Neoproterozoic-middle Paleozoic tectono-magmatic evolution of the Gorny Altai terrane, northwest of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt: Constraints from detrital zircon U-Pb and Hf-isotope studies

摘要

The Gorny Altai terrane (GA) is a key area in understanding the crustal evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). This paper reports U-Pb and Hf-isotope data for detrital zircons from Cambrian to early Devonian sedimentary sequences to constrain their provenance, as well as the tectono-magmatic events and crustal growth in this region. Nearly all the detrital zircons are characterized by euhedral to subhedral morphology, high Th/U ratios (ca. 0.1-1.6) and typical oscillatory zoning, indicating a magmatic origin. The three samples from the Gorny Altai Group (middle Cambrian to early Ordovician) yield detrital zircon populations that are composed predominantly of 530-464 Ma grains, followed by a subordinate group of 641-549 Ma old. The Silurian and Devonian samples exhibit similar major zircon populations (555-456 Ma and 525-463 Ma, respectively), but a significant amount of additional 2431-772 Ma zircons occur in the early Devonian sample. Our results suggest that detritus from the nearby Kuznetsk-Altai intra-oceanic island arc served as a unitary source for the Cambrian-Silurian sedimentary sequences, but older detritus from other sources added to the early Devonian sequence. The low abundance of ca. 640-540 Ma detrital zircons may testify that this island arc was under a primitive stage in this period, when mafic volcanic rocks probably dominated. In contrast, the dominant population of ca. 530-470 Ma zircons may indicate an increased amount of granitic rocks in the source area, suggesting that the Kuznetsk-Altai island arc possibly evolved into a mature one in the Cambrian to early Ordovician. The ca. 530470 Ma detrital zircons are almost exclusively featured by positive epsilon(Hf)(t) values and have two-stage Hf model ages of ca. 1.40-0.45 Ga, indicating that the precursor magmas were sourced predominantly from heterogeneous juvenile materials. We conclude that the late Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic magmatism in the Kuznetsk-Altai arc made a significant contribution to the crustal growth in the CAOB.