Diachronous subduction, closure of the Proto-Tethys Ocean, and collisional accretion of microcontinents: Insights from the early Paleozoic intermediate-mafic rocks in the Amdo microcontinent of the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

The Proto-Tethys Ocean played an important role in the formation and evolution of the East Asian continental blocks, and the final closure of the Proto-Tethys Ocean may have led to the first assembly of nearly all East Asian blocks at the northern margin of Gondwana. However, controversy remains about the reconstruction of East Asian blocks at the northern margin of Gondwana. The Tibetan Plateau is located in the northern margin of Gondwana and recorded the entire tectonic evolution from continental rift and drift to subduction and collision during the early Paleozoic. Therefore, it is an important region in which to address tectonic evolution processes of the Proto-Tethys Ocean and Gondwana. Here, we present petrology, zircon U-Pb, Sr-Nd-Hf isotope, and whole-rock geochemical data from newly recognized intermediate-mafic magmatic rocks from the Amdo microcontinent of central Tibet, with a view to gain insights into the nature and geotectonic evolution of the northern margin of Gondwana. Zircon grains from meta-andesites and meta-basites in Amdo yielded magmatic crystallization ages of 490 Ma and 455−450 Ma, respectively. The meta-andesites are characterized by enrichment in large ion lithophile elements (e.g., Rb, Th, U, and K) and depletion in high field strength elements (e.g., Nb, Ta, and Ti) with positive zircon εHf(t) values (+3.4 to +6.4), which were probably derived from partial melting of a depleted mantle source enriched by minor fluids from subducted sediments in a continental arc setting. The meta-basites are tholeiitic and exhibit both mid-ocean-ridge basalt (e.g., flat rare earth element patterns) and arc-like (e.g., elevated Th/Yb ratios) geochemical affinities, in combination with negative zircon εHf(t) (−4.6 to −0.3) and whole-rock εNd(t) (−0.21 to −0.45) values, suggesting that they were probably generated by varying degrees of partial melting of a spinel peridotite source with ∼5%−10% crustal assimilation in a back-arc setting. In this regard, we favor the interpretation that the Amdo microcontinent experienced long-lasting (ca. 530−450 Ma) subduction of the Proto-Tethys Ocean slab before the subsequent collisional accretion of microcontinents. Integrating results from previous studies, we propose that the Amdo microcontinent, South Qiangtang terrane, Qilian-Qaidam terrane, and other East Asian blocks were all located at the northern margin of East Gondwana, which recorded the arc-related magmatism along the proto-Tethyan margin in the early Paleozoic. The closure of the Proto-Tethys Ocean and initial collision along the East Gondwana Proto-Tethyan margin may have been diachronous between ca. 455 and 430 Ma.