Finding of high-pressure mafic granulites in the Amdo basement,central Tibet

High-pressure mafic granulites with a peak mineral assemblage of garnet + clinopyroxene + rutile + quartz were found in the Amdo basement, central Tibet. Two kinds of symplectites were identified that are composed of orthopyroxene + plagioclase ± spinel and hornblende + plagioclase around garnet, which were interpreted to develop during the retrogressing stages in the granulites. P-T estimates suggested that peak metamorphic conditions were about 860–920°C and 1.46–1.56 GPa, which retrogressed from post-peak phase at 820–890°C and 0.88–1.15 GPa to amphibolite facies at 550–670°C and 0.52–0.65 GPa. These three stages define a clockwise P-T path with near-isothermal decompression and cooling following the peak high-pressure metamorphism. This suggests that the Amdo granulites underwent an initial subduction to a deep crustal level of ~50 km and then were rapidly exhumed to a shallow crustal level (~20 km). The formation of Amdo granulites is considered to result from the arc-continent collision between the Amdo basement and the Qiangtang terrane in the middle Jurassic, which is a crucial step to the tectonic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau.     

Initial movement of the Karakorum Fault in western Tibet： constraints from SHRIMP U-Pb dating of zircons

The Karakorum Fault zone(KFZ)plays an important role in understanding the formation,evolvement and deformation of the Tibetan Plateau.The high-T dextral shearing metamorphic rocks,e.g.,mylonites or mylonitized gneisses-granites,locally crop out along the southeastern part of the KFZ in the Ayila Ri’gyüRange area.The SHRIMP U-Pb dating of the syn-kinematic crystallized zircons indicates that the initial age of the KFZ is~27 Ma,~10 Ma older than previous results.The extensive high-T dextral shearing along the KFZ started at least at 27-20 Ma,accompanied by the syn-kinematic emplacement of leuco-granites.Deformation and concomitant fluid circulation during shearing most likely occurred as early as at 25-13 Ma.The KFZ probably grew from southeast to northwest along the fault as a result of continuous convergence between the India plate and Eurasia plate.