Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Longmenshan fault belt

Rapid endogenic rock recycling in magmatic arcs

In subduction zones, materials on Earth’s surface can be transported to the deep crust or mantle, but the exact mechanisms and the nature of the recycled materials are not fully understood. Here, we report a set of migmatites from western Yangtze Block, China. These migmatites have similar bulk compositions as forearc sediments. Zircon age distributions and Hf–O isotopes indicate that the precursors of the sediments were predominantly derived from juvenile arc crust itself. Using phase equilibria modeling, we show that the sediments experienced high temperature-to-pressure ratio metamorphism and were most likely transported to deep arc crust by intracrustal thrust faults. By dating the magmatic zircon cores and overgrowth rims, we find that the entire rock cycle, from arc magmatism, to weathering at the surface, then to burial and remelting in the deep crust, took place within ~10 Myr. Our findings highlight thrust faults as an efficient recycling channel in compressional arcs and endogenic recycling as an important mechanism driving internal redistribution and differentiation of arc crust.

A case study of migmatites indicates that the juvenile arc crust underwent a rapid self-recycling process from arc magmatism to erosion and weathering at the surface, then to burial and remelting. Intra-arc thrust fault systems might efficiently promote endogenous recycling.

Vertical crustal motions across Eastern Tibet revealed by topography-dependent seismic tomography

Using a topography-dependent tomographic scheme, the seismic velocity structure of the Eastern Tibetan Plateau, including the uplifted Longmenshan (LMS) orogenic belt, is accurately imaged in spite of the extreme topographic relief in the LMS region and thick sedimentary covers in the neighbouring Sichuan Basin. The obtained image shows a high-resolution upper crustal structure on a 500 km-long profile that is perpendicular to the LMS. The image clearly shows that the crystalline basement was uplifted within the LMS orogenic belt, and that the neighbouring Songpan-Ganzi Terrane was covered by a thick flysch belt, with evidence of near-surface thrust faults caused by convergence between Eastern Tibet and the Sichuan Basin. The indication that the lower crust beneath the LMS was folded and pushed upwards and the upper crust was removed by exhumation, supports the concept of a lower crustal channel flow beneath Eastern Tibet. The image also reveals that the destructive Wenchuan earthquake of year 2008 occurred in the upper crust, directly at the structural discontinuity between Eastern Tibet Plateau and the Sichuan Basin.