Accretion Processes of Oceanic Crust in Slow-spreading Ridges:Plagiogranite Perspective of the Xigaze Ophiolite,South Tibet

Structural and petrological data suggest that the Xigaze ophiolite from the Yarlung Zangbo Suture Zone(YZSZ)in south Tibet was a typical slow-spreading ridge.A new field,geochemical,mineral,and U-Pb zircon dataset of plagiogranite intrusions were used to constrain the dynamic processes of oceanic accretion in this slow-spreading ridge.Plagiogranites mainly occur as dykes or intrusions intruded into the whole sequence of the ophiolite and have a similar orientation to the dolerite dykes developed in the late stage of detachment faulting.U-Pb zircon ages of 122–123 Ma were obtained for two types of plagiogranites and associated dolerite dykes.Detailed geochemical and mineralogical examinations suggest that the plagiogranites are the product of low-pressure(2–3 kbar)fractional crystallization of midocean ridge basalt-like magma and unlikely to have been derived from the partial melting of hydrous gabbroic rocks.The complex cross-cut relationship between the plagiogranites and ophiolite sequence reflects that they are controlled by small discontinued melt lenses rather than a big magma chamber under the ridge axis and reveals multiple injections during the oceanic crust accretion.The formation of plagiogranites possibly reflects the complex characteristic of oceanic accretion at slow-spreading ridges,time-dependent on structural(external)and magmatic(internal)processes.

Aoyitake plagiogranite in western Tarim Block, NW China: Age, geochemistry, petrogenesis and its tectonic implications

SHRIMPP U-Pb zircon age and geochemical and Nd isotopic data are reported for the Aoyitake plagiogranite in western Tarim Block, NW China. The plagiogranite intruded the Middle Pro- terozoic and Lower Carboniferous with an exposure area of ca. 60 km2 and crystallized at 330.7±4.8 Ma. Rock types mainly include tonalite, trondhjemite and minor amounts of diorite and quartz-diorite. Feldspars in the rocks are dominated by oligoclase-andesine, and minor perthite observed locally. The granites are sodic with Na/K ratios (molar) between 4 and 87. Total REE (50-220 ppm) show a clear positive correlation with SiO2. There is no LRRE/HREE fractionation (LaN/YbN=0.5-1.5), me- dium negative Eu anomalies (δ Eu=0.3-0.6), high Y content and low Sr/Y ratio (~1.0). These granites exhibit relatively juvenile Nd T2DM model ages of 470 to 580 Ma and positive εNd(331 Ma) values of 6.23 to 7.65. The aforementioned characteristics are similar to those of ocean island or ocean ridge plagiogranites. However, the regional geology, especially its scale, precludes that the plagiogranite pluton was derived directly from fractionational crystallization of mantle-derived basaltic magma. We interpreted that the primary magma of the pluton might be tonalitic in composition generated by ca. 50% partial melting of the juvenile basaltic crust. The primary magma experienced intensive frac- tionational crystallization, and intruded into the middle to upper crusts to form the granite pluton. In combination with the previous regional geological data, it is concluded that the plagiogranite pluton was emplaced within the Tarim Block in respond to the Carboniferous continental rifting along the Tianshan orogenic belt.