Certain laws governing development of mobile belt in central and mountainous Asia

The tectonic evolution of a large, complex, mobile region in Central and mountainous Asia is summarized and documented from early Paleozoic to Middle Tertiary. Four basic stages are recognized: the epi-Proterozoic platform, the geosyncline, the young platform, and the activated platform. Generally, the timing coincides with late Precambrian, middle-late Paleozoic, middle-late Mesozoic, and Cenozoic, respectively. Each of these stages started and finished at different times in different parts of the composite mobile belt. The sedimentary, volcanic, and orogenic record is summarized and interrelated in the northern Tien-Shan, Central Tien-Shan, southern Tien-Shan, Kun-Lun and northern Pamir, southern Pamir and Karakorum, and Himalayan provinces. — L.T. Grose.