Late Cretaceous K-rich rhyolitic crystal tuffs from the Chuduoqu area in Eastern Qiangtang subterrane: evidence for crustal thickening of the central Tibetan Plateau prior to India–Asia collision

In order to constrain whether the Lhasa–Qiangtang collision contributed to an early crustal thickening of the central Tibetan Plateau prior to the India–Asia collision, we present zircon LA–ICP–MS U–Pb ages, whole-rock geochemistry, and zircon Hf isotopic compositions of the newly discovered rhyolitic crystal tuffs from the Chuduoqu area in the eastern Qiangtang subterrane, central Tibet. Zircon U–Pb dating suggests that the Chuduoqu rhyolitic crystal tuffs were emplaced at ca. 68 Ma. The Chuoduoqu rhyolitic crystal tuffs display high SiO2 and K2O, and low MgO, Cr, and Ni. Combined with their zircon Hf isotopic data, we suggest that they were derived from partial melting of the juvenile lower crust, and the magma underwent fractional crystallization and limited upper continental crustal assimilation during its evolution prior to eruption. They should be formed in a post-collisional environment related to lithospheric mantle delamination. The Chuduoqu rhyolitic crystal tuffs could provide important constraints on the Late Cretaceous crustal thickening of the central Tibetan Plateau caused by the Lhasa–Qiangtang collision.