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U–Pb zircon ages, geochemical and isotopic compositions of granitoids in Songpan-Garze fold belt, eastern Tibetan Plateau: constraints on petrogenesis and tectonic evolution of the basement

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Abstract

The Songpan-Garze fold belt, located in the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, covers a huge triangular area bounded by the Yangtze (South China), the North China and the Tibetan Plateau blocks. In the northeastern part of the Songpan-Garze fold belt, the Yanggon and Maoergai granitoids provide insights into regional tectono-magmatic events, basement nature and tectonic evolution. U–Pb zircon SHRIMP dating shows that the Yanggon and Maoergai granitoids have magmatic crystallization ages of 221 ± 3.8 Ma and 216 ± 5.7 Ma, respectively. Both the granitoids display adakitic geochemical signatures, suggesting that their magma was derived from partial melting of thickened lower crust. Pb–Sr–Nd isotopic compositions for granitoids reveal that there is an unexposed Proterozoic basement in the Songpan-Garze belt, which has an affinity with the Yangtze block. During development of the Paleo-Tethys ocean, the basement of the Songpan-Garze belt would be a peninsula approaching the Paleo-Tethys ocean from the Yangtze block.

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Acknowledgments

This study is supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (grants: 40234052 and 40521001). We thank Guowei Zhang and Shan Gao for helpful discussions, Mabs Kunka, Peter van Calsteren and Louise Thomas for analytical assistance of Sr–Nd isotopes and Yueshen Wan for helpful guidance of U–Pb zircon SHRIMP dating. The manuscript was improved by J. Ayers. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Earth Sciences and the State Key Laboratory of Geological Process and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, People’s Republic of China

    Hong-Fei Zhang, Li Zhang & Lan-Lan Jin

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK

    Nigel Harris

  3. The Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710069, People’s Republic of China

    Honglin Yuan

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  1. Hong-Fei Zhang
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  2. Li Zhang
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Correspondence to Hong-Fei Zhang.

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Communicated by J. Hoefs

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Zhang, HF., Zhang, L., Harris, N. et al. U–Pb zircon ages, geochemical and isotopic compositions of granitoids in Songpan-Garze fold belt, eastern Tibetan Plateau: constraints on petrogenesis and tectonic evolution of the basement. Contrib Mineral Petrol 152, 75–88 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-006-0095-2

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