Description: The convergence between the Indian plate and the southern margin of the Eurasian continent created an active continental margin from Late Jurassic until about 40 Ma ago, which then evolved to form the Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau during the continental collision stage. Post-collisional magmatism in southern Tibet, north of the Yarlung Zangbo Suture Zone (YZSZ) has been active since 45 Ma and is related to normal faulting and extensional tectonism. To date no such magmatism was reported within the YZSZ itself. This paper reports on the discovery of Miocene shoshonites within the YZSZ. They are significant because the magma traveled, at least in part, through oceanic crust, thus limiting interaction with the continental crust to the mid-crustal level and which affected the post-collisional magmatic rocks occurring in the northern part of the subduction system. In addition, xenoliths and xenocrysts of crustal origin in these rocks constrain the nature of metamorphic rocks underlying the YZSZ at mid-crustal level. The geochemical signatures of the shoshonitic rocks, including Nd and Sr isotope systematics, indicate derivation from a garnet-bearing middle continental crustal source. Crustal imprint complicates modeling of the petrogenetic processes which occurred prior to mid-crustal ponding of the magma which took place between 11 and 17 Ma at depths of 40 to 50 km. The significant role of crustal contamination raises serious concerns about models proposed for similar magmatic activity elsewhere in the Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau.

Description: The Yarlung Zangbo Suture Zone (YZSZ), southern Tibet, is a discontinuous belt that is more than 2000 km long, composed of the remnants of Neo-Tethyan Mesozoic ocean. One of these relicts is the Xiugugabu ophiolitic massif which is a mantle thrust sheet of more than 260 km2 overlying the Cretaceous tectonic mélange south of the YZSZ in SW Tibet. The massif is composed of harzburgites and clinopyroxene–harzburgites with porphyroclastic and porphyromylonitic textures. In the southern part of the massif, peridotites were intruded by amphibole-bearing microgabbro and microgabbronorite sills. A diabase unit which is overlaid by a sedimentary sequence crops out on the NE flank of the massif. Mineral chemistry in harzburgites and clinopyroxene–harzburgites indicates compositions similar to abyssal and forearc peridotites. Peridotites are slightly LREE depleted to enriched with [La/Yb]CN 0.06–2.8 and [La/Sm]CN 0.34–2.64. These ultramafic rocks are inferred to be the residues of 5–25% of partial melting of a depleted mantle that has been enriched by percolating metasomatic melts in a suprasubduction environment. Amphibole–microgabbro and amphibole–microgabbronorite sills are mostly composed of brown to green amphibole, calcic plagioclase, clinopyroxene, ilmenite and orthopyroxene in gabbronorite. Textures and compositions of the brown amphiboles indicate a near-solidus high temperature hydrothermal origin (〉 800 °C). These intrusive rocks are tholeiitic and show N-MORB type REE patterns ([La/Yb]NC 0.35–0.90), a LILE (mainly Th) enrichment and noticeable Nb, Ta and Ti negative anomalies. They have a suprasubduction affinity and were formed in a back-arc basin setting. The diabase unit outcropping to the NE of the massif is not directly related to the ultramafic and mafic ophiolitic rocks. The diabase shows LREE enriched patterns ([La/Yb]NC 8–8.9) and slight Nb, Ta and Ti negative anomalies. The diabase has an intraplate affinity and could have been derived from a mantle source enriched by subduction-related fluids. The absence of continental crustal assimilation indicates that these rocks were probably emplaced in the Jurassic, in an oceanic environment after the Triassic disaggregation of the Indian plate. The data are consistent with the recent geodynamic model proposed for the central part of the suture for the closure of the Neo-Tethys and suggest that the geodynamic evolution of the western part of the basin was comparable to the central part. Research Highlights ► Xiugugabu massif represents the mantle section of an ophiolite. ► Xiugugabu massif comprises harzburgite and cpx-harzburgite intruded by mafic sills. ► Peridotites were metasomatised by suprasubduction melts in an arc–forearc setting. ► Peridotites were brought up to the Moho depth in a back-arc extensional setting. ► Peridotites were intruded by mafic sills of back-arc affinities.