Tectonics of the Caucasus and adjoining regions: implications for the evolution of the Tethys ocean

The evolution of Tethys is analysed on the basis of ophiolitic geology, reconstruction of continental margins, and plate kinematics. The North Anatolian-Minor Caucasian-South Caspian ophiolitic belt is considered to be the major suture of Palaeozoic Tethys, dividing its southern carbonate shelf from the Pontian-Caucasian-Turanian active margin. The Caucasian part of the latter comprises the Transcaucasian island arc, the Great Caucasian small ocean basin, the Great Caucasian island arc and the Precaucasian marginal sea, each characterised by its own magmatic, metamorphic and sedimentary facies association typical of that tectonic environments. The North Anatolian branch of Tethys persisted throughout the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic, whereas eastwards the major oceanic tract shifted south into the Zagros zone.The Northern frame of Mesotethys comprises the Pontain-Caucasian and Nakhichevan-Iranian island arc systems, divided by the Minor Caucasian basin, a relict of Palaeotethys reduced to a narrow northern branch of the Mesozoic ocean. In the late Cretacaous-Palaeogene, the youngest southwestern branch of Tethys separated Taurus-Anatolia from the Arabian shelf. Its ‘old’ northern branches were closed in the Palaeogene. Northward subduction in the South Anatolia-Zagros intracontinental basin triggered Neogene calc-alkaline volcanism in the Pontides, Antolia, Caucasus and Iran.     

The Late Cretaceous-Paleogene active margin of Northeastern Asia: Geodynamic setting of terrigenous sedimentary basins in the Central Koryak terrane

The northeastern segment of the Late Cretaceous suprasubduction Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanic belt is not an analogue of Andean-type continental margin. During its formation, the belt was separated from the Paleopacific by a complexly built assembly that comprised the Central Koryak continental block and the Essoveem volcanic arc at its margin. Various types of independent terrigenous sedimentary basins were formed in the Late Cretaceous and Early Paleogene at the subsided portion of the microcontinent and its slope. The Uchkhichkhil-type basin was characterized by deposition of polymictic clastic sediments produced during erosion of the volcanic arc and pyroclastic material derived from active volcanic centers of this arc that extended along the microcontinent margin that faced the Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanic belt. The deposition of quartz-feldspathic flyschoid sequences as products of scouring of sialic basement of the continental block was inherent to the Ukelayat type of sedimentation. The closure of the minor oceanic basin that separated the Asian margin from microcontinent in the late Campanian resulted in the cessation of subduction-related activity of the Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanic belt and the Essoveem arc and initiated the formation of the Late Cretaceous accretionary margin of Asia. The deep structure of the central Koryak Highland deduced from the results of seismic surveying with the earthquake converted-wave method has corroborated the geotectonic interpretation.     

Plate tectonic evolution of the southern margin of Eurasia in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic

Thirteen time interval maps were constructed, which depict the Triassic to Neogene plate tectonic configuration, paleogeography and general lithofacies of the southern margin of Eurasia. The aim of this paper is to provide an outline of the geodynamic evolution and position of the major tectonic elements of the area within a global framework. The Hercynian Orogeny was completed by the collision of Gondwana and Laurussia, whereas the Tethys Ocean formed the embayment between the Eurasian and Gondwanian branches of Pangea. During Late Triassic–Early Jurassic times, several microplates were sutured to the Eurasian margin, closing the Paleotethys Ocean. A Jurassic–Cretaceous north-dipping subduction boundary was developed along this new continental margin south of the Pontides, Transcaucasus and Iranian plates. The subduction zone trench-pulling effect caused rifting, creating the back-arc basin of the Greater Caucasus–proto South Caspian Sea, which achieved its maximum width during the Late Cretaceous. In the western Tethys, separation of Eurasia from Gondwana resulted in the formation of the Ligurian–Penninic–Pieniny–Magura Ocean (Alpine Tethys) as an extension of Middle Atlantic system and a part of the Pangean breakup tectonic system. During Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous times, the Outer Carpathian rift developed. The opening of the western Black Sea occurred by rifting and drifting of the western–central Pontides away from the Moesian and Scythian platforms of Eurasia during the Early Cretaceous–Cenomanian. The latest Cretaceous–Paleogene was the time of the closure of the Ligurian–Pieniny Ocean. Adria–Alcapa terranes continued their northward movement during Eocene–Early Miocene times. Their oblique collision with the North European plate led to the development of the accretionary wedge of the Outer Carpathians and its foreland basin. The formation of the West Carpathian thrusts was completed by the Miocene. The thrust front was still propagating eastwards in the eastern Carpathians.During the Late Cretaceous, the Lesser Caucasus, Sanandaj–Sirjan and Makran plates were sutured to the Iranian–Afghanistan plates in the Caucasus–Caspian Sea area. A north-dipping subduction zone jumped during Paleogene to the Scythian–Turan Platform. The Shatski terrane moved northward, closing the Greater Caucasus Basin and opening the eastern Black Sea. The South Caspian underwent reorganization during Oligocene–Neogene times. The southwestern part of the South Caspian Basin was reopened, while the northwestern part was gradually reduced in size. The collision of India and the Lut plate with Eurasia caused the deformation of Central Asia and created a system of NW–SE wrench faults. The remnants of Jurassic–Cretaceous back-arc systems, oceanic and attenuated crust, as well as Tertiary oceanic and attenuated crust were locked between adjacent continental plates and orogenic systems.     

The origin of the Woyla Terranes in Sumatra and the Late Mesozoic evolution of the Sundaland margin

The Jurassic–Cretaceous Woyla Group of northern Sumatra includes fragments of volcanic arcs and an imbricated oceanic assemblage. The arc rocks are intruded by a granitic batholith and are separated from the original continental margin of Sundaland by the oceanic assemblage. Rocks of the arc assemblage are considered to be underlain by a continental basement because of the occurrence of the intrusive granite and of tin anomalies identified in stream sediments. Quartzose sediments associated with the granite have been correlated with units in the Palaeozoic basement of Sumatra. From these relationships a model has been proposed in which a continental sliver was separated from the margin of Sundaland in the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous in an extensional strike-slip faulting regime, producing a short-lived marginal basin. The separated continental fragments have been designated the Sikuleh and Natal microcontinents. In the mid-Cretaceous the extensional regime was succeeded by compression, crushing the continental fragments back against the Sundaland margin, with the destruction of the marginal basin, now represented only by the imbricated oceanic assemblage. Modifications of this scenario are required by subsequent studies. Age-dating of the volcanic assemblage and intrusive granites in the Natal area showed that they formed part of an Eocene–Oligocene volcanic arc and are not relevant to the model. Thick-bedded radiolarian chert and palaeontological studies in the oceanic Woyla Group rocks of the Natal and Padang areas showed that they formed part of a more extensive and long-lived ocean basin which lasted from at least Triassic until mid-Cretaceous. This raised the possibility that the Sikuleh microcontinent might be allochthonous to Sumatra and encouraged plate tectonic reconstructions in which the Sikuleh microcontinent originated on the northern margin of Gondwanaland and migrated northwards across Tethys before colliding with Sundaland. Since these models were proposed, the whole of Sumatra has been mapped and units correlated with the Woyla Group have been recognised throughout western Sumatra. These units are reviewed and the validity of their correlation with the Woyla Group of northern Sumatra is assessed. From this review a revised synthesis for the Late Mesozoic tectonic evolution of the southwestern margin of Sundaland is proposed.     

Late Cretaceous-Eocene marginal seas in the Black Sea-Caspian region: Paleotectonic reconstructions

A series of seven reconstructions is presented to illustrate the evolution of marginal seas in the Black Sea-South Caspian segment of the margin of the Tethys Ocean from the Late Jurassic to the middle Eocene. After Middle Jurassic inversion and until the Aptian Age, no marginal (backarc) basins were formed in the region, while the Pontides-Rhodope margin developed in the passive regime. The retained relict of the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic backarc basin includes the southeastern part of the Greater Caucasus, the northern part of the South Caspian Basin, and the shallow-water Kopetdagh Basin. The basins of the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus, Balkans (Nish-Trojan Trough), and Dobrogea developed as flexural foredeeps in front of the Middle Jurassic fold systems. The next, Aptian-Turonian epoch of opening of marginal seas was related to the origination of subduction zones at the Pontides-Rhodope margin and to the incipient consumption of the Vardar Basin lithosphere with formation of the West Black Sea Basin and its western continuation in the Bulgarian Srednogorie. The backarc rifting in the Greater Caucasus resulted in transformation of the foredeep into the backarc basin. Two basins approximately 2000 km in total extent were separated by the bridge formed by the Shatsky and Andrusov rises. The last, late Paleocene-middle Eocene epoch of the formation of backarc basins was associated with the newly formed subduction zone south of the Menderes-Taurus Terrane that collided with the active margin in the early Paleocene. The Greater Caucasus Basin widened and deepened, while to its south the East Black Sea Basin, the grabens in the Kura Depression, and the Talysh Basin, all being separated by a chain of uplifts, opened. The Paleogene South Caspian Basin opened in the course of the southward motion of the Alborz volcanic arc at the late stage of closure of the Iranian inner seas.     

Geotectonic evolution of the Western Cordillera of Colombia: New aspects from geochemical data on volcanic rocks

The Western Cordillera of Colombia (WCC) is part of the Basic Igneous Complex (BIC), which is one of the world's largest ophiolitic complexes, extending from Costa Rica through Panama and Colombia to Ecuador. Major and trace element data on 32 volcanic rocks from the central and northern parts of the Western Cordillera are presented; no data have been available to date for volcanic rocks from the northern parts of the Western Cordillera. Petrographical and geochemical investigations show that the rocks are altered and have undergone low-grade metamorphism. The subalkaline rocks are represented by tholeiitic basalts, calc-alkaline basic andesites, andesites, and one dacite. It is concluded that a mature oceanic island arc existed in the Cretaceous, in what is now the northern part of the Western Cordillera. The tectonics of the region, particularly the intensive imbrication of the chain, indicates the presence of a paleo-subduction zone with an oceanic island arc that accreted on the old continental margin. These new data, combined with new and previous data from the central part of the BIC of Colombia, suggest that volcanic rocks of the Western Cordillera can be interpreted as allochthonous slabs. These slabs were imbricated with back-arc and fore-arc sediments and tonalitic bodies during the closing of a back-arc basin in northwestern South America and accretion of an oceanic island arc. Oblique subduction accreted these different areas to the continental margin during Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary times. Two plate-tectonic models are proposed: a) development of the calc-alkaline volcanic rocks in the northern parts of the Western Cordillera, separated by tholeiitic rocks, formed along a transform fault represented by the tholeiitic basalts of the central and southern parts of the Western Cordillera; or b) development of an oceanic island arc along the Cretaceous continental margin of northwestern South America. In the central and southern parts of this island arc, accretion took place early and therefore only an island-arc tholeiitic suite was formed.     

Linking the NE Anatolian and Lesser Caucasus ophiolites: evidence for large-scale obduction of oceanic crust and implications for the formation of the Lesser Caucasus-Pontides Arc

In the Lesser Caucasus and NE Anatolia, three domains are distinguished from south to north: (1) Gondwanian-derived continental terranes represented by the South Armenian Block (SAB) and the Tauride–Anatolide Platform (TAP), (2) scattered outcrops of Mesozoic ophiolites, obducted during the Upper Cretaceous times, marking the northern Neotethys suture, and (3) the Eurasian plate, represented by the Eastern Pontides and the Somkheto-Karabagh Arc. At several locations along the northern Neotethyan suture, slivers of preserved unmetamorphozed relics of now-disappeared Northern Neotethys oceanic domain (ophiolite bodies) are obducted over the northern edge of the passive SAB and TAP margins to the south. There is evidence for thrusting of the suture zone ophiolites towards the north; however, we ascribe this to retro-thrusting and accretion onto the active Eurasian margin during the latter stages of obduction. Geodynamic reconstructions of the Lesser Caucasus feature two north dipping subduction zones: (1) one under the Eurasian margin and (2) farther south, an intra-oceanic subduction leading to ophiolite emplacement above the northern margin of SAB. We extend our model for the Lesser Caucasus to NE Anatolia by proposing that the ophiolites of these zones originate from the same oceanic domain, emplaced during a common obduction event. This would correspond to the obduction of non-metamorphic oceanic domain along a lateral distance of more than 500?km and overthrust up to 80?km of passive continental margin. We infer that the missing volcanic arc, formed above the intra-oceanic subduction, was dragged under the obducting ophiolite through scaling by faulting and tectonic erosion. In this scenario part of the blueschists of Stepanavan, the garnet amphibolites of Amasia and the metamorphic arc complex of Erzincan correspond to this missing volcanic arc. Distal outcrops of this exceptional object were preserved from latter collision, concentrated along the suture zones.     

Tectonic evolution of the southern margin of Laurasia in the Black Sea region

The Black Sea region comprises Gondwana-derived continental blocks and oceanic subduction complexes accreted to Laurasia. The core of Laurasia is made up of an Archaean–Palaeoproterozoic shield, whereas the Gondwana-derived blocks are characterized by a Neoproterozoic basement. In the early Palaeozoic, a Pontide terrane collided and amalgamated to the core of Laurasia, as part of the Avalonia–Laurasia collision. From the Silurian to Carboniferous, the southern margin of Laurasia was a passive margin. In the late Carboniferous, a magmatic arc, represented by part of the Pontides and the Caucasus, collided with this passive margin with the Carboniferous eclogites marking the zone of collision. This Variscan orogeny was followed by uplift and erosion during the Permian and subsequently by Early Triassic rifting. Northward subduction under Laurussia during the Late Triassic resulted in the accretion of an oceanic plateau, whose remnants are preserved in the Pontides and include Upper Triassic eclogites. The Cimmeride orogeny ended in the Early Jurassic, and in the Middle Jurassic the subduction jumped south of the accreted complexes, and a magmatic arc was established along the southern margin of Laurasia. There is little evidence for subduction during the latest Jurassic–Early Cretaceous in the eastern part of the Black Sea region, which was an area of carbonate sedimentation. In contrast, in the Balkans there was continental collision during this period. Subduction erosion in the Early Cretaceous removed a large crustal slice south of the Jurassic magmatic arc. Subduction in the second half of the Early Cretaceous is evidenced by eclogites and blueschists in the Central Pontides and by a now buried magmatic arc. A continuous extensional arc was established only in the Late Cretaceous, coeval with the opening of the Black Sea as a back-arc basin.     

藏南古近纪甲查拉组物源分析及其对印度-欧亚大陆碰撞启动时间的约束

位于特提斯喜马拉雅北亚带的江孜地区古近纪甲查拉组角度不整合于晚白垩世宗卓组之上,系该地区最高(时代最晚)海相地层。运用岩石学和地球化学方法对其进行分析研究结果表明该组物源区主要为近源再旋回造山带,岩屑的母岩类型主要是岩浆弧成因的中性、中酸性安山质火山岩。新生代以前,特提斯喜马拉雅属于印度板块的被动大陆边缘,从特提斯喜马拉雅南亚带向北亚带显示了一种从浅水陆棚到深水盆地的变化,在侏罗-白垩纪时其陆源碎屑物主要是成熟度极高的石英砂岩,所以甲查拉组的碎屑物质只能来源于当时的冈底斯弧地区,所获有限的古水流证据也指示了这一点。从欧亚大陆侵蚀下来的碎屑物质被带到原印度大陆地区沉积,暗示该区的特提斯洋壳已经完全消失,印度与欧亚大陆在特提斯喜马拉雅中、东部产生了初始的陆-陆碰撞,其碰撞的启动时间为甲查拉组开始沉积的65 M a±。     

A synthesis of the geologic evolution of Taiwan

The island arc of Taiwan is composed of Cenozoic geosynclinal sediments more than 10,000 m thick, lying on a pre-Tertiary metamorphic basement. Pleistocene to Miocene andesitic islands surround the main island and are related mostly to arc magmatism. The Penghu Island Group in the Taiwan Strait is covered with Pleistocene flood basalt. Neogene shallow marine clastic sediments are exposed mainly in the western foothills with Pleistocene andesitic extrusives at the northern tip and the northeastern offshore islands. A thick sequence of Paleogene to Miocene argillitic to slaty metaclastic rocks underlies the western Central Range and forms the immediate sedimentary cover on the pre-Tertiary metamorphic complex to the east, which represents an older Mesozoic arc-trench system. The Coastal Range in eastern Taiwan is a Neogene andesitic magmatic arc, including also a large variety of volcaniclastic and turbiditic sediments. Cenozoic Taiwan is the site of arc-continent collision where the Luzon arc on the Philippine Sea plate overrides the Chinese continental margin on the Eurasian plate. East and northeast of Taiwan, the polarity of subduction changes whereby the oceanic Philippine Sea plate is subducting beneath the Ryukyu arc system on the Eurasian plate. Continent-arc collision in Taiwan island is anomalous and may occur in a broad belt of deformation rather than along a well-defined plate boundary or subduction zone.     

Mid–Cretaceous Episodic Magmatism and Tin Mineralization in Khingan-Okhotsk Volcano–Plutonic Belt, Far East Russia

Abstract: Age of magmatism and tin mineralization in the Khingan‐Okhotsk volcano–plutonic belt, including the Khingan, Badzhal and Komsomolsk tin fields, were reviewed in terms of tectonic history of the continental margin of East Asia. This belt consists mainly of felsic volcanic rocks and granitoids of the reduced type, being free of remarkable geomagnetic anomaly, in contrast with the northern Sikhote‐Alin volcano–plutonic belt dominated by oxidized‐type rocks and gold mineralization. The northern end of the Khingan‐Okhotsk belt near the Sea of Okhotsk, accompanied by positive geomagnetic anomalies, may have been overprinted by magmatism of the Sikhote‐Alin belt. Tin–associated magmatism in the Khingan‐Okhotsk belt extending over 400 km occurred episodically in a short period (9510 Ma) in the middle Cretaceous time, which is coeval with the accretion of the Kiselevka‐Manoma complex, the youngest accretionary wedge in the eastern margin of the Khingan‐Okhotsk accretionary terranes. The episodic magmatism is in contrast with the Cretaceous‐Paleogene long–lasted magmatism in Sikhote–Alin, indicating the two belts are essentially different arcs, rather than juxtaposed arcs derived from a single arc. The tin‐associated magmatism may have been caused by the subduction of a young and hot back‐arc basin, which is inferred from oceanic plate stratigraphy of the coeval accre‐tionary complex and its heavy mineral assemblage of immature volcanic arc provenance. The subduction of the young basin may have resulted in dominance of the reduced‐type felsic magmas due to incorporation of carbonaceous sediments within the accretionary complex near the trench. Subsequently, the back‐arc basin may have been closed by the oblique collision of the accretionary terranes in Sikhote–Alin, which was subjected to the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene magmatism related to another younger subduction system. These processes could have proceeded under transpressional tectonic regime due to oblique subduction of the paleo‐Pacific plates under Eurasian continent.     

Reconstruction of the Sakhalin marginal paleobasin by geological and petrochemical data

The structural and compositional volcanosedimentary complexes and igneous rocks of the Sakhalin marginal paleobasin as well as the geodynamic setting were described. The Sakhalin marginal paleobasin was formed in Sakhalin Island and the adjacent water areas at the end of the Early Cretaceous-start of the Late Cretaceous. The paleobasin was a part of the Kula Plate separated from the ocean along with spreading zones and oceanic volcanic islands by the Sea of Okhotsk microcontinent and the Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Sheltinga volcanic island arc. The petrochemical features and geodynamic setting of the igneous rock formation testify to the fact that magma-generating tectonomagmatic structures of the epioceanic Sakhalin marginal paleobasin continued functioning after its isolation under intensive terrigenous sedimentation. The Sakhalin marginal paleobasin had a heterogeneous basement composed of oceanic and continental crust blocks of the Earth. The paleobasin completed its development in the Paleogene.     

右江盆地晚古生代-三叠纪盆地转换及其构造意义

右江盆地是在南华加里东造山带夷平的基础上经再次裂陷形成的,它的形成与金沙江—红河—马江洋盆关系密切,是该洋盆与扬子板块之间的大陆边缘盆地。早泥盆世晚期—石炭纪随着金沙江—红河—马江洋盆的形成,扬子板块南部边缘开始裂陷,形成特殊的台地与台间海槽相间的大陆边缘裂谷盆地。二叠纪—早三叠世初期随着该洋盆的俯冲消减,形成越北岛弧,右江盆地进入弧后(裂陷)盆地阶段。早三叠世晚期以后,随着该洋盆的闭合和碰撞造山,在红河—马江造山带与扬子板块之间形成以复理石为特征的弧后前陆盆地。因此右江盆地经历了大陆边缘裂谷盆地(早泥盆世晚期—石炭纪)、弧后盆地(二叠纪—早三叠世早期)、弧后前陆盆地(早三叠世晚期—中三叠世)的构造演化阶段。     

中、上扬子北部盆-山系统演化与动力学机制

中国南方中生代经历了中国大陆最终主体拼合的陆缘及其之后的陆内构造演化。晚古生代末期,在秦岭—大别山微板块与扬子板块之间存在向西张口的洋盆,即勉略古洋盆。中三叠世末期开始,扬子板块相对于华北板块发生自南东向北西的斜向俯冲碰撞作用,扬子北缘晚三叠世至中侏罗世发育陆缘前陆褶皱逆冲带与前陆盆地系统。晚侏罗世至早白垩世,中国东部的大地构造背景发生了重要的构造转变,中、上扬子地区处于三面围限会聚的大地构造背景。在这种大地构造格局下,中、上扬子地区晚侏罗世至早白垩世发育陆内联合、复合构造与具前渊沉降的克拉通内盆地系统。自中侏罗世末期开始,扬子北缘前陆带与雪峰山—幕阜山褶皱逆冲带经历了自东向西的会聚变形过程及盆地的自东向西的迁移过程和收缩过程。扬子北缘相对华北板块的斜向俯冲导致在中扬子北缘的深俯冲及超高压变质岩的形成。俯冲之后以郯庐断裂—襄广断裂围限的大别山超高压变质地块在晚侏罗世向南强逆冲,致使扬子北缘晚三叠世至中侏罗世前陆盆地被掩覆和改造。     

Geologic evolution of Bulgaria in light of plate tectonics

The Balkanide is a mobile belt within a micro-continent, which included both the Moesian Platform and Rhodope Massif. This micro-continent was rotated counter-clockwise during the Jurassic mainly in response to the sea-floor spreading of the Vardar ophiolite trough. The rotation led to the consumption of Triassic Tethys along the Dobrogea—Crimea—Caucasus Trend, producing the Cimmerian orogenic belt. Cretaceous rotation of the Italo-Dinaridian micro-continent led to the consumption of the Vardar ophiolites. An island arc (Macedonia—Rhodope—North Anatolia) was present at the consuming plate margin. Middle and Late Cretaceous marginal basins behind this arc included the Srednogorie and the Black Sea. Submarine volcanics, radiolarian cherts, and hemipelagic marls were deposited in the Srednogorie “eugeosyncline”. This sequence was folded during the early Tertiary Alpine orogeny, when the front of the Rhodope Massif was overthrust onto the Balkanides. The Black Sea meanwhile remained undeformed and can thus be considered a fossilized Cretaceous marginal basin.     

Cretaceous tectonic evolution of the Neo-Tethys in Central Iran:Evidence from petrology and age of the Nain-Ashin ophiolitic basalts

The Nain and Ashin ophiolites consist of Mesozoic melange units that were emplaced in the Late Cretaceous onto the continental basement of the Central-East Iran microcontinent(CEIM).They largely consist of serpentinized peridotites slices;nonetheless,minor tectonic slices of sheeted dykes and pillow lavas-locally stratigraphically associated with radiolarian cherts-can be found in these ophiolitic melanges.Based on their whole rock geochemistry and mineral chemistry,these rocks can be divided into two geochemical groups.The sheeted dykes and most of the pillow lavas show island arc tholeiitic(IAT)affinity,whereas a few pillow lavas from the Nain ophiolites show calc-alkaline(CA)affinity.Petrogenetic modeling based on trace elements composition indicates that both IAT and CA rocks derived from partial melting of depleted mantle sources that underwent enrichment in subduction-derived components prior to melting.Petrogenetic modeling shows that these components were represented by pure aqueous fluids,or sediment melts,or a combination of both,suggesting that the studied rocks were formed in an arc-forearc tectonic setting.Our new biostratigraphic data indicate this arc-forearc setting was active in the Early Cretaceous.Previous tectonic interpretations suggested that the Nain ophiolites formed,in a Late Cretaceous backarc basin located in the south of the CEIM(the so-called Nain-Baft basin).However,recent studies showed that the CEIM underwent a counter-clockwise rotation in the Cenozoic,which displaced the Nain and Ashin ophiolites in their present day position from an original northeastward location.This evidence combined with our new data and a comparison of the chemical features of volcanic rocks from different ophiolites around the CEIM allow us to suggest that the Nain-Ashin volcanic rocks and dykes were formed in a volcanic arc that developed on the northern margin of the CEIM during the Early Cretaceous in association with the subduction,below the CEIM,of a Neo-Tethys oceanic branch that was existing between the CEIM and the southern margin of Eurasia.As a major conclusion of this paper,a new geodynamic model for the Cretaceous evolution of the CEIM and surrounding Neo-Tethyan oceanic basins is proposed.     

Tectonic Framework and Evolution of the Dabie Mountains in Anhui, Eastern China

The Dabie Mountains are believed to be a collisional orogenic belt between the Yangtze amd Sino-Koreancontinental plates. It is composed of the foreland fold-thrust zone, the subducting cover and basement of theYangtze continental plate, the coesite- and diamond-bearing ultra-high pressure metamorphic zone and themeta-ophiolitic melange zone in the subducting basement, the fore-arc flysch nappe and the back thrust zoneoccurring respectively on the southern and northern margins of the Sino-Korean continental plate and the in-herited basin with molassic deposits on the northern margin. When the palaeo-Dabie oceanic plate subductednorthward in the Early Palaeozoic, volcanic arc and back arc basin probably formed on the southern margin ofthe Sino-Korean continental plate. The Sm / Nd isotopic dating of the strata and eclogite which were drawn in-to the foreland fold-thrust zone indicates that the intense collision of the two continental plates took place inthe Early Mesozoic.     

东天山大南湖岛弧带石炭纪岩石地层与构造演化

详细的地质解剖工作表明,东天山地区大南湖岛弧带石炭纪出露4套岩石地层组合,即早石炭世小热泉子组火山岩、晚石炭世底坎儿组碎屑岩和碳酸盐岩、晚石炭世企鹅山组火山岩、晚石炭世脐山组碎屑岩夹碳酸盐岩。根据其岩石组合、岩石地球化学、生物化石、同位素资料以及彼此的产出关系,认为这4套岩石地层组合的沉积环境分别为岛弧、残余海盆、岛弧和弧后盆地。结合区域资料重塑了大南湖岛弧带晚古生代的构造格架及演化模式。早、晚石炭世的4套岩石地层组合并置体现了东天山的复杂增生过程。     

南海北部陆缘地壳结构特征及其构造过程

根据“北部湾大陆缘地壳结构ＰＳ转换波测深”等地球物理测量结果,本文研究了南海北部陆缘的地壳结构特征,讨论了其白垩纪以来的构造过程。地球物理测量表明,由陆向海,南海北部陆缘地壳由陆壳、过渡壳变为洋壳,厚度由３４ｋｍ减薄至８ｋｍ左右。垂向上地壳为３层结构模式。陆壳、过渡壳和洋壳的下地壳Ｐ波速度普遍较高。地壳伸展系数的计算表明南海北部陆缘伸展主要发育于陆坡地区。结合区域地质研究,本文认为：南海北部陆缘及     

Evolution of Cambrian and Early Ordovician arcs in the Kyrgyz North Tianshan: Insights from U-Pb zircon ages and geochemical data

Geochronological, geochemical, and structural studies of magmatic and metamorphic complexes within the Kyrgyz North Tianshan (NTS) revealed an extensive area of early Palaeozoic magmatism with an age range of 540–475 Ma. During the first episode at 540–510 Ma, magmatism likely occurred in an intraplate setting within the NTS microcontinent and in an oceanic arc setting within the Kyrgyz-Terskey zone in the south. During the second episode at 500–475 Ma, the entire NTS represented an arc system. These two phases of magmatism were separated by an episode of accretionary tectonics of uncertain nature, which led to obduction of ophiolites from the Kyrgyz-Terskey zone onto the microcontinent. The occurrence of zircon xenocrysts and predominantly negative whole-rock ɛ_Nd(t) values and ɛ_Hf(t) values of magmatic zircons suggest a continental setting and melting of Precambrian continental sources with minor contributions of Palaeozoic juvenile melts in the generation of the magmatic rocks. The late Cambrian to Early Ordovician 500–475 Ma arc evolved mainly on Mesoproterozoic continental crust in the north and partly on oceanic crust in the south. Arc magmatism was accompanied by spreading in a back-arc basin in the south, where supra-subduction ophiolitic gabbros yielded ages of 496 to 479 Ma. The relative position of the arc and active back-arc basin implies that the subduction zone was located north of the arc, dipping to the south. Variably intense metamorphism and deformation in the NTS reflect an Early Ordovician orogenic event at 480–475 Ma, resulting from closure of the Djalair-Naiman ophiolite trough and collision of the Djel'tau microcontinent with the northern margin of NTS. Comparison of geological patterns and episodes of arc magmatism in the NTS and Chinese Central Tianshan indicate that these crustal units constituted a single early Palaeozoic arc and were separated from the Tarim Craton by an oceanic basin since the Neoproterozoic.