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Petrology of the mafic rocks of the Xigaze ophiolite, Tibet

Implications for the genesis of the oceanic lithosphere

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Abstract

The Xigaze ophiolite (Yarlung-Zangbo suture zone, Southern Tibet, China) shows an unusual crustal sequence characterized by a lack of large masses of cumulate gabbros, by dolerites intrusive throughout the whole ophiolite sequence, and by the injection of dolerites in already serpentinized peridotites. The abyssal tholeiitic nature of all the mafic rocks indicates that they have been generated at an oceanic ridge. All the geological arguments and petrological and textural data on the mafic rocks point to very low heat production and large heat losses through widespread intensive sea-water circulation, for the spreading centre in which they have been formed, in good agreement with a slow-spreading ridge origin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, 4 Place Jussieu, F-75230, Paris Cedex 05, France

    Jacques Girardeau & Jean Claude C Mercier

  2. Institut of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, China

    Wang Xibin

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  1. Jacques Girardeau
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  2. Jean Claude C Mercier
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  3. Wang Xibin
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Girardeau, J., Mercier, J.C.C. & Xibin, W. Petrology of the mafic rocks of the Xigaze ophiolite, Tibet. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 90, 309–321 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00384710

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00384710

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