Petrology, geochemistry and geochronology of the Zhongcang ophiolite, northern Tibet: implications for the evolution of the Bangong-Nujiang Ocean

Ophiolites are widespread along the Bangong-Nujiang suture zone, northern Tibet. However, it is still debated on the formation ages and tectonic evolution process of these ophiolites. The Zhongcang ophiolite is a typical ophiolite in the western part of the Bangong-Nujiang suture zone. It is composed of serpentinized peridotite, cumulate and isotropic gabbros, massive and pillow basalts, basaltic volcanic breccia, and minor red chert. Zircon SHRIMP U–Pb dating for the isotropic gabbro yielded weighted mean age of 163.4 ± 1.8 Ma. Positive zircon ɛHf(t) values (+15.0 to +20.2) and mantle-like δ18O values (5.29 ± 0.21)‰ indicate that the isotropic gabbros were derived from a long-term depleted mantle source. The isotropic gabbros have normal mid-ocean ridge basalt (N-MORB) like immobile element patterns with high MgO, low TiO2 and moderate rare earth element (REE) abundances, and negative Nb, Ti, Zr and Hf anomalies. Basalts show typical oceanic island basalt (OIB) geochemical features, and they are similar to those of OIB-type rocks of the Early Cretaceous Zhongcang oceanic plateau within the Bangong-Nujiang Ocean. Together with these data, we suggest that the Zhongcang ophiolite was probably formed by the subduction of the Bangong-Nujiang Ocean during the Middle Jurassic. The subduction of the Bangong-Nujiang Tethyan Ocean could begin in the Early–Middle Jurassic and continue to the Early Cretaceous, and finally continental collision between the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes at the west Bangong-Nujiang suture zone probably has taken place later than the Early Cretaceous (ca. 110 Ma). Keywords: Tibetan plateau, Bangong-Nujiang suture zone, Ophiolite, Geochronology, Geochemistry, Subductio