Protolith and deformation age of the Gneiss-Plate of Kartali in the southern East Uralian Zone

Abstract

The southern East Uralian Zone consists of granite-gneiss complexes that are embedded in geological units with typical oceanic characteristics. These gneisses have been interpreted as parts of a microcontinent that collided during the Uralian orogeny. The gneiss-plate of Kartali forms the south eastern part of the gneiss mantle surrounding the Dzhabyk pluton. Its post-collisional protolith age of 327±4 Ma is inconsistent with the microcontinent model. The deformation of the gneisses took place in 290±4 Ma at the time of the intrusion of the Dzhabyk magmas. Granites and gneisses cooled and were exhumed together. Therefore, we interpret the gneiss complexes of the East Uralian Zone as marginal parts of the granitic batholiths that were deformed during the ascent and emplacement of the pluton. From Nd and Sr isotope constraints we conclude that the magma source of the gneiss protolith was an island arc. Since no evidence for old continental crust has been discovered in the East Uralian Zone, the Uralian orogeny can no longer be interpreted as a continent-island arc-microcontinent collision. Instead, the geochemical data presented within this paper indicate that the stacking and thrusting of island arc complexes played an important role in the Uralian orogeny.