Geochemical signature of Paleozoic accretionary complexes of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt in South Mongolia: Constraints on arc environments and crustal growth

Abstract We report a reconnaissance geochemical and Nd-isotopic study for 33 metaigneous and metavolcaniclastic rocks from the ca. 470 to 290 Ma old Gurvan Sayhan, Zoolen, Nemegt Uul, Bayanleg-Hatuu, and Tseel mountain ranges in southern Mongolia, in order to infer tectonic environments, test a recently proposed multiple terrane model, and explore the late-stage development of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). Samples from the Gurvan Sayhan and the Zoolen ranges have a predominantly intermediate, calc-alkaline composition; they display LREE enrichment, excess abundances of fluid-soluble elements, and low concentrations of high-field strength elements. These data, in combinati…

Source composition, fractional crystallization and magma mixing processes in the 3.48–3.43Ga Tsawela tonalite suite (Ancient Gneiss Complex, Swaziland) – Implications for Palaeoarchaean geodynamics

Abstract The ca. 3480–3430 Ma Tsawela Gneiss (TG) is a well-preserved coarse-grained diorite to tonalite suite within the Ancient Gneiss Complex of Swaziland, eastern Kaapvaal craton. These gneisses are texturally and compositionally distinct from the hosting oldest components of the ca. 3200–3660 Ma TTG-type Ngwane Gneisses (NG). Major and trace elements, in combination with whole-rock hafnium-neodymium isotopic data, were analyzed in the TG and in three samples of ca. 3450 Ma grey NG to constrain sources and magmatic processes. High-field-strength element data (HFSE) were combined with U-Pb SHRIMP II ages and Hf-in-zircon data for key samples to constrain their ages and petrogenesis. In c…

Single zircon ages, PT evolution and Nd isotopic systematics of high-grade gneisses in southern Malawi and their bearing on the evolution of the Mozambique belt in southeastern Africa

Abstract The high grade gneiss assemblage of central and southern Malawi belongs to the Neoproterozoic Mozambique belt of East Africa, and reached peak metamorphic conditions at 900±70°C and 9.5±1.5 kbar, followed by an isobaric cooling path. We report single zircon U–Pb and Pb–Pb ages and Nd isotopic data for orthogneisses and metapelites collected around Lilongwe and farther south in the region around Blantyre and Zomba. The ages document three distinct events, (1) a Kibaran-age period of intrusion of calc-alkaline granitoids around 1040–929 Ma; Nd isotope data indicate overall juvenile compositions consistent with a magmatic arc environment, or emplacement into thinned continental crust …

U–Pb zircon geochronology and Hf–Nd isotopic systematics of Wadi Beitan granitoid gneisses, South Eastern Desert, Egypt

Abstract Migmatitic granitoid gneisses are widespread in the southern Eastern Desert of Egypt, but their formation ages are poorly understood. They consist of granitoid gneiss ranging in composition from tonalite to granodiorite, with a distinct calc-alkaline chemical character. Zircons from three migmatitic gneiss samples from Wadi Beitan were dated on SHRIMP II and yielded magmatic emplacement ages of 719 ± 10, 725 ± 9 and 744 ± 10 Ma, respectively, indicating that the gneiss protoliths are Neoproterozoic. The zircons yielded eHf(t) values of − 4.8 to + 12.5 and corresponding Hf crustal model ages ranging from 824 to 1753 Ma. These data indicate the involvement of both juvenile and older …

Reassessment of continental growth during the accretionary history of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

We argue that the production of mantle-derived or juvenile continental crust during the accretionary history of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) has been grossly overestimated. This is because previous assessments only considered the Palaeozoic evolution of the belt, whereas its accretionary history already began in the latest Mesoproterozoic. Furthermore, much of the juvenile growth in Central Asia occurred in late Permian and Mesozoic times, after completion of CAOB evolution, and perhaps related to major plume activity. We demonstrate from zircon ages and Nd–Hf isotopic systematics from selected terranes within the CAOB that many Neoproterozoic to Palaeozoic granitoids in the accre…

Palaeoproterozoic ancestry of Pan-African high-grade granitoids in southernmost India: Implications for Gondwana reconstructions

Abstract SHRIMP dating of magmatic zircons from granitoid gneisses and charnockites of the Trivandrum and Nagercoil Blocks in the granulite terrane of southernmost India yielded well-defined protolith emplacement ages between 1765 and ca. 2100 Ma and also document variable recrystallization and/or lead-loss during the late Neoproterozoic Pan-African event at around 540 Ma. Hf-in-zircon and whole rock Nd isotopic data suggest that the granitoid host rocks were derived from mixed crustal sources, and Hf–Nd model ages vary between 2.2 and 2.8 Ga. A gabbroic dyke, emplaced into a charnockite protolith and deformed together with it, only contained metamorphic zircon whose mean age of 542.3 ± 4.0…

Generation of early Archaean grey gneisses through melting of older crust in the eastern Kaapvaal craton, southern Africa

Abstract We report zircon ages, Hf-in-zircon isotopes as well as whole-rock geochemistry and Hf–Nd isotopic systematics for Palaeoarchaean grey gneisses of the Ancient Gneiss Complex of Swaziland, the oldest components of the Kaapvaal craton, southern Africa. The Hf-in-zircon isotopic compositions in these compositionally heterogeneous, multicomponent, migmatitic gneisses are highly variable, even in the oldest zircons dating back to 3.66 Ga, suggesting growth of zircon from melts representing a mix of juvenile and anatectic material derived from differentiated continental crust of Eoarchean to late Hadean age. In contrast, the initial Nd and Hf whole-rock isotopic compositions are frequent…

Early Silurian tholeiitic-boninitic Mailisu ophiolite, South Tianshan, Kyrgyzstan: a geochemical record of subduction initiation

ABSTRACTOphiolite assemblages of the South Tianshan fold-and-thrust-belt (STS) track the sea floor dynamics of the late Cambrian to Carboniferous Turkestan Ocean in the western Central Asian Orogen...

Devonian arc-related magmatism in the Tseel terrane of SW Mongolia: chronological and geochemical evidence

Abstract: The Tseel terrane in the Gobi Desert of SW Mongolia consists of a composite crustal segment of imbricated sheets of high- and low-grade metamorphic rocks of predominantly middle Palaeozoic age. New sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) zircon ages of 396 ± 3 Ma (2σ) and 397 ± 3 Ma (2σ) for two calc-alkaline metarhyolite samples indicate arc volcanism during the early Devonian. An undeformed feldspar porphyry cross-cutting the early Devonian low-grade sequence yielded an emplacement age of 279 ± 2 Ma (2σ). Geochemical and Nd isotopic data for low-grade mafic metavolcanic rocks are consistent with melting of moderately depleted upper mantle sources in a transitional arc–…

The Nhlangano gneiss dome in south-west Swaziland – A record of crustal destabilization of the eastern Kaapvaal craton in the Neoarchaean

Abstract The Nhlangano granite-gneiss in south-west Swaziland, dated at 2.98 Ga, forms an elliptical dome of remobilised, migmatitic crust. Strongly deformed supracrustal rocks wrap around or form synformal keels infolded with subdomes of Nhlangano Gneiss and represent Mesoarchaean Pongola Supergroup strata at amphibolite- to granulite-facies metamorphic grade. Amphibolites represent the metamorphosed equivalents of Nsuze Group basalts and andesites on the basis of similar trace element and Nd isotope data. Garnetiferous Mahamba Gneiss, dated at c. 2.96 Ga, represents the metamorphosed equivalents of felsic to intermediate volcanic rocks and minor pelitic interflow sedimentary units of the …

Generation of early Archaean felsic greenstone volcanic rocks through crustal melting in the Kaapvaal, craton, southern Africa

Abstract High-potassium felsic volcanic rocks interlayered with basalt and komatiite in early Archaean greenstone sequences in the Barberton Greenstone Belt of South Africa and Swaziland, previously considered to be derived from melting of mafic precursors, are shown to be the result of melting of significantly older felsic crust. This is documented by a combination of SHRIMP zircon dating with Hf-in-zircon and whole-rock Lu–Hf and Sm–Nd isotopic data. Zircons from felsic rocks of the oldest Barberton unit, the 3.53 Ga Theespruit Formation, yielded predominantly negative e Hf ( t ) -values, whereas whole-rock e Hf ( t ) - and e Nd ( t ) -data are slightly negative to slightly positive. Simi…

single zircon ages and Sm-Nd systematics for precambrian rocks from Madagascar: Significance for correlations in East Gondwana

Ca. 750–1100 Ma magmatic events and Grenville-age deformation in Sri Lanka: relevance for Rodinia supercontinent formation and dispersal, and Gondwana amalgamation

Abstract Large volumes of ∼880–1100 Ma calc-alkaline granitoid rocks in the Wanni and Vijayan crustal provinces of Sri Lanka make it likely that these domains were produced in active margin settings, probably Grenville-age magmatic arcs. We report new single zircon evaporation ages and Nd isotopic systematics for dioritic to granodioritic gneisses of the Kadugannawa Complex of central Sri Lanka which record a period of magmatic arc activity between 1006 and 881 Ma and show this complex to be part of the Wanni domain. Both provinces were probably generated in arc-related settings at the outer margin of Rodinia, but this cannot be ultimately proven on the basis of the currently available data…

Middle to Late Ordovician arc system in the Kyrgyz Middle Tianshan: From arc-continent collision to subsequent evolution of a Palaeozoic continental margin

New geological, geochronological and isotopic data reveal a previously unknown arc system that evolved south of the Kyrgyz Middle Tianshan (MTS) microcontinent during the Middle and Late Ordovician, 467-444 Ma ago. The two fragments of this magmatic arc are located within the Bozbutau Mountains and the northern Atbashi Range, and a marginal part of the arc, with mixed volcanic and sedimentary rocks, extends north to the Semizsai metamorphic unit of the southern Chatkal Range. A continental basement of the arc, indicated by predominantly felsic volcanic rocks in Bozbutau and Atbashi, is supported by whole-rock Nd- and Hf-in-zircon isotopic data. epsilon(Nd(t)) of + 0.9 to -2.6 and epsilon(Hf…

Has the East African Orogen Played Any Role in the Formation and Breakup of the Supercontinent Rodinia and the Amalgamation of Gondwana? New Evidence from Field Relationship and Isotopic Data

High-temperature metamorphism and crustal melting at ca. 3.2 Ga in the eastern Kaapvaal craton, southern Africa

Abstract The question of whether high-grade metamorphism and crustal melting in the early Archaean were associated with modern-style plate tectonics is a major issue in unravelling early Earth crustal evolution, and the eastern Kaapvaal craton has featured prominently in this debate. We discuss a major ca. 3.2 Ga tectono-magmatic-metamorphic event in the Ancient Gneiss Complex (AGC) of Swaziland, a multiply deformed medium- to high-grade terrane in the eastern Kaapvaal craton consisting of 3.66–3.20 Ga granitoid gneisses and infolded greenstone remnants, metasedimentary assemblages and mafic dykes. We report on a 3.2 Ga granulite-facies assemblage in a metagabbro of the AGC of central Swazi…

Geochronology and Nd-Sr systematics of Lusatian granitoids: significance for the evolution of the Variscan orogen in east-central Europe

A variety of pre-Variscan granitoids and two Variscan monzogranites occurring in the central and western parts of the Lusatian Granodiorite Complex (LGC), Saxonia were dated by the single zircon evaporation method, complemented by whole rock Nd isotopic data and Rb —Sr whole rock and mineral ages. The virtually undeformed pre-Variscan granitoids constitute a genetically related, mostly peraluminous magmatic suite, ranging in composition from two-mica granodiorite, muscovite-bearing biotite quartz diorite (tonalite) and granodiorite to biotite granodiorite and monozogranite.

Mesoproterozoic (Grenville-age) terranes in the Kyrgyz North Tianshan: Zircon ages and Nd–Hf isotopic constraints on the origin and evolution of basement blocks in the southern Central Asian Orogen

Abstract The North Tianshan orogenic belt in Kyrgyzstan consists predominantly of Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic assemblages and tectonically interlayered older Precambrian crystalline complexes and formed during early Paleozoic accretionary and collisional events. One of the oldest continental fragments of late Mesoproterozoic (Grenvillian) age occurs within the southern part of the Kyrgyz North Tianshan. Using SHRIMP zircon ages, we document two magmatic events at ~ 1.1 and ~ 1.3 Ga. The younger event is characterized by voluminous granitoid magmatism between 1150 and 1050 Ma and is associated with deformation and metamorphism. The older event is documented by ~ 1.3 Ga felsic volcanism…

SHRIMP zircon dating and Nd isotopic systematics of Palaeoproterozoic migmatitic orthogneisses in the Epupa Metamorphic Complex of northwestern Namibia

Abstract The Epupa Metamorphic Complex constitutes the southwestern margin of the Congo Craton and is exposed in a hilly to mountainous terrain of northwestern Namibia, bordering the Kunene River and extending into southern Angola. It consists predominantly of granitoid gneisses which are migmatized over large areas. This migmatization locally led to anatexis and produced crustal-melt granites such as the Otjitanda Granite. We have undertaken reconnaissance geochemical studies and single zircon U–Pb SHRIMP and Pb–Pb evaporation dating of rocks of the Epupa Complex. The granitoid gneisses, migmatites and anatectic melts are similar in composition and constitute a suite of metaluminous to per…

Review of Nd isotopic data and xenocrystic and detrital zircon ages from the pre-Variscan basement in the eastern Bohemian Massif: speculations on palinspastic reconstructions

Accretionary growth and crust formation in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and comparison with the Arabian-Nubian shield

Kroner, A., Windley, B.F., Badarch, G., Tomurtogoo, O., Hegner, E., Jahn, B.M., Gruschka, S., Khain, E.V., Demoux, A., and Wingate, M.T.D., 2007, Accretionary growth and crust formation in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and comparison with the Arabian-Nubian shield, in Hatcher, R.D., Jr., Carlson, M.P., McBride, J.H., and Martinez Catalan, J.R., eds., 4-D Framework of Continental Crust: Geological Society of America Memoir 200, p. 181–209, doi: 10.1130/2007.1200(11). For permission to copy, contact editing@geosociety.org. ©2007 The Geological Society of America. All rights reserved. *Kroner: kroener@mail.uni-mainz.de; Windley: brian.windley@btinternet.com; Tomurtogoo: igmr@magicnet.mn; Heg…

Age, Nd–Hf isotopes, and geochemistry of the Vijayan Complex of eastern and southern Sri Lanka: A Grenville-age magmatic arc of unknown derivation

Abstract The ca. 1.0–1.1 Ga Vijayan Complex (VC) of eastern and southeastern Sri Lanka is one of three high-grade metamorphic terranes making up the basement of the island and is in tectonic contact with the adjacent, older Highland Complex. It consists predominantly of granitoid gneisses ranging in composition from diorite to leucogranite, with a distinct calc-alkaline geochemical signature, and is interpreted as a magmatic arc. Strong ductile deformation has obliterated almost all original intrusive relationships. High-grade metamorphism during the Pan-African event at ca. 610–520 Ma has produced widespread granulite-facies assemblages that are now largely retrogressed and were affected b…

Petrological and Isotopic Studies on Palaeozoic High-pressure Granulites, Gory Sowie Mts, Polish Sudetes

2154·7-1·4 Ma, whereas 19 analyses of grain fractions and single grains of multi-faceted zircons interpreted, from their char- acteristic spherical 'football' shape, as newly crystallized meta-

Age and evolution of late Mesozoic metamorphic core complexes in southern Siberia and northern Mongolia

Numerous Cretaceous metamorphic core complexes (MCCs) extend from Transbaikalia in Russia to northern Mongolia within the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. We investigated the Buteel and Zagan MCCs in detail. Shear sense indicators in mylonitized rocks show footwall-to-the-NW tectonic transport. Single zircon dating of footwall rocks in the Buteel MCC establishes the emplacement of granitoid orthogneiss precursors at 240–211 Ma, a felsic metavolcanic rock at 265.0 ± 1.2 Ma, a syenite at 265.5 ± 1.2 Ma and a metarhyolite of the pre-granitoid basement at 553.6 ± 2.9 Ma. A peralkaline granite intruding orthogneisses of the Zagan MCC has a new U–Pb zircon age of 151.6 ± 0.7 Ma. 40Ar/39Ar ages of 133…

Age, lithology and structural evolution of the c. 3.53 Ga Theespruit Formation in the Tjakastad area, southwestern Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa, with implications for Archaean tectonics

Abstract A field and petrographic re-assessment of rocks from the Theespruit Formation near Tjakastad, southwestern Barberton Greenstone Belt, is combined with new zircon U–Pb ages and whole-rock Sm–Nd isotopic results to reveal several important inconsistencies with a previous thrust-accretion model for this area. It was found that faults previously interpreted as ‘thrusts’ are extensional, ‘thrust slices of basement orthogneiss’ are little deformed quartz-feldspar porphyries or sheared felsic volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks, and ‘sedimentary diamictites’ are felsic agglomerates. These observations, combined with consistent facing directions of bedding, the recognition of distinct stratig…

Single-zircon geochronology and Nd isotopic systematics of Proterozoic high-grade rocks from the Mozambique belt of southern Tanzania (Masasi area): implications for Gondwana assembly

The Mozambique belt of southern Tanzania is underlain by locally restricted 1100–950 Ma (late Kibaran) granitoid gneisses that were derived from remelting of Archaean continental crust, as suggested by Nd isotopic systematics. These rocks were deformed and metamorphosed during an intense Neoproterozoic (Pan-African) event at around 630 Ma together with tectonically interlayered and widespread 800–650 Ma granitoid gneisses and minor clastic metasediments. The 800–650 Ma granitoids were derived predominantly from Neoproterozoic juvenile melts. There is no evidence for pre-800 Ma deformation. The 630 Ma event led to extensive migmatization in all gneisses and caused local melting. Similarities…

Zircon and muscovite ages, geochemistry, and Nd-Hf isotopes for the Aktyuz metamorphic terrane: Evidence for an Early Ordovician collisional belt in the northern Tianshan of Kyrgyzstan

International audience; The Aktyuz metamorphic terrane in the Kyrgyz northern Tianshan consists of granitoid gneisses and migmatites with subordinate paragneisses, greenschists, presumed meta-ophiolites, and garnet amphibolite dykes that contain HP eclogite relicts. The gneisses and migmatites were previously considered to be Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic in age on the basis of α-Pb and U-Pb multigrain zircon dating. Zircons from a post-tectonic granite were previously dated at 692 ± 15 Ma, constraining the time of main deformation and metamorphism in the Aktyuz terrane to the Precambrian. The chemical characteristics of most granitoid samples are consistent with melting of chemically evol…

Palaeozoic arc magmatism in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt of Kazakhstan: SHRIMP zircon ages and whole-rock Nd isotopic systematics

Abstract Early Palaeozoic tonalite to granodiorite intrusions in northern Kazakhstan are associated with lode gold mineralization and have SHRIMP zircon ages of 457.3 ± 6.6 Ma (Aksu), 452.9 ± 5.6 Ma and 447.4 ± 5.4 Ma (both Zholymbet). The Stepnyak intrusion contains large xenoliths with an age of 480.6 ± 5.0 Ma. One early Palaeozoic zircon from a porphyritic diorite at Stepnyak has a core with a near-concordant 207Pb/206Pb age of 3888 ± 1.5 Ma, whereas other xenocrystic grains are between 983 and 2698 Ma old. The early Archaean age is probably inherited from unexposed basement of the Kokchetav Massif and represents the oldest crustal material so far known from the Asian continent. It appea…

Hafnium-Neodymium isotope, trace element and U-Pb zircon age constraints on the petrogenesis of the 3.44–3.46 Ga Dwalile greenstone remnant, Ancient gneiss Complex, Swaziland

Abstract The geodynamic setting of the 3.44–3.46 Ga Dwalile greenstone remnant (DGR) of the Ancient Gneiss Complex (Swaziland) and its relationship to other Greenstone belts of similar age is investigated in this contribution. We present Hf-Nd isotope, major and trace element data for komatiites, komatiitic basalts, basalts, basaltic andesites as well as felsic volcanic and sedimentary rocks, all metamorphosed at amphibolite-facies grade. Major and trace element compositions of metabasalts and metakomatiites indicate crustal contamination. The best-preserved samples yield 176Lu-176Hf and 147Sm-143Nd isochron ages of ca. 3500 and 3460 Ma, respectively, in line with U-Pb zircon ages of interl…

Chronology of the oldest supracrustal sequences in the Palaeoarchaean Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa and Swaziland

Abstract Zircon age data for felsic metavolcanic rocks of the Sandspruit and Theespruit formations, the two oldest supracrustal components in the Palaeoarchaean Barberton Greenstone Belt, show that these two successions are time-equivalent and constitute one single volcanic event at ca. 3530 Ma. The Sandspruit felsic rocks are ubiquitously metasomatized, intensely deformed and intruded by, and tectonically interlayered with, ca. 3450 Ma granitoid sills that are probably part of the Theespruit Pluton. One metasomatized Sandspruit sample contains abundant metamorphic zircons with a weighted mean 207Pb/206Pb age of 3220.1 ± 1.6 Ma, reflecting a widespread metamorphic event in parts of the east…

The Shishkhid ophiolite, northern Mongolia: A key to the reconstruction of a Neoproterozoic island-arc system in central Asia

Abstract The Shishkhid ophiolite is a well-preserved 13 km-thick mafic-ultramafic assemblage which comprises (from bottom to top): mantle tectonites (∼6 km), layered and isotropic gabbro (∼4.5 km), sheeted dykes (up to 0.5 km), a bimodal assemblage of basalt and rhyolite (up to 0.7 km), as well as andesitic pyroclastic rocks (∼2 km). The volcanic rocks are overlain by a 3 km-thick sedimentary sequence showing progressive subsidence of the volcanic edifice after cessation of volcanism. The sedimentary unit is unconformably overlain by Ediacaran-Cambrian platform sediments. SHRIMP U-Pb dating of magmatic zircons from a rhyolite of the lower volcanic unit has yielded a concordant 206 Pb/ 238 U…

Geochemistry, single zircon ages and Sm–Nd systematics of granitoid rocks from theGóry Sowie (Owl Mts), Polish West Sudetes: evidence for earlyarc-related plutonism

Granitoid gneisses as well as their migmatitic and anatectic derivates were investigated from theGory Sowie (Owl Mts) Massif of SW Poland in the central West Sudetes. The gneisses and migmatites aretectonically interlayered with paragneisses, and experienced several consecutive tectono-metamorphicevents. Geochemically, the granitoid gneisses are calc-alkaline and similar to orogenic granite suites, whichtherefore lends support to a subduction-related origin. Single zircon Pb–Pb evaporation ages suggest that the gneiss precursors were emplaced between 473 and488 Ma, and most samples analysed contain zircon xenocrysts with minimum ages between 1124 and2620 Ma. An early phase of high-grade met…

Devonian arc-related magmatism in the Tseel terrane of SW Mongolia: chronological and geochemical evidence

The Tseel terrane in the Gobi Desert of SW Mongolia consists of a composite crustal segment of imbricated sheets of high- and low-grade metamorphic rocks of predominantly middle Palaeozoic age. New sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) zircon ages of 396 ± 3 Ma (2σ) and 397 ± 3 Ma (2σ) for two calc-alkaline metarhyolite samples indicate arc volcanism during the early Devonian. An undeformed feldspar porphyry cross-cutting the early Devonian low-grade sequence yielded an emplacement age of 279 ± 2 Ma (2σ). Geochemical and Nd isotopic data for low-grade mafic metavolcanic rocks are consistent with melting of moderately depleted upper mantle sources in a transitional arc–back-arc s…