Tectonic evolution of the Proto-Paleo-Tethys in the West Kunlun orogenic belt: Constraints from U-Pb geochronology of detrital zircons

IF 7.2 1区地球科学 Q1 GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY Gondwana Research Pub Date : 2025-02-28 DOI:10.1016/j.gr.2025.02.010

Yang Gao , Lin Jiang , Weiyan Chen , Hongkui Dong , Fujie Jiang , Wen Zhao , Yingqi Feng , Liu Cao , Xuanwei Liu

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Abstract

The West Kunlun piedmont tectonic belt was formed by the collision and accretion of the West Kunlun orogenic belt and the Tarim Craton. Its sedimentary record captures the processes of basin-mountain interactions, making it an excellent region for studying the formation of orogenic belts and the evolutionary history of the Tethys Ocean. Despite extensive research on the geological evolution of the West Kunlun orogenic belt by previous scholars, there remains considerable uncertainty regarding the initiation and termination times of oceanic crust subduction to the eventual closure for both the Proto-Tethys Ocean and the Paleo-Tethys Ocean in this region, as well as the temporal continuity between these two processes. This study obtained 703 detrital zircons with concordant ages from 9 core samples of Devonian to Cretaceous sandstones from 5 wells in the West Kunlun piedmont tectonic belt. Additionally, published detrital zircon data from the surrounding areas of the West Kunlun orogenic belt were collected from other studies for comparative analysis. The results indicate that the provenance of the piedmont tectonic belt during the Permian and Cretaceous periods primarily originated from the adjacent South and North Kunlun terranes. In contrast, during the Jurassic period, the provenance shifted to the Tianshuihai terrane. We infer that this change in sediment source was related to the closure of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean in the Late Triassic. Synthesizing previous research on magmatic rocks in the West Kunlun region, we identified two discontinuous orogenic cycles within the West Kunlun orogenic belt, which span from the Proto-Tethys Ocean to the Paleo-Tethys Ocean: the 560 Ma-380 Ma Proto-Tethys orogenic cycle and the 340 Ma–190 Ma Paleo-Tethys orogenic cycle. There was a distinct hiatus between the two cycles, during which the subdued volcanic activity during a tectonically stable period resulted in a minimal zircon record.

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来源期刊

Gondwana Research 地学-地球科学综合

CiteScore

12.90

自引率

6.60%

发文量

298

审稿时长

65 days

期刊介绍： Gondwana Research (GR) is an International Journal aimed to promote high quality research publications on all topics related to solid Earth, particularly with reference to the origin and evolution of continents, continental assemblies and their resources. GR is an "all earth science" journal with no restrictions on geological time, terrane or theme and covers a wide spectrum of topics in geosciences such as geology, geomorphology, palaeontology, structure, petrology, geochemistry, stable isotopes, geochronology, economic geology, exploration geology, engineering geology, geophysics, and environmental geology among other themes, and provides an appropriate forum to integrate studies from different disciplines and different terrains. In addition to regular articles and thematic issues, the journal invites high profile state-of-the-art reviews on thrust area topics for its column, ''GR FOCUS''. Focus articles include short biographies and photographs of the authors. Short articles (within ten printed pages) for rapid publication reporting important discoveries or innovative models of global interest will be considered under the category ''GR LETTERS''.