Abstract
The Mongol-Okhotsk orogenic belt (MOB) is considered to be the youngest division of the huge Central Asian Orogenic Belt, but its origin and evolution are still enigmatic. To better understand the history of the MOB, we conducted U-Pb geochronological analyses of detrital-zircon grains from Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic sedimentary sequences as well as a volcanic suite in the Ereendavaa terrane, the southern framing unit of the MOB, in NE Mongolia. Our results show that the protoliths of the quartzite assemblage of the Ereendavaa terrane basement (or proto-Ereendavaa terrane) was deposited after ca. 1.15 Ga on a passive continental margin. The detrital-zircon age spectra of the Silurian and Devonian sedimentary sequences of the terrane demonstrate that the source areas were dominated by proximal Cambrian-Ordovician arc rocks, likely resulting from the northward subduction of the Kherlen Ocean lithosphere beneath the Ereendavaa terrane. Based on a combination of our new data with those published, we show that the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean split from an early Paleozoic domain during, or after, the early Silurian by a mantle plume, and developed an Andean-type margin along its northern rim possibly at Middle Devonian times, and a bidirection subduction system in mid-Carboniferous at approximately 325 Ma. This bipolar subduction of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean might have lasted until the Triassic.
Highlights
The Mongol-Okhotsk Belt (MOB), extending over 3000 km from central Mongolia in the southwest to the Uda Gulf of the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast (Figure 1), was formed by the closing of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean (MOO) between the Northern Asian (Siberia) continent and the AmurSuperterrane [1,2,3,4]
The accretionary wedge terranes are mainly distributed on the northern side of the suture zone, some occur inside the suture zone at the eastern end of the Mongol-Okhotsk orogenic belt (MOB) (Figure 1)
Some authors have considered all of these suture zone terranes and accretionary wedges together as one large accretionary complex resulting from subduction of the MOO lithosphere [6,22,23]
Summary
The Mongol-Okhotsk Belt (MOB), extending over 3000 km from central Mongolia in the southwest to the Uda Gulf of the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast (Figure 1), was formed by the closing of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean (MOO) between the Northern Asian (Siberia) continent and the Amur. The MOO is considered to be the youngest domain within the Central Asian. Orogenic Belt (CAOB), a vast region that resulted from the evolution of the Paleo Asian Ocean (PAO). Some authors have considered all of these suture zone terranes and accretionary wedges together as one large accretionary complex resulting from subduction of the MOO lithosphere [6,22,23]. Paleozoic domain (Figure 2) and here the MOO suture zone is represented by the Adaatsag and along theterranes.
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