Sedimentary provenance supports a mid-paleozoic tectonic connection between the Junggar and Altai terranes in central Asia.

ABSTRACT: The provenance of Precambrian detritus in the Junggar and Altai terranes provides crucial constraints on the peri-Siberian accretionary tectonic evolution in the middle Paleozoic. The Precambrian detrital zircons have no coeval magmatic equivalents in the Junggar terrane but show U-Pb age spectra and ε_Hf(t) values comparable to those in the Altai terrane. The correlations suggest that the old detrital materials in the Junggar and Altai terranes were most likely derived from the Siberia craton and adjacent Tuva-Mongolian microcontinent. Paleozoic zircons in the Junggar terrane display a ε_Hf(t) pattern from large spread to dominantly positive values at ca. 420-410 Ma. Such an abrupt change points to an accretionary tectonic transition from an advancing to retreating mod

SUBMITTER: Li D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11439029 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature