Structure and geochronology of the southern Xainza-Dinggye rift and its relationship to the south Tibetan detachment system |
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| Authors: | Jinjiang Zhang Lei Guo |
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| Institution: | aThe Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crustal Evolution, Ministry of Education, China;bSchool of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People’s Republic of China |
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| Abstract: | The Xainza-Dinggye rift is one of several north-south trending rifts in central and southern Tibet created by Cenozoic east-west extension during Indo-Asian convergence. The southern part of the rift cuts through the Tethyan and High Himalayas. In the Tethyan Himalaya, this rift consists of an early domal structure and a late normal fault developed during the progressive deformation. The dome is cored by leucogranitic plutons that intruded during extension. Muscovite 40Ar/39Ar ages of the mylonitic leucogranite indicate that extension in the Tethyan Himalaya began at  8 Ma or before. In the High Himalaya, the rift is controlled by a normal fault dipping to the southeast. This fault has a structural constitution similar to a detachment fault. Its lower block is made up of mylonitic High Himalayan gneiss, intruded by early mylonitic leucogranite sills and late less-deformed biotite-bearing leucogranite dikes. Mica 40Ar/39Ar ages of these leucogranites and the retrograded metamorphosed gneiss of the lower block range from 13 to 10 Ma. In the study area, the south Tibetan detachment system (STDS) is a ductile shear zone composed of mylonitic leucogranite that is intruded by less-deformed leucogranite and overlain by low grade metamorphic rocks. Mica 40Ar/39Ar ages of leucogranites in the shear zone and schist from the detachment hanging wall indicate a protracted deformation history of the STDS from 19 to 13 Ma. The Xainza-Dinggye rift is younger than the STDS because it offsets the STDS; this north-south trending rift belongs to a different tectonic system from the east-west striking STDS, and may be caused by geological process related to India–Asia convergence. This temporal and spatial relationship of the STDS to the rift may indicate an important change in tectonic regime at 13 Ma in the building of the plateau. |
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| Keywords: | Tibetan plateau Extensional structure Xainza-Dinggye rift South Tibetan detachment system (STDS) |
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