Paleozoic structural and geodynamic evolution of eastern Tianshan (NW China): welding of the Tarim and Junggar plates

to cite the paper EPISODES Volume: 30 Issue: 3 Pages: 162-186 Published: September, 2007International audienceChinese East Tianshan is a key area for understanding the Paleozoic accretion of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt. A first accretion-collision stage, before the Visean, developed the Eo-Tianshan range, which exhibits north-verging structures. The geodynamic evolution included: i) Ordovician-Early Devonian southward subduction of a Central Tianshan ocean beneath a Central Tianshan arc; ii) Devonian oceanic closure and collision between Central Tianshan arc and Yili-North Tianshan block, along the Central Tianshan Suture Zone; iii) Late Devonian-earliest Carboniferous closure of a South Tianshan back-arc basin, and subsequent Central Tianshan-Tarim active margin collision along the South Tianshan Suture Zone. A second stage involved: i) Late Devonian-Carboniferous southward subduction of North Tianshan ocean beneath the Eo-Tianshan active margin (Yili-North Tianshan arc); ii) Late Carboniferous-Early Permian North Tianshan-Junggar collision. The Harlike range, unit of Mongolian Fold Belt, collided with Junggar at Mid- Carboniferous, ending a north-dipping subduction. The last CAOB oceanic suture is likely the North Tianshan Suture Zone, between Yili-North Tianshan and Junggar. During the Permian, all the already welded units suffered from a major wrenching, dextral in Tianshan, sinistral in Mongolian Fold Belt, due to opposite motion of Siberia and Tarim

Geological, geochronological and geochemical features of granulites in the Eastern Tianshan, NW China

This paper reports new results on the petrology, geochronology and geochemistry of two km-scale high-pressure granulite exposures, namely the Weiya and the Yushugou granulites, that occur in the central and southern Tianshan Paleozoic sub-belts, respectively. Petrological and geochemical results suggest that the Weiya and the Yushugou granulites are different in both the rock types and geological structures. The protolith of the Weiya granulite is basic to intermediate rocks, and that of the Yushugou granulite is basic rocks; the former is distributed as fault-bounded blocks within the Precambrian schist-gneiss, and the latter occurs as thrust slabs in the allochthonous ophiolitic mélange. Observation of deformation structures provides some evidence for two-phase ductile deformation of the Tianshan granulites, characterized by deformed garnet-pyroxene and deformed feldspar-quartz microstructures, corresponding to rheological conditions of the lower crustal level and of the middle crustal level, respectively. The deformation structures also indicate that the Weiya granulite was involved in the late stage retrograde metamorphism forming new amphibole, following a thrusting movement toward the north and ductile deformation of feldspar-quartz grains. The Yushugou granulite underwent strong ductile shearing during the Silurian–Devonian interval. Three stages of metamorphism are recorded by mineral assemblages of the Weiya granulite: M1=Pl+Qtz+Bt, M2=Cpx+Grt+Pl+Qtz+Atp±Opx, and M3=Amp+Ep+Pl+Bt+Qtz, in contrast to a two-stage metamorphic history of the Yushugou granulite: M1=Cpx+Grt+Pl±Hyp, M2=Amp+Pl+Qtz±Bt. The P–T condition estimates suggest that the Weiya granulite was formed between 910–1025 °C and 1.08–1.12 GPa, and underwent retrograde metamorphism at 650–670 °C, while the peak metamorphism of the Yushugou granulite took place between 800–870 °C and 0.88–1.13 GPa. Geochemical characteristics (major, REE and incompatible elements) of the Weiya and Yushugou granulites indicate that their protoliths were formed in a volcanic arc setting, implying that a late Precambrian active continental margin may have existed in the study area. The Sm–Nd isochron dating for the Weiya granulite suggests that the peak metamorphism occurred at 538±24 Ma, which was likely related to the ancient plate subduction. The 40Ar/39Ar dating on amphibole grains separated from the Weiya granulite yielded a plateau age of 432±1 Ma for the retrograde metamorphism, which represents an exhumation age, suggesting a significant early Paleozoic tectonothermal event

Primary Carboniferous and Permian paleomagnetic results from the Yili Block (NW China) and their implications on the geodynamic evolution of Chinese Tianshan Belt

International audienceIn order to better understand the tectonic role of the Yili Block on the Paleozoic evolution of the Chinese Tianshan Belt, we performed a primary paleomagnetic study on Carboniferous and Permian rocks from different areas in the Yili Block, NW of China. More than 320 sedimentary and volcanic samples were collected from 39 sites. Except for the Ordovician samples showing a weak and unstable magnetic remanence, the majority of this collection presents characteristic remanent magnetization carried by magnetite and hematite. In the study area, though positive fold test has been observed on the Early Carboniferous rocks, a general remagnetization of these rocks has been identified and attributed to the Late Carboniferous magmatism Moreover, all Early and Late Carboniferous samples from the interior of the Yili Block yield stable and coherent magnetic directions with exhaustively reverse magnetic polarity. The Late Carboniferous (C2) is considered as the magnetic remanence age since these rocks are covered or intruded by synchronous magmatic rocks of the Yili arc, which lasted until to ~310 Ma. The C2 paleomagnetic pole is therefore calculated at 68.6°N, 290.6°E with !95=6.4° and n=15. The Late Carboniferous rocks located close to a deformation zone present a consistentmagnetic inclination but significant different declination with respect to other areas and are suspected to have probably experienced a local rotation. Although no fold test can be performed due to the monoclinal bedding, stable magnetic components are isolated from Late Permian (P2) red beds in the interior of the Yili Block with also a solo reverse magnetic polarity, the P2 paleomagnetic pole of the Yili Block has been, therefore, calculated from the characteristic remanent magnetization: 79.7°N, 172.0°E with !95=11.3° and n=5. Keeping important uncertainties in mind, comparisons of the C2 and P2 paleomagnetic poles of the Yili Block with available coeval poles of Junggar, Tarim and Siberia indicate (1) no significant relative motion between the Yili and Junggar blocks since the Late Carboniferous, (2) no significant or weak latitudinal relative motion occurred since the Late Carboniferous among these blocks, but (3) the 46.2°±15.1° and the 31.6°±15.1° counterclockwise rotations of the Yili-Junggar blocks with respect to Tarim and Siberia took place during C2 to P2. These rotations are accommodated by the Permian dextral strike-slip faults along the northern and southern sides of Tianshan Belt and sinistral strike-slip faulting along the Erqishi Fault of Altay Belt, resulting in about 1000 km and 600 km lateral displacements in the Tianshan and Altay belts, respectively

Palaeozoic tectonic evolution of the Tianshan belt, NW China

International audienceThe Chinese Tianshan belt is a major part of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt, extending westward to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Its Paleozoic tectonic evolution, crucial for understanding the amalgamation of Central Asia, comprises two stages of subduction-collision. The first collisional stage built the Eo-Tianshan Mountains, before a Visean unconformity, in which all structures are verging north. It implied a southward subduction of the Central Tianshan Ocean beneath the Tarim active margin, that induced the Ordovician-Early Devonian Central Tianshan arc, to the south of which the South Tianshan back-arc basin opened. During the Late Devonian, the closure of this ocean led to a collision between Central Tianshan arc and the Kazakhstan-Yili-North Tianshan Block, and subsequently closure of the South Tianhan back-arc basin, producing two suture zones, namely the Central Tianshan and South Tianshan suture zones where ophiolitic mélanges and HP metamorphic rocks were emplaced northward. The second stage included the Late Devonian-Carboniferous southward subduction of North Tianshan Ocean beneath the Eo-Tianshan active margin, underlined by the Yili-North Tianshan arc, leading to the collision between the Kazakhstan-Yili-NTS plate and an inferred Junggar Block at Late Carboniferous-Early Permian time. The North Tianshan Suture Zone underlines likely the last oceanic closure of Central Asia Orogenic Belt; all the oceanic domains were consumed before the Middle Permian. The amalgamated units were affected by a Permian major wrenching, dextral in the Tianshan. The correlation with the Kazakh and Kyrgyz Tianshan is clarified. The Kyrgyz South Tianshan is equivalent to the whole part of Chinese Tianshan (CTS and STS) located to the south of Narat Fault and Main Tianshan Shear Zone; the so-called Middle Tianshan thins out toward the east. The South Tianshan Suture of Kyrgyzstan correlates with the Central Tianshan Suture of Chinese Tianshan. The evolution of this southern domain remains similar from east (Gangou area) to west until the Talas-Ferghana Fault, which reflects the convergence history between the Kazakhstan and Tarim blocks

Accrétions contientales en Asie centro-orientale : évolution géodynamique et structurale du Tianshan et du Junggar oriental (nord-ouest Chine) au Paléozoïque.

M. Jacques CHARVET Professeur Université d'Orléans - PrésidentM. Georges MASCLE Professeur Université de Grenoble - RapporteurM. Patrick MONIE Chargé de Recherche CNRS Montpellier - RapporteurM. François LEFEUVRE Directeur de Recherche CNRS Orléans - ExaminateurM. Liangshu SHU Professeur Université de Nanjing (Chine) - ExaminateurM. Damien DELVAUX Chercheur Musée d'Afrique Centrale Tervuren (Belgique)In eastern central Asia (north Xinjiang), the Paleozoic orogen of Tianshan separates the two blocks of Tarim and Junggar. It is divided into three units: the south Tianshan is composed of gneissic and Silurian ophiolitic nappes; in the central Tianshan, an Ordovician volcanic arc and Silurian flyschs overlay a Proterozoic basement; the north Tianshan is characterised by a Devonian to Carboniferous calc-alkaline volcanism.The structural study of Tianshan and of the eastern border of Junggar provides new information on the chronology and kinematic of deformations which were responsible for the Palaeozoic structuration of this area. Except a pre-Sinian D1 deformation recognised in the Proterozoic substratum of Tianshan, three stages are distinguished. The first one, D2, is north-verging and coeval with the emplacement of the central Tianshan ophiolites of Mishigou and of the south Tianshan ophiolitic nappes of Kumux. The Middle to Late Devonian age of D2 is constrained by the Early Devonian age of ophiolites and the unconformity of Early Carboniferous conglomerates. A Middle to Late Carboniferous deformation D3 is divided into two stages: first, a southward shearing along the boundary between Junggar and Siberian blocks; second, a northward one which occurred in all the north Tianshan unit as folds and thrusts. D3 was coeval with the accretion of the Junggar block with the Tianshan. Finally, a double stage strike-slip deformation D4 dated at 290 and 245 Ma occurred all around the Junggar basin. It was dextral in whole Tianshan and roughly sinistral in Chinese Altay area.In conclusion, the new structural and geochemical data are synthesised in a geodynamic model showing the Cambrian to Permian history of Tianshan and Junggar, marked by the successive accretion of the involved continental blocks and arcs.En Asie centro-orientale (Xinjiang nord), l'orogène paléozoïque du Tianshan sépare les blocs du Tarim et du Junggar. Trois unités y sont distinguées : le Tianshan sud, constitué de nappes gneissiques et ophiolitiques siluriennes ; le Tianshan central, caractérisé par un arc volcanique ordovicien et des flyschs siluriens sur un socle protérozoïque ; le Tianshan nord, représenté par un arc volcanique calco-alcalin dévono-carbonifère.L'étude structurale du Tianshan centro-occidental et de la bordure orientale du Junggar a permis de préciser la chronologie et la cinématique des déformations responsables de la structuration paléozoïque controversée de cette région. A part une phase de déformation anté-sinienne D1 reconnue dans le socle protérozoïque des Tianshan sud et central, trois déformations ont été distinguées. La première, D2, à vergence nord, est considérée comme contemporaine de la mise en place des ophiolites de Mishigou au nord du Tianshan central et des ophiolites de Kumux dans le Tianshan sud. L'âge de D2, compris entre le Dévonien moyen et le Dévonien supérieur, est contraint par les âges (Dévonien inférieur) des mélanges et par la discordance du Carbonifère inférieur. Une déformation D3, d'âge Carbonifère moyen-supérieur, est divisée en deux stades : le premier, à vergence sud, est observée le long de la limite entre le Junggar et le bloc Sibérie ; le second, à vergence nord est responsable du développement de plis et de chevauchements dans l'unité du Tianshan nord. Elle serait contemporaine de l'accrétion du bloc du Junggar avec l'arc du Tianshan nord. Enfin, une phase décrochante D4 a affecté tout le pourtour du bassin du Junggar entre 290 et 245 Ma. Dextre dans tout le Tianshan, elle est globalement senestre dans l'Altay chinois et accommode les rotations relatives des blocs du Junggar, du Tarim et de l'Eurasie. En conclusion, les nouvelles données structurales et géochimiques exposées dans ce travail sont synthétisées dans un modèle géodynamique retraçant l'histoire de cette région de l'Asie entre le Cambrien et le Permien, marquée par l'accrétion successive des blocs continentaux et des arcs impliqués

Late Paleozoic strike-slip shear zones in eastern central Asia (NW China): New structural and geochronological data

International audienceNew structural studies and 40Ar/39Ar dating in northwest China provide information about late Paleozoic strike-slip motions subsequent to accretional events, which built eastern central Asia during the Paleozoic. Two principal areas were affected by these large transcurrent motions. First, in the Tianshan range, main east-west ductile shear zones are dextral and coeval with an eastward decreasing greenschist retrograde metamorphism. Associated biotites give ages ranging from 290 Ma to 245 Ma. The earlier N110 shearing occurred in western Tianshan, while the last one, dextral in whole Tianshan, occurred 250–245 Myr ago. Second, in the Chinese Altay region several NW-SE shear zones structured the area. The main motion is sinistral and occurred along the Erqishi zone at 280–290 Ma. It is followed by a complex succession of dextral and sinistral shearing episodes, leading to the northwestward structuring, dated at 245 Ma, of a metamorphic zone that was folded during a compressive event

Paleozoic Accretion-Collision Events and Kinematics of Ductile Deformation in the Eastern Part of the Southern-Central Tianshan Belt, China

International audienceThe Tianshan range could have been built by both late Early Paleozoic accretion and Late Paleozoic collision events. The late Early Paleozoic Aqqikkudug-Weiya suture is marked by Ordovician ophiolitic mélange and a Silurian flysch sequence, high-pressure metamorphic relics, and mylonitized rocks. The Central Tianshan belt could principally be an Ordovician volcanic arc; whereas the South Tianshan belt, a back-arc basin. Macro- and microstructures, along with unconformities, provide some kinematic and chronological constraints on 2-phase ductile deformation. The earlier ductile deformation occurring at ca. 400 Ma was marked by north-verging ductile shearing, yielding granulite-bearing ophiolitic mélange blocks and garnet-pyroxene-facies ductile deformation, and the later deformation, a dextral strike-slip tectonic process, occurred during the Late Carboniferous(Early Permian. Early Carboniferous molasses were deposited unconformably on pre-Carboniferous metamorphic and ductilely sheared rocks, implying the end of the early orogeny. The large-scale ductile strike-slip along the Aqqikkudug-Weiya zone was possibly caused by the second tectonic event, the Hercynian collision between the northern Tarim block and the southern Siberian block. Late Paleozoic granitic magmatism and superimposed structures overprinted this Early Paleozoic deformation belt. Results of geometric and kinematic studies suggest that the primary framework of the Southern-Central Tianshan belt, at least the eastern part of the Tianshan belt, was built by these two phases of accretion events

Geochemical features of the two Early Paleozoic ophiolitic zones and the volcanic rocks in the central-southern Tianshan region, Xinjiang.

International audienceThis paper deals with the geochemical features of the two Early Paleozoic ophiolite zones in the central-southern Tianshan region and the central Tianshan igneous rock belt between them. Study results suggest that the central Tianshan belt was an Ordovician volcanic arc with an affinity of continental crust, and the Kumux-Hongliuhe ophiolitic zone that is located on the southern margin of central Tianshan has a crustal affinity to back-arc marginal sea. The Aqqikkudug-Weiya ophiolitic zone is an accretionary boundary between the Tuha continental block and the central Tianshan volcanic arc during Late Silurian to Devonian; Ordovician ophiolitic blocks, Silurian flysch sequence and HP metamorphic rock relics are distributed along the Aqqikkudug-Weiya zone. Geochemically, ophiolitic rocks in the Aqqikkudug-Weiya zone have an affinity to oceanic crust, reflecting a tectonic setting of paleo-trench or subduction zone. The Early Carboniferous red molasses were deposited unconformably on the pre-Carboniferous metamorphosed and ductile sheared volcanic and flysch rocks, providing an upper limit age of the central and southern Tianshan belts

Paleozoic late collisional strike-slip deformations in Tianshan and Altay, Eastern Xinjiang, NW China.

In Central Asia, thrusts and shear zones resulting from Palaeozoic accretional events were reworked by E–W-trending ductile strike-slip faults during late Palaeozoic–early Mesozoic time. In the Tianshan range, microstructures and quartz C-axis fabrics show a main dextral shearing associated with sinistral localized shear zones. The relationship between these conjugate structures indicates a NNW–SSE-trending bulk shortening. In the Chinese Altay mountains, the existence of δ-type microstructures in an important sinistral mylonitic zone infers high rates of deformation. This shear zone is bordered by a late dextral ductile fault synchronous with a granite emplacement. Field evidence and datings from the literature provide chronological constraints. In the late Carboniferous, the sinistral mylonitic deformation took place in the Erqishi–Irtysh shear zone in the northeastern part of Xinjiang and in Kazakhstan. During the Early Permian, a regional dextral event occurred in the Tianshan range and under the whole of northern Xinjiang