U-Pb Geochronology of Hydrothermal Zircons from the Nyainqentanglha Ductile Shear Zone: Constraints on Inception of Cenozoic East–West Extension in the Tibetan Plateau

Objective The giant Nyainqentanglha granitic batholith, located in the Lhasa Terrane, is the youngest granite pluton emplaced at 18.3–11.0 Ma during the Miocene epoch. A series of NE-striking sinistral normal ductile shear zones developed on its north and south sides. The ductile shear zones are considered to be the western boundary faults of the Yadong-Gulu rift system and have the potential to provide critical temporal constraints for the large-scale East–West extension event in the Tibetan Plateau.