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Post‐collisional magmatism contains important clues for understanding the reworking and growth of continental crust, as well as lithospheric delamination and orogenic collapse. Early Devonian magmatism has been identified in the North Qilian Orogenic Belt (NQOB). This paper reports an integrated study of petrology, whole‐rock geochemistry, Sm‐Nd isotope and zircon U‐Pb dating, as well as Lu‐Hf isotopic data, for two Early Devonian intrusive plutons. The Yongchang and Chijin granites yield zircon U‐Pb ages of 394–407 Ma and 414 Ma, respectively. Both of them are characterized by weakly peraluminous to metaluminous without typical aluminium‐rich minerals, LREE‐enriched patterns with negative Eu anomalies and a negative correlation between P2O5 and SiO2 contents, consistent with geochemical features of I‐type granitoids. Zircons from the studied granites display negative to weak positive εHf(t) values (–5.7 to 2.1), which agree well with those of negative εNd(t) values (−6.4 to −2.9) for the whole‐rock samples, indicating that they were derived from the partial melting of Mesoproterozoic crust. Furthermore, low Sr/Y ratios (1.13–21.28) and high zircon saturation temperatures (745°C to 839°C, with the majority being >800°C) demonstrated a relatively shallow depth level below the garnet stability field and an additional heat source. Taken together, the Early Devonian granitic magmatism could have been produced by the partial melting of ancient crustal materials heated by mantle‐derived magmas at high‐temperature and low‐pressure conditions during post‐collisional extensional collapse. The data obtained in this study, when viewed in conjunction with previous studies, provides more information about the tectonic processes that followed the closure of the North Qilian Ocean. The tectonic transition from continental collision to post‐collisional delamination could be constrained to ∼430 Ma, which is provided by the sudden decrease of Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios and an increase in zircon εHf(t) values for granitoids. A two‐stage tectonic evolution model from continental collision to post‐collisional extensional collapse for the NQOB includes (a) continental collision and crustal thickening during ca. 455–430 Ma, characterized by granulite‐facies metamorphism and widespread low‐Mg adakitic magmatism; (b) post‐collisional delamination of thickened continental crust and extensional collapse of orogen during ca. 430–390 Ma, provided by coeval high‐Mg adakitic magmatism, A‐type granites and I‐type granitoids with low Sr‐Y ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yardoi dome is located in the eastern end of the northwest-southeast extending North Himalayan domes (NHD). The dome exposes a granite pluton in the core and three lithologictectonic units separated by the upper detachment fault and the lower detachment fault. The Yardoi detachment fault (YDF), corresponding to the lower detachment fault, is a 800 m strongly deformed top-NW shear zone. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating yielded a crystallization ages of 19.57±0.23 to 15.5±0.11 Ma for the leucogranite dyke swarm, which indicates that the ductile motion along the YDF began at ca. 20 Ma. The 40Ar/39Ar muscovite ages of 14.05±0.2 to 13.2±0.2 Ma and the 40Ar/39Ar biotite age of 13.15±0.2 Ma, suggest that the exhumation led to cooling through the 370 °C Ar closure temperature in muscovite at ≈14 Ma to the 335 °C Ar closure temperature in biotite at ≈13 Ma. Our new geochronological data from the Yardoi dome and other domes in the Tethyan Himalayan Sequences suggest that the ductile deformation in the region began at or before ≈36 Ma in a deep tectonic level, resulting in southward ductile flow at the mid-crustal tectonic level that continued from 20 to 13 Ma. Comparing the Yardoi dome to other domes in the NHD, the cooling ages show a clear diachronism and they are progressively younger from the West Himalayan to the East Himalayan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]