The 132 Ma Comei-Bunbury Large Igneous Province: Remnants Identiﬁ Ed in Present-Day Southeastern Tibet and Southwestern Australia

The 132 Ma Comei-Bunbury large igneous province: Remnants identiﬁ ed in present-day southeastern Tibet and southwestern Australia

Di-Cheng Zhu1*, Sun-Lin Chung2, Xuan-Xue Mo1*, Zhi-Dan Zhao1, Yaoling Niu3, Biao Song4, and Yue-Heng Yang5 1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China 2Department of Geosciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan 3Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK 4Beijing SHRIMP II Center, Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China 5Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China

ABSTRACT and Cona areas; Fig. 1B) of southern Tibet. The We report 11 new U-Pb zircon ages obtained by sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe new data obtained in this study together with (SHRIMP) and laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP–MS) fi eld observations and consideration in a global for a large province of Early Cretaceous Comei igneous rocks consisting of basaltic lavas, context further suggest that the rocks in south- mafi c sills and dikes, and gabbroic intrusions together with subordinate layered ultramafi c eastern Tibet and the Bunbury Basalt in south- intrusions and silicic volcanic rocks exposed in the Tethyan Himalaya, southeastern Tibet. western Australia are temporally related and Available zircon U-Pb ages obtained from various rocks in this province, which has an areal constitute the erosional and/or deformational extent of ~40,000 km2 (~270 km × 150 km), indicate that the magmatism occurred ca. 132 Ma remnants of a large igneous province, which ago, coeval with the Bunbury Basalt in southwestern Australia. Such a striking similarity we call the Comei-Bunbury LIP. Like other pre- in emplacement age, in combination with the tectonic reconstruction of eastern Gondwana Cenozoic LIPs that have lost most of their vol- ca. 132 Ma ago, allows us to propose that the extensive Comei igneous rocks in southeastern canic components owing to tectonic deforma- Tibet and the Bunbury Basalts in southwestern Australia may represent the erosional and/or tion or erosion (Ernst, 2007; Bryan and Ernst, deformational remnants of a large igneous province, which we call the Comei-Bunbury LIP. 2008), the remnant Comei LIP in southeastern We argue that this newly identifi ed LIP was likely caused by the Kerguelen mantle plume, Tibet is dominated by dismembered mafi c lava which started in the Early Cretaceous and may have played a role in the breakup of eastern fl ows, sills, and dikes, with subordinate ultra- Gondwana and the development of the 132 Ma old Weissert oceanic anoxic event. mafi c and silicic rocks of Early Cretaceous age belonging to Sangxiu and Lakang Formations INTRODUCTION obtained by sensitive high-resolution ion micro- (Wan et al., 2005; Zhu et al., 2008a) (Fig. 1B). The term large igneous province (LIP) is used probe (SHRIMP) and laser ablation–inductively In this study, we collected igneous rock sam- to represent a variety of mafi c igneous prov- coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP– ples along three north-south transects from 28°N inces with areal extents >100,000 km2 (Coffi n MS) for the extensive Early Cretaceous igneous to 29°N and 90°30′E to 92°E in the Comei LIP and Eldholm, 1994; Bryan and Ernst, 2008) rocks around the Comei area in southeastern (Fig. 1B). Of all the 70 samples with geochemi- or >50,000 km2 (Sheth, 2007) as the result of Tibet. We argue that the contemporaneous igne- cal data, 11 samples that include 5 diabasic extensive decompressive melting in response ous rocks dispersed in southeastern Tibet and dikes, 4 gabbros, a pyroxenite, and a dacite were to ascending mantle plumes and lithospheric southwest Australia are genetically related and successfully extracted for zircons for SHRIMP extension (e.g., Richards et al., 1989; White constitute the erosional and/or deformational and LA-ICP–MS U-Pb dating. Sample details and McKenzie, 1989). The generation of many remnants of a large igneous province, which we and zircon U-Pb age data are summarized in plume-related LIPs has been linked to continen- call the Comei-Bunbury LIP, emplaced above a GSA Data Repository Table DR1.1 Actual analy- tal breakup, as exemplifi ed by the Kerguelen mantle plume in eastern Gondwana ca. 132 Ma ses and data reduction procedures are given in mantle plume initiation that played a role in ago. Its possible link with the Kerguelen man- Tables DR2 and DR3. Zircons from mafi c and rifting the Gondwana and opening the east- tle plume and implications for the breakup of ultramafi c samples show similar crystal forms ern Indian Ocean (Storey, 1995). Along with eastern Gondwana and the development of the with no resorption or inherited cores (Figs. DR1 the immense Kerguelen Plateau being formed Weissert oceanic anoxic event are also explored. and DR2) and exhibit low to very high uranium within the nascent Indian Ocean basin, this (16–11,853 ppm) and thorium (24–22,230 ppm) plume activity may have also resulted in the BACKGROUND AND SAMPLES contents, yielding Th/U ratios from 0.77 to 5.24 Rajmahal Traps in northeastern India (Kent et The Early Cretaceous igneous rocks exposed (Tables DR2 and DR3). Zircons from a dacite al., 2002) and the Bunbury Basalt in southwest- in southeastern Tibet have been documented sample exhibit different crystal forms, including ern Australia (Frey et al., 1996) during the rift- for years (Bureau of Geology and Mineral long columnar and inherited cores (Fig. DR2e). ing event. However, correlation of the Bunbury Resources of Xizang Autonomous Region, Basalt with the other two outputs has been often 1993) as an important component within the 1GSA Data Repository item 2009138, summary of questioned because the former began erupt- eastern Tethyan Himalayan sequence located zircon U-Pb isotopic ages (Table DR1), methods and ing ca. 132 Ma ago (Frey et al., 1996; Coffi n between the Yarlung Zangbo suture to the zircon SHRIMP U-Pb data (Table DR2), methods and zircon LA-ICP–MS U-Pb data (Table DR3), cathodo- et al., 2002), whereas no rocks from both the north and the Greater Himalayas to the south luminescence (CL) images of zircon SHRIMP dating Rajmahal Traps and Kerguelen Plateau are (Fig. 1A). However, no good quality data on (Fig. DR1), CL images of zircon LA-ICP–MS dating older than 120 Ma (cf. Ingle et al., 2004). In these rocks have been available until recently (Fig. DR2), concordia plot of zircon SHRIMP dating this paper we present 11 new zircon U-Pb ages (Zhu et al., 2005; Jiang et al., 2006); these data (Fig. DR3), and concordia plot of zircon LA-ICP–MS formed a basis for subsequent investigations dating (Fig. DR4), is available online at www.geoso- ciety.org/pubs/ft2009.htm, or on request from edit- *E-mail: [email protected]; moxx38@yahoo. (Zhu et al., 2007, 2008a) that identifi ed plume [email protected] or Documents Secretary, GSA, com. signatures in local areas (e.g., Rimowa village P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301, USA.

© 2009 Geological Society of America. For permission to copy, contact Copyright Permissions, GSA, or [email protected]. GEOLOGY,Geology, July July 2009; 2009 v. 37; no. 7; p. 583–586; doi: 10.1130/G30001A.1; 3 ﬁ gures; Data Repository item 2009138. 583 88°E Volcanic remnants: Intrusions: U-Pb dating methods: A Lhasa 92°E Fig. B Middle Triassic strata give a SHRIMP U-Pb age Sangxiu Formation Diabasic sills/dikes 132 SHRIMP dating YZS Zedong 29°N of 129.5 ± 1.3 Ma old and a LA-ICP–MS U-Pb Lakang Formation TH Comei Gabbroic intrusions 133 LA-ICPMS dating STDS age of 133 ± 2 Ma old. In the central Comei Basaltic rocks Cona GH LIP north of Dongjia village (Fig. 1B), gab- Σ 27°N Silicic rocks Ultramafic rocks MBT bros emplaced within the Middle Jurassic strata Rajmahal 0 100 200 km 90°00′E 90°30′E 91°00′E 91°30′E Quxu Zedong Traps give a SHRIMP U-Pb age of 129.7 ± 1.4 Ma B Shilong Rinbung Gonggar 25°N old and a LA-ICP–MS U-Pb age of 132 ± 3 Ma Zhanang Sylhet 134 Traps old. To the south of Dongjia village, a diabasic Baidi dike gives a LA-ICP–MS U-Pb age of 132 ± 2 92°00′E 92°30′E 93°00′E 133 Qonggyai Ma old. To the north of Comei County in the 29°00′N 132 Gyangze Nagarze Yamzho Yum Tso central Comei LIP, the Early–Middle Jurassic

130 strata were intruded by gabbros (Fig. 1B), one Dalong 133 133

131 of which gives a LA-ICP–MS U-Pb age of 131 Chigu Tso 28°40′N Rimowa 130 ± 1 Ma old. Farther north, a diabase dike yields 132 Σ 130 28°40′N Dongjia 132 a SHRIMP U-Pb age of 130.2 ± 2.0 Ma old. To 132 Kangmar Puma Yun Tso 131 130 the south of Chigu Tso, a gabbro that intruded Lhunze the Early Jurassic strata gives a LA-ICP–MS Comei 28°20′N U-Pb age of 132 ± 1 Ma old farther northeast 28°20′N Lhozhag 90°00′E of Chigu Tso (Fig. 1B). At the Qonggyai res- Σ ervoir of the northern Comei LIP, a gabbroic N Kada Lakang W E Gujue dike emplaced within the strongly deformed 131 28°00′N S Late Triassic strata gives a SHRIMP U-Pb age Cona 0 10 20 30 km of 132.1 ± 1.0 Ma old. To the south of Kada vil- 90°30′E 91°00′E 91°30′E 92°00′E 92°30′E lage in the southeastern Comei LIP (Fig. 1B), a Figure 1. A: Sketch of tectonic map of southeastern Tibet, showing location of remnant Co- gabbroic intrusion gives a SHRIMP U-Pb age of mei large igneous province (LIP), and Rajmahal and Sylhet Traps of northeastern India (Cof- 131.1 ± 6.1 Ma old (Zhu et al., 2008a). fi n et al., 2002; Zhu et al., 2008a). B: Simplifi ed geology map showing spatial extent (dashed ellipse) and distributions of ~132 Ma old igneous rocks of the remnant Comei LIP. SHRIMP— Ultramafi c Rocks sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe; LA-ICP–MS—laser ablation–inductively coupled Ultramafi c rocks include layered pyroxenites plasma–mass spectrometry; YZS—Yarlung Zangbo suture; TH—Tethyan Himalaya; STDS— South Tibet detachment system; GH—Greater Himalaya; MBT—Main Boundary thrust. and picrite porphyrites that intruded the Juras- sic sedimentary strata in the central Comei LIP and the Lakang Formation sedimentary rocks in They exhibit variable uranium (51–373 ppm) and thickness from tens of meters to ~600 m (Zhu et the southeastern Comei LIP (Fig. 1B). A pyrox- thorium (64–370 ppm) contents, yielding Th/U al., 2008a). The silicic rocks form a 130-m-thick enite sample in southwest Chigu Tso gives a ratios from 0.21 to 1.34 (Table DR3). All these succession of rhyodacite and rhyolite and show SHRIMP zircon U-Pb age of 130 ± 2.0 Ma old. features are consistent with the zircons being columnar jointing. Two silicic samples from In summary, we have obtained 11 new age magmatic in origin (Hoskin and Black, 2000). Rimowa village give a SHRIMP zircon U-Pb age determinations on rocks of the remnant Comei Thus, the interpretation of the zircon U-Pb iso- of 133 ± 3 Ma old (Zhu et al., 2005) and a LA- LIP using the SHRIMP and LA-ICP–MS zir- topic data (see following) is straightforward, and ICP–MS U-Pb age of 131 ± 5 Ma old (Fig. 1B). con U-Pb methods (Tables DR1 and DR3; the obtained 206Pb/238U ages are interpreted as Figs. DR3 and DR4). These new age dates, dating the time of crystallization of the zircons, Mafi c Intrusions in combination with four published age data, and thus the time of emplacement of the host Voluminous mafi c intrusions (include diabasic agree within analytical uncertainty and give a rocks. Uncertainties on individual analyses are sills, dikes, and gabbros) of the same or similar weighted mean of 131.5 ± 0.8 Ma old (Fig. 2). reported at the 1σ level; mean ages for pooled ages intruded both the variably deformed Early 206Pb/238U results are reported at the 2σ level to Triassic–Lower Jurassic sedimentary strata, 5 indicate the host rock crystallization ages (Tables which show rapid northward changes in thick- This study DR1 and DR3; Figs. DR3 and DR4). ness and lithofacies, and the partly deformed Jiang et al., 2006 15 samples: 4 Zhu et al., 2005 Mean = 131.5 ± 0.8 Ma Early Cretaceous sedimentary strata, which likely Zhu et al., 2008a ZIRCON U-PB AGES OF THE REMNANT formed in a passive continental margin environ- 3 COMEI LIP ment (Zhu et al., 2007) from the western Yamzho Yum Tso to southeastern Cona in southeastern 2 Volcanic Remnants Tibet (Fig. 1B). The sills and dikes with average

The remnant volcanic rocks are interbedded widths >10 m extend generally in an east-west Number of ages 1 with the Early Cretaceous clastic sedimentary direction, mostly parallel to the strike of regional rocks in Sangxiu and Lakang Formations (Wan strata and also the Himalayan tectonic zone. 0 et al., 2005; Zhu et al., 2008a), which are dis- In the western Comei LIP, the Late Triassic 115 120 125 130 135 140 145 150 tributed in the northern and southern parts of strata are intruded by diabasic dikes, two of Age (Ma) the remnant Comei LIP (Fig. 1B). The volcanic which, from the vicinity of Baidi village (Fig. Figure 2. Zircon U-Pb ages of the remnant rocks are bimodal, mostly basalts with some 1B), give SHRIMP zircon U-Pb ages of 134.1 ± Comei large igneous province (LIP) rocks. Age value of 131.5 ± 0.8 Ma ago is weighted silicic varieties (Zhu et al., 2007). The basalts are 2.0 Ma old and 133.4 ± 1.6 Ma old (Jiang et al., mean of 15 samples and is interpreted as generally massive; however, lavas with pillowed 2006). To the south, near Dalong village (Fig. representing the timing of extensive mag- structure are also observed. The basalts vary in 1B), diabasic dikes that intruded the Early to matism of Comei LIP.

584 GEOLOGY, July 2009 Links to the Early Kerguelen Plume Activity These 15 age dates are from samples distrib- Gondwana 60eE 1201 0eE 150eE uted over a region as much as 270 km long and ca. 132 Ma The possible relationship between the Rajma- 150 km wide with an areal extent of ~40,000 Lhasa hal Traps and Kerguelen plume volcanism is 2 0 Parana-Etendeka LIP 0 km in southeastern Tibet. The outer boundary (ca. 132 Ma) less contended, but whether the Bunbury Basalt of this area is marked by the diabasic dikes in is genetically related to the Kerguelen plume is western Yamzho Yum Tso, the gabbros in Kada Comei-Bunbury LIP controversial largely because of the small vol- village, and the gabbroic dikes to the south of 30eS (ca. 132 Ma) 30eS ume of the Bunbury Basalt and its older age; India Qonggyai County (dashed ellipse in Fig. 1B). CM ~10–20 Ma older than the oldest volcanism on RT Note that the diabases located farther west in the Kerguelen Plateau (Ingle et al., 2004). Zir- Future SP BB 60eS 60eS the Gyangze and Kangmar areas (outside the NP con U-Pb dates reported in this study indicate ellipse; Fig. 1B) are similar and are also likely Antarctica Australia that the extensive magmatism in the remnant part of the Comei LIP, although this remains to 30eW900 30eE 60eE eE 120eE 150eE Comei LIP was synchronous with the Bun- be confi rmed by dating. bury Basalts in southwestern Australia, both Figure 3. Generalized plate tectonic reconstruction (~132 Ma old; modifi ed from predating any rocks sampled from the Rajma- DISCUSSION Schettino and Scotese, 2001) of Gondwana, hal Traps and the Kerguelen Plateau (Coffi n showing locations of Paraná-Etendeka large et al., 2002). Early studies suggested that ca. Spatial Extent of the Comei LIP and igneous province (LIP) and Comei-Bunbury 130 Ma ago the Kerguelen plume was beneath Associated Magmatism LIP identifi ed in this study. Known locations the triple junction of Australia, Antarctica, and of Shillong Plateau (SP), Rajmahal Traps The Sangxiu Formation basalts exposed in (RT), Naturaliste Plateau (NP), and Bunbury Greater India (Davies et al., 1989). New paleo- Rimowa village are geochemically similar to Basalt (BB) are labeled. Location of remnant magnetic results indicate that the Kerguelen the high-Ti mafi c rocks widely distributed in Comei LIP (CM) is shown in view of present- plume has moved southward by 3°–10° since Cona area (Zhu et al., 2007, 2008a). This geo- day spatial extent and Cenozoic shortening ca. 120 Ma ago (Antretter et al., 2002). The relative to Rajmahal Traps province. chemical similarity is also shared by high-Ti estimated distance of ~800–1200 km between group rocks elsewhere in southeastern Tibet the Comei LIP and the Rajmahal Traps province (Zhu et al., 2008b). While most outcrops of the during Early Cretaceous time suggests that the remnant Comei LIP (Fig. 1B) are undated, the (and/or the Naturaliste Plateau volcanic rocks) Comei-Bunbury LIP may have been infl uenced fi eld relationships and geochemical similarities into a single Comei-Bunbury LIP (Fig. 3). by the Kerguelen plume activity at the time. If of all these igneous rocks suggest that they are common source components for the Comei- coeval and cogenetic. The Tethyan Himalaya is Duration of the Comei-Bunbury LIP Bunbury LIP magmas and Kerguelen plume a tectonically active terrain in response to the Magmatism lavas are assumed (Frey et al., 1996; Ingle et India-Asia collision and continued convergence Although precise age data are unavailable al., 2004; Zhu et al., 2007, 2008a, 2008b), the (Hodges, 2000). Therefore, signifi cant tectonic for basalts in the Sangxiu and Lakang For- plate reconstruction indicates that the Comei- shortening accompanied by deep erosion has mations, the basalt in the Sangxiu Formation Bunbury LIP may have been genetically asso- occurred since the emplacement of the LIP. This is inferred to be only slightly older than the ciated with the initial Kerguelen plume, which explains why the dominant rock assemblages ~131–133 Ma old dacite. This is because the was already active before 130 Ma ago. here are deep-level intrusives rather than basal- sedimentary unit consisting of coarse and fi ne tic fl ows. For all these reasons, we can infer clastic rocks between the underlying basalt and Implications for the Breakup of Eastern with confi dence that the original Comei LIP the overlying dacite is very minor and is only Gondwana and the Oceanic Anoxic Event must have occupied a substantially larger area ~70 m thick where exposed in Rimowa village The small volume of the known magmatism (>40,000 km2) during their emplacement, prob- (Fig. 1B; Zhu et al., 2007), and could have been ca. 132 Ma ago potentially related to the Ker- ably exceeding the minimum level of 100,000 formed within a short period (e.g., <1–3 Ma) guelen plume led some investigators (Frey et km2 for strict classifi cation as a LIP (Coffi n and in a continental rift setting (Zhu et al., 2007). al., 1996; Coffi n et al., 2002) to suggest that this Eldholm, 1994; Bryan and Ernst, 2008). Therefore, given the analytical uncertainties, stage of plume activity may not have played a The remnant Comei LIP was paleogeo- the zircon U-Pb age of dacite (~131–133 Ma role in the breakup of eastern Gondwana. How- graphically located in northeastern Greater old) can be used to represent the emplacement ever, the recognition of the Comei-Bunbury India, positioned adjacent to the present-day age of the basalt of the Sangxiu Formation. The LIP, along with older volcanic rocks (older than southwestern margin of Australia in widely 15 zircon U-Pb age dates (including 11 new 120 Ma) that are expected to exist (to be tested cited reconstructions of ca. 132 Ma ago east- ages reported in this study and 4 ages recently further via drilling into the Kerguelen Plateau; ern Gondwana (Fig. 3) (cf. Schettino and published) defi ne a short magmatic duration Duncan, 2002; Kieffer et al., 2002), can in fact Scotese, 2001; Coffi n et al., 2002). The Bun- of ~4 m.y. (i.e., between 134 and 130 Ma be reconstructed to the single Kerguelen plume bury Basalts in southwestern Australia were ago) covering an areal extent >~40,000 km2 in with an initial pulse ca. 132 Ma ago. The exten- emplaced ca. 132 Ma ago (Frey et al., 1996; southeastern Tibet (Fig. 1B), which, in combi- sive magmatism of the Comei-Bunbury LIP (ca. Coffi n et al., 2002), coeval with the extensive nation with the 132 Ma old Bunbury Basalts 132 Ma ago) coincides broadly with the oldest magmatism documented in the remnant Comei in southwestern Australia, indicate that a large magnetic anomaly (ca. 130.9 Ma ago) identifi ed LIP (Fig. 2). Interpreted Lower Cretaceous portion of the total igneous volume in the between northeastern Greater India and south- volcanic rocks capping the Naturaliste Plateau, Comei-Bunbury LIP was probably emplaced western Australia (Heine and Müller, 2005). off the southwestern tip of Australia (Fig. 3), within a short duration (<5 Ma). Although the These tectonomagmatic events suggest that are inferred to be correlated with the Bunbury details remain unclear, development of the the Kerguelen plume activities refl ected by the Basalts (Coleman et al., 1982; Coffi n et al., Comei-Bunbury LIP probably was controlled Comei-Bunbury LIP could have played a key 2002). Such geographical and age distributions by an interaction between a mantle plume and role in the breakup of eastern Gondwana. of the magmatism of ca. 132 Ma ago allow us eastern Gondwana lithosphere (Frey et al., Previous studies documented a global pertur- to link the Comei LIP and the Bunbury Basalts 1996; Zhu et al., 2007, 2008a). bation of marine ecosystems, including biotic

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Zhu, D.C., Pan, G.T., Mo, X.X., Wang, L.Q., Liao, southwestern Australia, both of which represent Heine, C., and Müller, R.D., 2005, Late Jurassic rift- Z.L., Jiang, X.S., and Geng, Q.R., 2005, the erosional and/or deformational remnants ing along the Australian northwest shelf: Mar- SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating for the dacite of of a large igneous province, which we call the gin geometry and spreading ridge confi gura- the Sangxiu Formation in the central segment tion: Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 52, of Tethyan Himalaya and its implications: Chi- Comei-Bunbury LIP; and (3) this newly iden- p. 27–39, doi: 10.1080/08120090500100077. nese Science Bulletin, v. 50, p. 563–568. tifi ed LIP was likely caused by the Kerguelen Hodges, K.V., 2000, Tectonics of the Himalaya and Zhu, D.C., Pan, G.T., Mo, X.X., Liao, Z.L., Jiang, mantle plume that started in the Early Creta- southern Tibet from two perspectives: Geologi- X.S., Wang, L.Q., and Zhao, Z.D., 2007, Petro- ceous and may have played a role in the break- cal Society of America Bulletin, v. 112, p. 324– genesis of volcanic rocks in the Sangxiu Forma- up of eastern Gondwana and the development of 350, doi: 10.1130/0016-7606(2000)112<0324: tion, central segment of Tethyan Himalayas: A TOTHAS>2.3.CO;2. probable example of plume-lithosphere inter- the Weissert OAE 132 Ma ago. Hoskin, P.W.O., and Black, L.P., 2000, Metamor- action: Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, v. 29, phic zircon formation by solid-state recrystal- p. 320–335, doi: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2005.12.004. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS lization of protolith igneous zircon: Journal of Zhu, D.C., Mo, X.X., Pan, G.T., Zhao, Z.D., Dong, We are grateful for discussions with Ji-Feng Xu Metamorphic Geology, v. 18, p. 423–439, doi: G.C., Shi, Y.R., Liao, Z.L., and Zhou, C.Y., and constructive reviews by Richard E. Ernst (Can- 10.1046/j.1525-1314.2000.00266.x. 2008a, Petrogenesis of the earliest Early Cre- ada), Frederick A. Frey, and Ajoy K. Baksi, and edi- Ingle, S., Scoates, J.S., Weis, D., Brügmann, G., and taceous basalts and associated diabases from torial handling by Andy Barth. This study was sup- Kent, R.W., 2004, Origin of Cretaceous con- Cona area, eastern Tethyan Himalaya in south ported by the National Natural Science Foundation of tinental tholeiites in southwestern Australia Tibet: Interaction between the incubating China (40503005), and the National Key Project for and eastern India: Insights from Hf and Os iso- Kerguelen plume and eastern Greater India Basic Research of China (Projects 2006CB701402, topes: Chemical Geology, v. 209, p. 83–106, lithosphere?: Lithos, v. 100, p. 147–173, doi: 2009CB421002, 2002CB412603). doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2004.04.023. 10.1016/j.lithos.2007.06.024. 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