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Thermochronological constraints on two pulses of Cenozoic high-K magmatism in eastern Tibet

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Abstract

The previously published U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar ages and our 21 newly-obtained 40Ar/39Ar ages suggest that the Cenozoic magmatism in eastern Tibet and Indochina occurred in two episodes, each with distinctive geochemical signatures, at (40–28) Ma and (16–0) Ma. The older rocks are localized along the major strike-slip faults such as the Jinsha-Red River fault system and erupted synchronously with transpression. The younger rocks are widely distributed in rift basins and coeval with the east-west extension of Tibet and eastern Asia. Combining with their geochemical data, we consider that the earlier magmatic phase was generated by continental subduction, while the later volcanic phase was caused by decompression melting of a recently metasomatically-altered, depleted mantle source. The magmatic gap between the two igneous pulses represents an important geodynamic transition in the evolution of eastern Tibet, from the processes controlled mainly by crustal deformation to those largely dominated by mantle tectonics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 510640, Guangzhou, China

    Jianghai Wang, Jiangyu Zhou, Yuquan Zhang & Guanghong Xie

  2. Department of Earth & Space Sciences and Institute of Geophysics & Planetary Physics, University of California, 90095-1567, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    An Yin, M. T. Harrison & M. Grove

Authors
  1. Jianghai Wang
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  2. An Yin
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  3. M. T. Harrison
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  4. M. Grove
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  5. Jiangyu Zhou
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  7. Guanghong Xie
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Correspondence to Jianghai Wang.

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Wang, J., Yin, A., Harrison, M.T. et al. Thermochronological constraints on two pulses of Cenozoic high-K magmatism in eastern Tibet. Sci. China Ser. D-Earth Sci. 46, 719–729 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1360/03yd9063

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