Middle Cambrian to Permian subduction-related accretionary orogenesis of Northern Xinjiang, NW China: Implications for the tectonic evolution of central Asia

Abstract

Middle-Cambrian to Permian subduction-related records are widely distributed in Northern Xinjiang which can be grouped into the Chinese Altay-East Junggar-Eastern Tien Shan, West Junggar, Yili, and Tarim domains. By integrating paleogeographic and geological data, we suppose that the Chinese Altay-East Junggar-Eastern Tien Shan domain was more closely located to Siberia, while the West Junggar and Yili domains occupied an intermediate position near the Kazakhstan block in the early Paleozoic Paleoasian Ocean. Distribution of Andean-type magmatic arcs, island arcs, accretionary wedges, ophiolitic slices, and/or microcontinents shows an archipelago paleogeography forming a huge accretionary active margin sequences. The Tarim domain was on the opposite side of the early Paleozoic Paleoasian Ocean remaining passive margin. These tectonic units drifted northwards and approached the southern active margin of the Siberian craton in the late Paleozoic, leading to termination of the Paleoasian Ocean and formation of a complicated orogenic collage between Siberian craton and the Tarim block between the end-Permian and Triassic. These multiple accretion processes significantly contributed to the lateral growth of central Asia. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.