciate Jianxin Pei, Xin Zhang for their helps during the fieldworks and Ms. Wenlan Zhang for her assistance during the mineral analytical process. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-018-0854-9.

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Correspondence to Xu-Ping Li.

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Sun, G., Li, XP., Duan, W. et al. Metamorphic Characteristics and Tectonic Implications of the Kadui Blueschist in the Central Yarlung Zangbo Suture Zone, Southern Tibet. J. Earth Sci. 29, 1026–1039 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-018-0854-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-018-0854-9

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