The metamorphic host rocks of pegmatites can help to decipher their geodynamic setting and emplacement conditions. The Jiajika lithium deposit, located in the Songpan-Ganze orogenic belt, eastern Tibet, is one of the largest hard-rock type lithium deposits in China. The lithium-enriched pegmatites in Jiajika are hosted in the amphibolite facies metasedimentary rocks in the mantle of the Jiajika gneiss dome. However, the metamorphic evolution of Jiajika is poorly constrained. In this study, we carried out detailed fieldwork, petrological observation, mineral chemical analysis, phase equilibria modeling, and geochronological studies on the Jiajika gneiss dome and the borehole JSD-1 (with a total depth of 3211 m) of the Jiajika Scientific Drilling Project (JSD). Structural data outlined two subdomes within the Jiajika gneiss dome. Two main stages of regional metamorphism and deformation are documented in Jiajika: an early Barrovian metamorphism (M1) in ca. 237−221 Ma caused by crustal thickening (D1), which has a peak condition of 6.7−8.3 kbar and 649−694 °C; a late Buchan metamorphism (M2) induced by the emplacement of granites and pegmatites during doming (D2) with a peak condition of 3.4−4.3 kbar and 570−612 °C at 210−206 Ma. The superimposition of the M2 isograds upon the M1 isograds resulted in a composite metamorphic sequence around the Jiajika gneiss dome. The overlapping of the Barrovian metamorphism and the Buchan metamorphism is related to crustal thickening during continental collision and later decompression through doming, which facilitated lithium mineralization.

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