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Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier’s archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights Author's personal copy Earth-Science Reviews 133 (2014) 62–93 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Earth-Science Reviews journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/earscirev Zircon dating of Neoproterozoic and Cambrian ophiolites in West Mongolia and implications for the timing of orogenic processes in the central part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt Ping Jian a,⁎, Alfred Kröner b,Bor-mingJahnc,BrianF.Windleyd, Yuruo Shi a, Wei Zhang a, Fuqin Zhang e, Laicheng Miao e,DondovTomurhuuf,DunyiLiua a SHRIMP Center, Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Baiwanzhuang Road 26, Beijing 100037, China b Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Mainz, D-55099 Mainz, Germany c Department of Geosciences, National Taiwan University, P.O. Box 13-318, Taipei 106, Taiwan d Department of Geology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK e Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China f Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar 210351, Mongolia article info abstract Article history: We present new isotopic and trace element data to review the geochronological/geochemical/geological Received 5 September 2012 evolution of the central part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), and find a fundamental geological Accepted 27 February 2014 problem in West Mongolia, which has traditionally been subdivided into northwestern early Paleozoic Available online 6 March 2014 (formerly Caledonian) and southerly late Paleozoic (formerly Hercynian) belts by the Main Mongolian Lineament (MML). We resolve this problem with SHRIMP zircon dating of ophiolites and re-evaluation Keywords: – Ophiolite of much published literature. In Northwest Mongolia the Dariv Khantaishir ophiolite marks the boundary – Subduction initiation between the Lake arc in the west and the Dzabkhan Baydrag microcontinent in the east. Zircons from a 206 238 Arc–microcontinent collision microgabbro and four plagiogranites yielded weighted mean Pb/ U ages of 568 ± 5 Ma, 567 ± 4 Ma, Subduction–polarity reversal 560 ± 8 Ma (Dariv), 573 ± 8 Ma and 566 ± 7 Ma (Khantaishir) that we interpret as reflecting the time of Central Asian Orogenic Belt ophiolite formation (ca. 573–560 Ma). Metamorphic zircons from an amphibolite on a thrust boundary between Zircon dating the Khantaishir ophiolite and the Dzabkhan–Baydrag microcontinent formed at 514 ± 8 Ma, which we interpret as the time of overthrusting. In South Mongolia the Gobi Altai ophiolite and the Trans-Altai Gurvan Sayhan– Zoolen forearc with an ophiolite basement were investigated. Zircons of a layered gabbro (lower ophiolite crust) and a leucogabbro (mid-upper crust) of the Gobi Altai ophiolite yielded crystallization ages of 523 ± 5 Ma and 518 ± 6 Ma. The age data constrain the formation time of ophiolite within ca. 523–518 Ma. Zircons from four samples of the Gurvan Sayhan–Zoolen forearc, with similar hybrid adakite–boninite affinities, yielded 519 ± 4 Ma for an anorthosite, ≥ 512±4Maforahornblendite and 520 ± 5 and 511 ± 5 Ma for two diorites. The ophiolite basement has an upper age limit of 494 ± 6 Ma, determined by dating a tonalite dike cutting the Zoolen ophiolite. Integrating available zircon ages as well as geochemical and geological data, we re-subdivide West Mongolia into: a latest Neoproterozoic-early Cambrian, arc–microcontinent collision zone north of the MML; a Cambrian Gobi Altai ophiolite–microcontinent collision zone and a Cambrian Trans–Altai forearc complex south of the MML. The central CAOB evolved in five phases: subduction initiation and arc formation (ca. 573 to N ca. 540 Ma); arc–microcontinent collision (ca. 535–524 Ma); a continuum of slab delamination, overthrusting, crustal thickening and surface uplift (ca. 519–482 Ma) in Northwest Mongolia; initiation of new subduction zones in South Mongolia (ca. 523–511 Ma); and continuing orogeny with local surface uplift. Overall, the current, documented timing of orogenic development in the central CAOB is largely consistent with a W/SW-Pacific style of evolution in terms of subduction initiation, short timescales of individual orogenies, and episodic subduction–collision dur- ing a continuing migration of subduction zones. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 10 68999765; fax: +86 10 68311545. E-mail address: [email protected] (P. Jian). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2014.02.006 0012-8252/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Author's personal copy P. Jian et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 133 (2014) 62–93 63 Contents 1. Introduction............................................................... 63 2. Regionalgeology,publishedzircondataforophiolitesandafundamentalproblemintectonicsubdivision.................... 64 2.1. Regionalgeology......................................................... 64 2.1.1. NorthwestMongolia................................................... 64 2.1.2. SouthMongolia...................................................... 67 2.2. Publishedzircondatafortheophiolites............................................... 69 2.3. Afundamentalproblemintectonicsubdivision............................................ 69 3. Approachtoconstraintheformationofophiolites.............................................. 69 3.1. Appropriatenessofgabbroicandleucocraticrockstozirconchronology................................. 69 3.1.1. Gabbroicrocks...................................................... 69 3.1.2. Leucocraticrocks(oceanicplagiogranites).......................................... 70 3.2. Methodology........................................................... 70 4. Fieldinvestigationandsamples...................................................... 70 4.1. DarivandKhantaishir(NorthwestMongolia)............................................. 70 4.1.1. Dariv.......................................................... 70 4.1.2. Khantaishir........................................................ 70 4.2. GobiAltai(SouthMongolia).................................................... 70 4.3. GurvanSayhanandZoolen(Trans-Altaizone,SouthMongolia).................................... 73 4.3.1. GurvanSayhan...................................................... 73 4.3.2. Zoolen.......................................................... 73 5. Zirconages............................................................... 73 5.1. DarivandKhantaishir(NorthwestMongolia)............................................. 73 5.1.1. Dariv.......................................................... 73 5.1.2. Khantaishir........................................................ 73 5.1.3. Summary........................................................ 76 5.2. GobiAltai(SouthMongolia).................................................... 77 5.2.1. Layeredgabbrofromanorthernthrustslice......................................... 77 5.2.2. Isotropicleucogabbrofromasouthernvolcano-sedimentarymélange............................. 77 5.2.3. Summary........................................................ 78 5.3. GurvanSayhanandZoolen(Trans-Altai,SouthMongolia)....................................... 78 5.3.1. Anorthosite(patch)andhornblendite(tectonicblock)inavolcano-sedimentarymélange(GurvanSayhan)............ 78 5.3.2. Diorites(tectonicblocks)inmetavolcano-sedimentarymélanges(Zoolen)........................... 79 5.3.3. Tonalitedikes(Zoolen).................................................. 80 5.3.4. Summary........................................................ 81 6. Geochemicaldata............................................................ 81 6.1. DarivandKhantaishir(NorthwestMongolia)............................................. 81 6.1.1. Dariv.......................................................... 81 6.1.2. Dioriteandleucogranitedikes............................................... 83 6.1.3. Khantaishir........................................................ 83 6.1.4. Nd–Srisotopiccompositionsofselectedsamples....................................... 83 6.2. GobiAltai(SouthMongolia).................................................... 85 6.3. GurvanSayhanandZoolen(Trans-Altai,SouthMongolia)....................................... 85 6.3.1. Metaperidotites(serpentinites).............................................. 85 6.3.2. Hornblendite–anorthosite(atectonicblock)......................................... 85 6.3.3. Diorites(tectonicblocks)andadiabasedike......................................... 85 6.3.4. Atonalitedikecuttingophiolite.............................................. 88 6.3.5. Nd–Srisotopiccompositions................................................ 88 7. Discussion:timingoforogenyinthecentralCAOB.............................................. 88 7.1. Phase 1 (ca. 573 to N ca.540Ma):subductioninitiationandarcformationinNorthwestMongolia.....................88