Abstract The recent discovery of large Cenozoic porphyry copper deposits in the Tibetan Plateau has revealed atypical features. Their formation all postdate the India-Asia collision at 55 ± 10 Ma, and therefore they are not affiliated with normal arc magmatism. Three major nonarc porphyry copper belts or provinces in Tibet comprise the Gangdese porphyry Cu-Mo belt (>45 Mt Cu, 1.79 Mt Mo), the Yulong porphyry Cu-Mo belt (8.75 Mt Cu,1.04 Mt Mo), and the western Yunnan porphyry Cu-Mo-Au polymetallic province (~1 Mt Cu, ~1 Mt Mo, and 310 t Au). Alkaline volcanic rocks (lamprophyres, shoshonites, and potassic-ultrapotassic volcanic rocks) are common in these metallogenic belts and provinces, but the temporal, spatial, and genetic relationship between this magmatism and deposit formation remains enigmatic. There are two episodes of porphyry mineralization in the Tibetan Plateau, 45 to 35 and 22 to 11 Ma, and alkaline volcanic rocks are both contemporaneous with and spatially close to porphyry mineralization. Evolved Nd-Hf isotope compositions, and high Mg#, Cr, and Ni contents of Tibetan alkaline volcanic rocks suggest that they are derived from phlogopite-bearing lithospheric mantle, whereas the adakitic property and hybrid geochemical and isotopic features of the high Sr/Y granitoids suggest they are derived from partial melting of lower crust by mantle-derived alkaline mafic melt, with subsequent mixing. The mantle-derived alkaline magmas: (1) triggered water-flux melting of the thickened lower crust and generation of fertile high Sr/Y magmas with high water contents; (2) that dominate the source of ore-related magmas are more Au rich; (3) have variable oxidation states and some can oxidize residual sulfide in the lower crust to release Cu and Au for porphyry deposit formation; other lower crustal melts became oxidized via amphibole and/or garnet fractionation; and (4) provide higher S and Cl contents that are essential volatiles for deposit formation. We conclude that mantle-derived alkaline melts are vital to form porphyry deposits in nonarc settings, thus explaining the close spatial and temporal association of alkaline volcanic rocks and porphyry deposits in Cenozoic Tibet.

Abstract A compilation of 290 zircon U–Pb ages of intrusive rocks indicates that the Gangdese Batholith in southern Tibet was emplaced from c. 210 Ma to c. 10 Ma. Two intense magmatic pulses within the batholith occur at: (1) 90 ± 5 Ma, which is restricted to 89–94° E in the eastern segment of the southern Lhasa subterrane; and (2) 50 ± 3 Ma, which is widespread across the entire southern Lhasa subterrane. The latter pulse was followed by a phase of widespread but volumetrically small, dominantly felsic adakitic intrusive rocks at 16 ± 2 Ma. The Linzizong volcanism in the Linzhou Basin was active from 60.2 to 52.3 Ma, rather than 69–44 Ma as previously estimated. During 120–75 Ma, Gangdese Batholith magmatism migrated from south to north, arguing against rollback of the downgoing, north-dipping Neo-Tethyan oceanic lithosphere for the generation of the 90 ± 5 Ma magmatic pulse. Petrological, geochemical and metamorphic data indicate that this pulse was likely to have been generated through subduction of the Neo-Tethyan oceanic ridge lithosphere. Subsequent Gangdese Batholith magmatism propagated both south and north during 70–45 Ma, and finally concentrated at the southern margin of the Lhasa Terrane at 45–30 Ma. The enhanced mafic magmatism since c. 70 Ma, magmatic flare-up with compositional diversity at c. 51 Ma and increased magmatic temperature at 52–50 Ma are interpreted as the consequences of slab rollback from c. 70 Ma and slab breakoff of the Neo-Tethyan oceanic lithosphere that began at c. 53 Ma. The India–Asia convergence was driven by Neo-Tethyan subduction with a normal rate of convergence at 120–95 Ma, ridge subduction at 95–85 Ma, then subduction of a young and buoyant oceanic lithosphere after ridge subduction with rate deceleration at 84–67 Ma, Deccan plume activity and slab rollback with rate acceleration at 67–51 Ma, slab breakoff for sudden drop of the convergence rate at c. 51 Ma, and finally the descent of the high-density Indian continental lithosphere beneath Asia since c. 50 Ma.