Precambrian basement, provenance implication, and tectonic evolution of the Gargan block of the Tuva-Mongolia terranes, Central Asian Orogenic Belt

Abstract

Although the Phanerozoic geology of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt is extensively studied, there is still much to reveal about the initiation and early stages of tectonism. The Gargan block of the Tuva-Mongolia terranes at the Mongolian-Russian border is one of the Archean-Proterozoic continental crustal fragments that record the earliest evolutionary history of the belt. To better constrain the age of its basement, extent, and provenance in regional tectonic framework, we present new zircon UPb geochronologic data from previously undated basement gneisses and the overlying Neoproterozoic meta-sedimentary rocks of southern part of the Gargan block. Comparison of available basement ages and Precambrian detrital zircon spectra from nearby Archean-Proterozoic continental crustal fragments show complex relationship amongst them. We propose that the Gargan block travelled by itself in most of the Proterozoic or was derived from an unknown continental block. Obtained age confirms the existence of Neoarchean-Neoproterozoic basement in the region; however, for the first time, the 2749–814 Ma Salig Complex reveals multiple stages of Neoproterozoic metamorphic events within the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. Older of which, at ∼1 Ga, may relate to an assembly of several of the pre-existing continental crustal fragments in Mongolia.