“…The final closure of the Junggar–Balkhash Ocean resulted in the amalgamation of the circum‐Balkash–Junggar segments of the south‐western CAOB, but the exact timing of its closure remains uncertain. Liu, Han, Ren, Zheng and Chen (, this issue) used zircon U–Pb and whole‐rock chemical data for the adakitic rocks and fractionated I‐type granitoids in the Alashankou area of the southern West Junggar terrane to investigate their petrogenesis and tectonic implications for the closure of the Junggar–Balkhash Ocean. The results suggest the Junggar–Balkhash Ocean should have been closed at the beginning of the Late Carboniferous (~320 Ma), consistent with the closure time (~325–300 Ma) for regional major ocean basins.…”