Chronology and Geochemistry of the Nadingcuo Volcanic Rocks in the Southern Qiangtang Region of the Tibetan Plateau: Partial Melting of Remnant Ocean Crust along the Bangong‐Nujiang Suture

Abstract:The Nadingcuo high‐K calc‐alkaline rocks mainly composed of trachyte and trachyandesite are the largest outcrop area of volcanic rocks in southern Qiangtang terrane in the Tibetan plateau. However, their exact source and peterogenesis are still debated. 40Ar‐39Ar and LAM‐ICPMS zircon U‐Pb isotopic dating confirm that these rocks erupted in Eocene. In addition, the Nadingcuo volcanic rocks are characterized by high Sr/Y content ratios, similar with the adakite derived from partial melting of oceanic crust. They can be further classified as high Mg# (Mg#= 48–57) and low Mg# (Mg#= 33–42) subtypes. The Nadingcuo adakitic rocks have relatively low (87Sr/86Sr)i and high εNd(t), showing a trend of similarity to the Dongcuo ophiolite present in the Bangong‐Nujiang oceanic crust. Simple modeling indicates that the Nadingcuo adakitic rocks are a mix resulting from the basalt of Bangong‐Nujiang Ocean with 10%–20% crustal material of Lhasa terrane. On these bases we suggest that the low Mg# Nadingcuo adakitic rocks are the product of partial melting of remnant oceanic crust with small sediment, and the high Mg# rocks are the result of reaction between rising melt of remnant oceanic crust with subducted sediment and mantle wedge. Therefore, the origin of Nadingcuo adakitic rocks may be related to intracontinental subduction triggered by collision of India‐Asia during Cenozoic.