Genesis of Pyroxenite Veins in the Zedang Ophiolite,Southern Tibetan Plateau

Understanding the nature of parental melts for pyroxenite veins in supra-subduction zone(SSZ)ophiolites provides vibrant constraints on melt infiltration processes operating in subduction zones.The Zedang ophiolitic massif in the eastern Yarlung–Zangbo suture zone in Tibet consists of mantle peridotites and a crustal section of gabbro,diabase,and basalt.Veins of two pyroxenite varieties cut the southern part of the Zedang massif.These pyroxenite rocks have different geochemical characteristics,where the first variety(type-I)has relatively higher contents of SiO_(2)(51.82–53.08 wt%),MgO(20.08–23.23 wt%),andΣPGE(3.42–13.97 ppb),and lower Al_(2)O_(3)(1.59–2.28 wt%)andΣREE(1.63–2.94 ppm).The second pyroxenite variety(type-II)is characterized by SiO_(2)(45.44–49.61 wt%),Mg O(16.68–19.78 wt%),Al_(2)O_(3)(4.24–8.77 wt%),ΣPGE(14.46–322.06 ppb),andΣREE(5.82–7.44 ppm).Pyroxenite type-I shows N-MORB-like chondritenormalized REE patterns.Zircon U-Pb ages of pyroxenite type-I(194±10 Ma),associated ophiolitic gabbro(135.3±2.0 Ma),and plagiogranite(124.2±2.3 Ma)evidently imply episodic evolution of the Zedang ophiolites.The mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the investigated pyroxenites can be explained by subduction-initiated hydrous melting of metasomatized sub-arc mantle,later overprinted by sub-slab mantle melting triggered by upwelling asthenosphere during the Jurassic–Early Cretaceous times.The geochemical variations in pyroxenite vein composition,coupled with age differences amongst the other ophiolite units,may correspond to intermittent emplacement of pyroxenite dikes and isotropic gabbroic intrusions where the geodynamic setting progressed from arc maturation and slab rollback to slab tearing and delamination.

Origin of the Zedang and Luobusa Ophiolites, Tibet

The Zedang and Luobusa ophiolites are located in the eastern section of the Yalung Zangbo ophiolite belt,and they share similar geological tectonic setting and age.Thus,an understanding of their origins is very important for discussion of the evolution of the Eastern Tethys Ocean.There is no complete ophiolite assemblage in the Zedang ophiolite.The Zedang ophiolite is mainly composed of mantle peridotite and a suite of volcanic rocks as well as siliceous rocks,with some blocks of olivinepyroxenite.The mantle peridotite mainly consists of Cpx-harzburgite,harzburgite,some lherzolite,and some dunite.A suite of volcanic rocks is mainly composed of caic-aikaline pyroclastic rocks and secondly of tholeiitic pillow lavas,basaltic andesites,and some boninitic rocks with a lower TiO2 content （TiO2 ＜ 0.6％）.The pyroclastic rocks have a LREE-enriched REE pattern and a LILE-enriched （compared to HFSE） spider diagram,demonstrating an island-arc origin.The tholeiitic volcanic rock has a LREE-depleted REE pattern and a LILE-depleted （compared to HFSE） spider diagram,indicative of an origin from MORB.The boninitic rock was generated from fore-arc extension.The Luobusa ophiolite consists of mantle peridotite and mafic-ultramaflc cumulate units,without dike swarms and volcanic rocks.The mantle peridotite mainly consists of dunite,harzburgite with low-Opx （Opx ＜ 25％）,and harzburgite （Opx ＞ 25％）,which can be divided into two facies belts.The upper is a dunite-harzburgite （Opx ＜ 25％） belt,containing many dunite lenses and a large-scale chromite deposit with high Cr203; the lower is a harzburgite （Opx ＞25％） belt with small amounts of dunite and lherzolite.The Luobusa mantle peridotite exhibits a distinctive vertical zonation of partial melting with high melting in the upper unit and low melting in the lower.Many mantle peridotites are highly depleted,with a characteristic U-shaped REE pattern peculiar to fore-arc peridotite.The Luobusa cumulates are composed of wehrlite and olivine-pyroxenite,of the P-P-G ophiolite series.This study indicates that the Luobusa ophiolite was formed in a fore-arc basin environment on the basis of the occurrence of highly depleted mantle peridotite,a high-Cr2O3 chromite deposit,and cumulates of the P-P-G ophiolite series.We conclude that the evolution of the Eastern Tethys Ocean involved three stages：the initial ocean stage （formation of MORB volcanic rock and dikes）,the forearc extension stage （formation of high-Cr203 chromite deposits and P-P-G cumulates）,and the islandarc stage （formation of caic-alkaline pyroclastic rocks）.

Magnetic Signature of Serpentinization at Zedang in the South Tibetan Ophiolite Belt

Magnetic signature of serpentinized mantle peridotite has crucial importance in understanding the serpentinization process and interpreting the origin of strong magnetization anomalies at ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal settings. However, different groups of serpentinized peridotites from both ocean drillings and ophiolite complexes have shown considerable variations in the abundance of magnetite(Oufi et al., 2002;Bonnemains et al., 2016;Li et al., 2017). We examined the magnetic properties, petrography and mineral chemistry of variably serpentinized peridotites from Zedang ophiolite in the eastern Yarlung-Zangbo suture in south Tibet to evaluate the conditions of serpentinization and magnetite formation as well as magnetic sources in suture zones. The studied samples were 0–90% serpentinized with densities from 3.316 to 2.593 g cm–3 and show typical mesh textures of olivine replaced by serpentine on thin sections of core specimen. Serpentines were divided into type-1 Fe-poor serpentine mesh(1.84–2.88 wt% FeO) associated with magnetite in the early stage and type-2 Fe-rich serpentine cores(3.92–5.12 wt% FeO) with no formation of magnetite in the late serpentinization. Brucite vein appeared in central serpentine veins and show Mg/(Mg+Fe) values of 0.74–0.87 at ~50–70% of serpentinization. Pure magnetite was identified as the main magnetic carrier by thermomagnetic analyses, but minor Cr-magnetite(~0.8 mole fractions of Fe3O4) was also detected due to oxidation of early spinel. All the peridotite samples show a rapid increase of magnetic susceptibility from ~0.001 to ~0.03 SI before 40–50% of serpentinization and a following flat trend in values 0.02–0.03 SI at > 50% of serpentinization. This density-susceptibility relationship differs from the rapid production of magnetite above 60-70% of serpentinization for many abyssal peridotites(Oufi et al., 2002;Bach et al., 2006) and suggests that magnetite formation was coupled with hydration of olivine in the early serpentinization but the two decoupled at ~ 40–50% of serpentinization. This transition is consistent with the petrographic observation that magnetite-free serpentinization was developed in higher degrees(> 50%) of serpentinization. Prior studies suggested that serpentinization of < 200℃ would generate Fe-rich brucite, serpentine and little magnetite, whereas magnetite-rich serpentinization was associated with Fe-poor brucite and occurred at higher temperatures of 200–300℃(Klein et al., 2014). The petromagnetic features of serpentinized peridotites from the Zedang ophiolite indicate that the serpentinization process took place initially above 250℃(estimate from brucite composition) and continued to lower temperatures of < 200℃, probably during the mantle lithosphere cooling down in forearc settings(Xiong et al., 2017). These serpentinized peridotites have higher magnetization intensities(average 2.26 Am-1) than mafic dolerite dykes and basaltic volcanic rocks(mostly < 1 Am-1) and should be significant sources of aeromagnetic highs in the Yarlung-Zangbo suture.