Abstract
Eclogitic metasediments from the central Qiangtang metamorphic terrane provide new insights into the continental subduction during the eastern and western Qiangtang collision. Petrologic observations show that the metasediments correspond to meta-sandstones of a continental margin. It is characterized by the garnet + omphacite + rutile + phengite + quartz assemblage, and the peak metamorphic temperature and pressure were estimated to be 535 ± 40 °C and ∼27 kbar, respectively, by major element partitioning thermobarometry. Subsequent retrogression occurred at ∼472 ± 30 °C and ∼6–9 kbar. The occurrence of eclogitized central Qiangtang terrane indicates the subduction of the western Qiangtang passive continental margin beneath eastern Qiangtang when eastern and western Qiangtang collided along the Shuanghu suture.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Carswell, D. A. (1990) Eclogite facies rocks. Glasgow and London, Blackie.
Carswell, D. A., Wilson, R.N. and Zhai, M. (2000) Metamorphic evolution, mineral chemistry and thermobarometry of schists and orthogneisses hosting ultra-high pressure eclogites in the Dabieshan of central China. Lithos, v.52, pp.121–155.
Castelli, D. (1991) Eclogitic metamorphism in carbonate rocks: the example of impure marbles from the Sesia-Lanzo Zone, Italian western Alps. Jour. Metamorph. Geol., v.9, pp.61–77.
Chopin, C., Henry, C. and Michard, A. (1991) Geology and petrology of the coesite bearing terrain, Dora Maira massif, Western Alps. European Jour. Mineral., v.3, pp.263–291.
Coleman, R. G., Lee, D.E., Beaty, L. B. and Brannock, W. W. (1965) Eclogites: their differences and similarities. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., v.76, pp.483–508.
Dahl, P. S. (1980) The thermal-compositional dependence of Fe2+-Mg distributions between coexisting garnet and pyroxene: applications to geothermometry. Am. Mineral., v.65, pp.854–866.
Droop, G. T. R. (1987) A general equation for estimating Fe3+ concentrations in ferromagnesian silicates and oxides from microprobe analyses, using stoichiometric criteria. Mineral. Mag., v.51, pp.431–435.
Ellis, D. J. and Green, D. H. (1979) An experimental study of the effect of Ca upon garnet-clinopyroxene Fe-Mg exchange equilibria. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., v.71, pp.13–22.
Evans, B. W. (1990) Phase relations of epidote-bluescshits. Lithos, v.25, pp.3–23.
Ferry, J.M. and Spear, F.S. (1978) Experimental calibration of the partitioning of Fe and Mg between biotite and garnet. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., v.66, pp.113–117.
Ganguly, J. (1979) Garnet and clinopyroxene solid solutions, and geothermometry based on Fe-Mg distribution coefficient. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, v.43, pp.1021–1029.
Ghent, E. D., Black, P. M, Brothers, R. N. and Stout, M. Z. (1988) Eclogites and associated albite-epidote-garnet paragenesis between Yambe and Cape Colnett.
Graham, C. M., and Powell, R. (1984) A garnet-hornblende geothermometer: calibration, testing, and application to the pelona Schist, Southern California. Jour. Metamorphic Geol., v.2, pp.13–31.
Green, T.H. and Hellman, P.L. (1982) Fe-Mg partitioning between coexisting garnet and phengite at high pressure, and comments on a garnet-phengite geothermometer. Lithos, v.15, pp.253–266.
Guillot, S., De Sigoyer J., Lardeaux J. M. and Mascle, G. (1997) Eclogitic metasediments from the Tso Morari area (Ladakh, Himalaya): evidence for continental subduction during India-Asia convergence. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., v.128, pp.197–212.
Helgeson, H.C., Delaney, J.R., Nesbitt, H.W. and Bird, D.K. (1978) Summary and critique of the thermodynamic properties of the rock-forming minerals. Am. Jour. Sci., v.278A, pp.1–229.
Holland, T.J.B. (1980) The reaction albite = jadeite + quartz determined experimentally in the range 600 °C–1200 °C. Amer. Mineral., v.65, pp.129–134.
Kapp, P., Yin, A., Manning, C.E., Murphy, M., Harrison, T.M., Spurlin, M., Ding, L., Deng, X.G. and Wu, C.M. (2000) Blueschist-bearing metamorphic core complexes in the Qiangtang block reveal deep crustal structure of northern Tibet. Geology, v.28, pp.19–22.
Kapp, P., Yin, A., Manning, C.E., Harrison, T.M. and Taylor, M.H. (2003) Tectonic evolution of the early Mesozoic blueschist-bearing Qiangtang metamorphic belt, central Tibet. Tectonics, v.24(4), pp.1043.
Kelly, N. M., and Harley, S. L. (2004) Orthopyroxene-Corundum in Mg-Al-rich Granulites from the Oygarden Islands, East Antarctica. Jour. Petrol. v.45, pp.1481–1512.
Krogh, E.J. (1988) The garnet-clinpyroxene Fe2+-Mg geothermometer-a reinterpretation of existing experimental data. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., v.99, pp.44–48.
Krogh, E. J., and Raheim, A. (1978) Temperature and pressure dependence of Fe-Mg partitioning between garnet and phengite, with particular reference to eclogites. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., v.66, pp.75–80.
Leake, B. E., Woolley, A. R., Birch, W. D., Burke, E. A.J., Ferraris, G., Grice, J. D., Hawthorne, F. C., Kisch, H. J., Krivovichev, V. G., Schumacher, J. C., Stephenson, N. C. N., and Whittaker, E. J.W. (2003) Nomenclature of amphiboles: additions and revisions to the International Mineralogical Association’s 1997 recommendations. Can. Mineral, v.41, pp.1355–1362.
Liogys, V.A. and Jenkins, D.M. (2000) Hornblende geothermometry of amphibolite layers of the Popple Hill gneiss, north-west Adirondack Lowlands, New York, USA. Jour. Metamorphic Geol. v.18, pp.513–530.
Massonne, H.J. and Schreyer, W. (1987) Phengite geobarometry based on the limiting assemblage with K-feldspar, phlogopite, and quartz. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., v.96, pp.212–224.
Massonne, H. J., and Schreyer, W. (1989) Stability field of the high-pressure assemblage talc + phengite and two new phengite barometers. European Jour. Mineral., v.1, pp.391–410.
Metcalfe, I. (2002) Permian tectonic framework and palaeogeography of SE Asia. Jour. Asian. Earth Sci., v.20, pp.551–566.
Morimoto, N., Fabries, J., Ferguson, A. K., Ginzburg, I. V., Ross, M., Seigert, F. A., Zussman, J., Aoki, K., and Gottardi, G. (1988) Nomenclature of pyroxenes. Amer. Mineral., v.73, pp.1123–1133.
Okay, A. I. (1993) Petrology of a diamond and coesite-bearing metamorphic terrain: Dabie Shan, China. European Jour. Mineral., v.5, pp.659–675.
Peacock, S. M. (1992) Blueschist-facies metamorphism, shear heating and P-T-t paths in subduction shear zones. Jour. Geophys. Res., v.97, pp.17693–17707.
Pullen, A., Kapp, P., and Gehrels, G. E. (2008) Triassic continental subduction in central Tibet and Mediterranean-style closure of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean. Geology, v.36, pp.351–354.
Raheim, A., and Green, D. H. (1974) Experimental determination of the temperature and pressure dependence of the Fe-Mg partition coefficient for coexisting garnet and clinopyroxene. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., v.48, pp.179–203.
Ravna, E. K. (2000) The garnet-clinopyroxene Fe2+-Mg geothermometer: an updated calibration. Jour. Metamorphic Geol., v.18, pp.211–219.
Stout, J. H. (1972) Phase petrology and mineral chemistry of coexisting amphiboles from Tidemark, Norway. Jour. Petrol., v.131, pp.99–145.
Vidal, Goffe B., Bousquet R., and Parra T. (1999) Calibration and testing of an empirical chloritoid-chlorite Mg-Fe exchange thermometer and thermodynamic data for daphnite. Jour. Metamorphic Geol., v.17, pp.25–39.
XBGMR (Xizang Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources) (1993) Regional Geology of Xizang Autonomous Region, China. Geological Publishing House, Beijing, pp.702 (in Chinese).
Xu, S.T., Liu, Y.C., Chen, G.B., Ji, S.Y., Ni, P. and Xiao, W.S. (2005) Microdiamonds, their classification and tectonic implications for the host eclogites from the Dabie and Su-Lu regions in central eastern China. Mineral. Magazine., v.69(4), pp.509–520.
Zhang, K.J. (1998) The Changning-Menglian suture zone: a segment of the major Cathaysian-Gondwanan divide in Southeast Asia-Comment. Tectonophysics, v.290, pp.319–321.
Zhang, K.J. (2001) Blueschist-bearing metamorphic core complexes in the Qiangtang block reveal deep crustal structure of northern Tibet: Comment. Geology, v.29, pp.90.
Zhang, K.J., Cai, J.X., Zhang, Y.X., and Zhao, T.P. (2006a) Eclogites from central Qiangtang, northern Tibet (China) and tectonic implications. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., v.245, pp.722–729.
Zhang, K.J., Xia, B.D. and Liang, X.W. (2002) Mesozoic and Paleogene sedimentary facies and paleogeography of Tibet, western China: Tectonic implications. Jour. Geol., v.37, pp.217–246.
Zhang, K. J., Zhang, Y. X., Li, B., and Zhong, L. F. (2007) Nd isotopes of siliciclastic rocks from Tibet: Constraints on the pre-Cenozoic tectonic evolution. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., v.256(3–4), pp.604–616.
Zhang, K.J., Zhang, Y.X., Li, B., Zhu, Y.T., and Wei R. Z. (2006b) The blueschist-bearing Qiangtang metamorphic belt (northern Tibet, China) as an in situ suture zone: Evidence from geochemical comparison with the Jinsa suture. Geology, v.34, pp.493–496.
Zhang, K.J., Zhang, Y.X., Xia, B.D., and He, Y.B. (2006c) Temporal variations of the Mesozoic sandstone composition in the Qiangtang block, northern Tibet (China): Implications for provenance and tectonic setting. Jour. Sediment. Res., v.76, pp.1035–1048.
Zhang, K.J., and Tang, X.C. (2009) Eclogites in the interior of the Tibetan Plateau and their geodynamic implications. Chinese Sci. Bull., v.54, pp.2556–2567.
Zhang, K.J., Tang, X.C., Wang, Y., and Zhang, Y.X., (2011) Geochronology, geochemistry, and Nd isotopes of early Mesozoic bimodal volcanism in northern Tibet, western China: Constraints on the exhumation of the central Qiangtang metamorphic belt. Lithos, v.121, pp.167–175.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tang, XC., Zhang, YX. Eclogitic metasediments from central Qiangtang, Northern Tibet: Evidence for continental subduction during the eastern and western Qiangtang collision. J Geol Soc India 80, 836–844 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-012-0212-y
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-012-0212-y