Paleomagnetism of the Middle and Late Permian rocks from eastern Tibet constrains the Late Paleozoic paleography and drift history of the North Qiangtang terrane

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau comprises a mosaic of geologically distinct Paleozoic and Mesozoic terranes that originated from the northern margin of Gondwana, splitting from it in the Carboniferous or Permian before subsequently drifting northward to collide with Laurasia in the Mesozoic. However, the paleography and drift history of these terranes remain poorly constrained. Here we present new Middle and Late Permian paleomagnetic data from the North Qiangtang Terrane, which allow us to determine that it drifted from ~24°S to ~9°S from the Middle to Late Permian. On the basis of paleomagnetic and geological data of the Tibetan terranes, we propose that the North Qiangtang Terrane was stably located at ~24°S during the Late Carboniferous and Middle Permian, likely affiliated with the Pamir-Qamdo continental archipelago, and the rapid northward drift of the North Qiangtang terrane starts in the Middle Permian.