Zircon U-Pb ages and geochemical characteristics of granitoids in Nagqu area, Tibet

This paper reports zircon LA-ICP-MS U-Pb ages and Fif-O isotopic ratios, and whole-rock major and trace element data of Early Cretaceous felsic intrusive rocks from Nagqu area, the northern Lhasa subterrane, southern Tibet. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating of biotite granites and biotite monzogranites in the area yields magmatic crystallization ages of ca. 112 Ma, which suggests that they were emplaced in the late Early Cretaceous. Both rocks show high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic composition and slightly-moderately peraluminous signature. They are enriched in the alkalis, Rb, Th, K, U and light rare earth elements, depleted in Nb, Ta, Ti and P, and characterized by high Al2O3 contents (12-16 wt.%), high Rb/Sr ratios (1.3-33) and low Mg-# values (15-39). Their magmatic zircons have negative epsilon(Hf)(t) values (from -25.9 to 0.5) and high positive delta O-18 values (from 7.9 parts per thousand to 11.5 parts per thousand). All the above characteristics indicate that Naggu biotite monzogranites and biotite granites were likely derived from hybrid melts of sediments from the continent crust with minor mantle-derived input, then experienced varied degrees of fractional crystallization. The Nagqu intrusion is a component of the late Early Cretaceous magmatic flare-up event that occurred during similar to 120-100 Ma in the northern and partly central Lhasa subterranes. This magmatic flare-up is marked with a great compositional diversity (basalt, rhyolite, adakitic rocks, dioritic enclave, biotite monzogranite and granite) that might be caused by the slab breakoff of the southward subducting Bangong-Nujiang oceanic lithosphere, or more likely by slab window opening, which may have significantly contributed to juvenile crustal growth of the northern Lhasa subterrane. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.