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As the highest altitude and the longest plateau railway line, the Qinghai-Tibet railway passes through a large area of continuous permafrost. As the key position of the combination of roadbed and bridge, the stability and strength of the bridge approach directly affect the smoothness of the whole line. Through an indoor model test, the distribution pattern of space temperature field and the change law of temperature measuring points in the bridge approach of gravel sandwich are studied. With the increase in the depth from the subgrade surface, the influence of the temperature change in the upper atmosphere decreases gradually at the 2.5-m platform back of the subgrade center section, resulting in an obvious lag in the subgrade. By comparing the temperature measurement data of different bridge approaches of the gravel interlayer road bridge and the bridge approach of the U-shaped block gravel road bridge, it is shown that the U-shaped structure not only has a better overall cooling effect, but also the cooling effect gradually increases with the increase in the distance from the abutment back. The influence range of the road-bridge transition section on the spatial temperature field is approximately 14 m in the back of the abutment, and the influence range at 7.5 m is the most severe. The research results have important practical significance and engineering application value for the operation and maintenance of the Qinghai-Tibet railway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Dingqing ophiolite represents a significant allochthonous ophiolite nappe in the eastern segment of the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone in southeastern Tibet. The microanalytical data of associated podiform chromitites classify them into two distinct varieties: high-Al and high-Cr. The coexistence of both high-Cr and high-Al chromitites in the Dingqing ophiolite suggests a complex or multistage evolutionary history of the host rocks. New petrological and geochemical analyses are used herein to unravel the interrelationships between the chromitite ores and host rocks and assess the mechanism of formation. The Dingqing ophiolitic nappe is made up mainly of harzburgite, dunite, and less abundant pyroxenite and gabbro. Several small lens-shaped bodies of chromitite ore are mostly confined to the harzburgite rocks, with ore textures varying from massive to sparsely disseminated chromite. In addition to magnesiochromite, the orebodies contain minor amounts of olivine, amphibole, and serpentine. The textural relationships provide compelling evidence of plastic deformation and partial melting of the associated peridotites. Detailed examination of the Cr-spinel grains reveals a wide range of composition, spanning from high-Al (Cr# = 3.18–59.5) to high-Cr (Cr# 60.3–87.32). The abundances of the platinum-group element (PGE) in chromitites are significantly variable (93 to 274 ppb). Formation of the Dingqing peridotites most likely took place in a mid-ocean ridge (MOR) setting, and subsequent modifications by supra-subduction zone (SSZ) melts resulted in heterogenous or mixed geochemical characteristics of these rocks. Chemistry of the spinel–olivine–clinopyroxene assemblage demonstrates multiple stages of partial melting of the source mantle rocks, including an early phase of restricted partial melting (~20%–30%) and a later phase of extensive partial melting (>40%). The formation of the high-Al chromitite type was associated with the early phase (constrained melting), whereas extensive partial melting in the late stages likely led to the accumulation of high-Cr podiform chromitite bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the nature of parental melts for pyroxenite veins in supra‐subduction zone (SSZ) ophiolites provides vibrant constraints on melt infiltration processes operating in subduction zones. The Zedang ophiolitic massif in the eastern Yarlung–Zangbo suture zone in Tibet consists of mantle peridotites and a crustal section of gabbro, diabase, and basalt. Veins of two pyroxenite varieties cut the southern part of the Zedang massif. These pyroxenite rocks have different geochemical characteristics, where the first variety (type‐I) has relatively higher contents of SiO2 (51.82–53.08 wt%), MgO (20.08–23.23 wt%), and ΣPGE (3.42–13.97 ppb), and lower Al2O3 (1.59–2.28 wt%) and ΣREE (1.63–2.94 ppm). The second pyroxenite variety (type‐II) is characterized by SiO2 (45.44–49.61 wt%), MgO (16.68–19.78 wt%), Al2O3 (4.24–8.77 wt%), ΣPGE (14.46–322.06 ppb), and ΣREE (5.82–7.44 ppm). Pyroxenite type‐I shows N‐MORB‐like chondrite‐normalized REE patterns. Zircon U‐Pb ages of pyroxenite type‐I (194 ± 10 Ma), associated ophiolitic gabbro (135.3 ± 2.0 Ma), and plagiogranite (124.2 ± 2.3 Ma) evidently imply episodic evolution of the Zedang ophiolites. The mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the investigated pyroxenites can be explained by subduction‐initiated hydrous melting of metasomatized sub‐arc mantle, later overprinted by sub‐slab mantle melting triggered by upwelling asthenosphere during the Jurassic–Early Cretaceous times. The geochemical variations in pyroxenite vein composition, coupled with age differences amongst the other ophiolite units, may correspond to intermittent emplacement of pyroxenite dikes and isotropic gabbroic intrusions where the geodynamic setting progressed from arc maturation and slab rollback to slab tearing and delamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • New datas of minerals and petrology for the Yilashan chromitite. • Pyroxenite shows high PPGE/IPGE values, variable Pd/Ir (55.7–316.7), and left-leaning primitive mantle-normalized PGE pattern. • U-Pb age (162.8 ± 3.0 Ma) along with widely variable ε Hf (t) values (−9.2 to +12.0) of zircons recovered form a gabbroic. The Yilashan ophiolite in the southern part of the central Bangong-Nujiang suture zone comprises variably deformed harzburgite, dunite, and less abundant gabbro and pyroxenite pods and crosscutting veins. Cr-spinels in podiform chromitite bodies are characterized by high Cr# (64.3–74.3), high Mg# (58.2–67.5), and consistently low contents of TiO 2 (≤0.12 wt%). Primary melt calculations designate parental boninitic magmas with Al 2 O 3(liquid) contents of 11.67–13.49 wt%, and (FeO/MgO) liquid values of 0.92–1.12. Whole-rock geochemical data of fresh pyroxenite samples are characterized by negative K, Ta, Nb and Zr anomalies, no Eu anomaly, and chondrite-normalized REE patterns comparable to the N-MORB melts. The gabbro samples, in contrast, are high-K calc-alkaline, with elevated contents of LILE (Rb, K, Th) and depleted HFSE (i.e., Nb, Ta, P, Ti), consistent with subduction-related magmas. The fractionated chondrite-normalized REE patterns, high LREE/HREE values, and negative Eu anomalies of these gabbroic rocks are similar to the island arc basalts. Pyroxenite shows high PPGE/IPGE values, variable Pd/Ir (55.7–316.7), and left-leaning primitive mantle-normalized PGE pattern, whereas massive chromitite is enriched in IPGE relative to PPGE. The PGE patterns of pyroxenite and chromitite, though distinct, depict significant fractionation and partial melting in their formation. The elevated contents of PPGEs in pyroxenite suggest derivation from sulfur-saturated magmas as chromitite crystallization scavenged the compatible IPGEs from the parental melt. This assumption is supported by clinopyroxene in pyroxenite with variable Al 2 O 3 contents and variable Cr 2 O 3 contents (0.32 to 0.73 wt%). For the fractionated gabbro unit, zircons yielding a concordia U-Pb age of 162.8 ± 3.0 Ma and widely variable ε Hf (t) values (−9.2 to +12.0) suggest formation from heterogenous or reworked source materials during a Middle Jurassic subduction increment in the Neo-Tethyan Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]