Provenance of the early to mid-Paleozoic sediments in the northern Alxa area: Implications for tectonic evolution of the southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt

The continental fragments in Northwest China are key to revealing the tectonic and crustal evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). However, their tectonic correlation, affinity and implications have not been well defined. The early to mid-Paleozoic sediments in the northern Alxa area can help to understand this question. These sediments were deposited in a deep to shallow marine environment during a regression. The southeast paleocurrent attributes their provenance to the northwest. Detrital zircons from the collected sandstones record peak ages of approximately 1726 Ma, 1462 Ma, 915 Ma and 438 Ma. The zircon εHf(t) values are negative to positive at 1726 Ma, 915 Ma and 438 Ma, but only positive at 1462 Ma. The detrital zircon U–Pb ages and Hf isotopes suggest the provenance to be the blocks in Central Tianshan and Southern Beishan or their analogs, rather than the Tarim Craton. The source blocks show no tectonic affinity to the Tarim Craton but might be accreted to it in the Neoproterozoic Rodinia. The provenance analyses show tectonic correlation among the northern Alxa, Tianshan and Beishan orogenic belts. The Late Devonian molasse deposits, geochemical shifting to continental margins and suddenly increased early Paleozoic zircons indicate an arc-continent collision. The discovery of more indicators for continental fragments advocates a multiterrane model and dominant crustal reworking/contamination for the tectonocrustal evolution of the CAOB at least during the early to mid-Paleozoic.This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41372225), National Key Basic Research Program of China (2013CB429801) and China Scholarship Council (201606010074)