The origin of microcontinents in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt: Constraints from paleomagnetism and geochronology

Detrital zircons from Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks in the Yili Block: Constraints on the affinity of microcontinents in the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt

“…However, such geological facts mentioned above are not recorded in the detrital zircon grains of the Yili Block, and the basement of the YB shows no similarities with the Craton. Moreover, Siberian Craton had low paleo-latitudes at 770 Ma relative to placement adjacent to the CAOB (Levashova et al, 2011). Thus, the Siberian Craton could be excluded for the origin for the Yili Block.…”

“…The Tarim Craton as a block rifted from Gondwana was thus widely considered to the origin of some microcontinents within the CAOB. Levashova et al, 2009;Lei et al, 2011;Levashova et al, 2011;Rojas-Agramonte et al, 2011;Shu et al, 2011;Ma et al, 2012a,b;Lei et al, 2013;Ma et al, 2013;Metcalfe, 2013;Liu et al, 2014;Rojas-Agramonte et al, 2014;Zhao et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2014c).…”

“…In contrast, models that favor the origin of the Siberian Craton have been proposed recently (Berzin and Dobretsov, 1994;Sengör and Natal'in, 1996;Kuzmichev et al, 2001;Turkina et al, 2007;Zhou et al, 2009Zhou et al, , 2010aZhou et al, ,b,c, 2011. More recently, the Tarim Craton was also considered to be a possible origin for these microcontinents (Levashova et al, 2009;Lei et al, 2011;Levashova et al, 2011;Rojas-Agramonte et al, 2011;Shu et al, 2011;Ma et al, 2012a,b;Lei et al, 2013;Ma et al, 2013;Liu et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2014c). These controversies largely result from the Phanerozoic reworking of polyphase orogenesis and magmatism which overprinted and obscured much of the Precambrian geological records.…”

Tectonic implications of new zircon U–Pb ages for the Xinghuadukou Complex, Erguna Massif, northern Great Xing’an Range, NE China

“…This finding separates this massif from the other three microcontinents in NE China to the east of the study area, as the Xing'an, Songliao, and Jiamusi-Khanka massifs yield no evidence of Grenvillian (late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic) igneous rocks. This suggests that the Erguna Massif has a unique origin and geological history within NE China and may in fact be derived from bordering cratons (i.e., the Siberian Craton to the north or the North China Craton to the south) or may be associated with surrounding tectonic domains to the west (i.e., the Kazakhstan and Mongol domains; see details in Levashova et al, 2011). Previous studies of the Siberian and North China cratons (e.g., Zhao et al, 2004;Gladkochub et al, 2010;Levashova et al, 2010Levashova et al, , 2011Rojas-Agramonte et al, 2011;Zheng et al, 2013) indicate that these cratons are unlikely source areas for the Erguna Massif, primarily as both cratons are characterized by a lack of magmatic rocks that formed between 1100 and 700 Ma.…”

“…Precambrian microcontinents within the CAOB generally cluster within western central Kazakhstan and originally constituted a continent-size ''Kazakhstan'' domain (Levashova et al, 2011). In comparison, several Precambrian fragments to the south of the Siberian Craton (Fig.…”