Paleozoic convergence processes in the southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt: Insights from U–Pb dating of detrital zircons from West Junggar, northwestern China

Abstract

The West Junggar orogen, located in the southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), preserves an abundant record of tectonic processes associated with the evolution of the Junggar Ocean. In this study, we use detrital zircon U–Pb age data from Ordovician to Carboniferous sandstones in the southern and central West Junggar domains, complemented by literature data, to better constrain the tectonic evolution of the southwestern CAOB. The Kekeshayi, Qiargaye, and Laba formations in the southern West Junggar domain were deposited during the Darriwilian-Sandbian, Katian-Aeronian, and Homerian-Emsian, respectively. Detrital zircon provenances of these formations display a marked shift from the southern West Junggar domain to the Paleo-Kazakhstan Continent (PKC). This suggests that the southern West Junggar intra-oceanic arc might have gradually accreted to the northern margin of the PKC prior to the Emsian, which has significantly contributed to the lateral growth of the PKC. The Carboniferous strata, Xibeikulasi, Baogutu, and Tailegula formations, in the central West Junggar domain represent a coherent sequence of volcaniclastic turbidites and were deposited in a progressively shrinking remnant oceanic basin during the Visean to Moscovian. They contain unimodal detrital zircon distributions and are derived from the local and coeval magmatic rocks in the central West Junggar domain. We propose that the final closure of the Junggar Ocean likely occurred in the end of the Late Carboniferous in response to regional amalgamation events in the southwestern CAOB, which marks the final assembly of the Kazakhstan Orocline. The central and southern West Junggar domains underwent individual evolution in the Paleozoic, and were recombined by the significant intra-continental reworking along the large-scale strike-slip faults.