Geochemical data and zircon ages for rocks in a high-pressure belt of Chu-Yili Mountains, southern Kazakhstan: Implications for the earliest stages of accretion in Kazakhstan and the Tianshan

Abstract The mechanism and age of Palaeozoic accretion in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt remain poorly constrained. One of the most complex belts extends from the Kokchetav area in northern Kazakhstan to the Kyrgyz northern Tianshan. It represents an assemblage of small blocks with Palaeoproterozoic continental crust, intervening slivers containing early Palaeozoic ophiolites and/or deep-marine sediments, and a number of HP and UHP metamorphic complexes. The HP–LT metamorphic rocks provide important clues for reconstructions of the overall structure and evolution of the accretionary collage. This study is aimed to constrain the metamorphic age and tectonic implications of HP garnet pyroxen…