TY - JOUR A1 - Rohrmann, Alexander A1 - Kapp, Paul A1 - Carrapa, Barbara A1 - Reiners, Peter W. A1 - Guynn, Jerome A1 - Ding, Lin A1 - Heizler, Matthew T1 - Thermochronologic evidence for plateau formation in central Tibet by 45 Ma JF - Geology N2 - The timing of Tibetan plateau development remains elusive, despite its importance for evaluating models of continental lithosphere deformation and associated changes in surface elevation and climate. We present new thermochronologic data [biotite and K-feldspar Ar-40/Ar-39, apatite fission track, and apatite (U-Th)/He] from the central Tibetan plateau (Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes). The data indicate that over large regions, rocks underwent rapid to moderate cooling and exhumation during Cretaceous to Eocene time. This was coeval with >50% upper crustal shortening, suggesting substantial crustal thickening and surface elevation gain. Thermal modeling of combined thermochronometers requires exhumation of most samples to depths of <3 km between 85 and 45 Ma, followed by a decrease in erosional exhumation rate to low values of <0.05 mm/yr. The thermochronological results, when interpreted in the context of the deformation and paleoaltimetric history, are best explained by a scenario of plateau growth that began locally in central Tibet during the Late Cretaceous and expanded to encompass most of central Tibet by 45 Ma. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1130/G32530.1 SN - 0091-7613 VL - 40 IS - 2 SP - 187 EP - 190 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Boulder ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Huang, Wentao A1 - van Hinsbergen, Douwe J. J. A1 - Maffione, Marco A1 - Orme, Devon A. A1 - Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume A1 - Guilmette, Carl A1 - Ding, Lin A1 - Guo, Zhaojie A1 - Kapp, Paul T1 - Lower Cretaceous Xigaze ophiolites formed in the Gangdese forearc: Evidence from paleomagnetism, sediment provenance, and stratigraphy JF - Earth & planetary science letters N2 - The India-Asia suture zone of southern Tibet exposes Lower Cretaceous Xigaze ophiolites and radiolarian cherts, and time-equivalent Asian-derived clastic forearc sedimentary rocks (Xigaze Group). These ophiolites have been interpreted to have formed in the forearc of the north-dipping subduction zone below Tibet that produced the Gangdese magmatic arc around 15-20 degrees N, or in the forearc of a subequatorial intra-oceanic subduction zone. To better constrain the latitude of the ophiolites, we carried out an integrated paleomagnetic, geochronologic and stratigraphical study on epi-ophiolitic radiolarites (Chongdui and Bainang sections), and Xigaze Group turbiditic sandstones unconformably overlying the ophiolite's mantle units (Sangsang section). Detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology of tuffaceous layers from the Chongdui section and sandstones of the Xigaze Group at the Sangsang section provides maximum depositional ages of 116.5 +/- 3.1 Ma and 128.8 +/- 3.4 Ma, respectively, for the Chongdui section and an Asian provenance signature for the Xigaze Group. Paleomagnetic analyses, integrated with rock magnetic experiments, indicate significant compaction-related inclination 'shallowing' of the remanence within the studied rocks. Two independent methods are applied for the inclination shallowing correction of the paleomagnetic directions from the Sangsang section, yielding consistent mean paleolatitudes of 16.2 degrees N 113 degrees N, 20.9 degrees N] and 16.8 degrees N [11.1 degrees N, 23.3 degrees N], respectively. These results are indistinguishable from recent paleolatitude estimates for the Gangdese arc in southern Tibet. Radiolarites from the Chongdui and Bainang sections yield low paleomagnetic inclinations that would suggest a sub-equatorial paleolatitude, but the distribution of the paleomagnetic directions in these rocks strongly suggests a low inclination bias by compaction. Our data indicate that spreading of the Xigaze ophiolite occurred in the Gangdese forearc, and formed the basement of the forearc strata. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Xigaze ophiolite KW - sedimentary contact KW - paleomagnetism and rock magnetism KW - inclination shallowing Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.01.032 SN - 0012-821X SN - 1385-013X VL - 415 SP - 142 EP - 153 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -