Neoproterozoic to Paleozoic long-lived accretionary orogeny in the northern Tarim Craton

Abstract

The Tarim Craton, located in the center of Asia, was involved in the assembly and breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent during the Neoproterozoic and the subduction-accretion of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) during the Paleozoic. However, its tectonic evolution during these events is controversial, and a link between the Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic tectonic processes is missing. Here we present zircon U-Pb ages, Hf isotopes, and whole-rock geochemical data for the extensive granitoids in the western Kuruktag area, northeastern Tarim Craton. Three distinct periods of granitoid magmatism are evident: circa 830-820 Ma, 660-630 Ma, and 420-400 Ma. The magma sources, melting conditions (pressure, temperature, and water availability), and tectonic settings of various granitoids from each period are determined. Based on our results and the geological, geochronological, geochemical, and isotopic data from adjacent areas, a long-lived accretionary orogenic model is proposed. This model involves an early phase (circa 950-780 Ma) of southward advancing accretion from the Tianshan to northern Tarim and a late phase (circa 780-600 Ma) of northward retreating accretion, followed by back-arc opening and subsequent bidirectional subduction (circa 460-400 Ma) of a composite back-arc basin (i.e., the South Tianshan Ocean). Our model highlights a long-lived accretionary history of the southwestern CAOB, which may have initiated as part of the circum-Rodinia subduction zone and was comparable with events occurring at the southern margin of the Siberian Craton, thus challenging the traditional southward migrating accretionary models for the CAOB.

Zircon U–Pb ages and Hf–O isotopic signatures of the Wajilitag and Puchang Fe–Ti oxide–bearing intrusive complexes: Constraints on their source characteristics and temporal–spatial evolution of the Tarim large igneous province

“…Silurian to Devonian gabbroids and granitoids (ca. 444-360 Ma) also sporadically distributed around the northern margin of the craton are believed to have been correlated to the subduction of the southern Tianshan oceanic lithosphere plate beneath the craton (Ge et al, 2012(Ge et al, , 2014Huang et al, 2013;Zhao et al, 2015).…”

“…Unconformably overlying these basement rocks are successions of weakly-metamorphosed middle Neoproterozoic pyroclastic rocks and glacial deposits, possibly formed during the breakup of the Rodinia (Xu et al, 2005;Zhang et al, 2012d). The middle Neoproterozoic strata are discordantly overlain by a thick sequence of Phanerozoic shallow marine and terrestrial volcano-sedimentary rocks (Guo et al, 2005;Lin et al, 2013 (Zhang et al, 2012b;Zhu et al, 2011a), although opposing views remain (e.g., Ge et al, 2014;Zhu et al, 2011b). Silurian to Devonian gabbroids and granitoids (ca.…”

Provenance of late Paleozoic strata in the Yili Basin: Implications for tectonic evolution of the South Tianshan orogenic belt

“…Han et al, 2015Y.G. Han et al, , 2016aWang et al, 2011;Ge et al, 2014). Although Silurian to Early Devonian magmatic rocks occur widely in the Yili-Central Tianshan, Tarim, and South Tianshan regions, it is clear that Late Devonian to late Carboniferous (380-310 Ma) magmatic rocks are largely absent in the northern Tarim and South Tianshan regions but occur widely in the southern Yili-Central Tianshan block (Figs.…”

An early Emsian (Zlichovian) ammonoid assemblage from Sangibaland Mountain (Shakhimardan River Basin) (South Tien Shan, Kyrgyzstan)

“…There is a general agreement that the South Tien Shan thrustand-fold belt was formed due to convergence and eventual collision of the Kazakhstan continent with the Tarim, Alai and Turan microcontinents (Alexeiev et al 2015). In the SilurianDevonian, the northern margin of the Alai-Tarim terrane was facing the passive slope of the Turkestan Ocean (or South Tianshan Ocean sensu Long et al 2011;Ge et al 2014;Burtman 2015, etc. ), which existed until the Late Carboniferous closure, followed by the continental collision.…”