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Early Silurian Trench-arc-basin System in Northwestern Margin of the North Qilian Orogen, China: Constraints from U–Pb Zircon Geochronology of Tuffs and Sandstones

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Abstract

The North Qilian Orogen is considered as a representative oceanic suture zone formed by the closure of the North Qilian Ocean, which forms the northern part of the Proto-Tethys Ocean along the northern margin of the eastern Gondwana during the Early Paleozoic. However, the time interval of Early Paleozoic subduction system remains controversial, especially the part along the northwest margin where it is connected to the Alxa Block. Here we explored the whole rock geochemistry and LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb geochronology on a suite of tuff and clastic rocks from the Angzanggou Formation in the west margin of the North Qilian Orogen. Zircon U–Pb dating of tuff samples yielded the eruption ages of ca. 438 Ma. Detrital zircon from clastic rocks have revealed three age populations: 0.4–0.6 Ga (peak at 438 Ma), 0.7–0.9 Ga (peak at 875 Ma), and 0.93–1.1 Ga (peak at 984 Ma). Zircons with U–Pb ages of 0.4–0.6 Ga are markedly different from those of North China Block and Alxa Block, but are similar to zircon ages determined for Qilian Paleozoic arc-related magmatic rocks. Based on previous geochemical and geochronological data from the early Paleozoic igneous and clastic rocks, we believed that the subduction-accretion processes in North Qilian Orogen lasted until the Angzanggou Formation in the Early Silurian, thus leading to the formation of a fore-arc basin.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41772113). We thank the journal reviewers for their very constructive and helpful comments, which helped to improve the manuscript.

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant/Award Numbers: 41772113.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shandong University of Science and Technology, 266590, Shandong Qingdao, PR China

    Wei Liang & Chuanlong Mou

  2. Chengdu Center of China Geological Survey, 610081, Sichuan Chengdu, PR China

    Wei Liang, Chuanlong Mou & Qian Hou

  3. Key Laboratory of Sedimentary Basins and Oil and Gas Resources of Ministry of Land and Resource, 610081, Sichuan Chengdu, PR China

    Wei Liang, Chuanlong Mou & Qian Hou

Authors
  1. Wei Liang
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  2. Chuanlong Mou
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  3. Qian Hou
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Correspondence to Chuanlong Mou.

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Liang, W., Mou, C. & Hou, Q. Early Silurian Trench-arc-basin System in Northwestern Margin of the North Qilian Orogen, China: Constraints from U–Pb Zircon Geochronology of Tuffs and Sandstones. Geochem. Int. 60, 1415–1438 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016702922130079

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016702922130079

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