Locating the Lhasa Block within the Neo-Tethys Ocean at ~268 Ma: Paleomagnetism and Its Paleogeographic Implications

The origin and drift history of the Lhasa block in South Tibet is crucial towards unraveling the evolution of the Neo-Tethys Ocean, which has not yet been well constrained by the paucity of paleomagnetic data, especially for the late Paleozoic. Hence, a systematic paleomagnetic investigation of 50 sandstone samples (6 sites), 166 volcanic samples (21 sites) and 76 limestone samples (9 sites) from the middle Permian (267.8 ± 5.0 Ma) Luobadui Formation was conducted in the Lhunzhub area. The results reveal an Eocene re-magnetization component in the sandstone samples, but stable high temperature (field) components obtained from most volcanic and limestone samples can successfully pass the fold, reversal and paleosecular variation tests, which likely represents primary magnetization. On this basis, the middle Permian paleomagnetic pole position (P_lat= 40.9°N, P_long=324.5°E, N=27 sites (dp/dm=3.3/6)) and paleolatitude (~15.9°S) of the Lhasa block are presented. Combined with published paleomagnetic data from other Tethyan continental blocks, this new constraint reveals that the Lhasa block was located in the interior of the Neo-Tethys Ocean at about 268 Ma. In further considering the geological records of the Lhasa block, we propose that the block rifted from the northwestern margin of the Gondwana-Australian plate prior to the middle Permian, and the Neo-Tethys Ocean represented by the Bangong Co-Nujiang and Yarlung-Zangbo Suture Zones coexisted during the middle Permian.