0000000000077513
AUTHOR
Gombosuren Badarch
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…
Zircon Ages from the Baydrag Block and the Bayankhongor Ophiolite Zone: Time Constraints on Late Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Subduction‐ and Accretion‐Related Magmatism in Central Mongolia
Central Mongolia represents a heterogeneous crustal domain of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and is composed of contrasting lithotectonic units with distinct preorogenic histories. We report single-zircon evaporation and SHRIMP ages for high-grade rocks of the Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic Baydrag block and for metaigneous rocks of the junction between the late Neoproterozoic Bayankhongor ophiolite zone (BOZ) and the Baydrag block. Zircon ages for metamorphic rocks of the Baydrag block indicate a major tectonothermal event between 1840 and 1826 Ma, coeval with the emplacement of granitic rocks at middle-crustal level dated at 1839 Ma. A granite-gneiss yielded a much younger crystallization a…
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–…
Zircon age and occurrence of the Adaatsag ophiolite and Muron shear zone, central Mongolia: constraints on the evolution of the Mongol–Okhotsk ocean, suture and orogen
The Adaatsag ophiolite in eastern Mongolia is situated in the Mongol–Okhotsk suture zone, which extends from central Mongolia through Transbaikalia to the Sea of Okhotsk and separates the Siberian and Amurian (Mongolian) plates. The ophiolite sequence passes upwards from serpentinite melange and serpentinized dunite and harzburgite, through layered gabbro (with leucogabbro pegmatite dykes), wehrlite and clinopyroxenite, to isotropic gabbro and leucogabbro, sheeted mafic dykes, and olivine-rich basaltic lavas, overlain by red chert and meta-clastic sediments. A single-zircon mean 207 Pb/ 206 Pb evaporation age of 325.4 ± 1.1 Ma for a leucogabbro pegmatite dyke records the time of igneous cry…
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…
Tectonic models for accretion of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt
The Central Asian Orogenic Belt ( c . 1000–250 Ma) formed by accretion of island arcs, ophiolites, oceanic islands, seamounts, accretionary wedges, oceanic plateaux and microcontinents in a manner comparable with that of circum-Pacific Mesozoic–Cenozoic accretionary orogens. Palaeomagnetic and palaeofloral data indicate that early accretion (Vendian–Ordovician) took place when Baltica and Siberia were separated by a wide ocean. Island arcs and Precambrian microcontinents accreted to the active margins of the two continents or amalgamated in an oceanic setting (as in Kazakhstan) by roll-back and collision, forming a huge accretionary collage. The Palaeo-Asian Ocean closed in the Permian with…
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…
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…