East-west trending metamorphic belt in the Qiangtang terrane of central Tibet, consisting of a tectonic melange that occurs in the footwalls of Late Triassic to Early Jurassic domal low-angle normal faults. The melange is comprised of a strongly deformed matrix of metasedimentary and mafic schists that encloses lesser-deformed blocks of metabasites, Carboniferous-Triassic metasedimentary rocks, and early Paleozoic gneiss. Both the blocks and melange matrix exhibit greenschist, epidote-blueschist, and locally, epidote-amphibolite facies mineral assemblages.
Ref.:
- Kapp, P., Yin, A., Manning, C.E., Harrison, T.M., Taylor, M.H., and Ding, L. (2003): Tectonic evolution of the early Mesozoic blueschist-bearing Qiangtang metamorphic belt, central Tibet. Tectonics 22(4), 1043.
- Kapp, P., Yin, A., Manning, C.E., and Gehrels, G.E. (2003): The Qiangtang Metamorphic Belt in Central Tibet: Evidence for Large-Magnitude Translation und Underplating of Melange beneath Continental Crust during Flat-Slab Subduction. Presented at the GSA Annual Meeting, Seattle, November 2-5, 2003.
