Post‐Late Paleozoic Collisional Framework of Southern Great Altai

We outline the post-Late Paleozoic (latest Permian to Cenozoic) collisional framework of the southern Great Altai (Central Asia) produced by the convergence between the Tuva-Mongolia and Junggar continental terranes (microplates). The collisional structures in the region classified on the basis of their geometry and deformation style, dynamic metamorphism, and compositions of tectonites are of three main types: (1) mosaic terranes made up of large weakly deformed Paleozoic blocks separated by younger shear zones; (2) contractional deformation systems involving structures formed in post-Late Paleozoic time, parallel faults oriented along collisional deformation systems, and relict lenses of Paleozoic orogenic complexes; and (3) isolated zones of dynamic metamorphism composed mostly of collisional tectonites different in composition and alteration grade.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987113001606

The paper reviews previous and recently obtained geological, stratigraphic and geochronological data on the Russian-Kazakh Altai orogen, which is located in the western Central Asian Orogenic Belt （CAOB）, between the Kazakhstan and Siberian continental blocks. The Russian-Kazakh Altai is a typical Pacific-type orogen, which represents a collage of oceanic, accretionary, fore-arc, island-arc and continental margin terranes of different ages separated by strike-slip faults and thrusts. Evidence for this comes from key indicative rock associations, such as boninite- and turbidite （graywacke）-bearing volcanogenic-sedimentary units, accreted pelagic chert, oceanic islands and plateaus, MORB-OIB-protolith blueschists. The three major tectonic domains of the Russian-Kazakh Altai are： （1） Altai-Mongolian terrane （AMT）; （2） subduction-accretionary （Rudny Altai, Gorny Altai） and collisional （Kalba-Narym） terranes; （3） Kurai, Charysh-Terekta, North-East, Irtysh and Char suture-shear zones （SSZ）. The evolution of this orogen proceeded in five major stages： （i） late Neoproterozoic-early Paleozoic subduction-accretion in the Paleo-Asian Ocean; （ii） Ordovician-Silurian passive margin; （iii） Devonian-Carboniferous active margin and collision of AMT with the Siberian conti- nent; （iv） late Paleozoic closure of the PAO and coeval collisional magmatism; （v） Mesozoic post-collisional deformation and anarogenic magmatism, which created the modern structural collage of the Russian- Kazakh Altai orogen. The major still unsolved problem of Altai geology is origin of the Altai-Mongolian terrane （continental versus active margin）, age of Altai basement, proportion of juvenile and recycled crust and origin of the middle Paleozoic units of the Gorny Altai and Rudny Altai terranes.     

Late Paleozoic faults of the Altai region, Central Asia: tectonic pattern and model of formation

The present kinematic and dynamic analysis of large-scale strike-slip faults, which enabled the formation of a collage of Altai terranes as a result of two collisional events. The Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous collision of the Gondwana-derived Altai-Mongolian terrane and the Siberian continent resulted in the formation of the Charysh–Terekta system of dextral strike-slip faults and later the Kurai and Kuznetsk–Teletsk–Bashkauss sinistral strike-slip faults. The Late Carboniferous–Permian collision of the Siberian and Kazakhstan continents resulted in the formation of the Chara, Irtysh and North-East sinistral strike-slip zones. The age of deformation of both collisional events becomes younger toward the inner areas of the Siberian continent. In the same direction the amount of displacement of strike-slip faulting decreases from several thousand to several hundred kilometers. The width of the Late Paleozoic zone of deformation reaches 1500 km. These events deformed the accretion-collision continental margins and their primary paleogeographic pattern.     

青藏高原南部拉萨地体的变质作用与动力学

拉萨地体位于欧亚板块的最南缘,它在新生代与印度大陆的碰撞形成了青藏高原和喜马拉雅造山带。因此,拉萨地体是揭示青藏高原形成与演化历史的关键之一。拉萨地体中的中、高级变质岩以前被认为是拉萨地体的前寒武纪变质基底。但新近的研究表明,拉萨地体经历了多期和不同类型的变质作用,包括在洋壳俯冲构造体制下发生的新元古代和晚古生代高压变质作用,在陆-陆碰撞环境下发生的早古生代和早中生代中压型变质作用,在洋中脊俯冲过程中发生的晚白垩纪高温/中压变质作用,以及在大陆俯冲带上盘加厚大陆地壳深部发生的两期新生代中压型变质作用。这些变质作用和伴生的岩浆作用表明,拉萨地体经历了从新元古代至新生代的复杂演化过程。(1)北拉萨地体的结晶基底包括新元古代的洋壳岩石,它们很可能是在Rodinia超大陆裂解过程中形成的莫桑比克洋的残余。(2)随着莫桑比克洋的俯冲和东、西冈瓦纳大陆的汇聚,拉萨地体洋壳基底经历了晚新元古代的(～650Ma)的高压变质作用和早古代的(～485Ma)中压型变质作用。这很可能表明北拉萨地体起源于东非造山带的北端。(3)在古特提斯洋向冈瓦纳大陆北缘的俯冲过程中,拉萨地体和羌塘地体经历了中古生代的(～360Ma)岩浆作用。(4)古特提斯洋盆的闭合和南、北拉萨地体的碰撞,导致了晚二叠纪(～260Ma)高压变质带和三叠纪(～220Ma)中压变质带的形成。(5)在新特提斯洋中脊向北的俯冲过程中,拉萨地体经历了晚白垩纪(～90Ma)安第斯型造山作用,形成了高温/中压型变质带和高温的紫苏花岗岩。(6)在早新生代(55～45Ma),印度与欧亚板块的碰撞,导致拉萨地体地壳加厚,形成了中压角闪岩相变质作用和同碰撞岩浆作用。(7)在晚始新世(40～30Ma),随着大陆的继续汇聚,南拉萨地体经历了另一期角闪岩相至麻粒岩相变质作用和深熔作用。拉萨地体的构造演化过程是研究汇聚板块边缘变质作用与动力学的最佳实例。     

The Kedrovyi–Butachikha dynamic metamorphic zone (Rudny Altai): a tectonic model

Structures of dynamic metamorphism have been traditionally studied proceeding from their similarity with faults, according to stratigraphic criteria and with reconstructions of predeformation settings. Using the example of the Kedrovyi–Butachikha shear zone in Rudny Altai, we suggest to distinguish zones with abundant dynamic metamorphic rocks (tectonites) as a special class of structures. Their diagnostic features are (i) dense fault populations, with mostly strike slip geometry of motion and intense mechanic failure and rework of the substrate; (ii) generally coordinated orientations (anisotropy) of structural elements at all hierarchic levels; and (iii) ordered patterns of laminar and turbulent flow. Complexes of tectonites in the Kedrovyi–Butachikha shear zone have been classified into dynamic clastics, tectonic schists, tectonic mixtites, and mechanic metasomatites according to their lithological and structural features. The new classification is used to image the architecture of the dynamic metamorphic zone in a map model which shows the pattern of tectonite complexes with their substrate unevenly reworked by shear-induced metamorphism.     

Metamorphism and tectonic evolution of the Lhasa terrane,Central Tibet

The Lhasa terrane in southern Tibet is composed of Precambrian crystalline basement, Paleozoic to Mesozoic sedimentary strata and Paleozoic to Cenozoic magmatic rocks. This terrane has long been accepted as the last crustal block to be accreted with Eurasia prior to its collision with the northward drifting Indian continent in the Cenozoic. Thus, the Lhasa terrane is the key for revealing the origin and evolutionary history of the Himalayan–Tibetan orogen. Although previous models on the tectonic development of the orogen have much evidence from the Lhasa terrane, the metamorphic history of this terrane was rarely considered. This paper provides an overview of the temporal and spatial characteristics of metamorphism in the Lhasa terrane based mostly on the recent results from our group, and evaluates the geodynamic settings and tectonic significance. The Lhasa terrane experienced multistage metamorphism, including the Neoproterozoic and Late Paleozoic HP metamorphism in the oceanic subduction realm, the Early Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic MP metamorphism in the continent–continent collisional zone, the Late Cretaceous HT/MP metamorphism in the mid-oceanic ridge subduction zone, and two stages of Cenozoic MP metamorphism in the thickened crust above the continental subduction zone. These metamorphic and associated magmatic events reveal that the Lhasa terrane experienced a complex tectonic evolution from the Neoproterozoic to Cenozoic. The main conclusions arising from our synthesis are as follows: (1) The Lhasa block consists of the North and South Lhasa terranes, separated by the Paleo-Tethys Ocean and the subsequent Late Paleozoic suture zone. (2) The crystalline basement of the North Lhasa terrane includes Neoproterozoic oceanic crustal rocks, representing probably the remnants of the Mozambique Ocean derived from the break-up of the Rodinia supercontinent. (3) The oceanic crustal basement of North Lhasa witnessed a Late Cryogenian (~ 650 Ma) HP metamorphism and an Early Paleozoic (~ 485 Ma) MP metamorphism in the subduction realm associated with the closure of the Mozambique Ocean and the final amalgamation of Eastern and Western Gondwana, suggesting that the North Lhasa terrane might have been partly derived from the northern segment of the East African Orogen. (4) The northern margin of Indian continent, including the North and South Lhasa, and Qiangtang terranes, experienced Early Paleozoic magmatism, indicating an Andean-type orogeny that resulted from the subduction of the Proto-Tethys Ocean after the final amalgamation of Gondwana. (5) The Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes witnessed Middle Paleozoic (~ 360 Ma) magmatism, suggesting an Andean-type orogeny derived from the subduction of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean. (6) The closure of Paleo-Tethys Ocean between the North and South Lhasa terranes and subsequent terrane collision resulted in the formation of Late Permian (~ 260 Ma) HP metamorphic belt and Triassic (220 Ma) MP metamorphic belt. (7) The South Lhasa terrane experienced Late Cretaceous (~ 90 Ma) Andean-type orogeny, characterized by the regional HT/MP metamorphism and coeval intrusion of the voluminous Gangdese batholith during the northward subduction of the Neo-Tethyan Ocean. (8) During the Early Cenozoic (55–45 Ma), the continent–continent collisional orogeny has led to the thickened crust of the South Lhasa terrane experiencing MP amphibolite-facies metamorphism and syn-collisional magmatism. (9) Following the continuous continent convergence, the South Lhasa terrane also experienced MP metamorphism during Late Eocene (40–30 Ma). (10) During Mesozoic and Cenozoic, two different stages of paired metamorphic belts were formed in the oceanic or continental subduction zones and the middle and lower crust of the hanging wall of the subduction zone. The tectonic imprints from the Lhasa terrane provide excellent examples for understanding metamorphic processes and geodynamics at convergent plate boundaries.     

Oka ore district of the Eastern Sayan: Geology,structural–metallogenic zonation,genetic types of ore deposits,their geodynamic formation conditions,and outlook for development

As a result of structural–geological and metallogenic studies and taking into account earlier works, it is established that the Oka ore district formed mainly in the Neoproterozoic–Early Paleozoic under conditions of tectonomagmatic reworking of cratonic terranes and allochtonous oceanic (ophiolitic) terranes over them. The reworking was initiated by island-arc, accretionary–collisional, and plume-related igneous complexes, which arose due to opening and subsequent closure of marginal structures pertaining to the Paleoasian Ocean. Active Middle and Late Paleozoic volcanic and plutonic processes gave rise to the redistribution of ore matter and formation of new mineral deposits.     

变形角闪质岩石流动变形及其意义——以辽东古元古宙褶皱带变形斜长角闪岩为例

通过显微和亚微分析揭示出辽东地区3种变形特点的角闪质岩石（片麻状斜长角闪岩、条带状斜长角闪岩和糜棱状斜长角闪岩）具有差异的显微及亚微构造。通过地质温压计计算,3种斜长角闪岩及其原岩的形成与变形温压条件具有从升温升压经降温升压到降温降压的变化规律（片麻状斜长角闪岩：597.0 ℃,0.536 GPa;条带状斜长角闪岩：617.3 ℃,0.455 GPa;糜棱状斜长角闪岩：558.8 ℃,0.514 GPa）。从其趋势和规律,结合显微构造分析,3种岩石是同一期变形不同阶段的产物。在递进变形作用过程中,塑性变形是斜长角闪岩流动和蠕变的主要机制。结合前人的实验变形结果,修正了大陆岩石圈结构模型。     

High-Pressure Tectonites of Yenisei Ridge as a Result of Ductile Shear Fault Deformations in the Suture Zone

The occurrences of high-pressure tectonites localized in the tectonic suture zone of the Cis-Yenisei regional shear zone (CYRSZ) separated the cratonic and oceanic island-arc terranes were distinguished for the first time at the western margin of the Siberian Craton. Tectonites are characterized by high pressures (up to 15 kbar), which exceed significantly the background P–T parameters of regional metamorphism. The generation of tectonic overpressure is induced by rapid deformations along ductile shear zones, which is consistent with the numerical simulation results and thermodynamic calculations. These data confirm the important role of tectonic stress as an effective thermodynamic factor of metamorphic transformations in suture zones of the lithospheric crust.

     

Proterozoic orogens in southern Peninsular India: Contiguities and complexities

The Precambrian terranes of southern Peninsular India have been central to discussions on the history of formation and breakup of supercontinents. Of particular interest are the Proterozoic high grade metamorphic orogens at the southern and eastern margins of the Indian shield, skirting the 3.4 Ga Dharwar craton which not only preserve important records of lower crustal processes and lithospheric geodynamics, but also carry imprints of the tectonic framework related to the assembly of the major Neoproterozoic supercontinents – Rodinia and Gondwana. These Proterozoic orogens are described as Southern Granulite Terrane (SGT) in the southern tip and the Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt (EGMB) in the eastern domains of the peninsula. The contiguity of these orogens is broken for a distance of ∼400 km and disappears in the Bay of Bengal. These orogens expose windows of middle to lower crust with well-preserved rock records displaying multiple tectonothermal events and multiphase exhumation paths.Recent studies in these orogens have led to the recognition of discrete crustal blocks or terranes separated by major shear zone systems, some of which represent collisional sutures. The SGT and EGMB carry several important features such as fold-thrust tectonics, regional granulite facies metamorphism of up to ultrahigh-temperature conditions in some cases, multiple P–T paths, development of lithospheric shear zones, emplacement of ophiolites, presence of alkaline and anorthositic complexes, development of crustal-scale “flower structures”, transpressional strains, and reactivation tectonics. A heterogeneous distribution of different metamorphic and magmatic assemblages with distinct spatial and temporal strain variations in shaping the fabric elements in different blocks is identified. Both EGMB and SGT share a common transpressional deformation history during the latest Neoproterozoic characterized by the steepening of the initial low angle crustal scale structures leading to a subvertical grain conducive to reactivation tectonics. Our synthesis of the spatial distribution, geometry, kinematics and the transpressional strain of the shear zone systems provides insights into the tectono-metamorphic history of the Proterozoic orogens of southern India and their contiguity and complexities. Recent understanding of subduction, accretion and collisional history along these zones together with a long lived transpressional tectonic regime imply that these orogens witnessed identical tectonic regimes at different times in Earth history, although the major and common structural architecture was built during the final assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent.     

构造片麻岩含义及其成因机制

构造片麻岩是地壳深部构造层次上韧性变形带主要的构造岩类型之一,其内保留了大量岩石流变特征的重要信息,在前寒武纪高级变质岩区广泛发育。构造片麻岩是由强烈塑性变形作用、变质作用和部分熔融作用共同作用形成的动力变质构造岩,是一种宏观上具有明显的强塑性流变特征而没有明显粒径减小的构造岩;在露头和手标本上以密集条带状构造和片麻状构造为特征,在微观上为典型三边平衡结构和复晶石英条带构造。熔体存在是控制影响构造片麻岩形成的主要因素之一,主要变形机制为扩散蠕变和颗粒流动,使岩石整体产生巨大应变,而单个矿物晶体不产生变形。构造片麻岩带可以分为3种不同类型：同变质期的层状构造片麻岩带、退变质期的线性构造片麻岩带和网状构造片麻岩带。     

Remnants of a Neoproterozoic Collisional Orogenic Belt in the Core of the Phanerozoic Qinling Orogenic Belt (China)

NW-SE trending paleotectonics are recognized from the WNW-ESE trending Qinling complex in the core of the Qinling belt. They consist of trending stratum, boundary shear zones, deformed linear plutons and ophiolite. The field relationships and ages of the deformation, magmatism and metamorphism suggest that the paleotectonics formed in Neoproterozoic. The ages of deformed and undeformed plutons approximately constrain the peak deformation during 958-889 Ma. Both the two trending tectonics constitute an orogen-scale tectonic replacement by S2 (Phanerozoic WNW-ESE tectonics) of S1 (NNW-SSE trending Neoproterozoic), similar to structural replacement in outcrop. The strong contractional deformation, (high-pressure) metamorphism, and granitic magmatism that evolved from syn-collisional (S-type), to post-collisional (I-type) and to post-collisional (A-type), as well as regional extension at 885-700 Ma in Qinling, display a cycle of a collisional orogeny. Thus, the NW-SE trending paleotectonics could be remnants of a collisional orogenic belt. The belt originally could trend NNW-SSE, if reworking and modification of Paleozoic and/or Mesozoic NNE-SSW contractional deformation are eliminated. Accordingly, assemblage and breakup of some continental blocks occurred in Neoproterozoic in Qinling, which seems to correspond to assemblage and breakup of Rodinia supercontinent in the world. This study provides new insight into the evolution of the Qinling orogenic belt and the reconstruction of Proterozoic supercontinent of China, and also presents a case study of recognition of an old orogen from a young orogen.     

东疆哈尔里克变质地带变质作用特征及形成构造环境研究

本文通过对哈尔里克变质地带的变质岩石学、变质矿物及矿物包裹关系的研究，确定该变质带的形成曾经历了晚古生代中、晚石炭世的高温－低压型的区域热变质作和晚石炭世末期中温－中压型的断裂区域变质作用，且后者叠加改造了前者。前者温度为922℃～780 ℃，后者可划分出四个递增变质带，温压为450℃～670℃和2.3～4.1kb，这一研究反映丁哈尔里克泥盆纪火山岛弧经过了由拉伸作用到碰撞挤压造山引发的A型俯冲作用演变过程，并产生了上述相应的变质现象。     

The eastern boundary of the Baikal collisional belt: Geological,geochronological, and Nd isotopic evidence

New geological. geochronological, and Nd isotopic data are reported for the rocks occurring at the interfluve of the Barguzin, Nomama, and Katera rivers, where the main structural elements of the Early Paleozoic collisional system have been established. The strike-slip and thrust Tompuda-Nomama and Barguzin boundary sutures separate the Svetlaya and the Katera zones of the Baikal-Muya Belt from the Barguzin terrigenous-carbonate terrane. The age estimates of syntectonic (prebatholithic) gneissic granite and gabbrodiorite intrusive bodies (469 ± 4 and 468 ± 8 Ma, respectively) coincide with the age of collisional events in the Ol’khon, Southwest Baikal, and Sayan regions (480–470 Ma). A linear zone with zonal metamorphism and granite-gneiss domes dated at 470 Ma is revealed in the allochthonous fold-nappe packet of the Upper Riphean Barguzin Formation. This zone of Caledonian remobilization marks the collisional front between the Riphean structural units of the Barguzin Terrane consolidated 0.60–0.55 Ga ago and the Baikal-Muya Belt. New data allow us to recognize this zone as the northeastern flank of the Baikal Collisional Belt. The Nd isotopic data for the reference igneous complexes of the collisional zone indicate that the Late Riphean juvenile crust was involved in the Ordovician remobilization in the zone of conjugation of the consolidated Baikalian structural elements at the northeastern flank of the Baikal Belt and likely was a basement of the entire Barguzin Terrane or, at least, its frontal portion. The lateral displacements of the terranes to the northeast during the Early Ordovician collision were constrained by the rigid structural framework of the Baikalides in the Muya segment of the Baikal-Muya Belt, where the Riphean blocks were involved in strike-slip faulting and the Vendian-Cambrian superimposed basin underwent deformation. Finally, it may be concluded that the Early Ordovician was an epoch of collision, complex in kinematics, between heterogeneous blocks of the continental crust: the Baikalides of the Baikal-Muya Belt and polycyclic Barguzin-Vitim Superterrane.     

Using SHRIMP zircon dating to unravel tectonothermal events in arc environments. The early Palaeozoic arc of NW Iberia revisited

Abstract Dating of zircon cores and rims from granulites developed in a shear zone provides insights into the complex relationship between magmatism and metamorphism in the deep roots of arc environments. The granulites belong to the uppermost allochthonous terrane of the NW Iberian Massif, which forms part of a Cambro‐Ordovician magmatic arc developed in the peri‐Gondwanan realm. The obtained zircon ages confirm that voluminous calc‐alkaline magmatism peaked around 500 Ma and was shortly followed by granulite facies metamorphism accompanied by deformation at c. 480 Ma, giving a time framework for crustal heating, regional metamorphism, deformation and partial melting, the main processes that control the tectonothermal evolution of arc systems. Traces of this arc can be discontinuously followed in different massifs throughout the European Variscan Belt, and we propose that the uppermost allochthonous units of the NW Iberian Massif, together with the related terranes in Europe, constitute an independent and coherent terrane that drifted away from northern Gondwana prior to the Variscan collisional orogenesis.     

柴北缘二郎洞地区L 构造岩变形特征及其地质意义

柴北缘二郎洞地区出露包含早古生代岩石组合的达肯大坂岩群,其构造变形期次和变形时代研究接近空白, 本文首次在其中发现了面理微弱, 而拉伸线理十分发育的L 构造岩,对其详细的构造解析对认识柴北缘构造演化具有重要意义。二郎洞达肯大坂岩群存在两期构造变形作用（D₁、D₂）,D₁ 期变形表现为兼具逆冲分量的左旋走滑剪切,D₂ 期变形表现为兼具正断性质的右旋走滑剪切。D₁ 期变形产生LS 构造岩和L 构造岩。其中L 构造岩中矿物拉伸线理的倾伏向约为142°,与柴北缘造山带延伸方向一致,倾伏角一般在2°～54°。对L 构造岩以及侵入其中的未变形次安山岩进行LA-ICP-MS 锆石U-Pb定年,获得它们的结晶时间分别为457 Ma 和406 Ma,L 构造的变形时代可能介于457～406 Ma 之间。根据长石、石英等矿物的变形形式,估计L 构造岩的变形温度在380 ℃～420 ℃之间, 应形成于地下13～14 km 深处。在构造特征分析和岩相学研究的基础上,结合柴北缘早古生代岩浆活动时代构架,我们认为二郎洞地区L 和LS 构造岩的原岩可能是原特提斯洋向北俯冲增生过程中形成的早古生代弧花岗岩,由于柴达木-东昆仑板块和祁连陆块之间的斜向碰撞,导致局部地区出现挤压并沿造山带延伸方向走滑活动。在走滑剪切作用下使地壳流变层中的弧岩浆岩体向地表挤出,局部成分相对均匀的花岗质岩石,因具有较强的岩石力学性能而形成了L构造岩。     

P–T evolution of the Teslin suture zone and Cassiar tectonites, Yukon, Canada: evidence for A- and B-type subduction

Mineral composition and quantitative thermobarometric studies indicate that the Teslin-Taylor Mountain and Nisutlin terranes within the Teslin suture zone (TSZ), Yukon, record widespread high-P/T metamorphic conditions consistent with subduction zone dynamothermal metamorphism. The highest P–T conditions (575–750° C and 9–17 kbar) are preserved in tectonites formed during normal dip-slip ductile shear. Dextral strike-slip tectonites record lower P–T conditions (400–550° C and 5–8 kbar), and tectonites which show reverse shear have peak temperatures of c. 420° C and a minimum peak pressure of 3 kbar. Dynamothermal metamorphism took place in a west-dipping B-type subduction zone outboard of western North America in Permo-Triassic time. TSZ tectonites were underplated against the hangingwall plate of the subduction zone. Following subduction of the ocean basin which separated North America from the hangingwall plate, TSZ tectonites were overthrust eastward as a coherent structural package as a result of A-type subduction of Cassiar strata in early Jurassic time. (Par)autochthonous Cassiar tectonites, which comprised the leading edge of the western North American margin, record prograde moderate-P, high-T metamorphism (550–750° C and 7–13 kbar) synchronous with top-to-the-east ductile shear. Metamorphism occurred as a result of subduction of the North American margin into the TSZ subduction zone in early Jurassic time. Following metamorphism Cassiar tectonites cooled slowly from 500 to 300° C during the period middle Jurassic to middle Cretaceous. TSZ and Cassiar tectonites were deformed during changing P–T conditions. Data from each of these tectonite packages indicate that grain-scale strain partitioning may have allowed local recrystallization of individual minerals by the addition of mechanical energy. The composition of the new grains reflects the P–T conditions under which that particular grain was deformed.     

Are the Chinese Altai “terranes” the result of juxtaposition of different crustal levels during Late Devonian and Permian orogenesis?

The general structure of the Chinese Altai has been traditionally regarded as being formed by five tectono-stratigraphic ‘terranes’ bounded by large-scale faults. However, numerous detrital zircon studies of the Paleozoic volcano-sedimentary sequences shown that the variably metamorphosed Cambro-Ordovician sequence, known as the Habahe Group, is present at least in four ‘terranes’. It structurally represents deepest rocks unconformably covered by Devonian and Carboniferous sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Calc-alkaline, mostly Devonian, granitoids that intruded all the terranes revealed their syn-subduction related setting. Geochemistry and isotope features of the syn-subduction granitoids have shown that they originated mainly from the melting of youthful sediments derived from an eroded Ordovician arc further north. In contrast, Permian alkaline granitoids, mostly located in the southern part of the Chinese Altai, reflect a post-subduction intraplate setting. The metamorphic evolution of the metasedimentary sequences shows an early MP-MT Barrovian event, followed by two Buchan events: LP-HT mid-Devonian (ca. 400–380 Ma) and UHT-HT Permian (ca. 300–270 Ma) cycles. The Barrovian metamorphism is linked to the formation of a regional sub-horizontal possibly Early Devonian fabric and the burial of the Cambro-Ordovician sequence. The Middle Devonian Buchan type event is related to intrusions of the syn-subduction granitoids during an extensional setting and followed by Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous NE-SW trending upright folding and crustal scale doming during a general NW-SE shortening, responsible for the exhumation of the hot lower crust. The last Permian deformation formed NW-SE trending upright folds and vertical zones of deformation related to the extrusion of migmatites, anatectic granitoids and granulite rocks, and to the intrusions of gabbros and granites along the southern border of the Chinese Altai. Finally, the Permo-Triassic cooling and thrust systems affected the whole mountain range from ca. 265 to 230 Ma. In conclusion, the Chinese Altai represents different crustal levels of the lower, middle and upper orogenic crust of a single Cambro-Ordovician accretionary wedge, heterogeneously affected by the Devonian polyphase metamorphism and deformation followed by the Permian tectono-thermal reworking event related to the collision with the Junggar arc. It is the interference of Devonian and Permian upright folding events that formed vertical boundaries surrounding the variously exhumed and eroded crustal segments. Consequently, these crustal segments should not be regarded as individual suspect terranes.     

新疆北部古生代大陆增生构造

古生代亚洲中部是一幅两陆夹一洋、洋中多地体的构造图案，大地构造框架与现代西南太平洋格局十分相似。中亚造山带是晚古生代复杂地体的拼贴带。新疆北部古生代存在4类成因的8个地体构造。它们以裂解陆块地层块体、海山和火山弧的形式散布在中蒙大洋中，诸地体间是一系列的小洋盆。晚古生代，这些地体开始彼此拼贴并导致强烈推覆作用。石炭纪末－二叠纪初，中蒙大洋闭合，散布其中的诸地体分别增生到塔里木大陆北缘和西伯利亚大陆南缘。北天山－准噶尔地区6条蛇绿岩带记录了诸地体间碰撞事件。     

柴北缘鱼卡地区达肯大坂岩群的地质特征与构造环境

柴达木北缘鱼卡河地区的达肯大坂岩群可划分为斜长角闪岩岩组和片岩岩组。斜长角闪岩岩组主要由变质基性火山岩和碎屑岩组成,火山岩的地球化学特征指示为岛弧环境构造;片岩岩组分布在柴达木山西南侧,为一套陆源碎屑岩建造。该岩群遭受了三幕构造变形,前两幕褶皱变形是造山作用的产物,具有近似的北西-南东向或北北西向的褶皱枢纽,近共轴褶皱叠加的构造样式指示了北东-南西向挤压收缩的动力学背景。达肯大坂岩群遭受中压高绿片岩相-角闪岩相的变质,变质程度往北东方向递减,可与其南柴达木盆地一侧的高压-超高压变质带构成双变质带。结合最近从达肯大坂岩群中获得的锆石年龄,推断该岩群形成于大陆边缘的弧后盆地,时代为新元古代晚期-早古生代,是柴北缘早古生代造山带的重要组成部分。