Abstract
Our study is aimed at reconstructing the Palaeozoic–early Mesozoic plate tectonic development of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt in central and southeast Mongolia (Gobi). We use sandstone provenance signatures including laser ablation U-Pb ages of detrital zircons, their epsilon hafnium isotope signatures, and detrital framework grain analyses. We adopt a well-established terran subdivision of central and southeastern Mongolia. However, according to their affinity and tectonic assemblage we group them into three larger units consisting of continental basement, rift-passive continental margin and arc elements, respectively. These are in today’s coordinates: (i) in the north the late Cambrian collage from which the later Mongol-Okhotsk and the Central Mongolia-Erguna mountain ranges resulted, (ii) in the south a heterogeneous block from which the South Mongolia-Xin’gan and Inner Mongolia-Xilin belts developed, and (iii) in between we still distinguish the intra-oceanic volcanic arc of the Gurvansayhan terrane. We present a model for paleotectonic development for the period from Cambrian to Jurassic, which also integrates findings from the Central Asian Orogenic Belt in China and Russia. This mobilistic model implies an interplay of rift and drift processes, ocean formation, oceanic subduction, basin inversion, collision and suture formation in space and time. The final assemblage of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt occurred in Early Jurassic.
Highlights
The Central Asian Orogenic Belt or Altaid Belt records a long history of collage of different tectono-stratigraphic units, which amalgamated against the Siberian Craton from Early
Except for the Gurvansayhan, Atasbogd-Zoolen and Tsagaan Uul terranes, which show Late Devonian peaks, the basins related to the other terranes were impoverished of Devonian detrital zircon influx
We identify two exceptions: (i) in the Gurvansayhan of Oyu Tolgoi detrital zircon ages are limited in majority to Late Devonian and less to Carboniferous, and (ii) in the Hangay-Heney basin Late Devonian to Carboniferous detrital zircon influx prevailed
Summary
The Central Asian Orogenic Belt or Altaid Belt records a long history of collage of different tectono-stratigraphic units (terranes), which amalgamated against the Siberian Craton from Early. Neoproterozoic until Permian-Triassic (Figure 1; e.g., [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]). Late Palaeozoic (Permian-Triassic) one in south-southeastern Mongolia, south of the MML In South Mongolia, the colliding tectono-stratigraphic units comprised continental basement and oceanic terranes, seamounts, and continental and oceanic volcanic arcs nowadays preserved in continental slivers, sutures, arcs and accretionary complexes (e.g., [1,6,8,17,18,19,20]).
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